Welcome to TTL, Tools & Thoughts for Leaders.
I am Paolo Belcastro, I have been working in tech for 30 years, building software and leading distributed teams for the past 25. I send a free newsletter about personal productivity, leadership, distributed work, and the tech that enables them.
Creativity Decision-Making Domains Leadership Personal Development Productivity Product Management Remote Work Technology
Most Popular Articles
Latest
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A universe of dots
How to restore meaning in domain names
Previous
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On jet lag and how to adapt to it
What I’ve learned about business traveling
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Value bubbles vs. value engines
Choose infrastructure over speculation
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How I really write
Is ghostwriting… ethical?
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The one thing that changed how I work
Coached over the last 10 years
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NOT a self-made man
What they don’t tell you about getting help
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Trust is the backbone
Use public transport to understand why
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Designing for the worst
So the best takes care of itself
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Using chaos to communicate order
How we communicate at Automattic
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Liquid Glass, half-full or half-empty?
Apple’s latest design masks a deeper shift
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Profits and responsibility
The web isn’t free to run
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Not about free beer
Freedom on the web isn’t free stuff
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Is the internet going to shit?
How links die and how LLMs narrate the web
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The illusion of understanding each other
Repeat after me: repeat after me
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Inside the Domain Name System
Not bad for a bunch of dots
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A billion-dollar market, stuck
What domains could become
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Only 3% of the Internet has a name
The unknown advantage of owning a domain
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Lost in translation, daily
About time travel and other traps
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Don’t build perfect, build human
Why your homepage shouldn’t be about you.
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People don’t keep secrets
Incentives do.
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Let’s predict the future
Enter one of many plausible futures.
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AI & T-shaped individuals
From T-Shaped to Square-Shaped
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Pride & Laziness
Social media is the bridge, not the destination.
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Artistic Direction
Taste is the last moat.
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From the Toolbox
Tiny Apps Fill Small Gaps.
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To a year of promise and possibility
May it bring you closer to your dreams.
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こだわり — Kodawari
Relentless attention to details
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Simplifying complexity
Chaos is layered, not random.
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Speed beats perfection
Think longer-term, work in shorter cycles.
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Against New Year’s Resolutions
If it’s worth doing, it’s worth starting now.
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No instructions needed
If you need to teach it, it’s failed already.
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Crafting opinions
Strong opinions need strong foundations.
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How we think
Knowing our thinking style matters.
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Global tech, local laws
The widening gap between tech & regulation.
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AI vs. Humans
When computers can use computers
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Product Leadership is…
Expanding the ground for your products.
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Home Office Etiquette
Making online collaboration easier.
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From Braille to Global Teams
Distributed work, a family tradition since 1982.
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Leading is doing what’s hard
Stand for your principles, even when it’s not comfortable.
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Adaptability and Flexibility
The process is a tool, not the goal.
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Content Collection and Curation
Your Second Brain is only as good as the content you put in.
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Streamlining Creativity
Accelerate your workflow and embrace diversity.
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Asymmetrical Bets
“Small bets” are not enough to build large-scale software
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The Big Multitasking Lie
I can confidently declare that multitasking doesn’t exist.
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The Manager Instructions Manual
How to write a handbook to help your team work with you.
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Deus Ex Machina: The 2×2 Matrix
Two Dimensions, Infinite Clarity
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Decisions’ memento mori
TTL means Time To Live
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Asynchronicity, the End of Time
Work Smarter and Faster
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A Framework for Better Decisions
Should Your Team Consult You About a Decision or Not?
Most Popular Emails
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