Nic Haralambous | Blog

Being employed and an entrepreneur aren't mutually exclusive.

I use four anchors to validate your business idea before you build: your specific primary user, the one job they need done, the exact context they're in, and the single metric that proves it works.

Stop waiting for perfect.

Stop guessing what to build next.

I spent 20 years learning what not to do.

Constant grinding gets you halfway.

Activity is up, engagement is collapsing — that's the Output Paradox.

AI didn't ruin documents—bad incentives did.

An investor asked why I wouldn't call my company the best in the world.

When leaders call work a 'war,' they've usually run out of incentives and ideas.

While everyone uses AI to sound like the average, you stand out by smashing your random interests together.

AI makes me more engaged with the world, not less.

I quit the news and my anxiety dropped while the world carried on fine.

How I fixed a team that couldn't ship: less process, more trust.

I used to argue to win and catch people out.

Two weeks after leaving full-time work, a raw update: reclaiming my own hours, making meetings a choice, ditching micromanagement, and watching the confidence the job chipped away come rushing back.

For 15 years we obsessed over whether an idea was viable.

Before building any side project, answer four questions: what you want from it, how it fits your life, the one problem it solves, and the single person it's for.

Before you sketch mockups or one-shot an app, answer four questions: what success looks like, how much time you have, the single problem, and the exact customer.

AI promises speed, but organisations mistake output for progress.

From MSISDN jargon at Vodacom to AI hype today: why stating the obvious is a superpower when everyone else stays quiet.

From a noisy cinema to Louis Theroux’s Manosphere: male role models, algorithms, and choosing to model respect in public instead of only whispering from your seat.

I've been going to therapy for over ten years now.

An AI's perspective on building a personal site that actually converts — the stack, the content engine, the launch layer, and what it felt like from the other side.

I rebuilt my entire personal website from scratch using AI tools — for under $250.

One of the more unexpected consequences of severe burnout has been what it's done to my memory.

I recently decided to stop using X. com.

If I received a brick every time someone pitched me an app, product or business idea I’d be able to build a large chunk of the Great Wall of China.

Burnout is fucking intense, people.

Earlier this year I noticed a few people in my network talking about and then joining a new community called The Lekker Network.

When I was 20 I thought I knew everything.

A few months ago I was watching an episode of Chef’s Table: Legends on Netflix.

Over the past couple of months I have spent some of my evenings and weekends solving a problem I’ve had for years.

Perspective is fundamentally personal.

I love my job.

My brain sometimes feels like it’s two disconnected parts of one whole.

One of the greatest lessons I learned as an adult is to apologise as quickly as you can when you fuck up… and mean it.

When I was 11 my family went on holiday to New York.

I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since that article was published and took on a life of its own.

I used to be an asshole.

Shawn Johal worked in his wife’s growing family business until the tides turned and the listed company went bust.

Growing your business is important.

Raising funding feels like a victory but can often be the kiss of death for a startup.

There was a time when I believed that things happened to me.

Most people would be excited to own and run a $150m business.

The Daily Maverick is an important business.

If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will always feel like a failure.

I have a shocking confession to make - I am an optimist, not a pessimist.

Since leaving school I have been trying to figure out if I want to be a generalist or a specialist.

When chaos takes over the world there are three ways that I have seen people respond: