Recent content on Cam Hashemi
Software products face a fundamental tension between utility and privacy. Given two of software’s essential functions are data storage and processing, software companies tend to become more valuable as they collect more data. In an ideal world, this value translates directly to customer value. But in reality, each piece of data we share has a chance of being used against our best interests,…
I wonder: is there anything more predictive of success than being clever, brave, and persistent? Clever means we see opportunities.Brave means we go for them.Persistent means we don’t give up. Two Ain’t Enough “Brave and clever” tries good ideas but quits too early. They see good opportunities and are thrilled to get started, but as challenges naturally arise, they’re…
A couple years ago, my wife and I started a reading habit. Slowly but surely, we replaced watching Netflix and scanning our phones with reading before bed. My sleep has drastically improved, especially when reading fiction. I also love it as a way to “warm up” in the mornings, getting some sunlight and peace before my morning coffee and kindergarten routine. To share books that may…
In a debate asking “Is the American Dream Alive?”, economist Tyler Cowen argued “yes” with the following point: The American Dream, as measured through intergenerational mobility, has risen radically, numerically, as the number of immigrantswe’re taking in has increased. … This is the median household income for Bolivians, most Bolivians not coming from wealthy…
A group makes countless decisions over its lifetime. Each decision falls on a spectrum from democratic to autocratic. Some decisions are supremely autocratic, and others are purely democratic. Between these two extremes, there is a spectrum of consensus. As much as a dictator can be popular, a democracy can be tyrannical. Democracy is not inherently good as autocracy is not inherently bad. The…
Product-building is just not as easy as we think it is, both before and after it’s done. Before we start, it seems easier than it will be . Once we’re done, it seems easier than it was. Cognitive Biases Whenever we build something, we face constraints: We don’t know what problems to solve.And even if we knew that, we don’t know how to solve them.And even if we knew that , we…
Refactoring is like surgery. That’s not to say that clean refactors save lives. But messy refactors definitely hurt. A surgeon is economical with their cuts, and refactoring requires the same mindset. A naive surgeon takes a quick look at their patient and starts slicing away. They start with a big gash through the patient. They seek to cover as much ground as possible, as quickly as…
Real-world problems have an infinite number of solutions. These problems also have an infinite number of factors determining a solution’s quality. But each solution satisfies those factors in just one way. Over time, problems change, the measures of quality change, and the optional solution changes with them. Therefore, it’s more useful to understand a problem than any one solution.…
Teamwork is a dance between focus and coordination. Focus The fundamental unit of focus is action. If a perfectly focused individual is in “flow”, a perfectly focused team flows like a well-oiled machine. Teammates work perfectly in parallel to produce maximum efficiency on the whole. These teams are completely silent in their work, but extremely loud in their results. By contrast,…
We’re constantly asked to give estimations: How long will it take? How much will it cost? What time should we leave? How much do you want? Estimations are information about the unknown. We constantly use this information to make decisions: allocating resources, changing strategies, and choosing partners. But despite all this practice, we’re horrible at accurate estimations. Why…
Proposing solutions to problems is a critical part of knowledge work. The efficiency and effectiveness of our proposals are key measures of our success. It’s something I had to learn the hard way. By the end of my second year as a software engineer, I had only made one or two proposals to small problems assigned to me. As I got into my third year, I began proactively making proposals to open…
Defining Entropy Entropy is a measure of chaos, or disorder, in a system. My college physics professor described entropy using two shoe closets. Imagine a clean shoe closet, where all shoes are paired and sorted by color. The closet’s entropy is the total number of arrangements its shoes can have. A clean closet’s entropy is relatively small. There may be a few pairs of grey or blue shoes that can…