leerob

i teach developers how to build the future

things i'm proud of

• being a husband & father
• graduated with honors in computer engineering
• built vercel devrel during 1 → $200M+ ARR
• helped grow next.js community to 1.3+ million active devs
• smol investor in startups like bun, supabase, and linear
• can play guitar, piano, and drums (not at the same time)
• won a guitar hero (yes the video game) competition when i was 16
• won a state championship in track (high school glory days)
• currently have a 93 week inbox zero streak

things i believe

• shipping fast beats the best strategy
  • speed is a superpower
  • create a bias toward shipping
  • small teams ship faster
  • ai-native teams will move 10x faster than those not willing to change
  • landings > launches (i.e. product adoption > shipping code)
  • listen, build, ship, tell the customer, then repeat forever
• you have no career ceiling
  • grit > talent
  • there's no substitute for putting in the hours
  • get 1% better every day
• be ruthlessly truth seeking
  • the truth can be painful
  • you can just change your mind if wrong
  • have strong opinions, loosely held
  • maximize your exposure hours
  • "anecdata" > data
  • seek the collective truth, not just one opinion
• communication is the job
  • clear writing is clear thinking
  • everyone (yes, you) needs to become a better writer
  • leaders step up to provide clarity when absent
  • be the person taking notes, even if it's just for yourself
  • mismatched expectations lead to sadness
  • slack pro tip: anticipate objections before hitting send, then address them
• education is the best form of developer marketing
  • be authentic and own your failures
  • never use the word "webinar" ever again
  • being helpful compounds
• leadership means owning outcomes beyond the org chart
  • influence > titles
  • leaders have to do the work themselves and delegate
  • you can write your own playbook
  • study what worked for others, then take your own path
• work can also be your hobby
  • this doesn't mean you can't have other hobbies
  • passion + boundaries > mythical "work-life balance"
  • your best work comes from following your curiosity
• demos > memos
  • you could have built a prototype in v0 during the meeting
  • only ship things you're excited about yourself
• hiring is what separates good leaders from great
  • there are two hiring answers: hell yes or no
  • growth potential > current skill
  • hire people you can learn from
  • hire people you would someday be happy working for
  • favorite interview question: what work are you most proud of?
• always try to assume good intent
  • lead with empathy
  • they might just be having a bad day
  • criticism is good feedback if you listen unemotionally