Every time I see someone saying “the hardest part of software engineering was writing the code itself”, I check their LinkedIn to find they only did junior level software engineering before they became a “founder”.

17 years of grief finally undone as the F1 driver's championship finally returns to it's rightful home

What happens often is some idiot L5 will write a 1-pager saying hey we should fix this. A VP will read it and go yes good idea, you can have it. The L5 says no you don’t understand, I have a full plate. VP says don’t worry, your workload has been reduced to 95%. I am that L5.

People who haven't coded a single day in the last 10 years are the experts on what it means to be a programmer.

If you post about code quality, there is an army of influencers who are attacking you. This isn't about generated code but the new age of sloppy programming culture. Sloppy code is ok when you are building prototypes not when you are dealing with user data for X billions.

If you want to form bold opinions where software engineering is going, you should at least have written a single line that went into a production system in the last 10 years.

If you want to work on something shiny and bleeding edge, work on consumer products. If you want to work on something deeply boring but stable, work on platform / cloud products.

This is CEO talk. He ran out of ideas. And I'll say it again. The current generation of CEOs do not know how to compete in a hard biz environment. Or the ops work it takes. They are great at marketing. And fraud. x.com/FirstSquawk/status/197…

Falling twigs get a lot of impact than they should because we spend more time worrying about who heard the twig fall than the fact it was a a twig

Thy will be done

Community note: OP states this is an opinion, when it is a fact.

99% of PMs complain about their managers. 1% of PMs turn their manager into a career accelerator. The 1% stopped "managing up" and started creating mutual leverage. Here's the exact playbook ↓

I’m a psychiatrist. In 2025, I’ve seen 12 people hospitalized after losing touch with reality because of AI. Online, I’m seeing the same pattern. Here’s what “AI psychosis” looks like, and why it’s spreading fast: 🧵

Junior PM: Our metrics are great. Sign-ups are up 40% month-over-month. Senior PM: How's retention? Junior PM: Still working on that. But look at this growth! Senior PM: Growth without retention isn't growth. Junior PM: what do you mean? Senior PM: It's a leaky bucket. You're celebrating the water going in. Junior PM: but we're hitting our acquisition targets. Senior PM: Who set those targets? Junior PM: Leadership. They want us to scale fast. Senior PM: Scale what exactly? Junior PM: ...users? Senior PM: Users aren't a business. Revenue is. Junior PM: we'll monetize later. Product-market fit first. Senior PM: Do you have product-market fit? Junior PM: We're growing, aren't we? Senior PM: That's not what PMF means. Junior PM: then what does it mean? Senior PM: Your customers can't live without your product. Junior PM: how do you measure that? Senior PM: Simple test. Stop marketing for a month. Junior PM: that would kill our growth. Senior PM: Exactly. You have marketing-market fit. Junior PM: isn't that the same thing? Senior PM: No. Marketing gets them in. Product keeps them. Junior PM: but our charts go up and to the right. Senior PM: Charts lie. Customers don't. Junior PM: meaning? Senior PM: What do your customers say about you? Junior PM: our NPS is decent. Senior PM: I didn't ask about surveys. What do they SAY? Junior PM: ...in support tickets? Senior PM: On Twitter. In reviews. To their friends. Junior PM: I don't really track that. Senior PM: There's your problem. PMF isn't a metric. Junior PM: then what is it? Senior PM: It's when customers become evangelists. Junior PM: how do I know if that's happening? Senior PM: They tweet about you without being asked. Junior PM: that feels... unscientific. Senior PM: Marc Andreessen disagrees. Junior PM: who? Senior PM: The guy who coined "product-market fit." Junior PM: and he looks at tweets? Senior PM: He looks at everything. Quantitative AND qualitative. Junior PM: like what quantitative stuff? Senior PM: Usage patterns. Engagement depth. Customer lifetime value. Junior PM: we track DAU and MAU. Senior PM: Do you track how DEEP they go? Junior PM: what's that mean? Senior PM: How many core features do they actually use? Junior PM: ...most people use the main feature. Senior PM: How many touch secondary features? Junior PM: like 15%. Senior PM: That's not PMF. That's feature bloat. Junior PM: so we should cut features? Senior PM: You should understand WHY they don't use them. Junior PM: maybe they don't need them? Senior PM: Or maybe your main feature isn't solving their real problem. Junior PM: but they signed up. Senior PM: Signing up isn't commitment. Paying is. Junior PM: we have a freemium model. Senior PM: What percentage convert to paid? Junior PM: around 3%. Senior PM: Industry average? Junior PM: ...also around 3%. Senior PM: So you're average. Not exceptional. Junior PM: that's still good though. Senior PM: Good doesn't create defensible businesses. Junior PM: what does? Senior PM: Customers who can't imagine life without you. Junior PM: how do I get there? Senior PM: Stop optimizing for vanity metrics. Junior PM: like what? Senior PM: Sign-ups. Page views. App downloads. Junior PM: those matter though. Senior PM: They matter for reporting. Not for building. Junior PM: what should I optimize for? Senior PM: Customer success. Not your success. Junior PM: isn't that the same thing? Senior PM: You measure your success in features shipped. Junior PM: that's my job. Senior PM: Your job is making customers successful. Junior PM: but I don't control customer success. Senior PM: You control whether the product helps them succeed. Junior PM: example? Senior PM: Stop measuring "time in app." Junior PM: why? Engagement is important. Senior PM: Engagement isn't the goal. Outcomes are. Junior PM: what's the difference? Senior PM: A customer spending 10 minutes versus 2 hours. Junior PM: more time sounds better. Senior PM: Not if they needed 2 minutes. Junior PM: oh. Senior PM: Great products make tasks EASIER, not longer. Junior PM: so less engagement can be better? Senior PM: If it means better outcomes, yes. Junior PM: this feels backwards. Senior PM: Only if you're optimizing for the wrong thing. Junior PM: which is? Senior PM: Internal metrics instead of customer value. Junior PM: but how do I know what customers value? Senior PM: Ask them. But not with surveys. Junior PM: then how? Senior PM: Watch what they DO. Not what they SAY. Junior PM: like analytics? Senior PM: Like behavior patterns. Support tickets. Churn reasons. Junior PM: we track churn reasons. Senior PM: What's the #1 reason? Junior PM: "Found a better solution." Senior PM: What does that tell you? Junior PM: ...we're not the best solution? Senior PM: You're A solution. Not THE solution. Junior PM: how do I become THE solution? Senior PM: Solve their problem better than anyone else. Junior PM: we have more features than competitors. Senior PM: Features aren't solutions. Outcomes are. Junior PM: I keep hearing this. Give me a concrete example. Senior PM: Customer says "I need better reporting." Junior PM: so we build better reports. Senior PM: Wrong. Ask WHY they need better reporting. Junior PM: to track performance? Senior PM: Keep digging. Why do they need to track performance? Junior PM: to... show their boss they're doing good work? Senior PM: Now you're getting somewhere. Junior PM: so the real problem is proving value to stakeholders? Senior PM: Exactly. The report is just a symptom. Junior PM: so what do we build? Senior PM: Something that makes them look good to their boss. Junior PM: that's very different from "better reporting." Senior PM: That's the difference between features and solutions. Junior PM: and this leads to PMF how? Senior PM: When you solve real problems, customers can't leave. Junior PM: because there's no alternative? Senior PM: Because the alternative is going back to the pain. Junior PM: and that's when they become evangelists? Senior PM: When you save them from pain, they tell everyone. Junior PM: so PMF is really about pain relief? Senior PM: PMF is about being essential. Not nice-to-have. Junior PM: how do I know if we're essential? Senior PM: Your customers would panic if you disappeared. Junior PM: that's a high bar. Senior PM: It's the only bar that matters. Junior PM: our leadership wants growth though. Senior PM: Without PMF, growth is just expensive customer acquisition. Junior PM: but investors love growth. Senior PM: They love SUSTAINABLE growth. Junior PM: what's the difference? Senior PM: Sustainable growth comes from word-of-mouth. Junior PM: we barely get word-of-mouth. Senior PM: Because you don't have PMF yet. Junior PM: so what do I do? Senior PM: Stop chasing new customers until you nail the ones you have. Junior PM: that sounds risky. Senior PM: You know what's riskier? Junior PM: what? Senior PM: Building a business on quicksand. Junior PM: meaning? Senior PM: Customers who don't really need you. Junior PM: but they're paying us. Senior PM: For now. Until someone better comes along. Junior PM: so PMF is my insurance policy? Senior PM: PMF is your only moat. Junior PM: I thought features were our moat. Senior PM: Features get copied. Customer love doesn't. Junior PM: how do I measure customer love? Senior PM: Net Promoter Score is a start. Junior PM: we have NPS. Senior PM: What's your score? Junior PM: 7.2. Senior PM: Industry benchmark? Junior PM: around 7. Senior PM: So you're slightly above average love. Junior PM: that's good, right? Senior PM: It's not evangelical love. Junior PM: what would evangelical love look like? Senior PM: NPS above 9. Organic growth above 40%. Junior PM: we're nowhere near that. Senior PM: Then you know where to focus. Junior PM: on existing customers instead of new ones? Senior PM: On making existing customers so happy they recruit new ones. Junior PM: that's a completely different strategy. Senior PM: It's the only strategy that scales. Junior PM: this feels like starting over. Senior PM: Better to start over now than fail later. Junior PM: but I'll miss my growth targets. Senior PM: You'll miss them anyway without PMF. Junior PM: why? Senior PM: Because retention will kill your unit economics. Junior PM: and with PMF? Senior PM: Your customers become your sales team. Junior PM: that sounds too good to be true. Senior PM: It's how every great product company grew. Junior PM: so PMF really is the only thing that matters? Senior PM: For a PM? It's literally your job. Junior PM: I thought my job was shipping features. Senior PM: Your job is achieving PMF. Everything else is just tactics.

Over-discussed: "use AI to vibe code an app/idea" Under-discussed: "ship a product that customers love [because it solves a persistent pain point, is delightful to use, and just works]" Without the latter outcome in mind, you're mostly wasting time with the former...

don't use int for primary keys, use bigint if your primary key is part of the url, make sure that you protect against enumeration attacks if you want to use uuids, use uuidv7 instead of uuidv4 for lexicographical sortability and millisecond randomness

These kids won't know

What is a "COE" at Amazon? It stands for "Correction of Errors", and most places call this a postmortem. Because of the scale of Amazon, reading these COEs was super educational (and interesting!). @ALEngineered was at Amazon for 17 years, and learned a ton from these:

I am getting SO tired of these posts from influencers: “We literally cloned an N billion-dollar company in 20 minutes with {vibe coding tool}. This changes the game forever.” No, you didn’t “clone” a billion-dollar business. You created a landing page similar to it. That’s all.