The hottest Efficiency Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics

Time Pressure in Software Development

Engineering Enablement • 28 implied HN points • 11 Aug 23
🕹 Technology Software Development Research Efficiency
  1. Time pressure in software development is influenced by poor effort estimates, project management issues, and company culture.
  2. Three theories explain the effects of time pressure: Yerkes-Dodson Law, Job Demands-Resources Model, and Dimensional Model of Emotions.
  3. Time pressure impacts individuals by decreasing confidence, process by affecting quality assurance, and efficiency and quality by increasing efficiency up to a certain point.
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Sales and Marketing and Dev Ops, Oh My!

Sarah's Newsletter • 99 implied HN points • 26 Apr 22
💼 Business Sales Marketing Operations Efficiency Automation
  1. Efficiency in operational teams is crucial for the overall effectiveness of an organization. They play a vital role in supporting other departments to work faster and better.
  2. Operational teams like SalesOps, MOps, and DevOps have unique functions but share a common goal of increasing efficiency and saving time for the organization.
  3. Current tools and practices in operational teams can still involve manual tasks, hindering efficiency. Providing education and support for scale is essential for driving true efficiency across all operational areas.

Surrogate Activities

Brain Lenses • 19 implied HN points • 14 Feb 23
📖 Philosophy Technology Society Efficiency Meaning Productivity
  1. Jacques Ellul believed that modern technology has led to a loss of intellectual and practical liberty.
  2. Ted Kaczynski, influenced by Ellul's ideas, took a different path by using violence to address technology's negative impact.
  3. The concept of Surrogate Activities derived from Ellul's ideas focuses on non-essential tasks hindering efficiency and personal growth.

The unreasonable effectiveness of LLMs

John’s Contemplations • 19 implied HN points • 08 Mar 23
🕹 Technology AI Machine Learning Neural Networks Big Data Efficiency
  1. LLMs have displayed surprising reasoning abilities like solving math problems using words.
  2. LLMs can be trained to use tools to address their weaknesses and improve tasks like code generation.
  3. LLMs work well due to the general nature of language, the breakdown of complex tasks into simpler steps, and the efficiency of neural networks like Transformers.

3 Things Athletic Training can teach you about Interview Preparation [StoryTime Saturdays]

Technology Made Simple • 39 implied HN points • 02 Oct 22
💼 Business Training Interview Preparation System Efficiency Self-Improvement
  1. Athletic training principles can be applied to interview preparation for peak performance and best results.
  2. Avoid inefficient approaches like solving hundreds of Leetcode problems or spending excessive time studying; focus on enjoying the process.
  3. Lessons from athletic training, like discipline and strategy, can benefit your journey in various aspects of life.

Climate and AI

Climateer • 2 HN points • 02 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Climate AI Energy Impact Efficiency
  1. AI may not have a significant impact on climate change outcomes in the near future, as energy usage for AI is relatively small globally.
  2. Speculations about AI helping reduce emissions are often vague and may not be primarily driven by AI enhancements, but rather other barriers like regulatory issues.
  3. In the long term, the impact of AI on climate change is uncertain, as AI could eventually lead to substantial efficiency improvements, but it's hard to predict the exact outcomes.

Giving Thanks for Price Theory, 2023 Edition

Economic Forces • 2 implied HN points • 23 Nov 23
🚌 Education Economics Theory Lessons Efficiency
  1. Costs involve more than just money, they include opportunity costs and trade-offs that consider various factors like time and value.
  2. Efficiency in economics refers to Pareto efficiency, where all gains from trade are exhausted, and serves as a tool for understanding real-world allocations.
  3. Profits and losses in market economies act as selection mechanisms, with losses signaling inefficiency and prompting resources to be reallocated effectively.

How to work efficiently, how to efficiently get things done, and how to make the team operate efficiently.

Howard’s Newsletter • 1 HN point • 22 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Productivity Collaboration Tools Efficiency Workflow
  1. Efficiency in work is achieved by breaking down tasks into smaller segments and following a time management rule.
  2. Utilizing tools like Git, Sublime Text, and Org mode can enhance team collaboration and productivity.
  3. Assigning specific tasks, maintaining documentation, and focusing on action helps in achieving project efficiency and FDA compliance.

EL-Attention: Memory Efficient Lossless Attention for Generation

efficientml • 1 HN point • 30 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Data science Efficiency Memory Machine Learning
  1. EL-Attention proposes a method to reduce memory usage during inference in Transformer models by caching only past hidden states instead of keys and values.
  2. By re-ordering matrix multiplication steps, EL-Attention can achieve the same results as traditional attention mechanisms with significantly reduced memory requirements.
  3. EL-Attention provides an efficient way to handle attention mechanisms in transformer models, especially for decoder-only models, by halving the amount of caching memory needed.

What SaaS metrics should a head of engineering track?

Brick by Brick • 0 implied HN points • 11 Mar 24
💼 Business Metrics Revenue Profitability Efficiency Startups
  1. Key SaaS metrics vital for an engineering leader: Focus on ARR, ACV, and TCV to gauge revenue streams effectively.
  2. Profitability metrics: Look at gross and operating margins, and free cash flow for late-stage companies to evaluate success.
  3. Efficiency tracking for startup growth: Monitor Cash Burn to Net New ARR, operational expenses per department relative to sales, to assess resource effectiveness.

Law Enforcement Transcription Rollup

Captain's Log • 0 implied HN points • 08 Jul 23
💼 Business Acquisitions Automation Cost reduction Regulations Efficiency
  1. Acquiring and consolidating small transcription services into a single entity can optimize efficiency and reduce costs in the industry.
  2. Utilizing advanced transcription technologies like OpenAI's Whisper and ChatGPT can lead to significant cost savings and improved productivity.
  3. Centralizing operations through acquisitions and technology adoption can enhance competitiveness and profitability in the transcription industry.

Minimize the time it takes to develop a useable software

Ingig • 0 implied HN points • 09 Apr 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Programming Language Coding Efficiency Security
  1. Minimizing the time it takes to develop usable software is crucial for competitiveness and project success.
  2. Lowering the complexity of code, such as with Plang programming language, can lead to clearer, more concise, and easier-to-understand code.
  3. Reducing lines of code not only makes development faster and cheaper, but also contributes to better security, fewer bugs, and increased stability in software projects.

How And When to Do Layoffs

Build To Scale • 0 implied HN points • 21 Sep 23
💼 Business Management Layoffs Efficiency Strategy Leadership
  1. If you've missed your targets significantly for two quarters and haven't adjusted costs, it's likely time to consider layoffs to prevent worsening financial situations.
  2. When doing layoffs, it's better to make deeper cuts of at least 15% rather than small reductions to significantly impact the company trajectory.
  3. Focus on top initiatives during layoffs by identifying key projects to prioritize, being clear about what will be stopped, and re-aligning the organization for critical goals.