Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going—and How You Fit In

💡A Brief Look Back at 2024

I restarted this newsletter in April this year. The goal was to write, learn, and bring a crew of interested readers along. It worked out well on all three goals.

Over the months, I tried to define the audience I attract here more clearly, but I think it's still fluid. You know, I didn’t set out with a classic product approach where I would define a topic and the audience. My main goal was to write about the things that I know are worth taking a deeper look at, but I also wanted to not worry about the outcome.

What does that mean? The outcome of growth, monetization, or being showered in Pulitzer Prizes did not matter. I wanted to write to you every week about a topic that mattered and would bring value and learning.

With a 38-week writing streak, 65.000+ words, and 30ish self-made stickman doodles later, we are still on target.

🕴️ So, who found me, and what topics interest my readers?

Based on what I’ve seen, we get three different content categories that crystalize.

1. Practical learning: I get very positive reactions when I present clear takeaways from my deep dives or step-by-step guides. I aim to keep this in mind for every post I write.

2. Career advancement: The posts about personal experiences and learnings, as well as resources to sharpen one's skills and think bigger about career and impact, kindled interesting conversations with some readers. People are looking for more frameworks and examples of success (and failure) to navigate their own careers. The core audience must be early to mid-career professionals in tech, product, design, and business strategy roles.

3. Staying ahead of trends: This is where all of us expect to find opportunities. We want to stay ahead of the curve in tech, product, and business — find that strategic edge.

Best posts of 2024

Based on impressions, reader feedback, and personal attachment.

🔎 Tech & Company Deep Dives

🎓 Career Advancement

📖 True Tech Tales

One surprise was the interest I got from the Blockchain community for the post about Bittensor. It was a topic that had little coverage, but it gained interest over time. It covers how Bittensor establishes a way for shared AI model development. It became one of the most traffic-generating posts from Search (SEO) and a link from a big Bitcoin publication.

🚀What’s coming in 2025

First and foremost, I’ll keep writing to you every week. Based on what I’ve learned, I’ll continue delivering deep dives into tech and strategy, sprinkled with career advice that helps you level up — whether you’re aiming for mid-level or executive roles. You can always count on practical takeaways to apply directly.

I’ll also be on the lookout for the next big things in tech, drawing from my years immersed in Silicon Valley’s ecosystem to ensure we stay ahead of the curve and at the forefront of innovation together.

It’s impossible to ignore how much AI shapes everything from product to business and engineering strategies. As such, you can expect that I will spend a good amount of time on these topics, as we did in the past.

I am working on an improved layout, and you might have noticed how it has evolved over time. A new logo and a slight style overhaul would be good goals for 2025.

I will launch a new survey to help you express what you like the most and what you want to read more about. However, please don’t hold back; reply to this email if you already have requests.