Ribeye inflation index has a big print. New price $37.99/lb. 17% inflation annualized from October. 18.5% annualized since last June. 90% cumulative since 2020. 11.0% compounded annually over 6+ years. Same ribeye, same store. High rates? Don't care. Bitcoin is the only way out!
we're making @blocks smaller today. here's my note to the company.
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today we're making one of the hardest decisions in the history of our company: we're reducing our organization by nearly half, from over 10,000 people to just under 6,000. that means over 4,000 of you are being asked to leave or entering into consultation. i'll be straight about what's happening, why, and what it means for everyone.
first off, if you're one of the people affected, you'll receive your salary for 20 weeks + 1 week per year of tenure, equity vested through the end of may, 6 months of health care, your corporate devices, and $5,000 to put toward whatever you need to help you in this transition (if youβre outside the U.S. youβll receive similar support but exact details are going to vary based on local requirements). i want you to know that before anything else. everyone will be notified today, whether you're being asked to leave, entering consultation, or asked to stay.
we're not making this decision because we're in trouble. our business is strong. gross profit continues to grow, we continue to serve more and more customers, and profitability is improving. but something has changed. we're already seeing that the intelligence tools weβre creating and using, paired with smaller and flatter teams, are enabling a new way of working which fundamentally changes what it means to build and run a company. and that's accelerating rapidly.
i had two options: cut gradually over months or years as this shift plays out, or be honest about where we are and act on it now. i chose the latter. repeated rounds of cuts are destructive to morale, to focus, and to the trust that customers and shareholders place in our ability to lead. i'd rather take a hard, clear action now and build from a position we believe in than manage a slow reduction of people toward the same outcome. a smaller company also gives us the space to grow our business the right way, on our own terms, instead of constantly reacting to market pressures.
a decision at this scale carries risk. but so does standing still. we've done a full review to determine the roles and people we require to reliably grow the business from here, and we've pressure-tested those decisions from multiple angles. i accept that we may have gotten some of them wrong, and we've built in flexibility to account for that, and do the right thing for our customers.
we're not going to just disappear people from slack and email and pretend they were never here. communication channels will stay open through thursday evening (pacific) so everyone can say goodbye properly, and share whatever you wish. i'll also be hosting a live video session to thank everyone at 3:35pm pacific. i know doing it this way might feel awkward. i'd rather it feel awkward and human than efficient and cold.
to those of you leavingβ¦iβm grateful for you, and iβm sorry to put you through this. you built what this company is today. that's a fact that i'll honor forever. this decision is not a reflection of what you contributed. you will be a great contributor to any organization going forward.
to those stayingβ¦i made this decision, and i'll own it. what i'm asking of you is to build with me. we're going to build this company with intelligence at the core of everything we do. how we work, how we create, how we serve our customers. our customers will feel this shift too, and we're going to help them navigate it: towards a future where they can build their own features directly, composed of our capabilities and served through our interfaces. that's what i'm focused on now. expect a note from me tomorrow.
jack
Starting March 1, Steak n Shake will give all hourly employees at its company-operated restaurants a Bitcoin bonus of $0.21 for every hour worked.Β
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Employees will be able to collect their Bitcoin pay after a two-year vesting period. Thank you, @Fold_app, for the assist.
Β
We take care of our employees; they, in turn, take care of customers; and the results take care of themselves.
Fractional reserve banking = your money isnβt really there. And when it collapses? YOU bail it out through inflation and taxes.
Balance the budget. End the bailouts. Audit the Fed.
Last quarter I rolled out Microsoft Copilot to 4,000 employees.
$30 per seat per month.
$1.4 million annually.
I called it "digital transformation."
The board loved that phrase.
They approved it in eleven minutes.
No one asked what it would actually do.
Including me.
I told everyone it would "10x productivity."
That's not a real number.
But it sounds like one.
HR asked how we'd measure the 10x.
I said we'd "leverage analytics dashboards."
They stopped asking.
Three months later I checked the usage reports.
47 people had opened it.
12 had used it more than once.
One of them was me.
I used it to summarize an email I could have read in 30 seconds.
It took 45 seconds.
Plus the time it took to fix the hallucinations.
But I called it a "pilot success."
Success means the pilot didn't visibly fail.
The CFO asked about ROI.
I showed him a graph.
The graph went up and to the right.
It measured "AI enablement."
I made that metric up.
He nodded approvingly.
We're "AI-enabled" now.
I don't know what that means.
But it's in our investor deck.
A senior developer asked why we didn't use Claude or ChatGPT.
I said we needed "enterprise-grade security."
He asked what that meant.
I said "compliance."
He asked which compliance.
I said "all of them."
He looked skeptical.
I scheduled him for a "career development conversation."
He stopped asking questions.
Microsoft sent a case study team.
They wanted to feature us as a success story.
I told them we "saved 40,000 hours."
I calculated that number by multiplying employees by a number I made up.
They didn't verify it.
They never do.
Now we're on Microsoft's website.
"Global enterprise achieves 40,000 hours of productivity gains with Copilot."
The CEO shared it on LinkedIn.
He got 3,000 likes.
He's never used Copilot.
None of the executives have.
We have an exemption.
"Strategic focus requires minimal digital distraction."
I wrote that policy.
The licenses renew next month.
I'm requesting an expansion.
5,000 more seats.
We haven't used the first 4,000.
But this time we'll "drive adoption."
Adoption means mandatory training.
Training means a 45-minute webinar no one watches.
But completion will be tracked.
Completion is a metric.
Metrics go in dashboards.
Dashboards go in board presentations.
Board presentations get me promoted.
I'll be SVP by Q3.
I still don't know what Copilot does.
But I know what it's for.
It's for showing we're "investing in AI."
Investment means spending.
Spending means commitment.
Commitment means we're serious about the future.
The future is whatever I say it is.
As long as the graph goes up and to the right.
Hi to all Bitcoiners - itβs Fran here, posting from Halβs account. π
I want to express my appreciation to all of the individuals and organizations that have supported the #RunForHal conference run initiative, raising funds for the @youralsnetwork Hal Finney ALS Research Fund. The #RunForHal initiative runs started in May 2024 at @BTCPrague, with the support of @satoshilabs. Since then there have been several initiative runs: @TheBitcoinConf 2024 in Nashville and 2025 in Las Vegas πΊπΈ, @AustinBTCclub Spring Into Bitcoin in 2025 Austin πΊπΈ, @LuganoPlanB in 2024 and 2025 in Lugano π¨π, @SatsConf 2024 in Brazil π§π·, and @BTCPrague π¨πΏ again this year.
Special thanks to @Matyas44Cook, @kucharmartin_, @slush, @bitsmash, @TracyHoyosLopez, @GreenHillsPR, @gzanganeh, @satsconf_, @lucasdcf, @thebitcoinyogi, @drink_sote, @youralsnetwork, @BitcoinRunners, and all of the volunteer run leaders!
If youβre a conference organizer and would like to support or host a #RunForHal fundraising event, please get in touch with @youralsnetwork.
Coming soon: the annual Running Bitcoin Challenge starting Jan 10, 2026. A perfect opportunity to run bitcoin with us as we work toward finding a cure for ALS in Halβs memory. Follow @RunningBTC21k and sign up at https://t.co/fNklym5DvV!
Family Guy is hilarious... but I like the Cleveland
βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββShow more