Easy as A-B-C In my first job at Microsoft, I made it possible for Windows, Office, and other applications to put words from any language in alphabetical order. I know, you're thinking: That was a whole job? Any eight-year-old can put words in order! But at the time, Microsoft was expanding into languages that had never been encoded on computers before. Many of them didn't have traditional dictionaries and had no unified concept of alphabetical order. I'll never forget the weekend I spent in...
13 days ago • 3 min read
Like a broken clock that's right twice a day Last month, I wrote a nerd processor called Three things I was completely wrong about. In the piece, I shared three times that my guesses about data were absolutely wrong: #1: I was wrong about remote work #2: I was wrong about who says "I told you so" #3: I was wrong about small talk One thing I was right about, however, is that nerd processor readers would like reading about my mistakes. You shared the piece in record numbers. So for this week, I...
20 days ago • 3 min read
Spin the big wheel! Most of the time, when people recruit me for exec roles, they have a clear idea of the work they're asking me to consider. Over the last few months, I've had delightful conversations with companies looking for execs to lead AI transformation both in their products and in their internal operations. Many organizations are doing amazing work. But recently, I decided to explore one role in particular that was more nebulously defined. Let's play Job Roulette! Do not try this at...
27 days ago • 3 min read
Video killed the volleyball star Over the last year, I have recorded approximately eleventy zillion hours of my daughter playing volleyball. Do I know anything about volleyball? Not really! But my kid fell in love with the sport last year and has limitless enthusiasm for analyzing her game to see how she can improve. Cue the iPhone. You know who else has limitless enthusiasm for analyzing her game? ChatGPT. Unlike, say, me at age 15, my daughter loves getting feedback. She recently uploaded...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
You've gotta spend money to make money I don't know how many AI startups there are in the world, but I have looked at hundreds of them in the last 18 months. Let's assume I've seen only a small fraction of what actually exists, and the numbers get staggering quickly. I've written recently about why, despite quick early sales traction, it is pressingly difficult for AI companies to get renewals. I've also written about why most AI projects fail before they start. These are not especially...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Seattle vs. San Francisco As a long time Seattleite who has traveled to Silicon Valley a ton over the last decade, my trips always follow a predictable trajectory: Day 1Wow! It is like Stanford meets Disneyland here! Everyone is living in the future! This place is magical! Day 2I love the intensity. I am using my brain in stretchy ways, talking to smart people about interesting problems. (Also, my kids are in Seattle and I am only responsible for myself, so yes I can meet you for that 9pm...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Data story fails Over the last year, I have uncovered a lot of interesting data about how work works. For instance, who knew that a third of job candidates are straight-up ghosted after completing interview loops? (Everyone who has ever interviewed for a job, that's who.) I also discovered exactly how AI has absolutely destroyed my inbox, and that foundation models have statistical bias baked in. And lots more. Sometimes the data turns out to be exactly what I expected. Yay? I guess it's nice...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
How not to do operations [Setting: An exec team is meeting for their monthly metrics review. It is 4pm on a busy Thursday afternoon. Several people sit around a large oval conference room table. A few of them type rapidly at their laptops. The rest are rapt with attention, listening to the speaker.] CEO: So where are we with AI? [execs look at each other uncomfortably, 60 very long seconds of silence go by] CTO [sheepishly speaks up]: Well, we've got some great features in the pipeline! CEO:...
2 months ago • 2 min read
How the AI gold rush is going Last year, I wrote a popular piece about why it is hard to sell AI software. I discussed the AI gold rush dynamic, where AI companies initially find it easy to raise money but then much more difficult past Series A. In the situation I described, businesses didn't know how to buy AI tools yet, and for startups, competing with big incumbents was even harder than before. It's now one year later, and most organizations have figured out how to buy AI tools by now. As...
2 months ago • 4 min read