Swizec Teller
@swizec.com
Best selling author of Scaling Fast: Software Engineering Through The Hockeystick
book ⏵ https://scalingfastbook.com
prev book ⏵ https://swizec.com/senior-mindset
blog ⏵ https://swizec.com
book ⏵ https://scalingfastbook.com
prev book ⏵ https://swizec.com/senior-mindset
blog ⏵ https://swizec.com
Pinned
Swizec Teller
@swizec.com
· Dec 8
hockeystick moments are the biggest opportunity of your career. It's exciting and kinda scary. Everything changes!
I wrote Scaling Fast: Software Engineering Through the Hockeystick as your guide. 16 years of startup experience condensed into 240 pages
scalingfastbook.com
I wrote Scaling Fast: Software Engineering Through the Hockeystick as your guide. 16 years of startup experience condensed into 240 pages
scalingfastbook.com
if you couldn’t be bothered writing it, why would I bother reading it?https://i.imgur.com/cgaoHIj.png
February 12, 2026 at 6:19 AM
if you couldn’t be bothered writing it, why would I bother reading it?https://i.imgur.com/cgaoHIj.png
Noticing a lot of people use AI tooling to essentially procrastinate while feeling super productive.
effective > efficient
effective > efficient
February 11, 2026 at 3:40 PM
Noticing a lot of people use AI tooling to essentially procrastinate while feeling super productive.
effective > efficient
effective > efficient
Do you feel more effective when your manager understands your work, has taste, asks great questions, and makes good decisions or when you have a talentless generic manager?
this is a post about vibe coding
this is a post about vibe coding
February 10, 2026 at 9:46 PM
Do you feel more effective when your manager understands your work, has taste, asks great questions, and makes good decisions or when you have a talentless generic manager?
this is a post about vibe coding
this is a post about vibe coding
Do you feel more effective when your manager understands your work, has taste, asks great questions, and makes good decisions or when you have a talentless generic manager?
this is a post about AI
this is a post about AI
February 10, 2026 at 8:59 PM
Do you feel more effective when your manager understands your work, has taste, asks great questions, and makes good decisions or when you have a talentless generic manager?
this is a post about AI
this is a post about AI
3 curves define a scalable startup
engineering's job is to make it so
You want users and revenue to grow exponentially.
Bugs per day to grow linearly.
Support work to grow logarithmically.
swizec.com/blog/the-3-c...
engineering's job is to make it so
You want users and revenue to grow exponentially.
Bugs per day to grow linearly.
Support work to grow logarithmically.
swizec.com/blog/the-3-c...
The 3 curves that make a scalable business | Swizec Teller
You want users and revenue to grow exponentially. Bugs per day to grow linearly. Support work to grow logarithmically. Your goal is to make this happen.
swizec.com
February 10, 2026 at 6:25 PM
3 curves define a scalable startup
engineering's job is to make it so
You want users and revenue to grow exponentially.
Bugs per day to grow linearly.
Support work to grow logarithmically.
swizec.com/blog/the-3-c...
engineering's job is to make it so
You want users and revenue to grow exponentially.
Bugs per day to grow linearly.
Support work to grow logarithmically.
swizec.com/blog/the-3-c...
Leadership: "AI is so good it writes almost all our code"
Status dashboard:
Status dashboard:
February 9, 2026 at 9:57 PM
Leadership: "AI is so good it writes almost all our code"
Status dashboard:
Status dashboard:
💡it's actually easier for large companies to adopt agentic coding because they already have the operational maturity to absorb a bunch of people flinging code at the problem
at scale 20,000 engineers is indistinguishable from an agent swarm
at scale 20,000 engineers is indistinguishable from an agent swarm
February 9, 2026 at 7:59 PM
💡it's actually easier for large companies to adopt agentic coding because they already have the operational maturity to absorb a bunch of people flinging code at the problem
at scale 20,000 engineers is indistinguishable from an agent swarm
at scale 20,000 engineers is indistinguishable from an agent swarm
RESTful for reads
RPCish for writes
RPCish for writes
February 9, 2026 at 7:53 PM
RESTful for reads
RPCish for writes
RPCish for writes
coding is all about the excitement of A NEW ERROR forever
means you’re making progress 😌
means you’re making progress 😌
February 8, 2026 at 9:46 PM
coding is all about the excitement of A NEW ERROR forever
means you’re making progress 😌
means you’re making progress 😌
I think my old achiles/hamstring injury is trying to come back. Time for new shoes
February 8, 2026 at 8:23 PM
I think my old achiles/hamstring injury is trying to come back. Time for new shoes
You have to force senior+ engineers to talk to customers.
Senior+ engineers are good at finding problems and then they’ll want to fix them.
You want those problems to be stuff customers care about not frameworks and refactoring bullshit
Senior+ engineers are good at finding problems and then they’ll want to fix them.
You want those problems to be stuff customers care about not frameworks and refactoring bullshit
February 7, 2026 at 6:30 PM
You have to force senior+ engineers to talk to customers.
Senior+ engineers are good at finding problems and then they’ll want to fix them.
You want those problems to be stuff customers care about not frameworks and refactoring bullshit
Senior+ engineers are good at finding problems and then they’ll want to fix them.
You want those problems to be stuff customers care about not frameworks and refactoring bullshit
"This code looks funny and confusing" is not tech debt
"Our data model no longer fits reality and we have to write hack upon hack to keep it working" is tech debt
"Our data model no longer fits reality and we have to write hack upon hack to keep it working" is tech debt
February 6, 2026 at 4:04 PM
"This code looks funny and confusing" is not tech debt
"Our data model no longer fits reality and we have to write hack upon hack to keep it working" is tech debt
"Our data model no longer fits reality and we have to write hack upon hack to keep it working" is tech debt
hey ma I’m making a proper audiobook
February 6, 2026 at 3:29 PM
hey ma I’m making a proper audiobook
Refactoring is not a task or a project.
it’s part of doing the work
KEEP YOUR STATION CLEAR
it’s part of doing the work
KEEP YOUR STATION CLEAR
February 5, 2026 at 8:36 PM
Refactoring is not a task or a project.
it’s part of doing the work
KEEP YOUR STATION CLEAR
it’s part of doing the work
KEEP YOUR STATION CLEAR
First time I tried Graphite a few years ago I didn't get. Tried again and love it. Stacked PRs are great when you have the right tooling
because how fast you code review is how fast you do everything
swizec.com/blog/in-prai...
because how fast you code review is how fast you do everything
swizec.com/blog/in-prai...
In praise of the stacked pull request | Swizec Teller
How fast you do code review is how fast you do everything. Your PR queue is the leading indicator of team velocity. Stacked PRs can help.
swizec.com
February 4, 2026 at 4:08 PM
First time I tried Graphite a few years ago I didn't get. Tried again and love it. Stacked PRs are great when you have the right tooling
because how fast you code review is how fast you do everything
swizec.com/blog/in-prai...
because how fast you code review is how fast you do everything
swizec.com/blog/in-prai...
OH: "Vibe coding is just giving a one-paragraph spec to the lowest bidding freelancer and never checking their work"
February 4, 2026 at 12:32 AM
OH: "Vibe coding is just giving a one-paragraph spec to the lowest bidding freelancer and never checking their work"
My policy for merging pull requests is simple:
we have your phone number
when you write code with AI, it's still your phone number
we have your phone number
when you write code with AI, it's still your phone number
February 3, 2026 at 6:18 PM
My policy for merging pull requests is simple:
we have your phone number
when you write code with AI, it's still your phone number
we have your phone number
when you write code with AI, it's still your phone number
you're a senior engineer when this makes you happy
February 2, 2026 at 6:16 PM
you're a senior engineer when this makes you happy
surprised to learn I actually enjoy starting my day with a 630am podcasting session
that’s what recording an audiobook is gonna be like right?
that’s what recording an audiobook is gonna be like right?
February 2, 2026 at 4:02 PM
surprised to learn I actually enjoy starting my day with a 630am podcasting session
that’s what recording an audiobook is gonna be like right?
that’s what recording an audiobook is gonna be like right?
Super short Sunday run today. Lots of walking. Feeling more sickly than I thought
February 1, 2026 at 7:38 PM
Super short Sunday run today. Lots of walking. Feeling more sickly than I thought
yay it’s google official 🥳
sure took a while (2 months)
sure took a while (2 months)
February 1, 2026 at 2:40 AM
yay it’s google official 🥳
sure took a while (2 months)
sure took a while (2 months)
Who are the Colin Chapmans and Andy Neweys of software engineering?
January 31, 2026 at 7:11 PM
Who are the Colin Chapmans and Andy Neweys of software engineering?
Reposted by Swizec Teller
2006: Less is more, don’t repeat yourself
2016: Beautiful code prevents technical debt
2026: trillions of lines of generated spaghetti code that generate other spaghetti code will save us
2016: Beautiful code prevents technical debt
2026: trillions of lines of generated spaghetti code that generate other spaghetti code will save us
January 30, 2026 at 2:38 AM
2006: Less is more, don’t repeat yourself
2016: Beautiful code prevents technical debt
2026: trillions of lines of generated spaghetti code that generate other spaghetti code will save us
2016: Beautiful code prevents technical debt
2026: trillions of lines of generated spaghetti code that generate other spaghetti code will save us
forget goat farms, when AI takes my job I'm going rallying
January 29, 2026 at 6:36 PM
forget goat farms, when AI takes my job I'm going rallying