Nadeem Ahmed

Technology. History. Money. Sports. Books. Traveling.
I maintain my second brain here

[Nadeem Ahmed @itsnadeem85]

@atmoio Its not newly invented. Palantir introduced it long ago.

[Nadeem Ahmed @itsnadeem85]

@Kalshi - guys, come on. You cant be this sloppy when money is involved.

[Nadeem Ahmed @itsnadeem85]

@SahilBloom Slowing myself down in my thoughts, when reading a book, when doing biking, when running, when doing work tasks, in meetings. Delayed gratification requires practise as it doesn't come naturally. Anything that doesn't come naturally is boring but consistency brings momentum.

[Nadeem Ahmed @itsnadeem85]

I love vibe coding and 2 factor authentication.

[Nadeem Ahmed @itsnadeem85]

How to be an asshole but still believing that you are a polite person.

[Brian Armstrong @brian_armstrong]

This is an email I sent earlier today to all employees at Coinbase:

Team,

Today I’ve made the difficult decision to reduce the size of Coinbase by ~14%. I want to walk you through why we're doing this now, what it means for those affected, and how this positions us for the future.

Why now
Two forces are converging at the same time. We need to be front footed to respond to both.

First, the market. Coinbase is well-capitalized, has diversified revenue streams, and is well-positioned to weather any storm. Crypto is also on the verge of the next wave of adoption, with stablecoins, prediction markets, tokenization, and more taking off. However, our business is still volatile from quarter to quarter. While we've managed through that cyclicality many times before and come out stronger on the other side, we’re currently in a down market and need to adjust our cost structure now so that we emerge from this period leaner, faster, and more efficient for our next phase of growth.

Second, AI is changing how we work. Over the past year, I’ve watched engineers use AI to ship in days what used to take a team weeks. Non-technical teams are now shipping production code and many of our workflows are being automated. The pace of what's possible with a small, focused team has changed dramatically, and it's accelerating every day.

All of this has led us to an inflection point, not just for Coinbase, but for every company. The biggest risk now is not taking action. We are adjusting early and deliberately to rebuild Coinbase to be lean, fast, and AI-native. We need to return to the speed and focus of our startup founding, with AI at our core.

What this means
To get there, we are not just reducing headcount and cutting costs, we’re fundamentally changing how we operate: rebuilding Coinbase as an intelligence, with humans around the edge aligning it. What does this mean in practice?

- Fewer layers, faster decisions: We are flattening our org structure to 5 layers max below CEO/COO. Layers slow things down and create coordination tax. The future is small, high context teams that can move quickly. Leaders will own much more, with as many as 15+ direct reports. Fewer layers also means a leaner cost structure that is built to perform through all market cycles.

- No pure managers: Every leader at Coinbase must also be a strong and active individual contributor. Managers should be like player-coaches, getting their hands dirty alongside their teams.

- AI-native pods: We’ll be concentrating around AI-native talent who can manage fleets of agents to drive outsized impact. We’ll also be experimenting with reduced pod sizes, including “one person teams” with engineers, designers, and product managers all in one role.

In short: AI is bringing a profound shift in how companies operate, and we’re reshaping Coinbase to lead in this new era. This is a new way of working, and we need to leverage AI across every facet of our jobs.

To those who are affected
I know there are real people behind these decisions — talented colleagues who have poured themselves into this company and our mission. To those of you who will be leaving: thank you. You’ve helped build Coinbase into what it is today, and I am sincerely grateful for everything you've done.

All impacted team members will receive an email to their personal account in the next hour with more information, and an invitation to meet with an HRBP and a senior leader in your organization. Coinbase system access has been removed today. I know this feels sudden and harsh, but it is the only responsible choice given our duty to protect customer information.

To those affected, we will be providing a comprehensive package to support you through this transition. US employees will receive a minimum of 16 weeks base pay (plus 2 weeks per year worked), their next equity vest, and 6 months of COBRA. Employees on a work visa will get extra transition support. Those outside of the US will receive similar support, based on local factors and subject to any consultation requirements.

Coinbase prides itself on talent density. Our employees are among the most talented people in the world, and I have no doubt that your skills and experience will be highly sought after as you pursue your next chapters.

How we move forward
To the team that is staying, I know this is a difficult day. We’re saying goodbye to colleagues and friends you've been in the trenches with. But here’s what I want you to know as we move forward together:

Over the past 13 years, we have weathered four crypto winters, gone public, and built the most trusted platform in our industry. We’ve made it this far by making hard decisions and by always staying focused on our mission. This time will be no different – nothing has changed about the long term outlook of our company or industry. And most importantly, our mission has never been more important for the world. Increasing economic freedom requires a new financial system, and we’re building it.

The Coinbase that emerges from this will be more capable than ever to achieve our mission.

Brian

[Nadeem Ahmed @itsnadeem85]

On point

[kache @yacineMTB]

you can outsource your thinking
but you cannot outsource your understanding

[Nadeem Ahmed @itsnadeem85]

This is adidas win over Nike.

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

🇰🇪 🇬🇧 Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia ran the London Marathon in under two hours today (1:59:41) — and did not win. Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe ran in 1:59:30, becoming the first man to run a marathon in under two hours and setting a new world record — 65 seconds faster than the 2:00:35 mark set by fellow Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum in 2023.

Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo finished third in 2:00:28, also faster than the previous record.

Celebrations broke out in Nairobi, where residents praised the win. “I thank Sawe for making our country great,” one supporter told Drop Site’s Africa correspondent Godfrey Olukya.

In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa defended her title in 2:15:41, the fastest time ever in a women’s-only race.

Switzerland’s Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner won the wheelchair events.

[Nadeem Ahmed @itsnadeem85]

@thefarmersheep Dont care

[Nadeem Ahmed @itsnadeem85]

@Bouazizalex @DarioAmodei Some solid sense of humor here

[Nadeem Ahmed @itsnadeem85]

Why only developers loose their job, how about designers 😅

[Claude @claudeai]

Introducing Claude Design by Anthropic Labs: make prototypes, slides, and one-pagers by talking to Claude.

Powered by Claude Opus 4.7, our most capable vision model. Available in research preview on the Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans, rolling out throughout the day.

[Nadeem Ahmed @itsnadeem85]

Too much wisdom in a boring post.

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

Be boring in the right ways. Go to bed early. Wake up early. Eat simple foods. Save money. Exercise. Read old books. Avoid drama. Boring is seriously underrated.

[Nadeem Ahmed @itsnadeem85]

@SahilBloom Too much wisdom in a boring post.

[Nadeem Ahmed @itsnadeem85]

@HNadim87 That sentiment was mostly driven due to high living costs in Silicon Valley. But i agree, i dont see people talking about moving to Miami any more, i guess talent density in Silicon valley is hard to replicate anywhere in the world, even within US

[Nadeem Ahmed @itsnadeem85]

@garrytan @RickRubin Rick the OG.
The calmness on his face vs. the storm of thoughts in his mind, amazing contrast.

[Nadeem Ahmed @itsnadeem85]

@MIT_CSAIL Donald Knuth

[Nadeem Ahmed @itsnadeem85]

@one_miloo Whats up with the facade on the back side - that remains ugly.

[Nadeem Ahmed @itsnadeem85]

@AnjneyMidha @CS153Systems @andi_blatt @bfl_ml very insightful lecture. Thank you for sharing it.

[Nadeem Ahmed @itsnadeem85]

@ZSabri1 @tazeen Thank you @ZSabri1 for this explanation. Really appreciate it.

[Anjney Midha @AnjneyMidha]

Stanford @CS153Systems, Week 1 (Full Lecture)

AI Scaling, Bottlenecks, and Why Compute Isn't a Commodity Yet

00:00 Compute Coachella
00:29 Simple Life Heuristic
01:08 Uncertainty Creates Opportunity
01:42 Four Bottlenecks Framework
01:51 Empirical Proof Matters
02:05 Cloud Costs Are Shifting
02:15 Verifiable vs Fuzzy Progress
02:48 Scaling Predictability Explained
03:43 CapEx Explosion in Big Tech
04:06 Chips Aren’t Commodities
04:45 Compute Scarcity Conclusion