Software Lead Weekly
Issue #688, 30th January 2026
This Week's Favorite
Shipping at Inference-Speed
7 minutes read.
It's amazing to read how Peter Steinberger (the builder behind moltbolt, aka clawdbot) uses different coding agents to execute his ideas at incredible speed. Many of us will explore different setups in the months to come. Many of us who don't write much code on a day-to-day basis (aka managers) will leverage our taste and ability to deliver business outcomes while using agents to formalize enough of the code to justify the cost of making it production-grade.
Read it later via Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
7 minutes read.
It's amazing to read how Peter Steinberger (the builder behind moltbolt, aka clawdbot) uses different coding agents to execute his ideas at incredible speed. Many of us will explore different setups in the months to come. Many of us who don't write much code on a day-to-day basis (aka managers) will leverage our taste and ability to deliver business outcomes while using agents to formalize enough of the code to justify the cost of making it production-grade.
Read it later via Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Culture
When U Ask the Avg Vibe Coder What Have They Shipped
1 minutes read.
My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile.
Read it later via Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
1 minutes read.
My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile.
Read it later via Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Closing the Software Loop
6 minutes read.
Software that learns how to improve itself by "working the humans" is how we should start thinking of the tools and products we build. The software can recommend new use cases to try, gather feedback, learn from how humans (or agents) actually use it, and iterate. It can lead to a lot of failed experiments, so learning to clean up nicely after that is essential - software that thinks about complexity and sustainability, not just increasing capabilities.
Read it later via Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
6 minutes read.
Software that learns how to improve itself by "working the humans" is how we should start thinking of the tools and products we build. The software can recommend new use cases to try, gather feedback, learn from how humans (or agents) actually use it, and iterate. It can lead to a lot of failed experiments, so learning to clean up nicely after that is essential - software that thinks about complexity and sustainability, not just increasing capabilities.
Read it later via Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
It’s 2030. Companies Don’t Exist.
6 minutes read.
I don't know how companies will operate in a few years, but something tells me we should also see them as small tribes of humans rather than just money generators. The reason companies exist, and 50-100 people sounds like a very healthy default (versus 1-5), is that we always loved being part of a small tribe. Software industries "allow" 50-100 people companies because of the margins. I doubt that humans will want to work alone or in tiny tribes if they have a choice.
Read it later via Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
6 minutes read.
I don't know how companies will operate in a few years, but something tells me we should also see them as small tribes of humans rather than just money generators. The reason companies exist, and 50-100 people sounds like a very healthy default (versus 1-5), is that we always loved being part of a small tribe. Software industries "allow" 50-100 people companies because of the margins. I doubt that humans will want to work alone or in tiny tribes if they have a choice.
Read it later via Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Because Coordination Is Expensive
4 minutes read.
"As organizations grow, they require more coordination, which means more resources being put into coordination mechanisms, like meetings and middle management. It’s like an organizational law of thermodynamics. It’s why you’ll hear ICs at larger organizations talk about Tanya Reilly’s notion of glue work so much." -- Coordination is a difficult problem for software (orchestrating complex systems) and for humans. Humans are naive (brave?) enough to think there is a solution for that, trying different methods to approach it. If you can systematically reduce coordination, ask yourself what are you trading it for.
Read it later via Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
4 minutes read.
"As organizations grow, they require more coordination, which means more resources being put into coordination mechanisms, like meetings and middle management. It’s like an organizational law of thermodynamics. It’s why you’ll hear ICs at larger organizations talk about Tanya Reilly’s notion of glue work so much." -- Coordination is a difficult problem for software (orchestrating complex systems) and for humans. Humans are naive (brave?) enough to think there is a solution for that, trying different methods to approach it. If you can systematically reduce coordination, ask yourself what are you trading it for.
Read it later via Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Peopleware
Sometimes Your Job Is to Stay the Hell Out of the Way
4 minutes read.
Sometimes, the reason to hold back is that you take the Agency of the other person by stepping in more than needed. Friction is a feature, not a bug. It's hard to tell when to do what, but when it happens, stop for a second and think about what will be best for the months and years to come, rather than optimizing for the current situation.
Read it later via Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
4 minutes read.
Sometimes, the reason to hold back is that you take the Agency of the other person by stepping in more than needed. Friction is a feature, not a bug. It's hard to tell when to do what, but when it happens, stop for a second and think about what will be best for the months and years to come, rather than optimizing for the current situation.
Read it later via Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Why We Built Our Own Background Agent
9 minutes read.
"The interface understands that people rely on a rich variety of workflows. You can chat with Inspect in Slack and send it screenshots, use the Chrome extension to highlight specific changes to elements, prompt it on the web interface, discuss on the Pull Request, and even drop into a web-based VS Code editor to make manual changes. All changes are synced to the session, so you never lose your work while switching around. Plus, every session is multiplayer. Send your session to any colleague, and they can help take it home." -- Every session is multiplayer. This is something not enough builders focus on. If you build AI-driven UX, optimize for multiplayer experience.
Read it later via Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
9 minutes read.
"The interface understands that people rely on a rich variety of workflows. You can chat with Inspect in Slack and send it screenshots, use the Chrome extension to highlight specific changes to elements, prompt it on the web interface, discuss on the Pull Request, and even drop into a web-based VS Code editor to make manual changes. All changes are synced to the session, so you never lose your work while switching around. Plus, every session is multiplayer. Send your session to any colleague, and they can help take it home." -- Every session is multiplayer. This is something not enough builders focus on. If you build AI-driven UX, optimize for multiplayer experience.
Read it later via Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Inspiring Tweets
@ShaanVP: if you read the news, you'd think the world belongs to the rich, the white, and the educated. in truth, the world belongs to high energy, risk taking, learning machines
- 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.