The hottest Efficiency Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Business Topics

📝 Guest Post: LoRA Land: 25 Fine-Tuned Mistral-7b LLMs that Rival or Outperform GPT-4

TheSequence • 413 implied HN points • 23 Feb 24
🕹 Technology AI Fine-tuning Models Efficiency Infrastructure
  1. Efficient fine-tuning with specialized models like Mistral-7b LLMs can outperform leading commercial models like GPT-4 while being cost-effective.
  2. Incorporating techniques like Parameter Efficient Fine-Tuning and serving models via platforms like LoRAX can significantly reduce GPU costs and make deployment scalable.
  3. Using smaller, task-specific fine-tuned models is a practical alternative to expensive, large-scale models, making AI deployment accessible and efficient for organizations with limited resources.

Make it simple

Venture Prose • 519 implied HN points • 04 Feb 24
💼 Business Efficiency Productivity Simplicity Meetings
  1. Efficiency comes from making every minute more valuable, intentional, and concrete.
  2. Being intentional about how you spend time, both in quantity and quality, can make you more present and purposeful.
  3. Simplicity is key - from making a good first impression in 1 minute to keeping meetings concise and effective.

Film Room: How Auburn's defense has been so dominant so far in SEC play

The Auburn Observer • 373 implied HN points • 22 Jan 24
🎾 Sports Basketball Defense Statistics Efficiency Team Dynamics
  1. Auburn's defense in SEC play has been dominant, holding most opponents to 65 points or fewer.
  2. Bruce Pearl expressed early concerns about their defense, but now they are performing exceptionally well.
  3. Auburn's defense leads the SEC in efficiency, field goal percentages, and turnover rate, showcasing a strong team commitment to defensive play.

Data will not tell you what to do

Inside Data by Mikkel Dengsøe • 184 HN points • 21 Feb 24
💼 Business Decision-making Problem Solving Innovation Product Management Efficiency
  1. Data may not reveal the best ideas, so trust your intuition and explore beyond the obvious data points.
  2. Focus on solving the big problems first, as they have a more significant impact than smaller issues.
  3. Think in small bets and iterations to make progress in the right direction, even if data may not provide immediate clarity.
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What can we learn from Spotify layoffs?

Alex Ewerlöf Notes • 255 implied HN points • 15 Jan 24
💼 Business Efficiency Leadership Market Dynamics Corporate culture
  1. Spotify's layoffs serve as a warning for other companies, especially those that have grown rapidly and may need to optimize operations.
  2. Layoffs are often caused by a combination of external factors like market conditions and internal factors like fake work and lack of alignment.
  3. It's critical for companies to focus on meaningful value creation and avoid falling into traps like bureaucracy, fake work, and fragmented responsibilities.

Embracing Asynchronous Communication in UX Teams

UX Psychology • 138 implied HN points • 22 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Communication Remote work Collaboration Inclusivity Efficiency
  1. Asynchronous communication can combat Zoom fatigue by reducing the need for excessive meetings and allowing for more focused work time.
  2. Benefits of asynchronous communication include inclusivity, clearer communication, efficiency with meeting reduction, and wider audience engagement.
  3. Challenges of asynchronous communication include adjustment to a new way of working, time and effort for content creation, cultural shifts within organizations, and potential for information overload.

Elon Musk Book Review (Part 2 of 2): Operations Excellence

Mike Talks AI • 58 implied HN points • 05 Feb 24
💼 Business Operations Supply Chain Efficiency Product Design Cost reduction
  1. Operations excellence is key: Musk focused on improving efficiency and revolutionizing industries through operational excellence.
  2. Design the right factory: Musk emphasized the importance of well-designed factories and involvement of design engineers in manufacturing processes.
  3. The Algorithm for operations excellence: Musk's framework involves questioning requirements, deleting parts/processes, simplifying, accelerating cycle time, and automating last.

New Normal

Venture Prose • 219 implied HN points • 15 Oct 23
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Financial planning Efficiency Business Models
  1. Set higher business goals and aim to achieve positive yields from actions taken.
  2. Question industry norms and push yourself to exceed expectations, rather than just following what others have done before.
  3. Prioritize efficiency and financial independence in your business strategies, ensuring that actions are intentional with positive long-term impacts.

How (in)efficient are engineering organizations?

Engineering Enablement • 14 implied HN points • 15 Mar 24
💼 Business Efficiency Organizations Research Productivity
  1. On average, developers report 22% of their time being wasted, resulting in significant potential productivity loss.
  2. Efficiency in engineering organizations varies widely within teams, showing room for improvement and optimization.
  3. There is a correlation between the size of an organization in terms of employee count and revenue with the amount of developer time wasted, indicating larger organizations may struggle with efficiency compared to smaller ones.

Balancing Speed and Sustainability: The Operational Dilemma of Reusable Cups in Drive-Thrus

Gad’s Newsletter • 50 implied HN points • 15 Jan 24
💼 Business Sustainability Operations Efficiency Customer Service Environmental Impact
  1. Introducing reusable cups in drive-thrus can slow down the service, leading to longer wait times and potential inefficiencies.
  2. Starbucks' focus on operational efficiency conflicts with the introduction of reusable cups, impacting speed and customer satisfaction.
  3. Visible queues in drive-thrus make operational inefficiencies more apparent, potentially affecting customer decisions and perception.

Anatomy of Market Failure II: Pareto-Relevant Externality

Knowledge Problem • 137 implied HN points • 31 Aug 23
💼 Business Economics Market failure Externalities Policy Implications Efficiency
  1. Internalizing externalities through taxes or subsidies can improve efficiency and welfare.
  2. Pareto-relevant externalities are those that impact the outcome; not all externalities need to be internalized.
  3. Individual values and costs are subjective, and internalizing externalities may not always create additional welfare.

Do papercuts matter?

Register Spill • 157 implied HN points • 30 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Software UX Value Efficiency Craft
  1. Papercuts in software are small annoyances that don't necessarily affect functionality but can be fixed.
  2. Even though papercuts may be annoying, they often don't prevent users from achieving their goals when using software.
  3. Having papercuts in software may not always directly relate to a negative user experience or impact the success of the software.