Lao Tzu wrote 2,500 years ago: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
This quote is usually used for motivational posters. But what Lao Tzu actually meant was much deeper: you cannot know the end of the journey before you begin. Trying to plan the entire route before taking the first step is really just an excuse to never step at all.
When I started plugged.in 10 months ago, the product in my mind was completely different from what it is today.
Initial vision: A simple directory for discovering MCP servers. Then: It became a marketplace. Then: Agent orchestration was added. Then: Federation architecture took shape. Then: Revenue sharing model emerged. Then: Enterprise features appeared.
How many times did I "pivot"? I stopped counting. Probably more than 50 significant direction changes.
And here's the interesting part: this isn't failure, this is the process itself.
The Infinite Corridor
Think of life like this: you're walking through an infinite corridor. There are doors on your left and right. All of them are closed.
Most people walking through this corridor don't try the doors. They're defeated. They think "It's probably locked anyway." Or "This door isn't for me." Or "Even if I open it, I don't know what's behind it."
And so they keep walking. Without looking at the doors. Without trying. Hoping the corridor will continue forever, that someday the "right door" will open by itself.
Here's the truth no one tells you: most doors aren't locked.
They're closed, yes. But not locked. Push them and they'll open. It's just that nobody tries.
When you open some doors, you'll find disappointment. An empty room. Or a wall. Or a passage to another corridor—which isn't bad either.
Some doors will truly be locked. You'll push, they won't open. You'll move on.
But one single door—just one—could change your life.
And the only way to find that door is to try.
The Pitch Deck Fantasy
Now let's look at the investment world. What do they ask for when you go to an investor?
- 5-year financial projections
- TAM/SAM/SOM analysis
- Clear product definition
- Go-to-market strategy
- Competitive analysis
- Exit strategy
In other words: they want a map of the corridor. Which door you'll open, what you'll find behind it, where you'll go from there—they want you to know everything in advance.
But this is impossible. Because the corridor shapes itself as you progress.
5-year projections? You don't even know what will happen in 5 months. Could I have predicted plugged.in's current form 10 months ago? Absolutely not.
TAM/SAM/SOM? The market hasn't formed yet. The MCP standard just emerged. A category called "AI agent orchestration market" didn't exist 2 years ago.
Clear product definition? The product changes every week. Every time I open a door, I learn something new. The direction changes.
A pitch deck is pretending you have a map of the corridor. And everyone knows it's a game—but we have to play it.
"The Caravan Finds Its Way" vs "5-Year Plan"
One of the most beautiful Turkish proverbs: "Kervan yolda düzülür" (The caravan finds its way on the road).
This is the distillation of a thousand years of trade experience. Caravans traveling from Anatolia to China couldn't plan every detail before setting out. Weather changes, roads close, markets shift, opportunities arise. Flexibility was the condition for survival.
Lao Tzu was saying the same thing: begin the journey, and the path will reveal itself to you.
Silicon Valley logic is the opposite: "Don't set out without a plan."
5-year projections, detailed milestones, OKRs, KPIs... Everything predetermined, reported to investors, deviation counted as "failure."
Which is right?
I believe the caravan finds its way. Because the real world is uncertain, and putting a mask of certainty on uncertainty is just fooling ourselves.
The Man Who Tries Doors
Let me tell plugged.in's evolution through the "doors" metaphor:
Door 1: MCP Directory I opened the first door. Started with the question "How do people discover MCP servers?" I was thinking of a simple listing site. Behind the door: a small room. Valuable but limited. I understood I needed to look for other doors.
Door 2: Marketplace I opened the second door. An "app store" idea for MCP servers. Behind the door: a bigger room, but unclear exit. Who would pay? Business model wasn't clear. I looked at other doors.
Door 3: Orchestration The third door changed everything. The real value wasn't discovering servers, it was coordinating multiple agents. Behind this door: a massive space. plugged.in's true identity emerged here.
Doors 4-50: Continuous Discovery Federation architecture, revenue sharing, enterprise features... Each door opened to new doors. None of them could have been planned in advance.
Now the question: Which investor would have been patient through this 10-month process?
I couldn't have written "I'll find Door 3" in the first pitch deck. Because I couldn't know Door 3 existed without opening Doors 1 and 2.
The Corridor of the Defeated
Why don't most people try the doors?
Fear: "What if it's locked? What if I open it and something bad is inside?"
Exhaustion: They've tried a few doors before, either locked or disappointing. They've thought "It's always like this."
Expectation: "The right door will find me. I trust the universe." (The universe doesn't open doors.)
Perfectionism: "I won't move until I know exactly which door to open." (You can never know for certain.)
Social pressure: "What will others say? What if I open the wrong door?"
And so the corridor fills with defeated people. They're walking but not actually progressing. They pass by doors but don't try them.
Yet one single door is enough.
Structural Problems of the Investment System
1. The Map Illusion
VCs want a "map." But in entrepreneurship, there's no map, only a compass.
A map tells you "turn right in 3 km." A compass tells you "north is this direction."
A map assumes the road is known. A compass accepts that direction is known but the road will be discovered.
Entrepreneurship is compass work. The investment system wants maps.
2. Pivot = Failure Perception
You pitched to an investor. You said "We'll build this product." You got the money.
6 months later you realize: that door leads to a wall. You need to try a different door.
Investor perspective: "You didn't do what you said. Trust issue."
Entrepreneur perspective: "I opened the door, saw what's behind it, adapted. This is exactly what should happen."
Instagram didn't start as a photo-sharing app (it was a location-based app called Burbn). Slack was a gaming company. YouTube was a video dating site. Twitter emerged from a podcast platform called Odeo.
Most of the most successful companies reached their current form by going through a different door.
3. Time Horizon Mismatch
VC fund structure:
- 10-year fund life
- Exit expected within 3-5 years
- Big multiples (10x, 100x) required
Reality of door discovery:
- Finding the right door can take years
- Big successes typically take 7-10+ years
- Most valuable companies don't fit the "fast growth" mold
4. Single Door Syndrome
The investment system assumes "one right door." It asks you to show that door in your business plan.
In reality, you need to try dozens of doors to find the right one. And even the "right door" may change over time.
Bootstrapping: Your Own Corridor
Not taking investment is an option. And an increasingly valid one.
Bootstrapping = opening doors at your own pace:
- Full control
- Pivot freedom
- No explaining "why did you open that door" to anyone
- Profitability-focused thinking
- Long-term discovery
Challenges:
- Slow progress
- Cash flow pressure
- Lack of resources to open big doors
My choice was bootstrapping. Over 10 months, with my own money, my own time, at my own pace, I tried doors. I opened 50 doors. Most led to small rooms. A few opened to massive spaces.
If I had taken investment, I probably would have been stuck at the first door. The pressure of "but we told the investors this."
The Single Step Philosophy
Let's return to Lao Tzu:
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
This doesn't just mean "start." It also says: you only need to know the next step.
You don't need to plan the entire journey. You don't need to see the end of the corridor. Just try the door in front of you.
If that door leads nowhere, try the next one.
Every step gives you information. Every door teaches you something. And at some point—a point you couldn't predict—you find the right door.
But only if you walk.
What Should Be Done?
To entrepreneurs:
- Start walking. Don't wait for the perfect plan. Open the first door.
- See every door as an experiment. There's no failure, only data.
- Embrace the pivot. Trying a different door is courage, not failure.
- Know that investment isn't the only way. Bootstrapping, revenue-based financing, alternatives exist.
- Don't give up in the corridor. Most doors aren't locked. Try them.
To investors:
- Evaluate compass, not map. Is the direction right, can the entrepreneur adapt?
- Don't punish pivots. The best companies reached their current form through pivots.
- Expand the time horizon. Door discovery takes time.
- Accept uncertainty. 5-year projections are fantasy—everyone knows it.
Conclusion: Open the Door
You're standing in the infinite corridor. There's a door in front of you.
Is it locked? You don't know. What's behind it? You don't know. Is this the "right" door? You don't know.
The only thing you know: you can't know without trying.
Lao Tzu said it 2,500 years ago: the journey begins with a single step. The Turkish proverb has said it for a thousand years: the caravan finds its way.
Both point to the same truth: move despite uncertainty.
When you see a 5-year projection, smile. Because everyone knows that projection will be in the trash in 6 months.
And that's not a bad thing. That's the process itself.
Open the door. See what's behind it. Learn. Adapt.
The caravan finds its way. It always has, it always will.
Just start walking.