Blake Yoder

Writing

Essays on technology, leadership, and the human systems that make or break great teams.

December 4, 2025

Slop Might Save Your Startup

Speed is the only moat that matters—until it isn't.

In early-stage startups, shipping fast isn't just important—it's the only sustainable competitive advantage you have. AI is fundamentally altering the cost structure of technical debt.

November 28, 2025

What AI Won't Fix

Everyone's obsessing over what AI changes. The more interesting question: what doesn't it change at all?

Slop, side-quests, and skipped learning existed long before ChatGPT. AI is a lever that amplifies whatever force you apply—the question was never "Will AI write good code?" but "Will you?"

September 11, 2025

When AI Gets Your Types Wrong

A Pragmatic Solution

How I built a TypeScript definitions MCP server to help AI tools understand and mock complex types correctly, turning a testing frustration into a practical solution.

September 6, 2025

The Rise of Generalist Leaders

How Agentic Tools Are Reshaping Engineering Leadership

How agentic tools are democratizing technical capability and reshaping engineering leadership, creating organizations led by generalists who synthesize across domains.

What I'm thinking about

  • How do we maintain system understanding when AI writes more of our code? Hard-won insights came with well-fought battles, not just reading the code.
  • LLMs are like water—they dilute everything they touch. How do we create concentrated inputs? Dilute orange juice is gross. Dilute orange juice concentrate is good enough.
  • Building an autonomous business (or at least a business of one)?
  • How do we build differentiated products when the ability to build approaches zero?