ch. 06 — now

Now

Updated when something changes, not on a schedule. The most honest page in the notebook.

p. last
last updated: this week. as always.

building

  • Bookswagon — Next.js migration + GraphQL Federation BFF
  • FlowForge — make a chat conversation portable across LLMs
  • this notebook itself — half product, half journal

reading

  • No Logo — Naomi Klein
  • Shoe Dog — Phil Knight
  • Bad Blood — John Carreyrou
  • Why Nations Fail — Acemoglu & Robinson
  • Factfulness — Hans Rosling
  • VP Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India
  • Tumhari Aukat Kya Hai — Piyush Mishra

learning

  • Product analytics and behavioral design
  • Recommendation systems
  • System design and service boundaries
  • AI-assisted development workflows
  • The gap between what users say and what users actually do

thinking about

  • Why some products quietly become part of someone's daily life while others are forgotten in a week
  • The difference between a notebook and a feed
  • What makes a tool feel kind
  • How much of "taste" is just paying closer attention than other people
currently struggling with

Finishing things.

Starting projects has never been difficult for me. While working on one project, I'll usually think of three more. The challenge isn't generating ideas. The challenge is deciding which ideas deserve my time.

one thing i'm deliberately not doing

Chasing every new framework on my timeline.

A few years ago I was obsessed with learning every new tool. Now I'm more interested in understanding the problem first. Most people think software needs to be big. I think software can be a tiny thing that removes a tiny annoyance.

what i'm trying to get better at

Building products that are not only useful, but finished. And becoming the kind of person who is enough for himself, while still leaving room for other people.

He didn't mind being alone. But sometimes, he couldn't sleep. He enjoyed solitude, as long as it wasn't excessive. He loved being alone, but not at the cost of nightmares.
— Piyush Mishra, Tumhari Aukat Kya Hai
this week
I keep noticing that the projects I love are the ones I'd work on even if no one ever saw them.
— reminder
this page is a promise: if something on it stops being true, change it.