Ideas I keep coming back to

These ideas are brain-worms that I heard once and have come back to countless times. People that worked with me will say I repeat them ad naseum (true). I think I repeat them just barely enough.

Put the fish on the table

I think I learned this in Stand and Deliver, a public speaking course. It's about embracing conflict and saying the uncomfortable thing. Problems tend to go away when addressed head on.

Orwell’s Politics and the English Language

I fell in love with Orwell’s Politics and the English Language at age 15 for his cogent advice on how to write, well. His 6 rules for writing and Amazon’s writing tips are just as good. I wish LLMs would all take these pieces of advice.

Hyper-realistic work-like activities

Stewart Slack coined this term for the trap of doing things that look and feel like work but do not move the real outcome. Large organizations are museums of hyper-realistic almost work.

Truth-seeking

A key value at Sequoia and one I carry with me anywhere. I prefer people that are willing to change their mind when presented with new facts, and strive to live this way myself.

You can just ship things

Malte Ubl’s words to live by – and the antithesis of fake work-like activities and painful bureaucracy. This mantra is what I loved most about Vercel

Amp it Up

With YCJST (you can just ship things), the main energy and perspective I bring with me to work. People and organizations are capable of far more when you inject a bit of energy and aggressive timelines.