RAD

Robert Allen Donahue, Product @ Atlassian

[The Random Recruiter @randomrecruiter]

This is what the average meeting at a Fortune 500 company sounds like.

[malinvestment.jpeg @malinvested]

Of course that's your contention. You're a first-time SaaS bear. You just got finished listening to some podcast, Dario on Dwarkesh, probably. Now you think it’s the end of white collar work and seat-based pricing is screwed. You're gonna be convinced of that til tomorrow when you get to “Something Big is Happening”. Then you’ll install ClawdBot on a Mac Mini, vibe code a dashboard on top of a postgres database and say we’re all just a couple ralph loops away from building a Salesforce competitor. That’s gonna last until next week when you discover context graphs, and then you're gonna be talking about how the systems of record will be disintermediated by an agentic layer and reposting OAI marketing graphics.

“Well, as a matter of fact, I won't, because ultimately the application layer is just ….”

The application layer is just business logic on top a CRUD database. You got that from Satya’s appearance on the BG2 pod, December 2024, right? Yeah, I saw that too. Were you gonna plagiarize the whole thing for us? Do you have any thoughts of your own on this matter? Or...is that your thing? You get into the replies of anyone posting a SaaS ticker. You watch some podcast and then pawn it off as your own idea just to impress some VCs and embarrass some anon who’s long SaaS? See the sad thing about a guy like you is in a couple years you're gonna start doing some thinking on your own and you're gonna come up with the fact that there are two certainties in life. One: don't do that. And two: you dropped thirty grand on Mac Minis and LLM API calls to come to the same conclusion you could’ve got for free by following a handful of VC accounts.

[fabian @fabianstelzer]

Documentary: non-technical founder discovers Claude Code

[intern @intern]

engineers watching the BD team use claude code

[Daniel Keller @dnlklr]

"Delta Force operators conducted rehearsals on a full-scale replica of the presidential compound, including the specific architectural features of Maduro’s residence at Fuerte Tiuna. The mock facility, constructed at a classified location likely within the United States, replicated not just the physical layout but the specific construction materials and hardening measures that were supposed to provide protection. The rehearsals focused on defeating physical hardening measures, specifically the steel-reinforced doors and safe rooms that were supposed to provide final refuge."

[Tony Roundtree @Tonywithyy]

Sent one email this morning and then took a 25 minute coffee break

[Ben Stevens @BenScottStevens]

Dads walking into the living room with the trash bag for wrapping paper on Christmas morning.

[Peter Girnus 🦅 @gothburz]

The company hired me to lead their "Agile Transformation."
I don't know what Agile means.
Nobody does.
That's why it works.

I make $425,000 a year.
To move sticky notes.
From left to right.
On a board.
The board is digital now.
The sticky notes cost $80,000 in Jira licenses.
Progress.

Day one, I said "we need to break down silos."
Everyone nodded.
Silos are bad.
I don't know why.
But destroying them is a career.
My career.

I introduced "squads."
Squads are teams.
But disrupted.
We disrupted the teams into teams.
Different names.
Same people.
Same problems.
But Agile problems now.
Agile problems are strategic.

A senior engineer asked what we're actually changing.
I said, "The mindset."
He asked what that means.
I said, "It's a journey."
He asked where we're going.
I said, "Toward agility."
He asked what agility means.
I pointed at the sticky notes.
They were moving left to right.
That's velocity.
We have velocity now.

The VP of Engineering said two-week sprints don't fit their work.
I said, "That's waterfall thinking."
Waterfall is bad.
Like silos.
I don't know what waterfall is.
But I know it's bad.
She stopped talking.
Waterfall accusations end conversations.

We had a retrospective.
In the retro, we discussed what went wrong.
Everything went wrong.
We put it on sticky notes.
Then we moved the sticky notes.
Into a column called "Parking Lot."
The Parking Lot is where problems go to die.
It's full.
We don't look at it.
That's agile.

Velocity is up 40%.
I defined velocity.
I also defined the points.
I also defined the stories.
We're crushing it.
At the things I made up.
To measure.
Ourselves.

The CEO asked for ROI.
I showed a chart.
The chart went up.
Charts should go up.
This one did.
I didn't label the Y-axis.
Nobody asked.
Leadership is confidence.

We do standups now.
Every day.
We stand.
For 45 minutes.
Standing is agile.
Sitting is waterfall.
My legs hurt.
But we're transforming.

The transformation is now "Phase 3."
Phase 1 was assessment.
Phase 2 was implementation.
Phase 3 is "continuous improvement."
Continuous means forever.
Forever means job security.
I'm very secure.

My contract was extended.
Three more years.
For "cultural impact."
The culture is confused.
But impacted.

Agile transformation isn't about being agile.
It's about transforming.
Continuously.
Toward more transformation.
The destination is the journey.
The journey is billable.

[RAD @raddy]

@pk_iv More like zero dark thirty

[Autism Capital 🧩 @AutismCapital]

"Barron. I'm in Japan. I understand now. Don't worry. We'll find your waifu."

[The Icahnist @TheIcahnist]

Terrifying Reality of 2025

Financial sponsor built a prototype in 2 weeks during diligence on an AI-healthcare company.

Prototype outperformed the target’s core product in clinician testing.

Deal killed.

[james hawkins @james406]

PARENTS: please check your kid's candy this halloween - i just found an 18-month enterprise salesforce contract with AI features and a $100k early breakup fee inside this snickers bar

[sophie @netcapgirl]

“see this dashboard? it gives executives actionable insights into critical business functions”

[UWANIMAL @UWANIMAL1]

I’m making this from my phone and I normally stick to Dawgs, but obligatory:

[Breitlings & Benellis @BarbourBurner]

>man, fuck sales I want to do consulting
>pivots into consulting
>it’s still just sales

It’s all just sales, gang.

[jordi @jordienr]

legendary infra dev pulling up to the office once every 3 years

[dax @thdxr]

my wife's water broke so she went to download an app to time her contractions

i grabbed her phone out of her hands "what are you doing! don't you realize we live in the age of personal software?"

we downloaded replit and vibe coded the perfect app with threejs and supabase

[Boring_Business @BoringBiz_]

Still think about this amazing video from the dotcom era

[Corporate Dudes @corporatedudes]

Me listening to the earnings call of a company I own 1 share in

[MLB @MLB]

OTD in 1998: Ken Griffey Jr. made an INCREDIBLE home run robbery!

27 years later and we are still speechless 😮