Daniel Daneshi
subscribe

writing

Everything I've published, newest first. Essays are arguments I've thought hard about; notes are smaller observations, kept in public; posts are the LinkedIn archive; book reviews are what I took from 82 books.

long-form

long-form

the maker's code — book cover

the maker's code

On building, craft, and staying in the game

A field guide to muting the world and building your own. Read it in its own container, at its own pace.

prologue + 5 chapters
start reading →

2026

aug 22becoming an innovatoressayaug 16why builders fail at distribution & how to fix itessayaug 03finding your ICP · who exactly is this for?essayaug 03one word · on positioningessayaug 02a thousand phds in your pocketessayaug 01solving referral · do users bring users?essayjul 29solving reach · does it still work at volume?essayjul 24solving channel · where does your audience actually live?essayjul 21solving conversion · do activated users decide to pay?essayjul 16solving activation · do sign-ups reach the aha moment?essayjul 05solving messaging · do the right people instantly get it?essayjun 30solving retention · does the bucket hold water?essayjun 22solving validation · will anyone actually pay?essayjun 18solving distributionessayjun 04the next abstraction on top of shannonessay

2025

sep 24emails without inboxessayfeb 28my developer excellency principlesessayfeb 20software developer jobs destroyed by ai? i asked a friendessayfeb 19how to speak so that people listenessayfeb 16i found a better investment than real estate, stocks, and gold (part 1)essayfeb 15the mark · a staircase in a squareessay

notes on x · 1,673 of them · browse by topic

follow on x ↗
Self-Mastery, Discipline & Habits
discipline, kaizen, engineering your state
375
Startups, Business & Strategy
building companies, moats, distribution
304
Philosophy, Meaning & Human Nature
meaning, attention, how people work
211
Product & Design
taste, detail, subtraction, craft
184
Innovation, Creativity & Contrarian Thinking
new ideas, taste, going against the grain
128
Reading, Books & Learning
what to read and how it compounds
118
Technology & AI
where the tools are going
118
Money, Wealth & Markets
leverage, ownership, the long game
91
Building in Public
my projects, launches, and dev logs
59
Career, Work & Ambition
what to reach for and why
43
Relationships & People
who you keep around you
24
Geopolitics & Politics
the world, seen from a distance
18

posts on linkedin · 49 of them · browse by category

connect on linkedin ↗
Self-Mastery
habits, state, and staying in the game
13
Thinking
mental models, analogies, and clear judgment
11
Building
products, onboarding, and why i built mailover
6
Leadership
leading peers, motivation, and speaking well
6
Money
markets, bitcoin, and what actually compounds
5
Engineering
craft, hiring, and how software gets made
4
Technology
ai, tools, and what technology does to us
4

book reviews · 82 books · what i took from each

also tracked in booksense →

building

Start with Why — coverStart with WhySimon Sinekrated 3 out of 5$100M Offers — cover$100M OffersAlex Hormozirated 5 out of 5Blue Ocean Strategy — coverBlue Ocean StrategyW. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgnerated 5 out of 5Hooked — coverHookedNir Eyal & Ryan Hooverrated 5 out of 5Build — coverBuildTony Fadellrated 5 out of 5Actionable Gamification — coverActionable GamificationYu-Kai Chourated 5 out of 5For the Win — coverFor the WinKevin Werbach & Dan Hunterrated 4 out of 5The Lean Product Playbook — coverThe Lean Product PlaybookDan Olsenrated 5 out of 5Generating Product Ideas — coverGenerating Product IdeasArtiom Dashinskyrated 3 out of 5The Lean Startup — coverThe Lean StartupEric Riesrated 5 out of 5The Founder's Dilemmas — coverThe Founder's DilemmasNoam Wassermanrated 4 out of 5The Personal MBA — coverThe Personal MBAJosh Kaufmanrated 5 out of 5Why Startups Fail — coverWhy Startups FailTom Eisenmannrated 5 out of 5Super Founders — coverSuper FoundersAli Tamasebrated 5 out of 5Unscripted: The Great Rat-Race Escape — coverUnscripted: The Great Rat-Race EscapeM.J. DeMarcorated 5 out of 5How To Win At The Sport Of Business — coverHow To Win At The Sport Of BusinessMark CubanThe Design of Everyday Things — coverThe Design of Everyday ThingsDon Normanrated 5 out of 5Zero To One — coverZero To OnePeter Thiel & Blake Mastersrated 5 out of 5The E-Myth Revisited — coverThe E-Myth RevisitedMichael E. Gerberrated 5 out of 5Rework — coverReworkJason Fried & David Heinemeier HanssonThe Cold Start Problem — coverThe Cold Start ProblemAndrew Chenrated 5 out of 5Unscripted — coverUnscriptedM.J. DeMarcorated 5 out of 5

engineering

Read Write Own — coverRead Write OwnChris Dixonrated 5 out of 5Token Economy — coverToken EconomyShermin Voshmgirrated 5 out of 5Blockchain Bubble Or Revolution — coverBlockchain Bubble Or RevolutionNeel Mehta, Aditya Agashe & Parth Detrojarated 5 out of 5The Innovators — coverThe InnovatorsWalter Isaacsonrated 4 out of 5Building Microservices — coverBuilding MicroservicesSam Newmanrated 5 out of 5Clean Agile — coverClean AgileRobert C. Martinrated 5 out of 5Refactoring — coverRefactoringMartin Fowlerrated 5 out of 5Clean Architecture — coverClean ArchitectureRobert C. Martinrated 4 out of 5The Clean Coder — coverThe Clean CoderRobert C. Martinrated 5 out of 5The Pragmatic Programmer — coverThe Pragmatic ProgrammerAndrew Hunt & David Thomasrated 5 out of 5

money

The Bogleheads' Guide To Investing — coverThe Bogleheads' Guide To InvestingTaylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer & Michael LeBoeufrated 4 out of 5Richer, Wiser, Happier — coverRicher, Wiser, HappierWilliam Greenrated 5 out of 5The Psychology of Money — coverThe Psychology of MoneyMorgan Houselrated 5 out of 5The Little Book That Builds Wealth — coverThe Little Book That Builds WealthPat Dorseyrated 5 out of 5One Up on Wall Street — coverOne Up on Wall StreetPeter Lynch & John Rothchildrated 5 out of 5I Will Teach You to Be Rich — coverI Will Teach You to Be RichRamit Sethirated 5 out of 5Millionaire Success Habits — coverMillionaire Success HabitsDean Graziosirated 4 out of 5Rich Dad's Guide to Investing — coverRich Dad's Guide to InvestingRobert T. Kiyosaki

thinking

The Great Mental Models — coverThe Great Mental ModelsShane Parrish & Rhiannon Beaubienrated 5 out of 5The Status Game — coverThe Status GameWill Storrrated 5 out of 5Shortcut — coverShortcutJohn Pollackrated 5 out of 5The Anthology Of Balaji — coverThe Anthology Of BalajiEric Jorgensonrated 5 out of 5Clear Thinking — coverClear ThinkingShane Parrishrated 5 out of 5Philosophy of Science — coverPhilosophy of ScienceSamir Okasharated 5 out of 5Evolution: A Very Short Introduction — coverEvolution: A Very Short IntroductionBrian Charlesworthrated 4 out of 5The Art of Thinking Clearly — coverThe Art of Thinking ClearlyRolf Dobellirated 5 out of 5Thinking in Bets — coverThinking in BetsAnnie Dukerated 5 out of 5Sapiens — coverSapiensYuval Noah Hararirated 5 out of 5Where Good Ideas Come From — coverWhere Good Ideas Come FromSteven Johnsonrated 4 out of 5The Future Is Faster Than You Think — coverThe Future Is Faster Than You ThinkPeter H. Diamandisrated 4 out of 5The Industries of the Future — coverThe Industries of the FutureAlec J. Rossrated 3 out of 5Think Like A Rocket Scientist — coverThink Like A Rocket ScientistOzan Varolrated 5 out of 5Fooled by Randomness — coverFooled by RandomnessNassim Nicholas Talebrated 4 out of 5Poor Charlie's Almanack — coverPoor Charlie's AlmanackCharles T. MungerQuit — coverQuitAnnie Dukerated 5 out of 5Same as Ever — coverSame as EverMorgan Housel

leading

Ted Talks — coverTed TalksChris Andersonrated 5 out of 5Developing the Leader Within You 2.0 — coverDeveloping the Leader Within You 2.0John C. Maxwellrated 4 out of 5Never Split The Difference — coverNever Split The DifferenceChris Voss & Tahl Razrated 5 out of 5The Go-Giver — coverThe Go-GiverBob Burg & John David Mannrated 4 out of 5My Philosophy for Successful Living — coverMy Philosophy for Successful LivingJim Rohnrated 2 out of 5The Ant and the Elephant — coverThe Ant and the ElephantVince Poscenterated 4 out of 5The 15 Invaluable Laws Of Growth — coverThe 15 Invaluable Laws Of GrowthJohn C. Maxwellrated 5 out of 5

living

The Art of War — coverThe Art of WarSun Tzurated 4 out of 5Stop Reading The News — coverStop Reading The NewsRolf Dobellirated 5 out of 5A Manual For Living — coverA Manual For LivingEpictetusrated 5 out of 5The Art of the Good Life — coverThe Art of the Good LifeRolf Dobellirated 5 out of 5As a Man Thinketh — coverAs a Man ThinkethJames Allenrated 4 out of 5The Obstacle Is the Way — coverThe Obstacle Is the WayRyan Holidayrated 5 out of 5The Daily Laws — coverThe Daily LawsRobert Greenerated 5 out of 5The Dip — coverThe DipSeth Godinrated 4 out of 5Make Time — coverMake TimeJake Knapp & John Zeratskyrated 4 out of 5101 Conversations in Simple German — cover101 Conversations in Simple GermanOlly Richardsrated 3 out of 5The Almanack Of Naval Ravikant — coverThe Almanack Of Naval RavikantEric Jorgensonrated 5 out of 5Mastery — coverMasteryRobert Greenerated 5 out of 5Deep Work — coverDeep WorkCal Newportrated 5 out of 5Atomic Habits — coverAtomic HabitsJames Clearrated 5 out of 5The Compound Effect — coverThe Compound EffectDarren Hardyrated 5 out of 5The 10X Rule — coverThe 10X RuleGrant Cardonerated 5 out of 57 Strategies for Wealth & Happiness — cover7 Strategies for Wealth & HappinessJim Rohnrated 5 out of 5