Why It’s Good to Be Annoyed
Annoyance is humanity’s most underappreciated emotion. It’s a prickly, uncomfortable feeling that demands attention—your brain’s way of saying, “This could be better.” While some dismiss it as unproductive grumbling, annoyance, when properly wielded, becomes a razor-sharp tool for improvement. My own annoyance with atrocious pitch decks and formulaic PR didn’t just motivate me to complain; it drove me to create this blog. It’s my attempt to dissect, analyze, and fix the things that make my professional world less than perfect.
The advice to channel my annoyance came from Andras, my mentor. “Annoyance is fuel,” he told me. His words reminded me of Louis Pasteur’s famous observation: “Chance favors only the prepared mind.” Annoyance, I’ve come to realize, is the mind’s way of preparing itself—of sharpening its focus on inefficiency, mediocrity, and squandered opportunities. It’s the friction that forces you to pause and consider: “How could this be better?” Annoyance, when harnessed, becomes the first step toward change.
What Annoyed Me?
To be specific: bad pitch decks. If you’ve ever suffered through a deck stuffed with vague promises, meaningless acronyms, and glossy slides that say nothing, you’ll know the frustration. Biotech startups are particularly guilty. They toss around metrics like TAM (Total Addressable Market) and DCF (Discounted Cash Flow) as if they’re magic incantations, oblivious to how inadequate they are in addressing the true risks of drug development. Instead of sitting through another pitch that insulted my intelligence, I channeled my annoyance into creating something better—starting with this blog.
Upcoming posts like "The Problem with POS" and "Case Studies on Fat Tails in Biotech Investments" will deconstruct the common statistical, financial, and narrative sins committed in biotech. My goal? To teach people how to recognize nonsense and replace it with substance.
Annoyance as a Tool for Change
The beauty of annoyance is its transformative potential. Ignore it, and it curdles into cynicism. Channel it, and it becomes the spark for innovation. My blog is fueled by this principle. It’s not just a platform for critiques—it’s a for laboratory ideas. For instance, my simple Drug Development Probability Tool emerged out of frustration with how poorly risk is quantified in pitch decks. Similarly, posts like "Fat-Tailed Distributions and Black Swan Events" and "Why Startups Must Care About Market Access" aim to push conversations in biotech away from shallow metrics and toward meaningful analysis.
This isn’t just about nitpicking; it’s about making a dent. Annoyance is where progress starts. By asking, “Why is this so terrible?” and then answering, “Here’s how to fix it,” you take an inherently negative experience and turn it into something productive.
Why This Blog Exists
Andras’s advice reminded me that annoyance isn’t the problem—it’s a reaction to the problem. And so, instead of merely enduring bad pitch decks or the misuse of metrics like IRR and VaR, I decided to use this blog to fight back. It’s my way of showing that even the most frustrating aspects of professional life can be improved. Whether it’s exposing the flaws in conventional financial metrics, explaining why Black Swans matter in drug discovery, or building tools to help startups sharpen their narratives, this blog is where I turn annoyance into action.
What’s Next?
Annoyance never really goes away. There’s always something to fix. In the coming weeks, I’ll explore topics like "Black Swans in Drug Discovery" and "Identifying Statistical Red Flags in Clinical Trials." I’ll share lessons from books that shaped my thinking—like Antifragile—and why ignoring outliers is dangerous in high-stakes fields. I’ll also write about the things you can safely ignore, the overhyped and underwhelming trends that waste time and resources.
This blog is my antidote to the frustration of bad work, lazy thinking, and missed opportunities. If you’ve ever been annoyed—by a bad pitch, a clueless investor, or a meaningless metric—remember: that annoyance is your brain handing you a challenge. Don’t waste it. Channel it. Build something better. And if Andras is reading this: thank you for turning my frustration into fuel.