Robert Yi
@ryi.me
In a hole, building things.
Prev: co-founder hyperquery.ai (acq Deepnote, Khosla-backed), DS @ Airbnb + Wayfair, physics @ MIT + Harvard.
Prev: co-founder hyperquery.ai (acq Deepnote, Khosla-backed), DS @ Airbnb + Wayfair, physics @ MIT + Harvard.
Pinned
Hello Bluesky! 😁 I'm Robert, a founder, former data scientist, and physicist by training.
I like to think about two things: (1) data systems and (2) systems of mind (think.ryi.me). Follow me if you want to hear my ramblings on either. 🙂
I like to think about two things: (1) data systems and (2) systems of mind (think.ryi.me). Follow me if you want to hear my ramblings on either. 🙂
one of my favorite ways to read slowly as of late has been to read only until I find something to think about
it takes a lot less time to get something out of what you read. higher utility density per word, and you can make sure you don't miss anything
it takes a lot less time to get something out of what you read. higher utility density per word, and you can make sure you don't miss anything
April 11, 2025 at 2:32 PM
one of my favorite ways to read slowly as of late has been to read only until I find something to think about
it takes a lot less time to get something out of what you read. higher utility density per word, and you can make sure you don't miss anything
it takes a lot less time to get something out of what you read. higher utility density per word, and you can make sure you don't miss anything
the real problem with lack of sleep for me is not that my intelligence or energy are suboptimal.
it's that my ability to stay mindful plummets. I'm generally mindful for less of the day, and even when I am, I'm not able to muster as much awareness as I am when well-rested.
it's that my ability to stay mindful plummets. I'm generally mindful for less of the day, and even when I am, I'm not able to muster as much awareness as I am when well-rested.
April 7, 2025 at 3:36 PM
the real problem with lack of sleep for me is not that my intelligence or energy are suboptimal.
it's that my ability to stay mindful plummets. I'm generally mindful for less of the day, and even when I am, I'm not able to muster as much awareness as I am when well-rested.
it's that my ability to stay mindful plummets. I'm generally mindful for less of the day, and even when I am, I'm not able to muster as much awareness as I am when well-rested.
Hello everyone! Excited to share what we've been working on for the last few months: an open source framework for prompting LLMs for analytics.
Repo: github.com/oxy-hq/oxy
Read more here: www.oxy.tech/blog/introdu...
Repo: github.com/oxy-hq/oxy
Read more here: www.oxy.tech/blog/introdu...
GitHub - oxy-hq/oxy: The framework for agentic analytics.
The framework for agentic analytics. Contribute to oxy-hq/oxy development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
March 18, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Hello everyone! Excited to share what we've been working on for the last few months: an open source framework for prompting LLMs for analytics.
Repo: github.com/oxy-hq/oxy
Read more here: www.oxy.tech/blog/introdu...
Repo: github.com/oxy-hq/oxy
Read more here: www.oxy.tech/blog/introdu...
People will often tell you that building a company is about grit, about execution, about long hours and sacrifice. But I've been reflecting on this lately, and I think it's generally incorrect.
January 28, 2025 at 7:45 AM
People will often tell you that building a company is about grit, about execution, about long hours and sacrifice. But I've been reflecting on this lately, and I think it's generally incorrect.
does anyone know of any speed benchmark comparisons between duckdb and standard warehouses (e.g. bigquery / snowflake) execution times?
remember some floating around last year, but can't find them for the life of me
remember some floating around last year, but can't find them for the life of me
December 5, 2024 at 7:46 PM
does anyone know of any speed benchmark comparisons between duckdb and standard warehouses (e.g. bigquery / snowflake) execution times?
remember some floating around last year, but can't find them for the life of me
remember some floating around last year, but can't find them for the life of me
I nearly switched to iphone this year, but the one thing keeping me: Gemini + Kindle is an exceptional user experience. It has fundamentally changed how I read, particularly for esoterica
Tap hold bottom bar -> select confusing section -> get answer from Gemini
Tap hold bottom bar -> select confusing section -> get answer from Gemini
December 3, 2024 at 6:19 PM
I nearly switched to iphone this year, but the one thing keeping me: Gemini + Kindle is an exceptional user experience. It has fundamentally changed how I read, particularly for esoterica
Tap hold bottom bar -> select confusing section -> get answer from Gemini
Tap hold bottom bar -> select confusing section -> get answer from Gemini
Me: the worst analysts are zero value-add
Friend: no, the worst analysts are negative value-add
Anyone have any horror stories? Trying to figure out how bad a bad data team can actually be
Friend: no, the worst analysts are negative value-add
Anyone have any horror stories? Trying to figure out how bad a bad data team can actually be
December 3, 2024 at 12:07 AM
Me: the worst analysts are zero value-add
Friend: no, the worst analysts are negative value-add
Anyone have any horror stories? Trying to figure out how bad a bad data team can actually be
Friend: no, the worst analysts are negative value-add
Anyone have any horror stories? Trying to figure out how bad a bad data team can actually be
imagine if the real modern data stack was oracle all along
You can run complete small businesses on this
November 27, 2024 at 4:35 PM
imagine if the real modern data stack was oracle all along
Over the last few years, I've found that my greatest obstacle to doing anything is that I don't feel like doing it
Being mindful of that feeling has been a huge unlock in doing hard things for me.
Being mindful of that feeling has been a huge unlock in doing hard things for me.
November 27, 2024 at 3:36 PM
Over the last few years, I've found that my greatest obstacle to doing anything is that I don't feel like doing it
Being mindful of that feeling has been a huge unlock in doing hard things for me.
Being mindful of that feeling has been a huge unlock in doing hard things for me.
I'm starting to think that the data-driven movement of the late 2010s/early 2020s was a mistake #databs, esp where A/B tests became the principal measure of success. It's a surefire way to make teams focus on shots on goal, not finding asymmetric value
great for optimization, dangerous for culture
great for optimization, dangerous for culture
November 25, 2024 at 2:07 AM
I'm starting to think that the data-driven movement of the late 2010s/early 2020s was a mistake #databs, esp where A/B tests became the principal measure of success. It's a surefire way to make teams focus on shots on goal, not finding asymmetric value
great for optimization, dangerous for culture
great for optimization, dangerous for culture
the jump from cron to airflow always baffled me. why isn't there something lightweight that improves on cron, but isn't so heavy as an orchestrator? I just want retries tbh
cron is walking and orchestration is piloting a helicopter
cron is walking and orchestration is piloting a helicopter
Maybe cron *is* good enough
November 24, 2024 at 3:08 PM
the jump from cron to airflow always baffled me. why isn't there something lightweight that improves on cron, but isn't so heavy as an orchestrator? I just want retries tbh
cron is walking and orchestration is piloting a helicopter
cron is walking and orchestration is piloting a helicopter
Some things you have to experience firsthand - no amount of description or illustration will ever do them justice
A good reminder that words and even images are lossy representations of underlying concepts
A good reminder that words and even images are lossy representations of underlying concepts
November 22, 2024 at 10:44 PM
Some things you have to experience firsthand - no amount of description or illustration will ever do them justice
A good reminder that words and even images are lossy representations of underlying concepts
A good reminder that words and even images are lossy representations of underlying concepts
this is so helpful for anyone routinely switching btwn psql and more ergonomic warehouse dialects
... it also (partly) explains why I dislike writing postgres queries so much
... it also (partly) explains why I dislike writing postgres queries so much
November 22, 2024 at 3:12 PM
this is so helpful for anyone routinely switching btwn psql and more ergonomic warehouse dialects
... it also (partly) explains why I dislike writing postgres queries so much
... it also (partly) explains why I dislike writing postgres queries so much
There needs to be social media that is truly social, and [tentatively] bsky feels like it's captured that essence.
Traditional algorithms (and so the posts) are so formulaically virality-optimized, but really I just want to talk to thoughtful people.
Traditional algorithms (and so the posts) are so formulaically virality-optimized, but really I just want to talk to thoughtful people.
November 21, 2024 at 9:06 PM
There needs to be social media that is truly social, and [tentatively] bsky feels like it's captured that essence.
Traditional algorithms (and so the posts) are so formulaically virality-optimized, but really I just want to talk to thoughtful people.
Traditional algorithms (and so the posts) are so formulaically virality-optimized, but really I just want to talk to thoughtful people.
something I enjoy about bluesky is that there seem to be a lot less people with motive and more people just having conversations
November 21, 2024 at 4:43 PM
something I enjoy about bluesky is that there seem to be a lot less people with motive and more people just having conversations
Reposted by Robert Yi
Is there a world where data people make more decisions?
Esp as AI automates technical work, I wonder if giving an analyst context > giving a stakeholder raw access to a text-to-sql engine? We're strong thinkers, just missing context.
wdyt #databs @machsci.bsky.social @imightbemary.bsky.social
Esp as AI automates technical work, I wonder if giving an analyst context > giving a stakeholder raw access to a text-to-sql engine? We're strong thinkers, just missing context.
wdyt #databs @machsci.bsky.social @imightbemary.bsky.social
November 19, 2024 at 9:02 PM
Is there a world where data people make more decisions?
Esp as AI automates technical work, I wonder if giving an analyst context > giving a stakeholder raw access to a text-to-sql engine? We're strong thinkers, just missing context.
wdyt #databs @machsci.bsky.social @imightbemary.bsky.social
Esp as AI automates technical work, I wonder if giving an analyst context > giving a stakeholder raw access to a text-to-sql engine? We're strong thinkers, just missing context.
wdyt #databs @machsci.bsky.social @imightbemary.bsky.social
Is there a world where data people make more decisions?
Esp as AI automates technical work, I wonder if giving an analyst context > giving a stakeholder raw access to a text-to-sql engine? We're strong thinkers, just missing context.
wdyt #databs @machsci.bsky.social @imightbemary.bsky.social
Esp as AI automates technical work, I wonder if giving an analyst context > giving a stakeholder raw access to a text-to-sql engine? We're strong thinkers, just missing context.
wdyt #databs @machsci.bsky.social @imightbemary.bsky.social
November 19, 2024 at 9:02 PM
Is there a world where data people make more decisions?
Esp as AI automates technical work, I wonder if giving an analyst context > giving a stakeholder raw access to a text-to-sql engine? We're strong thinkers, just missing context.
wdyt #databs @machsci.bsky.social @imightbemary.bsky.social
Esp as AI automates technical work, I wonder if giving an analyst context > giving a stakeholder raw access to a text-to-sql engine? We're strong thinkers, just missing context.
wdyt #databs @machsci.bsky.social @imightbemary.bsky.social
Reposted by Robert Yi
👍 also, this dynamic creates serious problems
to some extent, ofc higher pay is a reasonable motivator as itll attract higher skill, but it can't make people care. you end up with an industry of mercenaries
to some extent, ofc higher pay is a reasonable motivator as itll attract higher skill, but it can't make people care. you end up with an industry of mercenaries
November 17, 2024 at 8:12 PM
👍 also, this dynamic creates serious problems
to some extent, ofc higher pay is a reasonable motivator as itll attract higher skill, but it can't make people care. you end up with an industry of mercenaries
to some extent, ofc higher pay is a reasonable motivator as itll attract higher skill, but it can't make people care. you end up with an industry of mercenaries
Katie is spot on here
data won't absolve you of personal responsibility when you can't make a decision
some folks take "data-driven" way too far
data won't absolve you of personal responsibility when you can't make a decision
some folks take "data-driven" way too far
I'm veering a little into armchair psychology in saying this, but I think another big factor is folks ending up in leadership roles without the requisite appetite for risk. When people don't feel comfortable with the risk inherent in some decisions, they retreat to lowercase data for answers
November 17, 2024 at 2:58 PM
Katie is spot on here
data won't absolve you of personal responsibility when you can't make a decision
some folks take "data-driven" way too far
data won't absolve you of personal responsibility when you can't make a decision
some folks take "data-driven" way too far