Pao Ramen
@paoramen.com
🍼 Stay at home dad.
🦄 Former founder and CTO at Factorial.
I craft products @ https://ramensoft.net:
☕️ https://fika.bar
🎩 https://handinger.com
🀄️ https://whatajong.com
🦄 Former founder and CTO at Factorial.
I craft products @ https://ramensoft.net:
☕️ https://fika.bar
🎩 https://handinger.com
🀄️ https://whatajong.com
I just wrote my most detailed article ever.
It breaks down the entire recruiting pipeline I used to hire 150+ engineers with a single recruiter.
From lead generation to closing: every step, tricks, questions, templates...
If you think hiring engineers is hard, read this!
It breaks down the entire recruiting pipeline I used to hire 150+ engineers with a single recruiter.
From lead generation to closing: every step, tricks, questions, templates...
If you think hiring engineers is hard, read this!
November 12, 2025 at 10:18 AM
I just wrote my most detailed article ever.
It breaks down the entire recruiting pipeline I used to hire 150+ engineers with a single recruiter.
From lead generation to closing: every step, tricks, questions, templates...
If you think hiring engineers is hard, read this!
It breaks down the entire recruiting pipeline I used to hire 150+ engineers with a single recruiter.
From lead generation to closing: every step, tricks, questions, templates...
If you think hiring engineers is hard, read this!
"Generative AI is so good, you can't tell anymore what images are real or not"
I present you, the 4x3 rubik cube.
I present you, the 4x3 rubik cube.
November 12, 2025 at 8:45 AM
"Generative AI is so good, you can't tell anymore what images are real or not"
I present you, the 4x3 rubik cube.
I present you, the 4x3 rubik cube.
I've assembled the weirdest founding team:
Two engineers and a growth hacker.
Why? Because in 2025, building products is cheap but attention is expensive.
So my hypothesis is that you need:
- one engineer building product
- one engineer building growth
- one person harnessing the attention markets
Two engineers and a growth hacker.
Why? Because in 2025, building products is cheap but attention is expensive.
So my hypothesis is that you need:
- one engineer building product
- one engineer building growth
- one person harnessing the attention markets
November 11, 2025 at 10:04 PM
I've assembled the weirdest founding team:
Two engineers and a growth hacker.
Why? Because in 2025, building products is cheap but attention is expensive.
So my hypothesis is that you need:
- one engineer building product
- one engineer building growth
- one person harnessing the attention markets
Two engineers and a growth hacker.
Why? Because in 2025, building products is cheap but attention is expensive.
So my hypothesis is that you need:
- one engineer building product
- one engineer building growth
- one person harnessing the attention markets
I want more human-written content on the Internet.
So bad that I hand-drew this entire animation, frame by frame, just to make you click on the damn button.
So bad that I hand-drew this entire animation, frame by frame, just to make you click on the damn button.
November 10, 2025 at 11:16 AM
I want more human-written content on the Internet.
So bad that I hand-drew this entire animation, frame by frame, just to make you click on the damn button.
So bad that I hand-drew this entire animation, frame by frame, just to make you click on the damn button.
In the last two years, the #1 thing people have asked me was how I hired at Factorial.
I've shared my playbook again and again, so I decided to write it once and for all.
It got… long. So I turned it into a 3-chapter series on Fika.
Enjoy!
paoramen.fika.bar/the-talent-m...
I've shared my playbook again and again, so I decided to write it once and for all.
It got… long. So I turned it into a 3-chapter series on Fika.
Enjoy!
paoramen.fika.bar/the-talent-m...
The Talent Machine
A predictable recruiting playbook for technical roles.
paoramen.fika.bar
November 6, 2025 at 4:05 PM
In the last two years, the #1 thing people have asked me was how I hired at Factorial.
I've shared my playbook again and again, so I decided to write it once and for all.
It got… long. So I turned it into a 3-chapter series on Fika.
Enjoy!
paoramen.fika.bar/the-talent-m...
I've shared my playbook again and again, so I decided to write it once and for all.
It got… long. So I turned it into a 3-chapter series on Fika.
Enjoy!
paoramen.fika.bar/the-talent-m...
I can vividly hear the conversation between the growth PM and the product designer:
"I don't care about your stupid padding. It's bigger, it converts more."
"I don't care about your stupid padding. It's bigger, it converts more."
October 28, 2025 at 8:43 AM
I can vividly hear the conversation between the growth PM and the product designer:
"I don't care about your stupid padding. It's bigger, it converts more."
"I don't care about your stupid padding. It's bigger, it converts more."
Webflow is frustratingly 5 features/bugs away from being perfect.
October 11, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Webflow is frustratingly 5 features/bugs away from being perfect.
LLMs are surprisingly bad at inventing new words.
You’d expect a model that’s digested all language to be great at branding.
But no, they spit out tongue-twisters and gibberish. Barkple, Ispuina... Terklo?
Maybe it’s tokenization (as always), or maybe it’s a side-effect of how they’re trained.
You’d expect a model that’s digested all language to be great at branding.
But no, they spit out tongue-twisters and gibberish. Barkple, Ispuina... Terklo?
Maybe it’s tokenization (as always), or maybe it’s a side-effect of how they’re trained.
October 9, 2025 at 5:26 PM
LLMs are surprisingly bad at inventing new words.
You’d expect a model that’s digested all language to be great at branding.
But no, they spit out tongue-twisters and gibberish. Barkple, Ispuina... Terklo?
Maybe it’s tokenization (as always), or maybe it’s a side-effect of how they’re trained.
You’d expect a model that’s digested all language to be great at branding.
But no, they spit out tongue-twisters and gibberish. Barkple, Ispuina... Terklo?
Maybe it’s tokenization (as always), or maybe it’s a side-effect of how they’re trained.
Earlier this year I dipped my toes into game design. It taught me a brutal truth:
Tutorials are the hardest design problem.
The best ones don’t explain: they let you play.
I’ve rebuilt Fika’s onboarding with the same principle:
No walkthroughs. No walls of text.
You learn by doing.
Tutorials are the hardest design problem.
The best ones don’t explain: they let you play.
I’ve rebuilt Fika’s onboarding with the same principle:
No walkthroughs. No walls of text.
You learn by doing.
September 23, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Earlier this year I dipped my toes into game design. It taught me a brutal truth:
Tutorials are the hardest design problem.
The best ones don’t explain: they let you play.
I’ve rebuilt Fika’s onboarding with the same principle:
No walkthroughs. No walls of text.
You learn by doing.
Tutorials are the hardest design problem.
The best ones don’t explain: they let you play.
I’ve rebuilt Fika’s onboarding with the same principle:
No walkthroughs. No walls of text.
You learn by doing.
The tech industry once revengefully belonged to nerds: kids bullied for being bad at sports but good at math. That’s changed. Now broccoli-haired weight lifters flood YC with AI startups. What’s left for the next generation of nerds?
September 16, 2025 at 3:51 PM
The tech industry once revengefully belonged to nerds: kids bullied for being bad at sports but good at math. That’s changed. Now broccoli-haired weight lifters flood YC with AI startups. What’s left for the next generation of nerds?
Fika doesn’t even have a logo.
I went digging for inspiration in old zines, risograph prints, tolkien's watercolors, pryca and the moomins. No relation among those items other than vibes.
Here are some of the ideas that came out. Anything worth exploring further?
I went digging for inspiration in old zines, risograph prints, tolkien's watercolors, pryca and the moomins. No relation among those items other than vibes.
Here are some of the ideas that came out. Anything worth exploring further?
September 15, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Fika doesn’t even have a logo.
I went digging for inspiration in old zines, risograph prints, tolkien's watercolors, pryca and the moomins. No relation among those items other than vibes.
Here are some of the ideas that came out. Anything worth exploring further?
I went digging for inspiration in old zines, risograph prints, tolkien's watercolors, pryca and the moomins. No relation among those items other than vibes.
Here are some of the ideas that came out. Anything worth exploring further?
What bothers me the most about 996 is how confusing it is.
The first two nines are very specific. It's not any 12 hours, is from 9am to 9pm. But then the 6 is super vague. What day am I supposed to rest? What if I come on Saturday and no one is there? Not clear.
Why not 12x6?
The first two nines are very specific. It's not any 12 hours, is from 9am to 9pm. But then the 6 is super vague. What day am I supposed to rest? What if I come on Saturday and no one is there? Not clear.
Why not 12x6?
September 13, 2025 at 7:33 AM
What bothers me the most about 996 is how confusing it is.
The first two nines are very specific. It's not any 12 hours, is from 9am to 9pm. But then the 6 is super vague. What day am I supposed to rest? What if I come on Saturday and no one is there? Not clear.
Why not 12x6?
The first two nines are very specific. It's not any 12 hours, is from 9am to 9pm. But then the 6 is super vague. What day am I supposed to rest? What if I come on Saturday and no one is there? Not clear.
Why not 12x6?
Interactive articles are awesome.
They turn abstract concepts into something you can see and play with.
That’s now possible on fika. Authors can drop in interactive Snippets directly in their posts. I used it to run a double pendulum… and Doom.
fika.bar/paoramen/can...
They turn abstract concepts into something you can see and play with.
That’s now possible on fika. Authors can drop in interactive Snippets directly in their posts. I used it to run a double pendulum… and Doom.
fika.bar/paoramen/can...
September 12, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Interactive articles are awesome.
They turn abstract concepts into something you can see and play with.
That’s now possible on fika. Authors can drop in interactive Snippets directly in their posts. I used it to run a double pendulum… and Doom.
fika.bar/paoramen/can...
They turn abstract concepts into something you can see and play with.
That’s now possible on fika. Authors can drop in interactive Snippets directly in their posts. I used it to run a double pendulum… and Doom.
fika.bar/paoramen/can...
RSL is a new standard that extends HTML, RSS, and HTTP to enforce licensing.
I argued in "AI is eating the internet" that the open web will collapse unless we find ways for creators to be compensated. Cloudflare’s pay-per-crawl was a patch. An open protocol is the real solution.
I argued in "AI is eating the internet" that the open web will collapse unless we find ways for creators to be compensated. Cloudflare’s pay-per-crawl was a patch. An open protocol is the real solution.
RSL
Really Simple Licensing
rslstandard.org
September 11, 2025 at 8:35 AM
RSL is a new standard that extends HTML, RSS, and HTTP to enforce licensing.
I argued in "AI is eating the internet" that the open web will collapse unless we find ways for creators to be compensated. Cloudflare’s pay-per-crawl was a patch. An open protocol is the real solution.
I argued in "AI is eating the internet" that the open web will collapse unless we find ways for creators to be compensated. Cloudflare’s pay-per-crawl was a patch. An open protocol is the real solution.
The new iPhone lineup feels like Pro = masculine, Air = feminine.
Are we quietly sliding back into gendered marketing?
Are we quietly sliding back into gendered marketing?
September 10, 2025 at 8:58 AM
The new iPhone lineup feels like Pro = masculine, Air = feminine.
Are we quietly sliding back into gendered marketing?
Are we quietly sliding back into gendered marketing?
I'm sorry Apple but no, you are not Teenage Engineering.
September 9, 2025 at 7:38 PM
I'm sorry Apple but no, you are not Teenage Engineering.
The next version of Fika will have interactive snippets!
This means that you will be able to create interactive articles with some dynamic blocks.
Why am I building this? Honestly, for myself. I'm writing an article about hiring, and I want to show how an org-chart simulator.
This means that you will be able to create interactive articles with some dynamic blocks.
Why am I building this? Honestly, for myself. I'm writing an article about hiring, and I want to show how an org-chart simulator.
September 9, 2025 at 12:40 PM
The next version of Fika will have interactive snippets!
This means that you will be able to create interactive articles with some dynamic blocks.
Why am I building this? Honestly, for myself. I'm writing an article about hiring, and I want to show how an org-chart simulator.
This means that you will be able to create interactive articles with some dynamic blocks.
Why am I building this? Honestly, for myself. I'm writing an article about hiring, and I want to show how an org-chart simulator.
Games are the best intelligence benchmarks (until we manage to quantify humor)
September 8, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Games are the best intelligence benchmarks (until we manage to quantify humor)
Search "Forrest Gump" in Google.
You are welcome!
You are welcome!
September 8, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Search "Forrest Gump" in Google.
You are welcome!
You are welcome!
Atlassian acquiring The browser company.
September 7, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Atlassian acquiring The browser company.
I suspect Google went with "don't be evil" because it is more understandable what "evil" looks like.
If they said "be good", that would raise a lot more questions.
If they said "be good", that would raise a lot more questions.
September 6, 2025 at 9:57 PM
I suspect Google went with "don't be evil" because it is more understandable what "evil" looks like.
If they said "be good", that would raise a lot more questions.
If they said "be good", that would raise a lot more questions.
AIconomics in a nutshell:
The last hour I sold $120 (I really did!)
A day has 24 h.
A year has 365 days.
$120 * 24h/d * 365d/year = $1.051.200/year
That's 1M ARR in one hour!!!
The last hour I sold $120 (I really did!)
A day has 24 h.
A year has 365 days.
$120 * 24h/d * 365d/year = $1.051.200/year
That's 1M ARR in one hour!!!
July 31, 2025 at 3:55 PM
AIconomics in a nutshell:
The last hour I sold $120 (I really did!)
A day has 24 h.
A year has 365 days.
$120 * 24h/d * 365d/year = $1.051.200/year
That's 1M ARR in one hour!!!
The last hour I sold $120 (I really did!)
A day has 24 h.
A year has 365 days.
$120 * 24h/d * 365d/year = $1.051.200/year
That's 1M ARR in one hour!!!
If you’re evaluating local-first, here’s my journey implementing search on that architecture: Postgres, Typesense, Orama, and how I landed on FlexSearch. A tale of frustrated dreams, utopian user experiences and calculated tradeoffs.
fika.bar/paoramen/loc...
fika.bar/paoramen/loc...
Local-first search
An exploration of tradeoffs and user experience
fika.bar
July 31, 2025 at 1:09 PM
If you’re evaluating local-first, here’s my journey implementing search on that architecture: Postgres, Typesense, Orama, and how I landed on FlexSearch. A tale of frustrated dreams, utopian user experiences and calculated tradeoffs.
fika.bar/paoramen/loc...
fika.bar/paoramen/loc...
Twitter/X is so useless for exposure nowadays.
My last article (fika.bar/paoramen/ai-...) had more than 10k views in total, from which only 134 came from Twitter.
Either you do video, and arguably there are better places to promote video, or you are wasting your time.
My last article (fika.bar/paoramen/ai-...) had more than 10k views in total, from which only 134 came from Twitter.
Either you do video, and arguably there are better places to promote video, or you are wasting your time.
AI is eating the Internet
An exploration of the Internet to come
fika.bar
July 31, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Twitter/X is so useless for exposure nowadays.
My last article (fika.bar/paoramen/ai-...) had more than 10k views in total, from which only 134 came from Twitter.
Either you do video, and arguably there are better places to promote video, or you are wasting your time.
My last article (fika.bar/paoramen/ai-...) had more than 10k views in total, from which only 134 came from Twitter.
Either you do video, and arguably there are better places to promote video, or you are wasting your time.
The last two decades of the Internet have been an age of abundance. Creators, advertisers, and consumers benefited from a balance of incentives and a mostly open web.
Now, with the rise of consumer AI, that balance is breaking. I explore what comes next in my latest essay.
fika.bar/paoramen/ai-...
Now, with the rise of consumer AI, that balance is breaking. I explore what comes next in my latest essay.
fika.bar/paoramen/ai-...
AI is eating the Internet
An exploration of the Internet to come
fika.bar
July 28, 2025 at 1:32 PM
The last two decades of the Internet have been an age of abundance. Creators, advertisers, and consumers benefited from a balance of incentives and a mostly open web.
Now, with the rise of consumer AI, that balance is breaking. I explore what comes next in my latest essay.
fika.bar/paoramen/ai-...
Now, with the rise of consumer AI, that balance is breaking. I explore what comes next in my latest essay.
fika.bar/paoramen/ai-...