Writing

One spine, four threads: the neuroscience of building, the same science followed for its own sake, reported essays on power and money, and complete start-to-end investigations. Search it, or pick a thread below.

Real brain science decoded into the 0→1 product decisions builders actually make.

Brain Science01

Design the ending, not the average

Brain Science·6 min· Evergreen
Tech02

When you run out of connections, you don't run out slowly

Tech·6 min· Evergreen
Brain Science03

You get one "look here" every half second

Brain Science·6 min· Evergreen
Building04

Killing your favorite feature is the most senior thing you'll do

Building·5 min· Evergreen
Tech05

The better your AI gets, the harder the human's job becomes

Tech·6 min· Evergreen
Brain Science06

The first path you teach becomes the only one they see

Brain Science·6 min· Evergreen
Brain Science07

What you teach all at once, they forget all at once

Brain Science·6 min· Evergreen
Brain Science08

One unit is however big you make it

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science09

People spread evenly across whatever buckets you give them

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science10

Stop trusting what users say they'll do

Brain Science·6 min· Evergreen
Brain Science11

The caricature beats the photograph

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science12

Ninety out of a hundred beats nine out of ten

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science13

Warm water feels hot to a cold hand

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science14

Why showing the work beats the instant answer

Brain Science·6 min· Evergreen
Brain Science15

How long did the last one take?

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science16

The statistic that makes your testimonial worse

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Building17

"We'll add it later" is usually a no

Building·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science18

Your points system might be lowering engagement

Brain Science·6 min· Evergreen
Tech19

Exactly once is a story you tell yourself

Tech·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science20

Your users think they're finished changing. They're not.

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Growth21

The best referral makes the sender look good, not richer

Growth·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science22

The feature in focus always looks bigger than it is

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science23

The plan nobody buys is doing the selling

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science24

Paying hurts — so decide where to put the hurt

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science25

The name that's easier to say gets the benefit of the doubt

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Tech26

When the cache expires, everyone shows up at once

Tech·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science27

Your best testimonial looks better with company

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science28

Adding a feature can make your product look worth less

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Building29

Your About page is for the people who don't trust you yet

Building·6 min· Evergreen
Brain Science30

How much better before anyone notices

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science31

You love what you helped build — and so will they

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Tech32

You can't have all three when the network breaks

Tech·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science33

Don't make them remember what you could just show

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science34

The pretty version gets graded on a curve

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Growth35

The average user doesn't exist

Growth·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science36

The name your product is borrowing

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Tech37

A feature flag is a loan against your future simplicity.

Tech·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science38

One thing done conspicuously well makes the rest look better than it is.

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science39

The eye groups before it reads.

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science40

Unlock it, or don't lose it — the two ways to word the same nudge.

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science41

You've already come this far.

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science42

They decide you're legit before they read a word.

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science43

Make them do a little of the work

Brain Science·6 min· Evergreen
Growth44

The number gets better; the thing gets worse.

Growth·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science45

The reminder that works names a moment, not a task.

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science46

Scarce and urgent are not the same word.

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science47

The number you pre-fill is the number you'll get back.

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science48

Give them something before you ask for anything

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Tech49

You can't just change the table

Tech·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science50

Let them make the first move themselves

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science51

The badge that can never reach zero

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science52

A picture is worth a paragraph you'll never read

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science53

Build for the four-slot brain

Brain Science·6 min· Evergreen
Brain Science54

The red dot always wins the wrong fight

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Tech55

You can't fix what you can't ask

Tech·5 min· Evergreen
Tech56

Evals Are the Unit Tests of the AI Era

Tech·5 min
Brain Science57

The center of the row isn't neutral.

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science58

Your users can't tell which screen the feeling came from.

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Tech59

A queue is a loan, not a fix

Tech·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science60

How far away is what you're asking for?

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science61

The Magic Is in the Defaults Nobody Notices

Brain Science·4 min
Brain Science62

Don't think about losing your work

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science63

"Just Add a Setting" Is Where Products Go to Die

Brain Science·4 min
Brain Science64

Onboarding is a memory of a day that hasn't happened yet

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science65

The 'aha moment' is a real event in the brain — and you can't script it

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Tech66

Everything you cache is a bet that the world will hold still

Tech·5 min· Evergreen
Growth67

Distribution Is a Feature You Design, Not a Channel You Buy

Growth·5 min
Brain Science68

The smaller scoop that feels like more

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science69

Your users are quietly outsourcing their memory to you

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science70

The best loading screen tells you what's coming

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science71

The First Ten Minutes Decide the Next Ten Months

Brain Science·5 min
Growth72

Vanity Metrics Are Comfort Food

Growth·4 min
Building73

Scope is a moral choice, not a planning one

Building·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science74

Push them and they push back

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Building75

The Demo That Lies

Building·5 min
Brain Science76

The Monday effect: why a nudge lands better on a fresh start

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Tech77

Don't tear down the fence until you know why it's there

Tech·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science78

The small flaw that makes them trust you more

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Building79

Why "Talk to Users" Is the Advice Everyone Nods At and No One Follows

Building·5 min
Brain Science80

Give them a head start they didn't earn

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Tech81

Undo is the most underrated feature you can build

Tech·4 min· Evergreen
Tech82

Your architecture is your org chart

Tech·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science83

Latency is an emotion, not a number

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Building84

The riskiest assumption is the one nobody will say out loud

Building·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science85

Why 'free today' beats 'cheaper forever'

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science86

Your users won't notice you changed anything

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Growth87

Make the product do the marketing

Growth·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science88

The data your users made is worth more to them than it is to you

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science89

When you remove a feature, complaints spike before they settle — that's an extinction burst

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science90

Pull-to-refresh is a slot machine — build it on purpose, or don't build it

Brain Science·7 min· Evergreen
Growth91

Retention is the only growth that compounds

Growth·4 min· Evergreen
Building92

Your roadmap is a list of guesses wearing a suit

Building·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science93

Your interface should feel a little familiar before it earns the right to feel new

Brain Science·6 min· Evergreen
Brain Science94

A good empty state makes a promise, not an explanation

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science95

Big and close: the physics hiding in your primary button

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Building96

Ship the embarrassing version

Building·4 min· Evergreen
Tech97

Calibrated confidence: why AI products live or die on knowing when they don't know

Tech·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science98

The one button that shouldn't match the others

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science99

Your first ask should be almost insultingly small

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Brain Science100

Your interface should confirm a guess your user already made

Brain Science·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science101

The last step of your signup is where you put your easiest decision, not your hardest

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Tech102

Every abstraction leaks. The skill is choosing which leaks you'll live with.

Tech·6 min· Evergreen
Brain Science103

How many choices belong on an empty screen?

Brain Science·6 min· Evergreen
Brain Science104

What 'join 10,000 builders' actually does to a hesitant brain

Brain Science·6 min· Evergreen
Brain Science105

The half-finished thing your users can't stop thinking about

Brain Science·6 min· Evergreen
Brain Science106

The price you show first decides what 'expensive' means

Brain Science·6 min· Evergreen
Brain Science107

Onboarding is applied memory science — you're fighting the forgetting curve

Brain Science·6 min· Evergreen
Brain Science108

The feature you can't cut is the one your brain already owns

Brain Science·5 min· Evergreen
Tech109

Your stack is a liability, not an asset

Tech·6 min
Building110

The cold-start problem is a people problem

Building·6 min
Brain Science111

Dopamine Is a Bet, Not a Reward

Brain Science·3 min· Evergreen
Brain Science112

You Can't Make Every Moment Good. Engineer Two.

Brain Science·3 min· Evergreen
Building113

Most early products die of comfort, not competition

Building·4 min· Evergreen
Building114

Taste is a moat: why the best builders can't fully explain their decisions

Building·4 min· Evergreen
Brain Science115

Growth isn't a funnel. It's a feeling.

Brain Science·6 min