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Marc Astbury

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The Middle Way Login to tech Twitter and you’ll see posts bragging about 40k LoC per day from an unnamed YC member...
2nd May 2026
1

The Middle Way

from Marc Astbury [alt+shift+b] in programming

2nd May 2026
Login to tech Twitter and you’ll see posts bragging about 40k LoC per day from an unnamed YC member 😛. There’s some hilarity to it, but the vibe shift is real. At Jenni, we’re shipping 3-5x faster than mid-2025. I perpetually have unread notifications in our #shipped channel....
The Design Process There’s a recurring take doing the rounds on socials. Thought leaders declaring that AI has killed...
4th Mar 2026
1

The Design Process

from Marc Astbury [alt+shift+b] in programming

4th Mar 2026
There’s a recurring take doing the rounds on socials. Thought leaders declaring that AI has killed the design process (e.g. Lenny’s podcast). I personally think they’re wrong. But more importantly, I think most people (including designers) don’t know what they mean when they say...
Notes on Deng Xiaoping When reading history it’s tempting to hold the question “is this person good or evil?” in mind. With...
22nd Feb 2026
1

Notes on Deng Xiaoping

from Marc Astbury [alt+shift+b] in programming

22nd Feb 2026
When reading history it’s tempting to hold the question “is this person good or evil?” in mind. With Franco, Mussolini, and Hitler the answer is clear. More often it is not. World leaders must make decisions where there are severe costs regardless of which path they choose....
Annual Review 2025 As was the case in 2023, I’m back in Yunnan writing the annual review. This time sitting in Matchbox...
2nd Jan 2026
1

Annual Review 2025

from Marc Astbury [alt+shift+b] in programming

2nd Jan 2026
As was the case in 2023, I’m back in Yunnan writing the annual review. This time sitting in Matchbox coffee shop in Shaxi, the sky is pure blue and the farmers fields below are a dusty yellow. My fingers are freezing as I type but the pain is negated by the joy of wearing a...
Folders are dead, long live folders Folders, in the digital sense, began life as an ingenious skeuomorphic metaphor. A digital stand-in...
3rd Nov 2025
1

Folders are dead, long live folders

from Marc Astbury [alt+shift+b] in programming

3rd Nov 2025
Folders, in the digital sense, began life as an ingenious skeuomorphic metaphor. A digital stand-in for physical folders and filing cabinets pioneered by Xerox and first seen in their Alto machine. The metaphor helped early computer users map the new digital world onto something...
More People, Less Progress: The Startup Scaling Paradox You go for a walk reflecting on how your startup is doing and you realize you’re moving slower with...
19th Oct 2025
1

More People, Less Progress: The Startup Scaling Paradox

from Marc Astbury [alt+shift+b] in programming

19th Oct 2025
You go for a walk reflecting on how your startup is doing and you realize you’re moving slower with 8 people than you were with 4. It makes no sense! You’ve hired smart people, you’ve written good documentation, you’re not burdening people with meetings. Yet somehow, adding more...
Tools ≠ skills A couple of years ago at Jenni we spent time breaking down retention strategies of software...
4th Aug 2025
1

Tools ≠ skills

from Marc Astbury [alt+shift+b] in programming

4th Aug 2025
A couple of years ago at Jenni we spent time breaking down retention strategies of software products. One pattern we found is where ability to use a tool becomes a synonym for the skill it supports (e.g. Photoshop/ Illustrator). The term we coined internally was ‘product as a...
The Fidelity Trap If you hang out on Twitter, you’ll realize that every designer, PM, and their dog are now...
3rd Jul 2025
1

The Fidelity Trap

from Marc Astbury [alt+shift+b] in programming

3rd Jul 2025
If you hang out on Twitter, you’ll realize that every designer, PM, and their dog are now engineers.  LLMs have dramatically reduced the barrier to building something and designers who’ve never been able to go beyond a spaghetti Figma prototype suddenly feel like Superman. But...
Context as the Moat To build a defensible, enduring business, it is essential to attract, convert, and retain users....
15th Jun 2025
1

Context as the Moat

from Marc Astbury [alt+shift+b] in programming

15th Jun 2025
To build a defensible, enduring business, it is essential to attract, convert, and retain users. Ideally, customer reliance on your product should deepen over time, making the cost of switching to a competitor prohibitively high. Consumer-facing AI companies are now grappling...
Osaka Team Retreat Recap We just wrapped up our offsite in Osaka, the first time we’ve held a retreat in a location where...
26th Apr 2025
36

Osaka Team Retreat Recap

from Marc Astbury [alt+shift+b] in programming

26th Apr 2025
We just wrapped up our offsite in Osaka, the first time we’ve held a retreat in a location where nobody on the team is a local. With our team now at ~10 people, gone are the days of just a handful of us meeting up and figuring out what to do on the fly. Ensuring […] The post...
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