Heureka

A “heureka” is a surprisingly powerful yet simple solution to a complex optimization problem, which is theoretically inferior to more complicated solutions, but is, in practice, optimal.

Example:

“I’m a 22 year old Phi Beta Kappa alumnus of University of Iowa and I have this idea for an AI based startup and I’m planning on using the lower living expenses of Iowa and supply of university graduates to…”

Experienced entrepreneur: “Shut up and move to San Francisco.”

Other heurekas (“heuristic” + “eureka”):

“Fire him.”

“Choose one.”

“Get a cleaning lady.”

“You need a vacation.”

Heurekas aren’t just life advice your grandmother would give. They’re all over business too.

An example might be Tesla’s decision to only use cameras, instead of cameras plus laser-based LIDAR systems used by Waymo and others.

The fundamental insight to heurekas is that complicated solutions are almost never optimal.

Solutions that aren’t simple, aren’t solutions.

This realization itself is a heureka.

Heureka.