Philosophy Mondays: Human-AI Collaboration
Today's Philosophy Monday is an important interlude. I want to reveal that I have not been writing the posts in this series entirely by myself. Instead I have been working with Claude, not just for the graphic illustrations, but also for the text. My method has been to write a rough draft and then ask Claude for improvement suggestions. I will expand this collaboration to other intelligences going forward, including open source models such as Llama and DeepSeek. I will also explore other moda...
Intent-based Collaboration Environments
AI Native IDEs for Code, Engineering, Science
Web3/Crypto: Why Bother?
One thing that keeps surprising me is how quite a few people see absolutely nothing redeeming in web3 (née crypto). Maybe this is their genuine belief. Maybe it is a reaction to the extreme boosterism of some proponents who present web3 as bringing about a libertarian nirvana. From early on I have tried to provide a more rounded perspective, pointing to both the good and the bad that can come from it as in my talks at the Blockstack Summits. Today, however, I want to attempt to provide a coge...
Philosophy Mondays: Human-AI Collaboration
Today's Philosophy Monday is an important interlude. I want to reveal that I have not been writing the posts in this series entirely by myself. Instead I have been working with Claude, not just for the graphic illustrations, but also for the text. My method has been to write a rough draft and then ask Claude for improvement suggestions. I will expand this collaboration to other intelligences going forward, including open source models such as Llama and DeepSeek. I will also explore other moda...
Intent-based Collaboration Environments
AI Native IDEs for Code, Engineering, Science
Web3/Crypto: Why Bother?
One thing that keeps surprising me is how quite a few people see absolutely nothing redeeming in web3 (née crypto). Maybe this is their genuine belief. Maybe it is a reaction to the extreme boosterism of some proponents who present web3 as bringing about a libertarian nirvana. From early on I have tried to provide a more rounded perspective, pointing to both the good and the bad that can come from it as in my talks at the Blockstack Summits. Today, however, I want to attempt to provide a coge...
>300 subscribers
>300 subscribers
Share Dialog
Share Dialog
Hiring is maybe the single hardest thing for any startup. Marc Andreesen has had a number of great posts about it. He covers interviewing in some depth, including the importance of planning out interview questions in advance. Something implied in Marc’s post but worth spelling out is the following – make sure to (1) have a decent number of candidates, (2) schedule interviews close together and (3) use at least some fixed set of interview questions with each candidate. Leave out any one of these three and you dramatically reduce your ability to actually compare candidates.
It is also important to ask the right kind of question. It’s ok to ask some hypothetical questions, starting with “how would you …”, but it’s crucial to ask some questions that start with “how did you …" Only if you ask the latter will you be able to tell bullshitters apart from real deal. Lots of people know what they should do and can give the right answer to a hypothetical situation, but it’s a lot more difficult to fake answers about work actually done. This is especially true if you have several people interview the candidate and drill in on the same aspect of a candidate’s resume from slightly different angles. The answers given here will also provide you with great material for reference calls.
Hiring is maybe the single hardest thing for any startup. Marc Andreesen has had a number of great posts about it. He covers interviewing in some depth, including the importance of planning out interview questions in advance. Something implied in Marc’s post but worth spelling out is the following – make sure to (1) have a decent number of candidates, (2) schedule interviews close together and (3) use at least some fixed set of interview questions with each candidate. Leave out any one of these three and you dramatically reduce your ability to actually compare candidates.
It is also important to ask the right kind of question. It’s ok to ask some hypothetical questions, starting with “how would you …”, but it’s crucial to ask some questions that start with “how did you …" Only if you ask the latter will you be able to tell bullshitters apart from real deal. Lots of people know what they should do and can give the right answer to a hypothetical situation, but it’s a lot more difficult to fake answers about work actually done. This is especially true if you have several people interview the candidate and drill in on the same aspect of a candidate’s resume from slightly different angles. The answers given here will also provide you with great material for reference calls.
No comments yet