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