The Follow-Up Thank You Email That Got Me Hired One Week After the Interview

The author sent a thank you email after interviewing at HubSpot, which resulted in being hired within a week, 20 days faster than their average turnaround time. Sending a thank you email after an interview can help candidates stand out in a competitive job market. A great thank you email should show appreciation for the interviewer's time and effort, and should be sent within 24 hours after the interview. The email should reiterate the candidate's interest in the role and company, recall an... ...interesting point from the conversation, and offer to answer any further questions. Researching the company and the people conducting the interview is crucial, with recruiters saying... ...that they would reject 47% of candidates who showed little knowledge about the company. Even the best interviews are stressful, so taking notes afterward can help recall important details that can be included in the follow-up email. Avoid sending generic or template emails, as they can feel impersonal and convey a lack of interest in the company. The follow-up email should be customized and detailed based on the interview conversation. It is beneficial to show your unique value in an authentic way, such as demonstrating how your personality matches the company's culture. The follow-up email should also ask smart, informed questions showing curiosity and interest in the company. Review your note before sending to ensure that it includes all necessary information and is addressed to the correct person. Customize your emails after each step in the interview process, as interviewers may share your emails during the decision-making process. Putting in a few extra minutes of thought and creativity into follow-up emails can make a significant difference in job applications. The final thank you email is just the beginning, and candidates should also be prepared for other decisions that come after hearing about the job offer.

#email#company#interview

The NVIDIA GPU Scarcity Madness

The GPU market, particularly with regards to NVIDIA, is currently facing a significant scarcity issue. Elon Musk has famously said that GPUs are harder to get than drugs. The dependence on NVIDIA GPUs has become a major barrier to accelerating innovation in the AI industry. The scarcity is impacting all aspects of the ML model lifecycle, especially the pretraining of foundation models. Large tech companies are often securing multiyear leases for NVIDIA GPUs, which is pricing out innovative startups. The scarcity of NVIDIA GPUs may be due to supply chain issues; the situation could improve once supply meets demand. Despite the scarcity, the AI industry remains incredibly innovative. Predicted developments due to the GPU scarcity include the emergence of GPU marketplaces, the development of proprietary... ...GPU technology by big tech companies, and increased attractiveness of alternative GPU vendors like AMD or Intel. GPU startups could become a hot area for VC investments. Other sources of GPUs, such as Bitcoin mining pools or gaming infrastructures, might attempt to retool for AI. The combination of these factors could balance the supply and demand issues in the GPU market. The New York Times recently published an article exploring the impact of the NVIDIA GPU scarcity on the AI startup ecosystem. The article highlights the unprecedented hardware-software dependencies in the tech industry.

#scarcity#NVIDIA#GPUs

Securing AI

AI technologies need to be secure to prevent potential misuse and exploitation by malicious actors. Cybersecurity strategies for AI systems are critical to protect sensitive data and maintain functionality. AI systems should have built-in safeguards to detect and respond to threats in real time. Regular updates and patches are necessary to fix any security vulnerabilities in AI systems. User privacy should be a priority in AI systems; data anonymization and encryption techniques can be used to protect user data. Training employees and users on the security aspects of AI can help prevent breaches. Collaboration within the tech industry can lead to the development of more advanced and secure AI technologies. Implementing a robust cybersecurity framework can help identify potential security gaps in AI systems. Regular audits of AI systems can also help ensure that they remain secure and up-to-date. Lastly, transparency about AI security measures can build trust among users and stakeholders.

#systems#security#secure

Inside LLM-AUGMENTER: Microsoft Research’s Reference Architecture to Extend LLMs with Memory, Knowledge, and External Feedback

Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are known for their ability to generate fluent, coherent, and informative... ...natural language texts, thanks to their encoded world knowledge and generalization capabilities. One significant limitation of LLMs is the potential loss of knowledge encoding, leading to "memory... ...distortion" and hallucinations. This can be a problem when the models are used for critical tasks. Despite the growth in model sizes, LLMs still lack the capacity to encode all necessary information for various applications. The dynamic nature of real-world situations poses a challenge to LLMs as they can quickly become... ...outdated for tasks requiring up-to-date information, such as news question answering. There are also restrictions in accessing many proprietary datasets for LLM training due to privacy issues. Microsoft Research has introduced the LLM-AUGMENTER, a framework designed to improve LLMs... ...with external knowledge and automated feedback, aiming to tackle these limitations.

#LLMs#knowledge#world

TDD with GitHub Copilot

Thoughtworks embraces Test Driven Development (TDD) and explores the use of generative AI in this process. GitHub Copilot, an AI tool, is used to assist with TDD. Co-pilot is not a standalone tool, but rather a supplemental aid for suggesting ideas during TDD. It's effective in suggesting ideas for the red and green steps of TDD. GitHub Copilot is less useful during the refactoring step of TDD. The tool is not a complete solution but can provide valuable assistance in certain areas of TDD. Even with the use of AI, human input and control remain essential throughout the TDD process.

#tool#process#GitHub

The status quo is very good…

The status quo is persistent and excels at maintaining itself. New research indicates that computers and robots are now superior to humans at solving CAPTCHA puzzles. The eventual obsolescence of CAPTCHA puzzles is inevitable. The key question is when will these puzzles be phased out. The process of change requires someone to take responsibility and worry about the issue. Assembling a group to approve the shift from the status quo is a necessary step. The person leading the change must take responsibility for the outcomes following the shift. Managing a technological intervention can be challenging, especially when dealing... ...with individuals who prefer maintaining the status quo due to other priorities. It is often easier to be a bystander than to be a leader and initiate change.

#status#puzzles#change

Edge 319: The Factors Behind In-Context Learning

In-context learning (ICL) is a key feature of large language models (LLMs). Google has conducted research on the unique characteristics of ICL in LLMs. The effectiveness of ICL in models can be attributed to several factors. The Guardrail AI framework is used to control the quality of LLMs. The previous issue provided an overview of ICL, whereas this issue aims to delve into the specifics of ICL. Understanding these factors can help improve the performance and functionality of LLMs.

#LLMs#models#factors

The Looking Glass: The Power of the Mindmeld

The writer has always desired the ability to read minds, a superpower that they believe could greatly improve their work and personal life. The writer believes that perfect communication, akin to mind-reading, is essential for teams to work effectively towards the same goal. The concept of 'mindmeld' is introduced, which is the idea that all members of a team have the same understanding and vision of the project at hand. Lack of 'mindmeld' in a team can lead to issues like resentment, poor output, and office politics. When presenting new ideas, it's important to establish a shared foundation and define any technical terms precisely to avoid confusion. The presenter should also clearly explain the benefits of their new idea and how it contributes to the shared goal. The writer's experience of participating in National Novel Writing Month, a challenge to write a 50,000-word novel in November, helped them develop as a writer. The process of writing, regardless of whether the work is published or not, is beneficial for personal growth and clarity of thought. The writer believes that writing, reading, and thinking go hand-in-hand, and regular writing can have many advantages in life. The writer contributed to a Figma article, where they shared perspectives on judgement and context in design, reflecting on Brian Chesky’s talk. The writer offers paid subscribers additional resources on improving clarity, making memorable presentations, and understanding the limitations of AI summaries.

#writer#work#hand

Bottlenecks of Scaleups #05: Resilience and Observability

Startups often have a reactive approach to system resilience, addressing issues only when systems are already down. Excessive downtime can be a significant bottleneck for scaleups, causing customer dissatisfaction and requiring considerable effort to restore functionality. Punit Lad and Carl Nygard suggest that resilience should be a part of the business objectives in order to overcome this issue. Incorporating resilience into business objectives will influence various aspects such... ...as the architecture, design, product management, and governance of business systems. Therefore, resilience and observability are key considerations in managing the bottlenecks of scaleups.

#resilience#business#systems

For customers vs to customers

Companies need to decide if they are working for their customers, giving them what they want, or if they are trying to extract more income from them. Serving customers does not necessarily mean lowering prices, but providing greater value for what they pay. Companies should use their resources to serve customers in ways that would make them miss the company if it were gone. Many companies are using software and AI to improve their profits, but not enough are using them to enhance the customer experience. Amazon is testing a new format for displaying product reviews, which could impact merchants, profits, and consumer purchases. The new format might not give as much advantage to higher-rated items, pushing vendors to buy ads and run coupons instead of improving their product. Companies that make it difficult for customers to unsubscribe or push unnecessary options risk losing the ability to serve others. Organizations that prioritize serving themselves over their customers may eventually lose their customer base.

#customers#Companies#serve

🧠 Community Wisdom: Having effective 1:1s, preparing for PTO, balancing qualitative and quantitative analysis, creating a resume, and much more

The importance of having effective 1:1s in order to establish open and clear communication channels, nurturing trust, and improving team dynamics. Suggested methods for preparing for PTO include setting up an autoresponder, delegating responsibilities,... ...and ensuring all important tasks have been completed or are in the hands of a competent colleague. The value of balancing qualitative and quantitative analysis is highlighted, as it allows... ...for a more comprehensive understanding of data, enhancing decision-making abilities. Tips for creating an impactful resume include highlighting achievements instead of listing responsibilities,... ...tailoring it to the specific job application, and ensuring it is concise and error-free. The "Community Wisdom" email is a subscriber-only resource that is delivered every Friday... ...and includes the most helpful conversations from the member-only Slack community. The email includes links to more comprehensive resources and discussions on the highlighted topics.

#include#responsibilities#ensuring

The useful agreement

Written contracts do not have to be adversarial but should be effective. It's important to highlight the controversial or complicated parts of an agreement when presenting it to someone. The best time to understand an agreement is when you sign it, not later. The author plans to publish a post about a new project, which will be posted four hours later than usual to accommodate different time zones.

#agreement#time#later

I made a promise to myself — to smack the perfectionism out of me

The author has made a commitment to combat his perfectionism, aiming to embrace imperfection instead. The motivation behind this decision is the belief that less perfectionism leads to more decision-making, enabling the actualization of more ideas and products. The world of startups, according to the author, has no room for perfectionism. The first challenge in embracing imperfection occurred when promoting a project called... ...Dispatch, where the author made a typo in the link in an email newsletter. The mistake led to a flood of messages pointing out the error, causing the author to feel frustrated and embarrassed. Upon reflection, the author discovered that the error had led to over $1.4 million in qualified leads reaching out for more information on Dispatch. The author views the mistake as a blessing in disguise, sparking intrigue and conversation about Dispatch. The author encourages embracing imperfections, arguing that this approach can unlock new levels of productivity. The author ends with a note about potential price increases due to high demand for Dispatch.

#author#Dispatch#perfectionism

What does GTM actually mean?

GTM stands for Go-To-Market strategy. A GTM strategy often begins with a deliberate tradeoff that gives the company an advantage over its competitors. The right tradeoff and leverage enable companies to generate differentiated value. This differentiated value is used to create user and business impact. A successful go-to-market strategy starts with a tradeoff and ends in profits. An example of a GTM strategy is Apple, which focuses on four core products instead of 15, allowing them... ...to ship products more frequently, learn from mistakes faster than competitors, and innovate often. This approach by Apple has led to a strong and beloved brand and given them pricing power. GTM strategies are not static; they require constant refinement and adjustments as market conditions evolve.

#strategy#tradeoff#competitors

Relentless curiosity, radical accountability, and HubSpot’s winning growth formula | Christopher Miller (VP of Product, Growth and AI)

Christopher Miller serves as the VP of Product for Growth and AI at HubSpot, where he has led... ...the company's early growth strategy, shift to Product-Led Growth (PLG), and investment in AI. Miller believes in the principles of winning teams, careers, and companies, and emphasizes the importance of customer obsession in practice. He suggests that relentless curiosity is a key trait for successful product managers. Miller also shares advice for breaking into product management, including the importance of learning the craft and seeking out mentors. Speaking to customers, former customers, and potential customers is crucial for understanding their needs and enhancing the product. Miller highlights the uniqueness of HubSpot's culture and how it contributes to the company's success. He discusses HubSpot's decision to stay in the mid-market space and how this has benefited the company. Key elements that contributed to HubSpot's early growth include aggressive experimentation within new channels and the implementation of growth loops. Miller warns against some common mistakes when trying to start a PLG motion, such as not being fully committed to the approach. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated growth at HubSpot, demonstrating the company's ability to adapt and thrive in changing circumstances.

#Miller#HubSpot#company