Things I Believe

By Jared Wyce

Shipping fast beats the best strategy

• Speed is a superpower
• Create a bias toward shipping
• Small teams ship faster
• AI-native teams will move 10x faster than those not willing to change
• Landings > launches (i.e. product adoption > shipping code)
• Listen, build, ship, tell the customer, then repeat forever

You have no career ceiling

• Grit > talent
• Time in the saddle
• Get 1% better every day
• Stand on the shoulders of giants who have come before you
• Luck is the intersection of preparation and opportunity

Be ruthlessly truth seeking

• The truth can be painful
• You can just change your mind if wrong
• Have strong opinions, loosely held
• "Anecdata" > data
• Seek the collective truth, not just one opinion

Communication is the job

• Clear writing is clear thinking
• Leaders step up to provide clarity when absent
• The right tool makes hard things easy
• Misaligned expectations lead to sadness
• Understand unknown unknowns

Leadership means owning outcomes beyond the org chart

• Influence > titles
• Leaders have to do the work themselves and delegate
• You can write your own playbook
• Eat the fish, spit the bones
• Blessed are those who plant trees under whose shade they will never sit
• I'm not great at great at everything, but I'm great at surrounding myself with excellent people and that takes care of the rest

Work can also be your hobby

• This doesn’t mean you can’t have other hobbies
• Passion + boundaries > mythical "work-life balance"
• Your best work comes from following your curiosity

Demos > memos

• You could have built a prototype during the meeting
• Only ship things you're excited about yourself

Hiring is what separates good leaders from great

• There are two hiring answers: hell yes or no
• Growth potential > current skill
• Hire people you can learn from
• Favorite interview question: what work are you most proud of?

Always try to assume good intent

• Lead with empathy
• They might just be having a bad day
• Talk to people 1:1 first
• Always assume you are at fault first
• Criticism is good feedback if you listen unemotionally