hang xu

"Why are you wearing a butt hole on your head?"

Went to an Anthropic event. Got nice swag. Wear nice swag.

Was just casually asked if I was sponsored by a butt hole.

Cat is still alive somewhere right? right?

I'm ready for my next therapy session

Altman paid $6.5bn to get documented proof that he received a hug from Jonny Ive.

Yes I would love the opportunity to make half as much money and work twice as hard.

so it's ok to use substack now?

thats how you know you've made it

"Disagree and commit" is just power dynamics manipulation.

Case in point: you never see someone with less power say this phrase and get someone with more power to commit to their idea. It's the same as "shut up and do as I say".

Why employees give it as "advice" on LI is beyond me.

so they don't riot in the streets and eat the rich.

Pretty soon hiring managers will require designers to pull up Figma during an interview for a live-design exercise to prove that their portfolio wasn't made by AI.

genuinely shocked that not all content designers are also content creators. they're virtually the same set of skills amirite??

it's truly the best compliment

Tech is always bragging about how it's "democratizing something", and it's never worked out well for anyone but the VCs. Mentorship democratized created 0 new jobs. Ride sharing democratized drove down driver earnings. Can't think of anything that tech truly democratized in meaningful/positive ways.

Designers and recruiters who talk about 'craft' and 'taste' don't actually know what these terms mean. They're just using it as a dog whistle to impress other designers and make them think that they're part of the 'in' crowd.

yes but higher Ed should be held to a higher standard than most for profit businesses. they are tax exempt and enjoy benefits that other businesses don't for example.

then they should stop talking about job placement rates and internships at tech companies. can't have it both ways, and dodge whatever's inconvenient.

Went to a designer event at Pratt Institute and it is unconscionable what design schools are doing. You can't charge ~$60,000 / YEAR for a degree that does not lead to a paying job. They're not even teaching hire-able skills. Nobody's hiring a Jr designer to just 'think' about design.

Designers who build and ship ‘high craft’ experiences with ‘exquisite taste' are now widely viewed as more experienced & better due conflation of employment rates & skill.

E.g.: a mediocre product designer makes more than most of the best graphic designers, but it doesn't mean they're 'better'.

that's what canva and figma slides are for!!!

why you no use canva or figma slides???

Getting a design job in a tough market is such an open ended problem, you can easily over invest in some weird area that does nothing but makes you feel like it's doing something.

I've done a ton of design exercises. I'm well aware of the power dynamics. I'm also hosting a live stream in 5 hours to make fun of design exercises so you're preaching to the choir here.

... for their 401k?

much credit to you, fillipos, filip gres, Ryan and Tommy G for making the impossible happen. nice to see accountability happen in this country for once.

Especially if they're public or owned by private equity... it's just a horrible spiral of layoffs and offshoring.

New business idea after looking at over a dozen unethical take-home design challenges: we do your design challenge for you, give you a presentation deck and talking points too. Only $500, you in?? JK, it's like $3k worth of work. Why are you doing it for free?

We're grieving with you. Some days are just tough. Please take care of yourself, too.