blakeburch

I'm shocked YouTube hasn't banned them or at least designed a way for creators to integrate a sponsor segment directly into their video from the YouTube platform, without having to add it to the final cut of the video. If this existed, creators could update the sponsor across all of their videos AND YouTube could get a cut of the revenue.

It seems like YouTube is leaving money on the table while simultaneously creating a worse experience for paying customers of YouTube premium.

I have a very different perspective on coding challenges. In my last role building a startup, I WAS the employer. The results of coding challenges and the conversation that followed were the most telling about a candidates technical and reasoning skills. I would genuinely never hire without them.

If you're not willing to do coding challenges, your ability to write code and reason about your decisions probably suffers as well. It's self-selection.

We told candidates to not take more than 2 hours on our challenge and we meant it. I tested the challenges myself from scratch to verify that it was possible in 2 hours. I still only consider myself a quasi-engineer, so if I can get it done in that timeframe, a full-time engineer using AI should surely be able to.

There's a few considerations that I believe make coding challenges as fair as possible:

- Make sure the challenge 100% relates to a real task they would do on the job. As an example, for our engineers who would be writing open-source Python ETL integrations, our test was to build a Python ETL integration to pull episode data from a IMDB api.

- Tell the candidate that it's ok to not clean or refactor the code. Meet the requirements of the task first. Your job in the interview process is to ask them what could be improved or why specific decisions were made.

- Don't have anyone perform a technical test until you've first invested a decent amount of time into them as the employer.

- Ask the candidate how long it took them. If a candidate takes longer than the allotted time, they're showing you that they'll overwork themselves and not follow instructions.

Precisely. I'd love that same level of virtualization but for calls.

I really like this idea, but not for the listed business use case. I don't imagine many people under 40 are likely to "hop on a quick call" to ask a question about a product that wouldn't already be handled by a standard customer support line.

As a privacy nut, I love the idea of giving people a way to contact me without having to explicitly reveal my contact info. With a service like this, you could embed the call URL on your website, business card, socials, etc. so that you could track which source generated the calls and rotate them as necessary.

Even better if I could control who can contact me at what times. I'm assuming those types of rules could be baked in with IP blocking.

See my Ask HN thread on a related subject - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41035513

Thanks for bringing that to my attention! The issue should be resolved.

That's what I get for being determined to design my own resume in Figma. I have a text only version as well, but I hate the idea of not having something crafted.

  Location: Austin, TX, USA
  Remote: Yes, preferred. Open to hybrid in Austin.
  Willing to relocate: No.
  Technologies: 
    - Data Storage: AWS S3, BigQuery, GCS, PostgreSQL, Redshift, Snowflake
    - DataOps: dbt (Cloud/Core), Fivetran, Hightouch, Looker Studio, Metabase, Tableau
    - AI: Anthropic, Cursor, Midjourney, Ollama, OpenAI, 
    - Programming: Bash, GitHub, HTML, CSS, Python, SQL
    - Product: Arcade, Betterstack, Hotjar, Intercom, Retool, Segment
    - Web & Design: Descript, Docusaurus, Figma, Ghost, Sanity.io, Webflow
  Résumé/CV: https://bburch.my/resume
  Email: agile.desk3846@fastmail.com

I'm a self-taught technologist and seasoned leader with 10+ years experience building high-performance teams focused on automation, analytics, and data-driven results. I excel at strategy, process improvement, and effective experimentation. I was previously co-founder of a DataOps tool, Shipyard, and before that I was the Head of Data at PMG Digital Agency.

It's most important for me to work for a mission-driven company that wants to scale with bold and innovative approaches. I want to sink my teeth into tough problems and learn new things.

I'll do my best work focused on data, AI, product, or operations. I can seamlessly adapt between IC or management roles. Smaller organizations with the ability to build something from the ground up is a big plus. Despite my background, I'd like to avoid working in the advertising space.

Really digging this idea.

I've spent plenty of time trying to dig into the network tab to automate requests to a website without an API. Cool to see the process streamlined with LLMs. Wishing you all the best of luck!

Yeah... New product looks fantastic, but finding your notes will still be a pain. You have to be diligently organized with folders and notebooks to find anything.

Great idea! Are there any other sites that do something similar, allowing you to share problems or unformed business ideas?

Fair points on potentially not knowing the outgoing number. I'll have to chew on that problem for a bit. Difficult, but I don't think unsolvable.

Either way, the solution I proposed is a non-ideal workaround to a better system of truly unique virtual numbers. But as you mentioned, spammers are still gonna spam numbers, whether they're virtual or not.

I think in the grand scheme, I'm ok with the potential of spam as long as no single person (besides the Telecom provider) ever has record of my actual number. If the real number leaks, it would make it easier to transfer the real number, since every existing number you've given out simply redirects to the new number.

Having my own extension system is interesting... I'll explore that avenue.

Minimal research says that even with restrictions on certain number combinations and area codes, there should be ~5 billion possible numbers, enough to make a virtual number system possible.

The thought process I had is that the numbers could have logic rules to rereoute to the right individual based on the number calling.

For example, let's say the centralized service has a virtual number of 123-456-7890. If someone with the number 444-444-4444 calls it, it routes to my actual number. If someone with the number 555-555-5555 calls it, it routes to someone else's number. If anyone else calls it, it just doesn't work. If I remove the number from my account, when 444-444-4444 calls it, it not longer works.

In my mind, this is similar to having a virtual card that rejects the transaction if it doesn't match a specific merchant/category. Since phone numbers are more limited, you'd have to have shared virtual numbers, whereas virtual cards are 100% unique.

For video games, I'll look at OpenCritic's "202X Hall of Fame" list on a monthly basis. If something new pops up that's well rated, I'll take a look at it. YouTubers like Razbuten or VideoGameDunkey also play a role in awareness. I enjoy 5-10 hour single player experiences that have a complete vision and try to do something novel. Games that fit the bill are typically those made by indie studios. My favorite genres are metroidvanias and games that have knowledge-based progression, although I still play plenty of platformers and puzzle games. Recent standouts in my mind are Neon White and Cocoon. Favorite games are Outer Wilds, Hollow Knight, and Celeste.

For board games, I'll look up BoardGameGeek's ranking list on a monthly basis. If something new pops up that's well rated, I'll take a look at it. YouTubers like "Shut Up and Sit Down" also help. I also go to weekly board game events and some yearly conventions which help increase exposure to games I'm unfamiliar with drastically. I prefer games that have minimal luck, lots of strategic options, and high levels of player interaction. Recent standouts are Darwin's Journey and Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory. Favorite games are Food Chain Magnate, Terra Mystica, and Pipeline.

There's so many ranking sites and YouTubers in both realms that I really don't have any struggles to find something new to play. If I want a suggestion, I'll just find a random "Top X" list and see if there's something I don't recognize. The struggle is finding the time to play and explore as much as I would like. However, I have blind spots for "underrated" games that may match my preferences but never get on my radar.

Hope that helps with the discovery you're trying to do! Happy to answer anything more specifically.

Thanks for the extra context! I was operating off of (faulty) memory with that statement.

You're 100% right that it's not necessarily a sign of being in a poor financial position and that's my bad for assuming as much.

From an outsider's perspective, it makes it seem as if the local events space is not necessarily a lucrative business to be in. If it was, it would likely stand on it's own independently. Instead, we see more tools integrate events as a feature of an existing community platform. I think that's where there's an opportunity, especially for smaller shops or solopreneurs.

I actively run both a professional and personal on Meetup for the past 1.5 years. I love seeing new options show up in the space, because I do believe the tools are ripe for disruption right now and the sites where people post their events are very fragmented. Kudos to you for taking a stab at it.

There's two things I'd love to know how you're thinking about:

1. Right now, the benefit of Meetup is natural discoverability. I can set and forget an event with no advertising and people will find it and show up. That's not true of any of the other event websites. This may be specific to the Austin community though.

For example, I've tried to post the professional data happy hour on LinkedIn events, Eventbrite, and Meetup. Meetup always drove >60% of the ~50 attendees.

I've been increasingly interested in Luma because they have the idea of a "Calendar" you can subscribe to which doesn't require the origin of the event to be on Luma itself. This allows it act as an event aggregator while still encouraging events to originate on Luma with notifications and reminders built in. See an example here: https://lu.ma/austin-tech-scene

How are you thinking about becoming a go-to resource for discoverability?

2. It's my understanding that despite the high cost to run Meetups, the company itself has never been in a good financial position. They've been bought and sold multiple times.

How do you plan to make money? Without a visible monetization model, my main concern switching to your platform would be the longevity of the platform and the risk of building up an audience there.

Seconding this. We've used them for a little over a year now for heartbeats + external status dashboard. Easy platform to set up and maintain. Decent pricing.

Funny enough, I just told my wife how unique I thought it was. It stands out. It's memorable.

I know I've read many of his posts over the last year because of that mustard yellow background. It's a strong branding choice.

Just tried the dental appointment example. Voice sounds great! But I found two issues with sharing: - I told it I wasn't available until next year. We confirmed a date. It said Feb 4th, next year. I asked it when next year was and it gave me the definition. On further prying, it told me the current year was 2022, so next year was 2023. For a scheduling use case, it should be date/availability/time zone aware. - At the end, it got into a loop saying "I apologize for the confusion. Let me double check your records...". After staying silent, it said "it looks like we've been disconnected". I said "no, I was waiting for you to check my records". The loop repeated. I eventually asked how long it would take to check my records and it told me "a few minutes" but still went through the "disconnected" message.

That's part of the reason I switched to Beautiful.ai almost 4 years ago.

I hate building slides. Their tooling makes the formatting look consistent and well laid out so I can just focus on putting down the content.

Not associated with them. Just think it's insane how much time gets spent formatting slides.

I recently switched to a flip phone in January as an experiment. My main goal was to eliminate my scrolling habits in any form of downtime, as I was becoming increasingly unhappy and noticed it was affecting my eyes negatively.

Most of the benefits came from the friction the device itself causes. The texting experience was terrible, so I texted less. The internet browser was laughable, so I just pulled out my laptop when I needed to look something up.

Did I enjoy the flip phone? Absolutely not. The experience was terrible. But I did learn some lessons.

It made me appreciate my smart phone for what it was - a computer in my pocket. The more I can think of it as a tool to use at my disposal, the less of a distraction the device itself becomes. By disabling notifications for every app, I essentially get the same experience as a flip phone. I browse the web through apps to do a specific activity when the need strikes. Other than that, it stays in my pocket (or more likely at home, in the couch cushion).

Plus, I also learned that I like the idea of memorizing directions more than using turn-by-turn nav. It makes me pay more attention to the roads and I gain a better familiarity with my area.

I would suggest something like [LunchMoney](https://lunchmoney.app/) instead. Built in budgeting, rules to classify payments, and recurring subscriptions are automatically found and called out.

I had a bunch of issues with Personal Capital connections continuously messing up and there's no way to classify and evaluate the purchases.

I think the conference format is in need of an overhaul. The only real value in their current state is networking and lead gen for vendors. Everything else is just "Blog Posts, LIVE!"

Remote sessions with small gatherings in major cities? Transition to a YouTube channel with consistent weekly live stream talks? A "tour of talks" with multiple city stops? Monthly themed topic events?

The existing format has become stale and ineffective. Would love to discuss alternatives with others.

Logistically, it may be optimal. But from my perspective, it creates suboptimal conference experiences.

Large crowds. Everything hotel/conference room smells like smoke (terrible for asthmatics). Lots of distractions that are especially bad for those with addictions.

If I'm at an event for work, I don't want those things. I want an event that keeps me focused and engaged with the material and the connections.

When a conference is held in Vegas, I know it's going to be more of a party than an educational experience, so I tend to write it off simply because of the location choice.

Raw thoughts on technology, the data ecosystem, automation and their overall impacts on society.

Need to be more consistent, as I'm sitting with a backlog of blog topics.

https://bytesdataaction.substack.com/

Are you able to share the main differences between yourselves and Userflow (https://userflow.com/)? Watching the video looked pretty similar.

>Their problem really is just with _this particular behavioral pattern of VC-raising startups whose software is open-core_, which is why they criticize "The Open Core Strategy". They are not against open-core in itself, just that it is incompatible with the profit incentives these companies have

100%. I want more people to figure out ways to make open source work with the business model. Typical open core tends to end up in a situation where you're serving two masters, but one pays you. Which one would you rather work for?

>it sounds like you either can't execute low code templates offline, or can't fork the project without recreating both the UI and the execution logic, both of which seem to violate the spirit of free software.

Must have been poorly worded then. Our low-code templates are just visual wrappers around Python CLIs that contain no proprietary platform logic. You don't need our UI to run them locally.

Just want to clarify - I do not think we have the solution to this problem nor do I claim that cloud services are not open source enough. Rather, I decided to take one (of many) possible avenues that I believe is more upfront and honest about our relationship with open source that directly aligns with our business incentives.

The difference to me is honesty and intent from the outset. Open core companies tend to lean into "we'll figure out how to monetize later" which inherently means it's harder to trust what they say now because their incentives are guaranteed to shift towards monetization eventually. The other models bake in monetization from the start, so you know what you're getting into when you start using the product.

Author here. Would love to hear what solutions you would suggest! I only mentioned those I'm aware of that I find admirable (which is not the same thing as them actually working).

Shipyard (https://www.shipyardapp.com) | Integration Engineer (Python), Growth Marketing Lead, Data Advocate | Full Time | REMOTE (US Only)

Shipyard is a data orchestration platform that helps teams ship data anywhere in minutes without requiring code. We've built the platform to allow teams to mix and match their own code + our low-code templates to build powerful data workflows that are rooted in engineering best practices. We believe that with the right tooling, any data practitioner can be a 10x engineer.

Our next big era is focused on dynamic content creation, integration expansion, 1-click deployment, and building data workflows with natural language + AI.

If you're passionate about the data ecosystem and building the best technology for data engineers and analytics engineers, we'd love to have you join our fast-growing remote team. We have the financial backing of a larger company and are continuing to grow rapidly. Our back-end technology stack is built on AWS/Docker/Terraform/Postgres/Redis/Go/Sanity with the front-end built in React.js/Redux/Ant Design. Our 100+ low-code templates are developed in Python.

We're currently looking for the following roles:

- Integration Engineer (Python) | Develop low-code, open-source templates that ingest and send data between other SaaS tools

- Growth Marketing Lead | Own SEO and content strategy and find unique ways to scale awareness

- Data Advocate | Build out use cases and content for data practitioners to learn from

If you're interested, apply directly through https://shipyard.breezy.hr/

This is the dirty secret of the industry. Companies hire data roles without knowing what to do with them.

It's not that data work is worthless. It's that most people aren't very good at trying to figure out how to tie data to actionable events that drive business value.

Bad news - It's not the business' fault - it's your fault. If you're a data practitioner and you feel this way about your job, learn the business and seek to find opportunities. If you just do the work you're told to do, you probably won't magically create value.

Good news - There's a lot of opportunity to help educate data practitioners how to think about data through the lens of business problems. I'm personally trying to tackle it through developing an online course.