The Best Advice So Far

This is a collection of the most impactful advice I’ve read online. I’ve excluded anything I read in 2026 because it’s too early to tell whether it’s good advice. I’ve also trimmed this list down a lot to focus only on the most widely-applicable, highest-impact information. That said, all the usual caveats on advice still apply.

I recommend reading each linked article in its entirety. If you won’t, I’ve provided the most salient quote from each, along with an explanation of how I applied the advice to my life.

It Is Your Responsibility to Follow Up #

Unless you send a follow up, you’re not even trying. And they know it, so unless you follow up, they will probably just ignore you, correctly believing that you do not even want to talk to them so much.

Leaning into this is probably the single most important piece of advice I’ve ever received. I am good at self-advocating; when I was in kindergarten, I wrote a letter to my principal asking to skip a grade, and later that year, I got my wish. Despite that, I’m still frequently astounded at how much value there is in repeatedly — doggedly, unflinchingly — following up with people. Every time I think to myself, “but surely, this is past the line of acceptable behavior,” I end up finding out it’s not past the line, and I end up being rewarded.

Slack #

Definition: Slack. The absence of binding constraints on behavior.

Poor is the person without Slack. Lack of Slack compounds and traps.

The only way to take high-variance, high-reward bets (which are usually the most valuable) is if it’s okay when you lose. I never want to operate from a position of desperation or scarcity, and as a result, I’ve spent a large portion of my life repeatedly eliminating potential failure modes, giving myself the space to take increasingly large bets. Founding Silversight is the largest of those bets so far. Without the financial reserves and career capital I’ve fought to obtain, I never would’ve had enough slack to build a company.

What makes strong engineers strong? #

What is it about strong engineers that makes them able to do a much wider range of tasks? In order of importance, I think it’s self-belief, pragmatism, speed, and technical ability.

The baseline level of technical competence needed to excel as an engineer is astonishingly low compared to my naive expectations. Therefore, becoming a stronger engineer requires:

1. Believing I can succeed. Gaslighting myself, if necessary.
2. Biasing toward functional solutions. DTSTTCPW.
3. Working fast (often in short, intense bursts).

Salary Negotiation: Make More Money, Be More Valued #

The absolute worst outcome of negotiating an offer in good faith is that you will get exactly the contents of that offer. Let me say that again for emphasis: negotiating never makes (worthwhile) offers worse.

This article is framed around salary negotiation because that is the highest-leverage place to apply the information for most people, but really, it’s advice on negotiation in general. Negotiation happens all the time, often for reasons other than money. I should always ask for more, ideally from a position where I have both a strong BATNA and the ability to provide a lot in return.

Synthesis #

These ideas are very related. Having a lot of self-belief makes me more confident that it’s okay to follow up. Maintaining healthy levels of slack gives me a better negotiating position. Being a strong engineer lets me offer more, both in negotiations and when following up with people I think are cool. The whole is more than the sum of its parts.

In One Sentence #

Build yourself a support structure so you can do crazy things, then do crazy things with complete fearlessness.