Software Lead Weekly
Issue #638, 14th February 2025
This Week's Favorite
AI or Die
5 minutes read.
Understanding how your company will become AI-first (or AI-native, whatever framing you prefer more) needs to be at the forefront of your leadership team's mind. One important thing worth investing in is the infrastructure we enable to: test new models, create predictability, safety and deterministic results. As long as there are humans in the loop, and the quality of the models can cause friction with your customers, we'll need to control the range of mistakes we can tolerate.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 minutes read.
Understanding how your company will become AI-first (or AI-native, whatever framing you prefer more) needs to be at the forefront of your leadership team's mind. One important thing worth investing in is the infrastructure we enable to: test new models, create predictability, safety and deterministic results. As long as there are humans in the loop, and the quality of the models can cause friction with your customers, we'll need to control the range of mistakes we can tolerate.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Culture
Now Only Cursor Knows
1 minutes read.
My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face.
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1 minutes read.
My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
🎮 Fun Challenge for Your Next Engineering Gathering!
3 minutes read.
Take Eran Kampf's idea and source code and give it a try at your company in your next engineering gathering or hackathon. The team will enjoy a healthy, creative competition, and you can tweak the engine and rules to make it even more enjoyable and better fit your culture.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
3 minutes read.
Take Eran Kampf's idea and source code and give it a try at your company in your next engineering gathering or hackathon. The team will enjoy a healthy, creative competition, and you can tweak the engine and rules to make it even more enjoyable and better fit your culture.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
The Growth Maze vs the Idea Maze
7 minutes read.
Great questions reveal so much about others' depth and mastery: "By the way, in my day-to-day role working at a16z, this is one of the key things I try to assess: What is the founder’s mastery of their corner of the idea maze? I ask them a few simple questions: “why choose X feature instead of Y? Why start at X instead of Y?” and “why do you think X didn’t work as a product? how do you think X product is doing in the market?”" -- We're moving into an era where distribution is king, and many great ideas will be buried due to poor go-to-market strategy. Companies will need to figure out the technological stack and how they can use technology to rise above the noise. Engineers and Product Managers should be part of this effort, helping integrate and iterate (e.g., Growth Hacking via Gen AI).
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
7 minutes read.
Great questions reveal so much about others' depth and mastery: "By the way, in my day-to-day role working at a16z, this is one of the key things I try to assess: What is the founder’s mastery of their corner of the idea maze? I ask them a few simple questions: “why choose X feature instead of Y? Why start at X instead of Y?” and “why do you think X didn’t work as a product? how do you think X product is doing in the market?”" -- We're moving into an era where distribution is king, and many great ideas will be buried due to poor go-to-market strategy. Companies will need to figure out the technological stack and how they can use technology to rise above the noise. Engineers and Product Managers should be part of this effort, helping integrate and iterate (e.g., Growth Hacking via Gen AI).
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Most People Treat Urgency Like a Switch, They Turn It on When There’s a Crisis and Off When Things Feel Under Control.
3 minutes read.
Excellent take by Hiten Shah: "The best operators, builders, and decision-makers don’t wait for urgency to find them. They manufacture it. They know that speed compounds. That momentum is fragile. That hesitation kills more opportunities than failure ever will. [...] This isn’t about being reactive. It’s about controlling the tempo. People who operate with urgency don’t just get more done, they change the game entirely. They set the pace that everyone else has to follow. They don’t wait for the future to arrive. They build it before anyone else even sees it coming."
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
3 minutes read.
Excellent take by Hiten Shah: "The best operators, builders, and decision-makers don’t wait for urgency to find them. They manufacture it. They know that speed compounds. That momentum is fragile. That hesitation kills more opportunities than failure ever will. [...] This isn’t about being reactive. It’s about controlling the tempo. People who operate with urgency don’t just get more done, they change the game entirely. They set the pace that everyone else has to follow. They don’t wait for the future to arrive. They build it before anyone else even sees it coming."
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Peopleware
Your Brain Literally Gets Stronger When You Do Something You Don’t Want to Do
2 minutes read.
Dr. Andrew Huberman, in a short video (and a nice thread around it), explains why we should do at least one thing every day we really don't want to. It doesn't have to be big. Willpower or a desire to leave is a muscle.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
2 minutes read.
Dr. Andrew Huberman, in a short video (and a nice thread around it), explains why we should do at least one thing every day we really don't want to. It doesn't have to be big. Willpower or a desire to leave is a muscle.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
A New Way to Read: I Built an AI Tool That Has Fundamentally Changed How I Read
8 minutes read.
"Instead of just absorbing text, you can probe it. When you encounter a difficult passage, you can ask for clarification. When an idea reminds you of something else you've read, you can explore the connection. The text becomes a starting point for investigation rather than just information to absorb. [...] The AI doesn't just ask questions—it helps readers develop the habit of questioning, encouraging the kind of critical thinking that Adler saw as essential to true analytical reading" -- Naveen Naidu Mummana's experiment with providing an AI companion to cover Adler's four reading levels is practical and inspirational.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
8 minutes read.
"Instead of just absorbing text, you can probe it. When you encounter a difficult passage, you can ask for clarification. When an idea reminds you of something else you've read, you can explore the connection. The text becomes a starting point for investigation rather than just information to absorb. [...] The AI doesn't just ask questions—it helps readers develop the habit of questioning, encouraging the kind of critical thinking that Adler saw as essential to true analytical reading" -- Naveen Naidu Mummana's experiment with providing an AI companion to cover Adler's four reading levels is practical and inspirational.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Emotions People Feel, but Can't Explain.
3 minutes read.
It's remarkable how languages often enable deeper discovery of the self. German, Russian, and Japanese are more examples of rich languages that can capture a full range of experiences in a word.
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3 minutes read.
It's remarkable how languages often enable deeper discovery of the self. German, Russian, and Japanese are more examples of rich languages that can capture a full range of experiences in a word.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Inspiring Tweets
- Oren
P.S. Can you share this email? I'd love for more people to experiment and improve their company's culture.
P.S. Can you share this email? I'd love for more people to experiment and improve their company's culture.