Patrick McKenzie

3 must-reads from Patio11

December 11, 2024

Welcome to the first edition of Web Worth Reading!

We’re excited to start with Patrick McKenzie - his writing has shaped the way programmers, entrepreneurs, and professionals think about careers, technology, and impact for decades.

BIO
Why should you know about Patrick McKenzie?

I’m not a programmer - the main audience McKenzie writes for - but his genius as a writer is clear. If you’re a programmer or work with programmers, he’s required reading but anyone can find value in his writing. 

He has written extensively on his own blog Kalzumeus, his newsletter Bits about Money, Twitter, and his podcast Complex Systems. He moved to Japan from the US after college and lived there for 20 years where he worked in Japanese companies before starting several of his own. He’s currently an advisor for Stripe. 

Known online as Patio11 - he’s a legend on HN and basically everywhere else. Probably your peers know him, you should too. 

Topics: Marketing, Programming, Careers, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Public Health

One of Patrick McKenzie’s (many) seminal works. Useful for anyone who has a job, or will have a job in the future (so, most people). 

“That makes your negotiation five very important minutes.You generally can’t do a totally bang up job on any five minutes of work this year and have your boss give you an extra $5,000.You can trivially pick up $5,000 in salary negotiations just by sucking less.”

Aimed (obviously) at young programmers, filled with ‘realpolitik’ and actionable advice. Lots of insight for non-programmers (and anyone working with programmers). 

“Once upon a time I would have described myself as “Slightly below average” in programming skill. I have since learned that I had a radically skewed impression of the skill distribution, that programming skill is not what people actually optimize for, and that modesty is against my interests.These days if you ask me how good of a programmer I am I will start telling you stories about how I have programmed systems which helped millions of kids learn to read or which probably made companies millions.The question of where I am on the bell curve matters to no one, so why bother worrying about it?”

A crazy story about the (serious) flaws of bureaucracy and politics in the US and a reminder that ‘normal’ people can still make a big impact - he calls it his proudest professional accomplishment to date. 

“Note that even the federal government, while being incomparably better resourced and having smarter experts than VaccinateCA, has constraints. We did not share some of them.”

BONUS
# Your First 60 Days (talk)

Patrick explores the in's and out's of the first 60 days of launching your startup and how to navigate the nascent stage of your business.

One of Patrick McKenzie’s famous lines (it’s in a lot of his own bio’s) is ‘I work for the Internet’ - well, the internet thanks you! 

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You’ve made it to the end, enjoy Patrick McKenzie’s writing & see you next week! 🙂