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Essays on leadership, tech, and the state of the industry.

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Sharp notes on engineering leadership, tech careers, and the stuff nobody else will say. Free AI Spending Tracker PDF with signup.

|6 min read

Your Clean Desk Is Why You're Not Getting Promoted

A blunt case against performative desk setups and for output-focused workspaces, keyboard investment, and the 3-item daily list.

productivityculturecareersoftware-engineering
|5 min read

Technocratic Decadence Thesis

Western tech is decaying because leadership has been decoupled from competence, replacing builders with spreadsheet theater and image management.

leadershipcultureailayoffs
|7 min read

I’m Rooting for AI to Blow Up in Everyone’s Face

A blunt take on AI hype, false equivalence around expertise, and why human messiness is worth defending.

aisoftware-engineeringculturefuture-of-work
|6 min read

Hundreds of American Express Employees Reached Out to Me This Week. They're All Saying the Same Thing.

After publishing a video about my experience as an Engineering Director at American Express, hundreds of current and former employees reached out confirming the same offshoring playbook.

big-techlayoffsamerican-expressoffshoring
|2 min read

nobody cares how much you use AI when coding and we should stop pretending

and learn to mind our own business.

aitech-industrysoftware-engineeringculture
|1 min read

Amazon’s insane plot to lay off 30,000 American workers and hire 3 million in India

Amazon's latest push to lay off 30,000 American workers while hiring 3 million in India. The pattern is undeniable.

layoffstech-industry
|1 min read

Free Tool: Manager or IC? The Eternal Question

Fork in the road

leadershipcareertech-industrysoftware-engineering
|5 min read

You Can Hurt Me But You Can’t Gurt Me

In a world of AI scrapers and digital ghosts, having a body is becoming our greatest asset.

aiwritingcareertech-industry
|10 min read

The Single Best Optimization You Can Make In 2026

The single biggest optimization you can make in 2026 has nothing to do with AI, productivity apps, or hustle culture.

productivitycultureopinionai
|6 min read

GET GOOD OR GET OUT

I spent an evening going through the top posts on Reddit’s r/CSCareerQuestions this month. The whining is off the charts. Here’s what I found and why most of

tech-industryaicareersoftware-engineering
|3 min read

I need 3 people for something new

I’m going to try something different. For the past few months, I’ve been talking about tech careers, layoffs, navigating the chaos of this industry: on

layoffsleadershipcareersoftware-engineering
|6 min read

Most Candidates Don’t Fail System Design Interviews Because They Can’t Design Systems

They fail because they’re performing instead of problem solving. I’ve run hundreds of system design interviews across American Express, Anduril, and Shopify.

tech-industrycareersoftware-engineeringwriting
|2 min read

Stop Chasing Happiness at Work. You’re Not a Child.

I keep seeing tech professionals online talking about optimizing for “happiness” at their jobs. One guy on Reddit proudly announced he quit using AI tools

aicareertech-industryeconomics
|2 min read

COMPVTER EXTREMISM: Installing Windows 98 on DOSBox-X (M-chip Mac)

A quick guide to running Windows 98 SE on your Apple Silicon Mac using DOSBox-X.

tech-industryproductivity
|5 min read

Writing Like Socrates Didn't

A response to the AI allegations against my writing.

aitech-industrywritingopinion
|21 min read

Nvidia Just Paid $20 Billion for a Company That Missed Its Revenue Target by 75%

Panic buying, plain and simple. If anything indicates that this AI bubble is about to pop, it’s this.

tech-industryeconomicsailayoffs
|12 min read

Get In Loser: We're Exposing the AI Bubble

It’s a bubble. Everyone with basic observational skills can see it.

aitech-industryeconomicsleadership
|8 min read

Easymode Public Speaking: The Technique Nobody is Talking About

Simpler and more effective than any other technique.

tech-industrywritingopinion
|4 min read

Christmas Gifts for Neurodivergent People

Neurodivergent or otherwise.

mental-healthopinion
|6 min read

How to Make One Million Dollars a Year as a Software Engineer as Fast as Possible

A step-by-step guide.

careertech-industrylayoffsleadership
|4 min read

The Best Way to Use LinkedIn is to Not Use It at All

The ROI of LinkedIn for depth-first creators is zero. Every minute spent there makes you one minute dumber.

leadershiptech-industrywritingai
|7 min read

The Optics-Driven Workplace and the Death of Competence

“I’m a Timestamp Man” Every company has at least one dude and sometimes a whole gaggle of them who manages by the clock. He doesn’t read your code, doesn’t

leadershipcultureopinionlayoffs
|5 min read

The Everything is Everything Era

I feel beige. Do you feel beige?

careercultureopinionai
|7 min read

How to Become a Gigacracked Engineer: A Guide

What experience taught me that textbooks never could

opinionculturepersonal-growthai
|9 min read

How Neurodivergent Brains Build Better Systems

A former manager once described me as a “purist”. It wasn’t the first time a colleague alluded to my obsessive way of thinking but it was the first time

leadershipproductivitysoftware-engineeringeconomics
|6 min read

Office Survival Gear for the Neurodivergent Tech Worker

Traditional offices can be massively overstimulating if you’re neurodivergent, unless you have the right gear. I wore glasses for decades until I got my eyes

writingopiniontech-industrymental-health
|7 min read

The Making of Autism Simulator: 60,000 Visitors in 12 Hours

How I built Autism Simulator as a passion project and got 60,000 visitors in 12 hours.

mental-healthaitech-industrysoftware-engineering
|5 min read

Why Everything Feels Broken and the Filmmaker Who Predicted It

The world feels chaotic and truth has become malleable. One filmmaker predicted all of it decades ago.

opiniontech-industryaiwriting
|5 min read

I went to church on Sunday

Rain or shine.

layoffsleadershiptech-industryopinion
|6 min read

Marshall McLuhan and Vim

We are the sex organs of the machines...

writingsoftware-engineeringcareertech-industry
|3 min read

The Introvert's Guide: Surviving a Networking Event

A simple protocol to network like an extrovert.

tech-industrywritingopinion
|5 min read

What Does a Software Engineering Director Do All Day

The job of an engineering director has always been somewhat opaque to me. I'm relieved to find that no golfing is involved.

leadershipopinioncareersoftware-engineering
|3 min read

I No Longer Do Emails

The written word remains supreme but it's changing.

aiwritingopinion
|4 min read

Forgetting is a Gift: How to Change the Past and Burn Your To-Do List

In a world where technology excels at preserving every detail, what if forgetting is your greatest asset?

writinglayoffsleadershipsoftware-engineering
|5 min read

Energy Management for Introverts and Extroverts

A brutal, tactical manual for people who’d rather be left alone but still want to win.

leadershipproductivitywritingpersonal-growth
|7 min read

Everyone is on Fire

Burning and being uncompromising in a mild and convenient world.

opinioncareerwritingpersonal-growth
|12 min read

Don't Write a Book: The Lesson at the Heart of Ex Nihilo

Have you ever been curious about what lies behind the pages? It's far more arcane than it seems.

tech-industrywritingopinionai
|9 min read

It Began as a Mistake: Living Between the Walls

Most people fake normal and call it discipline. I faked normal, got sick of it, and wrote this instead.

cultureopinionleadershippersonal-growth
|4 min read

The Zero-Sum Game

Paying the cost to be the boss.

writingcareerlayoffssoftware-engineering

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