Notes on building
Writing on decentralization, working with AI, and the new kind of partnership engineers can build with the people and businesses around them.
What "AI native" and "closed loops" really mean
Two phrases are everywhere: AI native and closed loops. Here is what they actually mean, in plain words, with examples you have already lived, the feeds and filters you use every day. And why the closed loop, not the AI, is the part that compounds into a real moat.
Software engineers can act in the world now
AI made building software cheap. The real unlock is not faster code, it is the engineer stepping out as the reliable human layer between technology and the people who need it. How engineers can partner with businesses and guide non-technical builders, plus what a Product Software Engineer, a CTO, and a Forward Deployed Engineer actually are.
What Upwork costs both sides, and why we only charge once
The client pays a fee and the freelancer pays a fee, on the same contract, every year the work runs. And it costs a lump sum to take the relationship off-platform. I put real numbers on both sides over one to three years, and explain why we set the relationship up once and let you keep it.
Most FAANG engineers are useless in a startup environment. Here's why
In my experience they are trained for scale and process, not for shipping under constraint. As big tech sheds engineers and AI removes the cage that kept talent in, I am betting on a wave of startups led by engineers who can also do business. Plus the data on what actually happens to startups, and why big tech keeps buying them.
The forward deployed engineer
The forward deployed engineer got close to the real problem and owned the outcome. With AI making the build cheap, that instinct points somewhere new: an engineer who can own business outcomes directly, not just ship code.
The most decentralizing tool of our generation is a software engineer with AI
The cost of building real software has collapsed. Engineers who understand systems and can leverage AI are uniquely placed to partner with the businesses around them and reshape who the economy works for.