I’ve had more than 5 people now asking my advice for becoming a freelancer, and I’ve had the same answer. So just posting it here.

In his post Vibe engineering, Simon Willison gave a list of attributes for seasoned professionals working with AI while producing quality software. I feel the same qualities are essential when you're looking to hiring a software contractor or consultant.

10x goals are easier than 2x goals for many reasons. 10x goals are less competitive. 10x goals require you to focus on very few things rather than many, which improves your brain’s ability to focus—research shows that continual task switching makes flow and high performance basically impossible.50,51 10x goals promote non-linear approaches which produce novel, innovative, and competition-free solutions.

Cloudflare's 2025 Annual Founders' Letter gives a nice definition of the business model of the Internet.

Negotiation is a field of knowledge and endeavor that focuses on gaining the favor of people from whom we want things. It is the use of information and power to affect behavior within a “web of tension.” If you think about this broad definition, you’ll realize that you do, in fact, negotiate all the time both on your job and in your personal life.

Morningstar is a $10B investment research company offering mutual fund, ETF, and stock analysis, ratings, and data, along with portfolio tools. I recently listened to an interview with the founder, Joe Mansueto, and found it quiet amusing. Here's how the company was formed.

There are things that are within our power, and things that fall outside our power. Working within our sphere of control, we are naturally free, independent, and strong. Beyond that sphere, we are weak, limited, and dependent. Focus your attention only on what is truly your own concern. If you wish to have peace and contentment, release your attachment to all things outside your control.

You need less than you think. Less time, less money, less people, less of everything. David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried have built a multi-million dollar company (37signals) and know a thing or two about building and sustaining a profitable business without relying on external funding and doing more with less. Learn how.

The core insight of this book is that “being effective is a skill and it can be learned”. Here, I’ve collected some of the nuggets of wisdom from this timeless classic.

The thesis of this book is that there are many blocks to creativity, but there are active steps we can take to protect the creative process.

The main idea of this book is to get out of a red ocean of bloody competition and into a blue ocean of uncontested market space characterized by new demand and strong profitable growth.

This books contains Jon Bentley's essays from his column in Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery. It describes practical programming techniques and fundamental design principles. Here're my highlights from the book and passages that I found interesting.

This book is less about outdoor survival and more about life. Its lessons go far beyond the wilderness and help you not only survive, but thrive with the challenges that life throws at you. It’s really well-written. Make sure you read it before you go for your next adrenaline-filled adventure.

When you have an audience, everything changes. Instead of chasing opportunities, they come to you. Instead of proving your expertise, people already know what you're good at. Instead of starting from zero with each new project, you have thousands of people ready to support what you build next.

John McPhee shares his advice on the process of writing. I really liked this essay as it emphasizes the importance of re-writing. As with refactoring in programming, re-writing tremendously improves your writing. What follows is the author’s advice for his niece.

The essence of this book is that your product or service must be remarkable. It’s about the why, the what, and the how of remarkable.

Consulting is the art of influencing people at their request. It's always been a mysterious profession, at least to me. This book takes you behind the scenes, explaining why consulting seems so irrational. It also provides practical actions to make yourself more successful as a consultant.

This book is a guide to how 37signals (creators of Basecamp and HEY) does product development. It’s also a toolbox full of techniques that you can apply in your own way to your own process. Whether you’re a founder, CTO, product manager, designer, or developer, I'm sure you'll find valuable advice to manage your projects better.

Bell Labs, where Unix began, was a remarkable institution that produced many good ideas and capitalized on them. This book offers a fascinating history into how Unix was conceived, from an insider's perspective. Written by Brian Kernighan, author of The C Programming Language.

The book covers a broad range of topics from philosophy, spirituality, literature, psychology, and neuroscience for common ideas on fulfillment and happiness. It then investigates how easy or difficult it might be to apply such strategies in contemporary life, amplified by a culture of high expectations, conspicuous consumption, shallow partnerships, and perpetual youth.

Your marketing has to resonate with the listener, to tell them something they've been waiting to hear, something they're open to believing. It has to invite them on a journey where a change might happen. Then, if you've opened all those door, it has to solve the problem, to deliver on the promise. Effective marketing understands the customers' world view and desires to connect with them.

Although I have never read any of Stephen King's novels, I have heard about the man enough to respect him as a writer. So when I found out that he wrote a book on writing, I immediately bought a copy and read it over the weekend.

The classic text on writing. It offers practical, highly useful advice on improving your writing. Whether you're a professional writer or an amateur, this book will help you communicate more effectively and in a simple, concise way.

If you work on something a little bit every single day, you end up with something that is massive. One little blog post is nothing on its own, but publish a thousand blog posts over a decade, and it turns into something special.

The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.

Being known is not the same as being famous. It’s not about having millions of fans and red carpet appearances. Being known is about having the proper authority, reputation, and audience to realize your potential and achieve your goals … whatever they might be.

Sleep is the single most effective thing we can do to reset our brain and body health each day. I won't list the benefits of sleep. Instead, you need to know what a lack of sleep does to your body.

This book offers a different way to plan, write, test, and refine non-fiction books that are useful. Its central theme is this: Write a book so startlingly useful that readers can't stop talking about it. Write a book that can grow organically via reader recommendations for many years, without relying on either heavy marketing or a large author platform.

Demand-side selling is understanding what progress people want to make, and what they are willing to pay to make that progress. Our product or services are merely part of their solution.

Intuition is always right in at least two important ways: It is always in response to something, and it always has your best interest at heart. Your intuition sends you different signals: Fear, apprehension, suspicion, hesitation, doubt, gut feelings, hunches, and curiosity.

This books presents the fundamental ideas from physics and engineering in an accessible way. I found that a lot of its lessons apply equally to life, business, relationships, and many other fields.

A job is essentially the progress that a person is trying to make in a particular circumstance. When we buy a product, we essentially hire something to get a job done. Deeply understand your customers' struggle for progress and then create the right solution and experiences to ensure you solve their jobs well, every time.

These are my notes from Nassim Taleb's book Skin in the Game. Heuristics for bull**t identification and filtering, that is, the difference between theory and practice, fake and true expertise, and academia and the real world.

Start by making 100 videos, focusing on what you love rather than perfection, and you'll naturally improve along the way. Most YouTubers mistakenly prioritize algorithms, but true growth comes from honing your craft and building genuine audience trust. By your 101st video, you'll see just how far you've come, paving the way for meaningful connections and lasting success.

Navigating the client buying decision journey is about more than just showcasing your expertise. It's about building trust and being seen as a problem solver. Selling consulting and professional services is more about relationships, referrals, and reputation over traditional sales tactics. By understanding the buyer's journey and positioning yourself as a niche expert, you can connect with clients who respect and trust your ability to meet their needs.

REWORK is the perfect playbook for anyone who’s ever dreamed of doing it on their own. Entrepreneurs, small-business owners, and artists who don’t want to starve will all find valuable guidance in these pages.

You can be the entrepreneur, the manager, and the technician. All in one. You don't have to be an employee or have employees. You can be the one-person business that does and enjoys all three roles. You can enjoy being an entrepreneur, a manager, and a technician. If you plan accordingly, this can be a very satisfying and independent life, providing you with all the freedom and flexibility that you desire in your life.

Every brain is wired differently. Exercise improves brain health and cognition. We're designed to never stop learning and exploring. Memories are volatile. Sleep is connected to our ability to learn.

We often try to come up with solutions before taking the time to define the problem being solved. Even experienced solvers, when subjected to social pressure, yield to this demand for haste. As a result, many solutions are found, but not necessarily to the problem at hand.

Copywriting is a specific form of writing with the purpose of compelling the reader to take a specific action. No matter what you do, effective writing is a skill that everyone should learn. This book will teach you how to communicate clearly and write well so that people buy whatever it's that you're selling, be it a product, service, or a subscription.

Humans love good stories. This book is about effective marketing via storytelling. It explains the essential elements of a good story and relates them to your business, positioning your customers as heroes of their stories and your brand as a guide.

This book offers a simple framework for making investment decisions. It doesn't delve into maths, complex formulas, or guilt you into saving money on lattes. Instead, it focuses on simplicity, discipline, patience, prioritizing the long term, and sticking to the fundamentals.

Marketing is the strategy you use for getting your ideal target market to know you, like you, and trust you enough to become a customer. This book teaches the principles of effective marketing.

Our work culture's shift toward shallow work is exposing a massive economic and personal opportunity for the few who recognize the potential of resisting this trend and prioritizing depth.