
Groks Idea on My Idea: Church Of The Bitchin’ Breakers
It is not tragic to die doing something you love.
~ Mark Foo
Recently, while on a brief holiday somewhere on the east coast of Florida, I was reminded of the sheer magnitude of truth in the world of binary representations. Zero = OFF; one = ON.
The Computing world operates on the world of binary mathematics. We are to thank Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716), the co-inventor of Calculus, who published his invention in 1701. However, the actual discovery occurred more than 20 years earlier.
There are many precepts, many sports and many social constructs that operate within the binary world.
Either you make it or you don’t. On/Off, GetHit/Not Hit etc.
Back to my holiday. I had a new surfboard. The air was mid-80s, the water was upper-seventies, and the swell was easy, rolling 3-4 ft (1-1.5 meters) (think chest-shoulder high).
i have surfed this spot for decades. i thought, hey, this will be easy.
Never think a paddle out or for that matter, anything in life is easy.
I leisurely paddled out and was immediately rocked by a constant set of waves. My board slipped out from under me. I casually gathered it back. I kept paddling. When I turned around, I had gone nowhere. I got out and sat there on the sand, dejected and rejected. NOTE: In surfing, it is called the walk of shame.
Here is where the plot thickens.
Riding the Wave: Surfing, Startups, and the Art of Life
Surfing is my ultimate passion, and my second is freediving; as the stakes get higher (think bigger), the world of binary representation starts to get amplified. Even though we have a world of simple ON/OFF [0,1], the consequences are enormous. The following video features Peahi (also known as Jaws), considered one of the premier meccas of tow-in and paddle-in surfing. The video below is a historic day when the professionals paddled into the waves not towing into the waves. In contrast, surfing by jet ski allows the surfer to achieve higher speeds and match the speed of the open ocean swell, thereby reducing the risk of missing the wave.
In the footage below, some of the world’s best big wave surfers opt for paddle only to fully experience the wave and increase the adrenaline rush of “making the drop.” At around 4:00, the video starts showing some situations where the waves are not being caught. The carnage begins.
Of particular interest is Isaac Stant
Out THERE, where the ocean seemingly appears to kiss the sky, a surfer paddles into the swell. The board cuts through the chaos of foam and salt, chasing a wave that’s equal parts promise and peril. It’s a dance, raw, unscripted, and relentless. Oh, and by the way, buttercup, you are no longer the apex predator. Sharks and, in some cases, crocodiles abound, not to mention jellyfish, crabs, and stingrays. Or just slamming into reefs and rocks. Controlled Chaos. Sound familiar? (NOTE: For those mathematically inclined and with respect to the binary system we trend toward high entropy.)
If you’ve ever built a startup or company, it should. Everyone should attempt to start a company based on their passions or constant flow of ideas. Surfing isn’t just a sport; it’s a metaphor for the entrepreneurial grind and, if you squint hard enough, a framework for life itself. Let’s break it down, wave by wave.
I am the Nose (Ha-ah, hah-ah, ha-ah)
I don’t swim
I don’t dance (Ha-ah, hah-ah, ha-ah)
I don’t swim or dance (Biohumanyouloop)
I’m too cool to swim, or dance
I might get my hair wet (Underwater boogie baby, underwater boogie baba!)
(Ha-ah, ha-ah, ha-ah!)~ Parliment, Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)
The Paddle: Grit Before Glory
Every surfer knows the wave doesn’t come to you; you go to it. Arms burning, lungs screaming, you paddle through the chop, fighting currents that don’t care about YOUR dreams. Start-ups are the same. The early days aren’t sexy; they’re a slog. Instead of paddling through clear blue warm water, you are crawling through glass.
You’re pitching to skeptics, scraping by on fumes, and debugging code at 3 a.m. while the world sleeps. Success isn’t handed out, it’s earned through the unglamorous grind.
Life’s no different. The good stuff, meaning love and purpose, doesn’t wash up on your shore. You’ve got to paddle out, past the breakers of doubt and distraction. The people who sit on the beach say it is too big to paddle out or get out to catch any waves. It’s impossible to do what you are suggesting to make with your startup, your passion. The framework starts here: Embrace the resistance. It’s not punishment; it’s preparation.
(Aqua boogie baby) Never learned to swim
(underwater boogie baby)
Can’t catch the rhythm of the stroke
(Aqua boogie baby) Why should I hold my breath
(underwater boogie baby)
Feelin’ that I might choke (Ha-ah, ha-ah, ha-ah!)~ Parliment, Aquaboogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop)
The Pop-Up: Timing Is Everything
Catch the wave too early, and it fizzles and dies beneath you. Too late, and it buries you in whitewater. The pop-up; leaping from prone to standing, is a split-second bet on instinct and readiness. Startups live or die by this, too. Launch too soon, and your half-baked idea flops. Wait too long, and the market’s moved on. Timing isn’t luck; it’s the alchemy of preparation meeting opportunity.
Zoom out to life: When do you leap to pop-up? When do you hold and pull into the tub, the glorious place that is akin to a unicorn or exit in a startup or a major life decision? The surfer’s lesson is to trust your gut, but train it first. Study the patterns, waves, winds, weather, market trends, and your rhythms. Then, when the moment aligns, stand up and ride.
Remember: As in most things in life and nature, hesitation kills.
If It All Blows Up and Goes To Hell, Oh The Stories We Can Tell.
~ Jimmy Buffet
The Ride: Balance in Chaos
On the wave, you’re not in control but in conversation with the essence of nature. Lean too far forward, and you nose-dive (called pearling). Too far back, you stall. It’s a tightrope of adjustments, a negotiation with forces more significant than you. Startups feel this daily: pivot or perish, scale or sink. You’re riding a beast of cash flow, customer whims, and competitor moves while pretending you’ve figured it out.
Life’s a wave, too unpredictable, beautiful, and brutal. The framework here is flow, not force. Balance isn’t static; it’s dynamic. Relationships, children, families, the job; You don’t conquer the chaos; you surf it. Fall off? Laugh, paddle back, try again. Cycle, rinse, repeat.
The Wipeout: Failure as Teacher
Even the best surfers eat it sometimes. The wave slams you down, spins you like a sock in a dryer, and you’re left gasping, board leash tugging at your ankle. (NOTE: I’ve personally thought i was dead at least 4 times that i can remember). Here’s the secret: Wipeouts aren’t the end; they’re the curriculum. Every tumble teaches you something about the ocean’s mood or your own limits. Startups crash too -90 % of them, by the stats. The ones that rise again do so because they learn: bad hires sharpen your instincts, busted deals hone your hustle. Most of “talking story” before and after surfing revolves around the insane wipeouts and maybe a good wave or two.
Life’s wipeouts, lost jobs, broken hearts, health setbacks, and trauma sting just as hard. The surfer’s creed applies: Get back on the board. Paddle Back Out and Into the Swell. Failure is not final unless you let it be. The framework demands that resilience scars are just tattoos with better stories. The worst scar that will never heal is the mental one of “i should have done <INSERT THING HERE>” while you are old sitting there in the lazyboy watching the TV of someone who did THE THING.
The Lineup: Community in Solitude
Surfing looks solitary, one rider, one wave, but the lineup tells a different tale. It’s a tribe of misfits, nodding at each other between sets, sharing stoke and unspoken rules. Startups thrive on this too: founders, coders, dreamers huddled in garages or Slack channels, pushing each other forward. No one rides alone, even if it feels that way. There are extreme written and unwritten rules.
Life’s framework leans on this: Find your people. Find YOUR TRIBE. They’re the ones who cheer your wins, fish you out of the riptide, and remind you why you paddled out. Solitude builds strength; community keeps it alive.
The Framework Writ Large
So here’s the takeaway, distilled from salt and spray: Life, like surfing, startups, and life, is a rhythm of effort, instinct, and adaptation. Paddle hard, time your moves, ride the chaos, learn from the falls, and lean on your crew. It’s not about mastering the wave, it’s about mastering yourself in its grip.
Next time you’re staring down a monster set, a pitch deck, or a heartbreak in life, channel the inner surfer. The ocean doesn’t care if you’re ready, but it’ll teach you how to be. That’s the beauty of the paddle out and hopefully THE RIDE.
Here are some rules of the ocean and an analogy for your company. i apply these to life.

The Thou Shalts Of The Church Of The Bitchen Breakers
#1
Never Turn Your Back On The Ocean: Sounds Simple doesnt it? You would be surprised. Always walk out of the ocean facing the ocean. Trust me. I have probably close to 100 stitches in various parts to prove it. In life never take anything for granted. At a company that yu are running never assume everything is ok.
#2
Always Paddle Out: At the very least give it a shot. Don’t sit on the sand. You can’t catch waves on the beach. Go try it is better to crash and burn and have a story than just say it cannot be done. The Courage to Create in Life.
#3
There Is Always One: At some point during a session, there will always be the one you catch. Just one. Same in life or a company, there is always one event, happening, occurrence that is totally amazing.
#4
Waves Stop Conversation: This is true,. Hey man sorry your mom died, Oh OUTSIDE! (paddles and takes off). Same with situation in life or a company you are running. Situations happen that immediately cut off chit chat or even serious conversations, overriding everything.
#5
Always Take One In: It doesnt have to be pretty. Could be on your belly. Could be the best wave of the day. Doesnt matter ride one in all the way to the beach and deeply know you have tried your best.
Oh yes, and back to the beginning of this blog. i sucked up my pride got back on my new board, paddled back out and caught some great waves.
Paddle Out, Chase YOUR swell.
Until Then,
#iwishyouwater < – Massive Wedge 2025
Ted ℂ. Tanner Jr. (@tctjr) / X
MUZAK TO Blog By: Opeth ‘Ghost Reveries”. Deep Purple On Steroids. Thanks Dr. Miller.
NOTE: Foo’s oft-repeated quote was: “To get the ultimate thrill, you have to be willing to pay the ultimate price.” Sadly, that is exactly what happened when he died surfing at Mavericks on December 23, 1994. December 23 is my birthday and i was surfing a place a couple miles from it called Montara State Beach on the same swell.
NOTE: Sir Nose is a technology-assisted human who has made it his mission to rid the world of music and the desire to dance. He is the self-proclaimed arch-nemesis of Dr. Funkenstein and his most advanced clone, Star Child. Sir Nose later becomes the leader of his own team of supervillains called The Unfunkables. Obviously, he can’t get the stroke right underwater on the way to Atlantis. He specializes in Propaganda, Brainwashing, and Manipulation to the point of complete consumerism. He appears on Motor Booty Affair by Parliament, where Sir Nose announces he can’t swim and hates water, to which he is immediately thrown into the sea.
NOTE: Special thanks to my comrade at arms in the water, Clay Thad Talley. Here he is doin the Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop .