Top all-time · #1441
spakhm.com
Personal blog · spakhm.com/p · on HN as coffeemugprogrammingaiwriting
spakhm.com is a personal blog at spakhm.com about programming, ai and writing. Since 2020, 49 different Hacker News readers have linked it 64 times, most often “How to Get Promoted”. No feed was found, so read it on the site itself.
Too few sampled comments (9) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link spakhm.com essays on engineering management and careers, such as the parallel-tracks post, the bullshit-ratio essay, and posts on the Peter Principle and getting promoted, as relevant reading.
- Recommended for · 2 comments
- Called 'a great read on the role of managers' and 'another similarly interesting read'.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 9 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- How to Get Promoted13 people · 13 mentions · first linked 2020-12-10
- How I Read3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2020-11-13
- How to interview engineers (2020)3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2020-10-26
- Commit/Bullshit Ratio3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2024-04-01
- Surviving Disillusionment3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2020-10-26
- /p/parallel-tracks3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2020-10-28
- Thoughts on Claude Code2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2026-01-05
- Excerpts from Jony Ive2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2021-06-15
- Please Stop Paying Me2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2021-03-01
- AI Assisted Interviews2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2026-01-29
What Hacker News says?
> That means you have bad middle/upper management. Large tech companies have heard of the Peter Principle and don't promote this way; they have separate technical tracks. Relevant: https://www.spakhm.com/p/parallel-tracks "Why did all major software companies settle on parallel career tracks? To keep engineering managers from developing loyalty to engineers."
Comment linking /p/parallel-tracks
on “What I’ve Learned in 45 Years in the Software Industry”Submitted Surviving Disillusionment as a story · 308 points
HN discussionThis is a tech-focused selection from my personal list, with a few more business-y sources thrown in: - https://erikbern.com - https://lethain.com - https://commoncog.com - https://scattered-thoughts.net - https://danluu.com - https://ideolalia.com - https://staysaasy.com - https://collabfund.com - https://blog.nelhage.com - https://jacobian.org - https://equalventures.substack.com - https://defmacro.org - https://s…
Comment linking /
on “Some notes on influenceering”Submitted Headline Driven Development as a story · 208 points
HN discussionThis is the last essay by the same author. Same tone. I think he's serious about this: https://www.spakhm.com/bullshit-ratio
Comment linking /bullshit-ratio
on “Headline Driven Development”Submitted How to send progress updates as a story · 140 points
HN discussionA more cynical view on the parallel track: https://www.spakhm.com/p/parallel-tracks
Comment linking /p/parallel-tracks
on “Choosing the Management Track”Submitted A Mathematica interpreter in Typescript as a story · 121 points
HN discussionThis is a great read on the role of managers https://www.spakhm.com/p/parallel-tracks
Comment linking /p/parallel-tracks
on “What does my engineering manager do all day?”Submitted Decoding Leibniz Notation (2024) as a story · 47 points
HN discussionNode/V8 is insanely fast. I never quite realized exactly how fast until I worked on this: https://www.spakhm.com/ts-wolfram-bench . It's mindblowing how fast it is.
Comment linking /ts-wolfram-bench
on “Ink: React for interactive CLI apps”Submitted How to interview engineers (2020) as a story · 38 points
HN discussionLike others said, the good advice here is mixed in with not-so-good advice and maybe even bad advice. I think if he stated his confidence on each point, I can calibrate my trust better. Otherwise, my impression is the author has not questioned his learnings. For example, his other article, https://www.spakhm.com/bullshit-ratio , basically re-describes "cost/benefit" as "bullshit/commit", which could have worked for…
Comment linking /bullshit-ratio
on “How to send progress updates”Submitted Please Stop Paying Me as a story · 12 points
HN discussionHey, that's my project! I just wrote another post about perf benchmarking it against Mathematica proper-- https://www.spakhm.com/ts-wolfram-bench . Really surprised by the result, on the workload I tested Mathematica is only 2x faster than my barely optimized interpreter. A testament to the V8 engine, I didn't quite realize how ridiculously good V8 is until running this benchmark.
Comment linking /ts-wolfram-bench
on “A Mathematica interpreter in Typescript”Submitted Extending ts-Wolfram: dropping OOP, kernel/userspace interop, better printing as a story · 10 points
HN discussionYes, by far! The Gervais Principle is brilliant and after reading it a lot falls into place. It also corroborates with Slava's experience https://www.spakhm.com/p/how-to-get-promoted
Comment linking /p/how-to-get-promoted
on “The Peter Principle (1974) [video]”Submitted Against Xkcd 1357 (2020) as a story · 7 points
HN discussionThis is another similarly interesting read https://www.spakhm.com/p/how-to-get-promoted
Comment linking /p/how-to-get-promoted
on “Managing an underperformer who thinks they’re doing great”Submitted Productivity Advice as a story · 5 points
HN discussionMiddle management (above first line manager) in large organizations is hard to do well. I think it is difficult to understand if you have never done it, and it is even difficult to articulate why. I find it much much harder than working as an engineer or Eng Mgr. Fundamentally, I think it is an incentive and systematic issue: what is expected of middle managers, and incentivized, requires almost complete dedication…
Comment linking /p/how-to-get-promoted
on “Debate over 'fake work' in tech industry misses the real culprit: lazy managers”Submitted How to Get Promoted as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted An open letter to my friends with fuck you money as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Prefer Comedy over Tragedy as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted How to Interview Engineers as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Thoughts on Claude Code as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted How to Get Promoted as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted How to Get Promoted (2020) as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Prioritize Strengths as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted How to Get Promoted as a story · 3 points
HN discussion
