But AI is improving the efficiency of building and selling at a much faster rate than it is impacting the “understand” part of the job. We’re already seeing PM to engineering ratios fall. AI tools are beginning to do a lot of front-line CX and marketing work, and it will move up the stack from there.

What it hasn’t done a good job replacing yet is... See more

The job of selling comes for most of us eventually.

Recruiting, managing, and working cross-functionally are all mostly about selling. You’re trying to convince people to take a job, stay in a job, or do something they might not otherwise.

That means that if you stay in almost any function long enough, you’re probably going to end up doing a lot of... See more

Some people like building beautiful products or designing efficient operations. Builders find joy in the act of creation - bringing something new or better into the world. But these roles usually come with a heavy logistics burden. There is just a lot of project management and complicated coordination between many stakeholders. When people first... See more

If you’re currently thinking about what path to take, I’d offer three meditations on this framework:

Ask yourself where you derive joy (and what you can put up with).

I began my startup journey in growth, but found myself constantly pulled toward roles in analysis, strategy, and investing. I realized it is because I love the “understand” part of the... See more

There are only three fundamental jobs at any company:

1. Building - creating the product or the company itself


2. Selling - getting more customers to use the product


3. Understanding - learning more about what to build or sell

They form three interlocking circles, and every function can be mapped somewhere within them: