The hottest Tradeoffs Substack posts right now

Not everything in life can be measured or compared. Some experiences, like special family dinners or random acts of kindness, are unique and important in ways that numbers can't capture.
Money can create options for us, but not all money is equally valuable for choices. Having enough savings can open up more possibilities, but beyond a point, additional money may not significantly change your options.
Freetime is valuable because it allows you to choose how you spend your time. More freetime means more opportunities to pursue interests, but sometimes a little extra isn't as important once you reach a comfortable level.

Some actions considered acceptable by many are questioned by those who identify as utilitarian or consequentialist, highlighting differing moral perspectives.
Utilitarians may advocate for policies that involve sacrificing or compromising certain ethical norms for the greater good, whereas non-utilitarians may not view these actions in the same light.
The perception of utilitarians being more willing to do harm for the greater good may stem from the discomfort with the idea of calculating morality and the juxtaposition of sacred values with utilitarian reasoning.

Companies often prioritize making money over other values
Corporate values can be ambiguous and misleading
Implementing precedents can provide clarity and transparency in how values are upheld

When developing company values, focus on creating a behavioral strategy rather than aspirational identity markers.
Effective values highlight difficult tradeoffs between important elements like speed and inclusion.
Frame values using the formula 'We favor X over Y' to capture key tradeoffs and promote decision-making alignment.

The CAP theorem states that in a distributed system, you can only guarantee 2 out of 3 desirable traits: Consistency, Availability, and Partition Tolerance.
Consistency in the CAP theorem ensures that all nodes in a network have the same data at the same time.
Availability means that every read or write request will either succeed or receive an error message, with every node responding in a reasonable time.

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Incubators combine ideas, people, and money to create new companies.
Different models of incubators have clear trade-offs to consider.
Common criticisms of incubators include ownership stakes, founder loyalty, and the track record of big successes.

Evaluation of performance in the Product organization focuses on inputs like quality of thinking over outputs.
Avoiding using output targets to evaluate performance is important to maintain a customer-centric culture, prevent tunnel vision, and discourage risk aversion.
While metrics are essential, team members are rewarded for excellent inputs rather than just meeting success criteria, emphasizing the priority of creating value for customers.

Consider unbundling cash and equity to seek them from different opportunities.
There is a tradeoff between cash and equity in compensation offers.
Cash-plus-equity may offer the allure of high equity value, but most startups fail.

The quote 'If you've never missed a flight, you spend too long waiting in airports' highlights the concept of tradeoffs - arriving early to reduce flight missing probability but spending more time waiting at the airport.
Thinking in terms of tradeoffs, where marginal benefit equals marginal cost, is a common concept, especially in economics, but can seem foreign to those unfamiliar with it.
Intuitive reasoning works best when costs and benefits are easily felt and the numbers involved are tangible, as opposed to areas like healthcare public policy. In such cases, explicit cost-benefit analysis can save substantial amounts of money.