Wrote down some reflections after 1 year at Anthropic (feels like a lifetime):
1) For each breakout success, it started as 1-2 people's side project. True for Claude Code, Cowork, MCP, Artifacts
2) Being AGI-pilled is a skill & you can get better at it
3) We humans adapt surprisingly well. SWEs today look very different than a year ago
4) Roles are somehow becoming both more manager-like (directing agents) and IC-like (everyone’s a builder)
5) Most people I know have had their roles change at least a few times over the past year, whether in name or practice
6) Fond memories of the colleague who used to set up a 1:1 with every new hire, as well as the one who would read every slack message in every channel. Neither are possible today… for humans at least
7) I’m surprised how I went from knowing almost no one here to now having a friend/colleague join every couple of weeks
8) Strategic thinking matters a lot at the AI labs
9) It’s worse to underestimate a technology’s potential than overestimate it
10) Initiatives in a company can go from super underresourced to overresourced in a short time, which you have to watch out for
11) “Antfooding” of products internally seemed silly at first, too insular. But I now see its merits for AI labs.
12) Writing culture is big at Anthropic, although I’m not sure how long that will last
13) Internal dissent is alive and healthy, and often make up the most lauded docs/slack posts
14) Work-life balance seems to have gotten worse across the company as we progress along the exponential
15) Being an IC with nothing on your calendar is still one of the most sought after roles
16) Take the stairs whenever possible
17) The weight of the technology we’re building is becoming more difficult to grapple with
1) For each breakout success, it started as 1-2 people's side project. True for Claude Code, Cowork, MCP, Artifacts
2) Being AGI-pilled is a skill & you can get better at it
3) We humans adapt surprisingly well. SWEs today look very different than a year ago
4) Roles are somehow becoming both more manager-like (directing agents) and IC-like (everyone’s a builder)
5) Most people I know have had their roles change at least a few times over the past year, whether in name or practice
6) Fond memories of the colleague who used to set up a 1:1 with every new hire, as well as the one who would read every slack message in every channel. Neither are possible today… for humans at least
7) I’m surprised how I went from knowing almost no one here to now having a friend/colleague join every couple of weeks
8) Strategic thinking matters a lot at the AI labs
9) It’s worse to underestimate a technology’s potential than overestimate it
10) Initiatives in a company can go from super underresourced to overresourced in a short time, which you have to watch out for
11) “Antfooding” of products internally seemed silly at first, too insular. But I now see its merits for AI labs.
12) Writing culture is big at Anthropic, although I’m not sure how long that will last
13) Internal dissent is alive and healthy, and often make up the most lauded docs/slack posts
14) Work-life balance seems to have gotten worse across the company as we progress along the exponential
15) Being an IC with nothing on your calendar is still one of the most sought after roles
16) Take the stairs whenever possible
17) The weight of the technology we’re building is becoming more difficult to grapple with
• • •
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