On building of All Trades

A company is built on details, not frameworks. It is all the little things, the small touches of craft and culture, that determines that long-term success of an organization. A solo founder will be able to build a small product that is a manifestation of their taste. And, if it turns out that the opportunity is huge, they should probably hire... See more

It’s easy to be excited about what the company seems to do... to choose our path based on the public’s perception of the output. But once the company has more than one person in it, most of our day is about satisfying the customer, meeting supplier requirements and dancing with the tension of doing our jobs.

Often, we use the product we make as a... See more

in my role as a more traditional COO (which I also thoroughly enjoyed) I was touching on a large number of parts within Buffer. It also created a certain level of pressure, one that Joel described very well in this post. I felt the urge to try and “keep everything together” and within an arm’s reach so everything would go according to plan.

With... See more

I am ambitious. But in almost every other respect,

I am the opposite of the archetypal Silicon Valley entrepreneur.

I am allergic to bullshit, risk averse, introspective, have no interest in “going big or going home”

The actual measures of productivity that might be useful range quite a bit:

• I did enough to not get fired.


• I did enough to get promoted.


• I did enough to get hired by a better firm.


• I solved a problem for a customer who was frustrated.


• I changed the system and now my peers are far more productive.


• I invented something that creates new possibilities and

... See more

It offers flexibility and scalability for businesses. Companies can adjust their workforce easily, scaling up or down without long-term commitments. This approach also reduces the need for routine employee management tasks like performance reviews and social events.

Another key factor is cost efficiency – hiring freelancers can be more economical... See more

As an extension of this “don’t hire until it hurts” philosophy, Foster notes that Zapier was very hesitant in the early days to bring on anyone with management experience (even though the founding trio themselves didn’t have any). “Our first people managers were just me, my co-founders, and early employees that we promoted into those roles. We were... See more

Paul Graham said, “when people visit your startup, they should be surprised how few people you have.”

I aspire to live consciously, to follow my own inherent energy, to help other human beings, and to immerse myself fully in the present moment.