Ethan Evans
One Good Idea Takes Years
Inspired by Ethan Evans episode
Ethan Evans at Amazon: every good idea takes years of iteration. Your bedtime routine isn't failing—it's on version four.
Ethan Evans spent years at Amazon watching every successful product go through multiple iterations. Kindle wasn't brilliant version one. Neither was Prime. Every good idea took years.
You know what else takes years? Finding a bedtime routine that doesn't end with someone crying. First attempt: gentle transition with warnings. Fails. Second attempt: strict timeline. Fails. Third attempt: letting them tire themselves out, which sounds peaceful until you realize they have more stamina than a marathon runner and it's 11 PM.
The sleep thing you're trying? Version four. You'll hit version seven by summer. The discipline approach? Year two of calibration, year three if you've got a creative boundary-tester.
You're not failing. You're iterating. Amazon built a trillion-dollar business on this. Your kid's bedtime routine is worth at least that much to you.
Year one of understanding your child. Or year four. You're where a successful product should be: still figuring it out.
