What I Worked On

Paul Graham’s essay What I Worked On is an autobiographical account tracing his career across multiple domains.

The Path

Early Interests: Writing and programming outside school. First programming on an IBM 1401 mainframe with punch cards, then microcomputers.

College and AI: Initially planned to study philosophy, found it disappointing, switched to AI. Became fascinated by Lisp. Discovered during grad school that symbolic AI was fundamentally flawed.

Artistic Pursuits: Pivoted to visual art after realizing paintings could endure for centuries. Attended art schools in Florence and Providence.

Viaweb: Observed the emerging web, created Viaweb with Robert Morris—pioneering web-based software. “Low end software tends to eat high end software.” Yahoo acquired it.

Y Combinator: Financial independence enabled angel investing alongside essays and coding. Co-founded YC with Jessica Livingston, revolutionizing startup funding.

Return to Lisp: Final major project: creating Bel, a Lisp interpreter written in itself. Four years of intensive work.

The Pattern

Seemingly disconnected pursuits ultimately shaped his trajectory. The thread was following curiosity and working on what genuinely interested him.

My Takeaway

Careers rarely follow straight lines. The key is pursuing what’s genuinely interesting and letting the path emerge.

What’s your career path looked like? I’d love to hear at persdre@gmail.com.