Software Lead Weekly
Issue #660, 18th July 2025
This Week's Favorite
The Rise of the Agent Manager
4 minutes read.
"If ARR per employee is the new vanity metric for startups, then agents managed per person may become the vanity productivity metric of a worker." -- Agent Inbox as a concept to manage agents running in parallel might be the tool we need to deal with cognitive load. I'm not sure though, as some of the complexity around managing a team is having enough clarity on how great (or good enough) looks like. More managers will need to define success criteria in a way that still lets them feel in control of the results.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
4 minutes read.
"If ARR per employee is the new vanity metric for startups, then agents managed per person may become the vanity productivity metric of a worker." -- Agent Inbox as a concept to manage agents running in parallel might be the tool we need to deal with cognitive load. I'm not sure though, as some of the complexity around managing a team is having enough clarity on how great (or good enough) looks like. More managers will need to define success criteria in a way that still lets them feel in control of the results.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Culture
When Your 87 Step CI/CD Pipeline Successfully Deploys
1 minutes read.
My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face. Nerds are the best!
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
1 minutes read.
My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face. Nerds are the best!
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
On Agency
9 minutes read.
"If you have a clear understanding of the goal, there are often paths that lead there that are much shorter than the default path. A good question to ask is: what is the simplest solution that could possibly work? [...] People with high agency tend to be obsessed with finding simpler solutions, to the point where normal people think they are idiots." -- Part of having an agency is being able to clearly define what it is that you're trying to solve and why it's important for you. It often moves others, creating more optionality for you when finding allies to join your journey.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
9 minutes read.
"If you have a clear understanding of the goal, there are often paths that lead there that are much shorter than the default path. A good question to ask is: what is the simplest solution that could possibly work? [...] People with high agency tend to be obsessed with finding simpler solutions, to the point where normal people think they are idiots." -- Part of having an agency is being able to clearly define what it is that you're trying to solve and why it's important for you. It often moves others, creating more optionality for you when finding allies to join your journey.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Reflections on (Working At) OpenAI
7 minutes read.
OpenAI is one of the most interesting companies in the world today. Having an inside view that is well-balanced and mature into the company, can help us see the principles that drive so much innovation.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
7 minutes read.
OpenAI is one of the most interesting companies in the world today. Having an inside view that is well-balanced and mature into the company, can help us see the principles that drive so much innovation.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 Things I Learned From 5 Years at Vercel
5 minutes read.
"When the company is growing fast, there's always more to do than capacity allows. If you can't support another team's request because your team is too busy, you can't be upset when they find another way to get it done. You have to design an org that can say yes to the right things and no to everything else. When someone isn't meeting the bar, you have to act fast. You want a performance and merit-based culture. At times, I felt I delivered feedback to my team early and with empathy. Other times I felt I waited too long. Those are the ones I regret." -- Living and leading with "regret minimization mindset" is one of the most consistent takeaways I hear.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 minutes read.
"When the company is growing fast, there's always more to do than capacity allows. If you can't support another team's request because your team is too busy, you can't be upset when they find another way to get it done. You have to design an org that can say yes to the right things and no to everything else. When someone isn't meeting the bar, you have to act fast. You want a performance and merit-based culture. At times, I felt I delivered feedback to my team early and with empathy. Other times I felt I waited too long. Those are the ones I regret." -- Living and leading with "regret minimization mindset" is one of the most consistent takeaways I hear.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Peopleware
It Takes Two to Tango
4 minutes read.
Aviv Ben-Yosef with a powerful (and sometimes painful) reminder: "Leadership is the art of creating change. That means recognizing you’re always shaping the org, whether intentionally or by omission. Even when you’re too busy. Even when it feels risky. Even when you choose not to act, that’s still a choice."
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
4 minutes read.
Aviv Ben-Yosef with a powerful (and sometimes painful) reminder: "Leadership is the art of creating change. That means recognizing you’re always shaping the org, whether intentionally or by omission. Even when you’re too busy. Even when it feels risky. Even when you choose not to act, that’s still a choice."
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
The Quiet Architect Behind the World’s Most Popular Products (Video)
116 minutes read.
I've listened to this interview with Peter Deng on my commute and heard so many gems on building teams and developing product taste. Many of his insights have stuck with me: running an agency test 6 weeks after hiring, being thoughtful in choosing the right words to convey a message people will remember, aiming for tension in teams, looking at team design as a product, and more.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
116 minutes read.
I've listened to this interview with Peter Deng on my commute and heard so many gems on building teams and developing product taste. Many of his insights have stuck with me: running an agency test 6 weeks after hiring, being thoughtful in choosing the right words to convey a message people will remember, aiming for tension in teams, looking at team design as a product, and more.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Lead Forward, Even When the Path Isn’t Clear
5 minutes read.
The industry today (July 2025) is moving rapidly in many different directions, as Generative AI companies and tools shift many long-held assumptions. This framework by Pat Alacqua should be on your leadership team's mind as you shift plans and align the company to work differently.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 minutes read.
The industry today (July 2025) is moving rapidly in many different directions, as Generative AI companies and tools shift many long-held assumptions. This framework by Pat Alacqua should be on your leadership team's mind as you shift plans and align the company to work differently.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Inspiring Tweets
@waronweakness: Men will literally consume 10,000 hours of podcasts, read 100 self-improvement books and spend 4 hours on a fully optimized morning routine instead of doing the thing
@asmartbear: Generic words are a sure sign of lazy writing. Lazy writing is boring to read, and isn’t remembered.
- 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.