Better First Drafts: How to Build Apps Fast Without Infinite Iterations
True efficiency with AI tools isn't a hack. It’s a continuous practice of structured sprints, timeboxing, and leaning into the friction of a blank canvas.
Better First Drafts: How to Build Apps Fast Without Infinite Iterations
True efficiency with AI tools isn't a hack. It’s a continuous practice of structured sprints, timeboxing, and leaning into the friction of a blank canvas.
From Prompt to Party: How I Used AI to Spin Up a Rooftop Watch Party in Six Hours
The era of "disposable software" is here, and it’s changing how we build hyper-local communities.
From Prompt to Party: How I Used AI to Spin Up a Rooftop Watch Party in Six Hours
The era of "disposable software" is here, and it’s changing how we build hyper-local communities.
Winning and Losing: The Crucial Role of Fandom
How competitions give people a reason to care
Winning and Losing: The Crucial Role of Fandom
How competitions give people a reason to care
The Muppet Theory of Founder Mode
Why building a business requires rewiring your brain from "Order Muppet" to "Chaos Muppet" (and how to survive the transition)
The Muppet Theory of Founder Mode
Why building a business requires rewiring your brain from "Order Muppet" to "Chaos Muppet" (and how to survive the transition)
Daily Use Isn't Fluency: The High Cost of the AI Literacy Gap
Moving from "counting to ten" to architecting solutions: What teaching 2,000 people revealed about the gap between using AI and integrating with it
Daily Use Isn't Fluency: The High Cost of the AI Literacy Gap
Moving from "counting to ten" to architecting solutions: What teaching 2,000 people revealed about the gap between using AI and integrating with it
When IRL Isn’t the Real World
Last week, along with 15,000 other friends in web3, I attended #ETHDenver. Since I began working fractionally about two years ago almost exclusively in web3 businesses, this week-long series of mini-conferences loosely tied to building on Ethereum has become somewhat of an annual rite of passage. I attended close to 20 separate events, conferences, seminars, or happy hours. I met some of my newer colleagues for the first time, I reunited with some former colleagues, and I met as many new face...
When IRL Isn’t the Real World
Last week, along with 15,000 other friends in web3, I attended #ETHDenver. Since I began working fractionally about two years ago almost exclusively in web3 businesses, this week-long series of mini-conferences loosely tied to building on Ethereum has become somewhat of an annual rite of passage. I attended close to 20 separate events, conferences, seminars, or happy hours. I met some of my newer colleagues for the first time, I reunited with some former colleagues, and I met as many new face...
![Cover image for Frames [of Reference]](https://img.paragraph.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,width=3840,quality=85/https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/c1580e1c97581d543d02091251a8325a313944b2991b4cee2d8163f4bdfe349e.png)
Frames [of Reference]
What’s Your Frame?Later today I’m leading a workshop for a team on asking good questions, and we’ll be talking a lot about the frame of reference you uniquely use to critically understand something better. A point that I make in the workshop is that each of us carries a unique frame (of reference) – or lens – in which we take on new information and process it. It’s hard to give a workshop on how to ask questions without first recognizing that everyone may need to ask slightly different questi...
Frames [of Reference]
What’s Your Frame?Later today I’m leading a workshop for a team on asking good questions, and we’ll be talking a lot about the frame of reference you uniquely use to critically understand something better. A point that I make in the workshop is that each of us carries a unique frame (of reference) – or lens – in which we take on new information and process it. It’s hard to give a workshop on how to ask questions without first recognizing that everyone may need to ask slightly different questi...
Invisible Taxes: Coffee Runs & Open Source Communities
Photo credit: MidjourneyWhen it comes to taxing your regulars, context is everything.Recently I took on a new project with an open source developer community that’s exploring ways to commercialize their technology with additional services or product layers for the first time. In helping this technical team think through things like “utility taxes” or other service agreements, I’ve been thinking a lot about the hidden taxes that we pay without thinking, just to go about our day. Take credit ca...
Invisible Taxes: Coffee Runs & Open Source Communities
Photo credit: MidjourneyWhen it comes to taxing your regulars, context is everything.Recently I took on a new project with an open source developer community that’s exploring ways to commercialize their technology with additional services or product layers for the first time. In helping this technical team think through things like “utility taxes” or other service agreements, I’ve been thinking a lot about the hidden taxes that we pay without thinking, just to go about our day. Take credit ca...
Finding the Heartbeat
March 12. Nobody is sleeping.Everyone is refreshing the browsers on their phones every 60 seconds. “We must stop the contagion,” says everyone. “Yes, but how?” we ask meekly into the void. We take out extra cash. We invest in new resources. We panic call everyone we know, looking for answers. It’s not long before the blaming starts on social media. Someone circulates a petition. “Are you affected?” everyone wants to know. “No, thank god,” we whisper in response. But we’re scared. Because we k...
Finding the Heartbeat
March 12. Nobody is sleeping.Everyone is refreshing the browsers on their phones every 60 seconds. “We must stop the contagion,” says everyone. “Yes, but how?” we ask meekly into the void. We take out extra cash. We invest in new resources. We panic call everyone we know, looking for answers. It’s not long before the blaming starts on social media. Someone circulates a petition. “Are you affected?” everyone wants to know. “No, thank god,” we whisper in response. But we’re scared. Because we k...
Unattached: The Next Era of Knowledge Workers (part 3)
Part 3: How to Go FractionalThis is the final post of my three-part series, Unattached: The Next Era of Knowledge Workers. I recommend first reading part one (Making the Case for Fractional Work) and part two (Fractional Work in a Post-Pandemic Era). In this post, I’ll talk about the personal benefits of going fractional at work, and a few tips on getting started.The art of going fractional doesn’t have to rip your heart out. (Photo credit: Midjourney)One year after having my first child, I c...
Unattached: The Next Era of Knowledge Workers (part 3)
Part 3: How to Go FractionalThis is the final post of my three-part series, Unattached: The Next Era of Knowledge Workers. I recommend first reading part one (Making the Case for Fractional Work) and part two (Fractional Work in a Post-Pandemic Era). In this post, I’ll talk about the personal benefits of going fractional at work, and a few tips on getting started.The art of going fractional doesn’t have to rip your heart out. (Photo credit: Midjourney)One year after having my first child, I c...
