Software Lead Weekly

Staring Into the Abyss as a Core Life Skill
8 minutes read.

"I’ve started thinking of staring into the abyss [thinking reasonably about things that are uncomfortable to contemplate] as the “one weird trick” of doing great work, because it seems to be upstream of so many other ways that people do well or poorly. So I’ve been thinking about how to become better at it." -- The questions at the bottom of the post will trigger healthy discussions at work, with your partner, and yourself.

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The Internet Was Made for Videos Like This
1 minutes read.

My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face.

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The Function of Strategy: Lessons From Colin S. Gray
7 minutes read.

"Great strategy is typically defined by a set of hard-to-reverse choices, made in the face of uncertainty, to build or leverage competitive advantage, to create and capture disproportionate value. While this may be the meaning of strategy, it is not the function of it. Effective strategy must do more than set direction. [...] Strategy crafted well is thus more than a direction, or a narrative, or a set of choices. The function of great strategy is to enable the shift of an organization’s direction, pace, and/or approach towards its most important goals." -- Getting helpful definitions and examples that can help you actively steer the organization is a powerful tool for a leader. Whitney Zimmerman covers it nicely.

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I’ve Scaled Base44 Bootstrapped, Solo, and Mostly Organically. Here’s a Long Thread of What Worked and What Didn’t (Thread)
3 minutes read.

"Don’t focus on growing your user base. Focus on growing paying users. Once I shifted to that, everything else grew too." -- It's incredible to observe one person independently building a company and product and journaling as he gets traction. Maor Shlomo is worth your follow.

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Ultimate Employee: The One That Is Truly Proactive
4 minutes read.

Auren Hoffman covers some of the signals and behaviors proactive employees demonstrate and gives you ideas to filter for these behaviors during interviews (need to verify with reference checks). This is maybe the best signal: "when you think of important things for the company to do: do you do get them done or do you suggest that they get done?"

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Motivation
2 minutes read.

Jason Fried writes it beautifully: "I’m more likely to do something I’m terrible at if I really want it than something I’m great at that I don’t. Motivation is my essential element. And you can’t mine it. It mines you."

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How Can Some People Write So Beautifully? (Thread)
4 minutes read.

If you haven't read Julian Shapiro's essays before, I highly recommend you go to his website (julian.com) and do so now. In this thread, he shares how you can copy from other great writers to level up your writing.

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Comfort Is Costing You
5 minutes read.

Codie Sanchez's post has two great framings: "The same instincts that keep you safe… are also keeping you small. We call it Passive Ambition." and to take Smart risks where Smart risk = (skill + preparation) * action.

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@hnshah: If you’re not sure what to do next, ask yourself what the bravest version of you would do.

@patrickc: I think worry about local maxima comes from imagining the 3D world, where it is in fact easy to get trapped. But "company space" has many more dimensions, and so most critical points are, as you say, just saddles. There's almost always a positive gradient you can trundle along.