Buried in a cabinet in our bedroom, we have this CD and Cassette Player. We (almost) never use it. And it has a giant "MP3" on it, announcing an important feature? There is a parallel here for our moment as product people. Don't know what it is, but there is a parallel.

Books are expensive. They're expensive not in money, but in time. They're expensive in time devote to reading it. They're expensive not only in time, but in change. They're expensive in the change you'll need to make if you decide to learn what it's teaching you. Great books are worth the change.

🌲 Seattle, get your coffee ready. XO Ruby lands Aug 8, 2026 — single-day, single-track, $100, zero fluff. Skip the flights. 🎟️ xoruby.com/event/seattle/ #XORuby

People break their word, but you won't. People compromise themselves for profit, but you won't. People are led by their ego, but not you. Not you. Not us. So here's an algorithm for us to use when judging new opportunities. everyonewantsprogress.com/0129-the-per...

The Personal Algorithm

We decided to avoid being a hustler, a con. We’re not going to be dishonest. We’ll put in the work. We’ll sharpen our skills and create new ones. We’ll be stand-up people.

everyonewantsprogress.com

Recursive Trucker's Hitch xkcd.com/3276/

If speed of writing code isn’t the bottleneck, what is? I find my bottleneck with ReadWith is that I don’t have a preference, or strong enough opinions, on how features should be done. I got a sense, but it’s not ready yet. I got a first draft behind a feature flag, but I don’t know if I like it.

Remember when you were nine, and dreaming about the things you might do in your life? There are things you were always going to be doing, or at least trying to do, with your creative career. Your nine-year-old self can tell you what those are. everyonewantsprogress.com/0128-from-th...

From the Perspective of Nine

The middle of any transition is the most disorienting.You signed up for the challenges, but maybe not to their intensity. You signed up for the changes, but maybe not to their number.

everyonewantsprogress.com

Maybe you have too many books, too little time. Maybe you have too few books. Maybe you have the wrong books. Maybe this book will help you sort this all out: readwith.app/unread-books...

Unread Bookshelf — On The Books We Meant To Read

A short ebook to get back into reading the books you meant to read — PDF & EPUB, by Pascal Laliberté.

readwith.app

If you want to learn via books, you have two options: 1- A book that will be easy to chew, giving you the practical takeaways at every turn, so you can learn alone without too much interpretation effort. 2- A dense book, that needs mulling and the effort you put into interpretation will pay off.

I just saw a meme that said “get in losers, we’re reclaiming the emdash”. People. PEOPLE. Where are your STANDARDS? It CLEARLY should be “get in, losers — we’re reclaiming the em dash.”

Silicon Forest is such a good name

Flagrant@beflagrant.com · 2w ago

☕ XO Ruby hits Seattle Aug 8, 2026! A day of learning & connection where coffee culture meets Silicon Forest. $100, no travel needed. 🎟️ xoruby.com/event/seattle/ #XORuby

My friends: If you stopped watching The Bear, consider this a testimonial that Season 5 delivers. Such a good startup story.

Experiencing Substack's paywall experience just left me revolted: - Promising a free article - Requiring an app download - Creating a profile and choosing interests - Requiring a phone number. Skipped - Telling me I had a free article. Continue - Requiring the phone number again. Deleted the app

"Truth in silence", "Inactivity builds", "Skillful weirdness is underrated". I made a list of a few counterintuitive ideas to help with your creativity. It's not because these ideas are unpopular that they haven't been true, historically, for a long time. everyonewantsprogress.com/0127-counter...

Counterintuitive Ideas

It might be counterintuitive, but in times of great change, where new ideas speed by our online feeds, it’s a good idea to tune out.Tuning out, so you can tune into what else is counterintuitive, and ...

everyonewantsprogress.com

Going to microbrew a new line of beers for house owners: - Yard’s Ale - Porch Lite - Bidding War IPA (extra bitter)

Situation: There was a sixth person working behind the counter at the five guys

Colleen saying she is "100% mission-oriented", boy is that a double-edged sword huh. I got that too.

Michele Hansen@mjwhansen.com · 3w ago

New Software Social episode out! This is also our last episode for this season. Thanks to everyone for tuning back in—it’s been fun. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

I've been running two reading groups this summer, and one of them is with people of all ages. Interestingly, when I say that we'll be sharing reading notes in a common tool, in a couple occasions I got the following reaction: "Oh, there will be homework."

Hey devs, this talk by Nikky Southerland is worth your time. And also, cool thematic talk for a conference like Blast Off Rails. I mean, nice! www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q4J...

Blastoff Rails 2026 - Spaceships, Radiation Therapy, and Power Users by Nikky Southerland

YouTube video by Confreaks

youtube.com

April 1st is a day you should avoid listening to the internet. Every other day, you should avoid listening to owners who hold most of the benefits in this AI turn of events.

Had one of these exactly today. Thank you internet of providence.

kottke.org@kottke.org · 3w ago

TIL about Fredkin’s paradox. “With this kind of decision, what Fredkin’s paradox tells us is if it’s very difficult to decide, it’s probably because the alternatives are equivalent, and therefore it doesn’t matter which one you choose.” [undermanager.com]

Roses are red, Roses are blue, Depending on their velocity relative to you. #joke

Confusing times, confusing work. If you can delegate most of your work, then what parts of your job will you decide to keep to yourself? Good work lets you keep making your favourite decisions everyonewantsprogress.com/0126-favouri...

Favourite Decisions

It’s easy to mix up the parts of our work into a huge bundle. So let’s break things apart.There’s the output part, what we produce.There’s the scheduling part, how we divide your day.There’s the locat...

everyonewantsprogress.com

Many books are not great, especially in the “business” category. Still… for the truly great ones, the times ROI is 1000x -- the writer’s experience + time to distill it for you, vs the time it takes to read. Make time for the few great ones.

If… - your reading list is too long… - you've made promises to yourself to "read this book soon"… - you had too many failed reading projects… Then I hope you'll give this short book a try, which I wrote for you. Unread Bookshelf - On The Books We Meant To Read 👇

Looking back at these past couple years… Here are some products I have recommended to other devs, and friends: - Corey Haines’ books - And his Marketing Skills for agents - Cursor - Claude for the daily AI What have you been recommending?

"I can do this" makes a good intro. "I have done this" offers proof. You might get hired with these. But if you say "If, then I will", you're saying something different. You're connecting a pain to fix, to a promise that you will fix it. That's different. everyonewantsprogress.com/0125-if-then...

If, Then I Will

When you’re presenting yourself to someone new, presenting your skills, presenting your work, you’re hoping the other person will connect the dots, know who to recommend you to, spread the word.

everyonewantsprogress.com

Remember my dev friends… In this AI age, Wax on, wax off

There's occasionally still some worthwhile insights at the other place

Hey dev friends, I'm putting together a reading group for Corey Haines' Mental Models for Marketing It'll start next week and run over the next couple months. Calls every 2 weeks, with a platform to share reading notes. DM me if interested, please pass the word swipefiles.kit.com/products/men...

Mental Models For Marketing

swipefiles.kit.com