I have a personal rule which has worked really well for me: if I do a project, the price of doing that project is that I have to write about it.
Back when Twitter threads didn't suck (they could be viewed by people without Twitter accounts) I'd use those - tweet a description of my project with a link, then follow it with a few photos and screenshots.
> For the world to benefit from your work, and therefore for you to benefit fully from your work, you have to make it known.
"Fully" seems to be doing a helluva lot of heavy lifting in this piece. Does anyone think that they mean anything other than "making money", as they quickly segue into talking about entrepreneurship and founding businesses?
I'm happy to concede that if you don't tell anyone about the stuff you do, no one will know. But I am not willing to concede that you only "fully" benefit from your work if you sell it. Nor am I willing to concede that work only has value if sold. I'm also not entirely certain the author is pushing those views. Still, something about this piece doesn't sit well with me.
I work in a large FAANG company. For more than 10 years, I made the error of not publishing my personal work and ideas. I didn't like the rules about personal works, publishing opensource or social media communication... you are subject to gate-keeping by your employer if you are an employee. That's quite different from my previous experience in smaller companies in Europe. I found it very off putting: you had to give up ownership. I thought it was demeaning that even what I create in my own private time would be owned and attributed to someone else.
My choice of not publishing anything however was a very bad one. I didn't understand what power is: the continuity of the Self into the Other, where you find your-Self at ease. If you don't assert yourself, you give up not just your power but your very identity.
The truth is that power is dialectic. If you don't speak up, you have no power. Both in what you create, and in the relationship of and with power that you live, you are constantly redefining the boundaries of what you are and what you are not. If you remain silent, you loose.
Strongly disagree. You are allowed to create/do things that no one else know about. Share it if you want, keep it to yourself if you don't. Don't let other people dictate to you what you must do in order to be satisfied with yourself.
> Doing technically brilliant work may be enough for your personal gratification, but you should never think it's enough.
First, "should" is a form of judgement. What the author believes is "enough" is defined by their belief system, not anyone else's.
> If you lock yourself in a room and do the most marvellous[sic] work but don't tell anyone, then no one will know, no one will benefit, and the work will be lost.
A reasonable discussion could be had for all but the last two assertions:
... no one will benefit, and the work will be lost.
Again, this is a presumption made without merit.
First, work related to a person's profession contributes to experience and possibly ability. Second, work is only lost if it and lessons learned doing it no longer exist.
* Explain, don’t “sell”. If something is significant and you explain it well, the significance will be obvious without artificial emphasis.
* Explain, don’t “persuade”. Don’t assume agreement before or after. Make your reasoning clear. Don’t assert credibility or pressure for acceptance.
* Clarity and brevity compound each other. If you are clear, you don’t have to spell out every detail, or review important points.
If you find yourself trying to explain what you have explained, you have not been clear or concise and are now spiraling. Rethink. Rewrite.
* Finally, state your main point/purpose up front. For everything, every section, every paragraph. Gets attention. Filters readers by relevance. Assists clarity & brevity.
——
Avoid mixing multiple or deeper points, that are better communicated separately.
Find an unmissable visual way to indicate where the first point/purpose was accomplished, and additional material has a related but new purpose.
For any young programmers: live within your means, invest the difference, become independent, and work on what you enjoy. It’s the best (work related) gift you can give yourself. Skip the self promotion politics unless you enjoy it.
> For the world to benefit from your work, and therefore for you to benefit fully from your work, you have to make it known.
I don't agree with this assumption. One does not necessarily follow the other. Outside of work, I write programs that I need and that further my own personal curiosity and education. I don't have to release any of it to the world, in order for me to fully benefit from it. I plan to take all of the source code on my computer to my grave and that's totally OK.
There are many definitions of "sell" that aren't a dichotomy between building toy projects that never leave your private repo, and running a SaaS startup you're trying to grow via LinkedIn and HN.
I've found a lot of fulfillment in building tech products/services for friends and family, and making meeting their needs the complete scope of the project, with no intention to release it publicly. I present it as though it's a widely released product, including marketing materials, retail box, printed instruction manual, etc. I enjoy it thoroughly as a creative exercise, and it gives me the opportunity to integrate and combine lots of skills I'm not able to use at work.
I don't make any money doing this, but it scratches the itch I have to build things people will use, and I do enjoy showcasing and promoting my latest projects - and an audience of my (less technical) friends and family is a polite and encouraging one. Definitely less stressful than releasing things to the wider internet. This has brought improvements to my real job, where I'm finding myself more comfortable presenting and promoting my achievements.
Publicizing your work, will certainly let it be known to the masses, but aiming for the masses means that the half life of your work is in years. Work that stands the test of time, does not need publicizing. People of a high caliber will find it and proceed to further honor you for your work, your focus should be only on excellence which truly matters in standing the test of time.
That's like saying all human's lives are wasted because no other species will know of them.
The ultimate experience is doing as many interesting things for yourself and not stressing about them "living on". It's 99% a closed system inside your head anyway
I like writing, but I always have a hard time getting started. In that regards ChatGPT has been a real game changer. I can just lay down some ideas, ask it to write an article, hate it, then write it myself.
I've generally been best served by NAVY: never again volunteer yourself.
Others will advertise for you... or simply pay attention when you do well. Being reliable is outstanding, a true rarity.
Plenty of folks will want to take advantage. Assuming you weren't actually hired to work alone in a closet, there will be opportunities to shine/get put on speed dial... if you really want that.
I have started doing this more,, the problem is however that I suck at marketing, I hate being too direct, so posting the odd interesting project or nugget of information on my website to maybe get a few more of my books sold or get some nice gig work in areas I like is the way I go.
As my paid work runs out and I get more towards retirement I guess I will start moving on to documenting some hobby projects, I don't see any down-side to it except running out of interesting things to talk about.
Of course nobody will visit your site unless you post it around, kind of a catch 22.
I am already selling enough of my time, energy, skills, knowledge etc. I also have enough to not sell, things that provide me personal satisfaction and value, that is more important than what I sell to others. I got to look after my health first and finances second.
It also depends on what you’re selling and who you’re selling it to. Do it too much, and you’ll incur the wrath of the mob—or worse, be ignored into oblivion.
In the software world, salespeople are almost universally hated because of how obnoxious they can be. I recently attended a Couchbase talk, and now the salespeople are all over my inbox and LinkedIn DMs. You don’t want to sell your work like that.
While not all work needs to be published, monetized, and advertised, this piece only focuses on the kind that needs to be done but isn’t.
I absolutely agree on writing about software. I don’t write to advertise my thoughts. Writing is the process that helps me think deeply about a topic I’m interested in.
While I write for myself, and my blog[1] usually focuses on the things I’m currently tinkering with, it has garnered a solid number of readers. I even got hired at two places because someone higher up read my writing at some point. So I believe the author is encouraging everyone to publish and advertise these kinds of work.
I heard from multiple people working at Stripe that selling yourself is a huge reason why they think it's a very bad place to work. You apparently have to make full-on folders to showcase what you have done.
Maybe each developer / creator / maker needs someone around them to "sell" them (and their creations). To push it on the vine/rumour/vibe. Yes, an advertiser/ salesperson - herald - on a fractional basis :) , one per village.
To create and to sell are very different skills and things , even somewhat contradictory - and they rarely appear in same person.
The Organisational patterns book [0] have a role of Matron - a person who knows everyone and what they're up to (without need of deep understanding) - but that's not the same, and it's organisational.
i think that such people are needed in everyday, personally, too. To knit and entangle the threads of society.
Always wished more scientists read and understand Richard Hamming. I read and listened to some lectures right out of college and it always struck me as not just catchy advice for young scientists and engineers, but as self-evident principles and values to live by.
As someone, who create for living, I don't have passion for advertising myself. I rather find selfadverising blogs with huge amount of texts as desperation for attention.
It's anecdotal, but I don't like consuming blogs that much, so I don't see point to do it myself.
It seems like Hacker News now has an algorithm that reads my web searches.
Lately, I’ve been reflecting on this. I’ve worked in several interesting sectors and developed amazing projects, but I haven’t documented anything. And in today’s job market, having a portfolio is almost essential.
I’m not a prodigy programmer, but in the industrial sector, programming is a key skill. This post motivates me to start structuring and sharing my work because it perfectly aligns with the idea that if you complete a project but don’t share it, it’s as if it never existed.
Nowadays, showcasing your work has become essential, not just for the community, but also for recruiters looking for talent.
It’s interesting that no one ever takes the other logical side of this: to really benefit from the work of others you have to look through the marketing bullshit and find the gems that aren’t aggressively sold.
I write _extensively_: on my own personal blog [1], on my companies blog, on various substacks, on medium, and on dev.to... idk, what this author seems to suggest might happen with good writing and sharing hasnt really panned out for me... but who knows? Maybe I just suck at writing!
Number of times I've heard this advice, agreed with it intellectually and yet haven't applied it concretely: 7956 and counting.
Every new thing I build, everything I learn, seems to me to open a multitude of new possibilities, of new exploratory venues that I am eager to follow, instead of stopping to sell what I've just done.
I'm shocked... almost 100 comments and no one has complained that the design is not "modern" grey on grey with one paragraph at 24 points per screen and pointless stock photos sprinkled in.
I come to HN to read interesting news, but every other day there is another article about necessity of writing blogs and again, and again I am feeling bad about me not writing...
I don't agree with what appears to be the core premise of this article. Sure, if you want recognition or career benefit from your work, you have to advertise it. But this assumes that the purpose of work is getting recognition or money.
What if I want to do work for making the world a bit better? Submit a fix for an open source project anonymously? This article feels like the career drivel I so often see on LinkedIn.
Also, I might not want the world to benefit at all from my work. I could spend a year building a better alarm clock for my own personal use. Was my time wasted? I think that people should try to help others, but there is value in developing things for fully personal use. Not every program needs to be a product, startup or open source project. Not every solution needs to be a blog post.
"Selling" is usually associated with overstating of the qualities of the thing you want to exchange, in order to increase its perceived value. This is considered, for some reason, a good thing, an achievement or desirable skill or a social norm. When everyone strives to master this desirable quality, each exchange of a thing artificially bloats its value, while the things probably remained unchanged since the first exchange. That doesn't make sense.
You don't need to "sell" anything. Having to sell yourself, whatever that means, is pathetic. If you have something of value that you want to exchange with some other thing of value from someone, just communicate the facts/specs about the thing you want to exchange.
> if you've done great work, if you've produced superb software or fixed a fault with an aeroplane or investigated a problem ... without telling anyone, your work is wasted
Completely disagree though. That work hasn't been wasted if that software is used, if that aeorplane can fly safely as a result.
Knowing how to advertise oneself can be useful but some people can also take pride and sense of accomplishment in doing things silently and knowing they did something useful.
And there's a difference between communicating, and advertising. There's an overlap, but it's not the same thing. Communicating is crucial. Advertising... not as much and wildly dependent on the situation (like trying to land a job).
I think you have to set your expectations low. Even if you have a great idea and/or product, the chance of it standing out in the crowd of other great inventions, are slim.
Start by telling your closest friends and colleagues. Seek feedback. Mention it in a few forums or other technical sites. Do a demo (a short one) and video record it for anyone to view at their leisure.
You will probably be disappointed if you expect some kind of viral response. It does happen, but like being struck by lightning, it doesn't happen often.
I worked as a Technical Sales Engineer and have been a Software Engineer for three years. I’ve realized many technical professionals overlook the importance of selling and writing.
With LLMs advancing and may take over coding tasks, software engineers should focus on skills like selling, writing, and problem-solving.
It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking "the work speaks for itself," but the reality is - it doesn't. If no one knows about it, it might as well not exist. Sharing your work isn't bragging; it's part of the process
I can think of at least one person this applies to for a seven figure company. Some people are not looking for the accoloades, the prestige - they get a problem and provide a solution and don't care much for personally communicating the 'how'- they expect others to be intelligent enough to know the 'why' to be mutually understood and don't care too much for explaining the how.
An unfortunate situation where people are able to solve problems but are burdened with having to pimp it to others. In the minds of these people, it is pimping. People on the scale I guess. And they have extreme value, 10x people.
Unfortunately society capitalises on people being able to 'sell' rather than the value. Maybe AI can cut through that bullshit.
Eh. I make my own software all the time just for myself.
I don't publish a lot of my software since the amount of time it takes to make something production ready is 2x or more the amount of time it takes to make a "good enough for me" piece of software I can use every day.
My RSS reader for example uses hardcoded feeds as a config file in the code, mostly because I don't feel like setting up a database or something to save a configuration for a user. And why would I spend lots of time implementing things like that when I can just, you know, enjoy my RSS reader right now and work on other projects?
Despite the title of the article this is about building your personal brand, so people know you and the good work you do.
Most of us don't do that, those that do are sometimes eventually considered "influencers" and "thought leaders" (urgh), because they have focused on the visibility of what they do.
Sell yourself, sell your work
(solipsys.co.uk)449 points by ColinWright 25 March 2025 | 173 comments
Comments
Back when Twitter threads didn't suck (they could be viewed by people without Twitter accounts) I'd use those - tweet a description of my project with a link, then follow it with a few photos and screenshots.
These days I use my blog, with my "projects" tag: https://simonwillison.net/tags/projects/
I blog all sorts of other stuff, but if I was ever to trim back the one thing I'd keep doing is projects. If you make a thing, write about that thing. I wrote more about that here: https://simonwillison.net/2022/Nov/6/what-to-blog-about/#pro...
Projects with a GitHub repository make this even easier: describe the project in the README and drop in a few screenshots - that's all you need.
(Screenshots are important though, they're the ultimate defense against bitrot.)
I have many projects from earlier in my career that I never documented or captured in screenshot form and I deeply regret it.
"Fully" seems to be doing a helluva lot of heavy lifting in this piece. Does anyone think that they mean anything other than "making money", as they quickly segue into talking about entrepreneurship and founding businesses?
I'm happy to concede that if you don't tell anyone about the stuff you do, no one will know. But I am not willing to concede that you only "fully" benefit from your work if you sell it. Nor am I willing to concede that work only has value if sold. I'm also not entirely certain the author is pushing those views. Still, something about this piece doesn't sit well with me.
Human endeavors have value beyond the monetary.
I work in a large FAANG company. For more than 10 years, I made the error of not publishing my personal work and ideas. I didn't like the rules about personal works, publishing opensource or social media communication... you are subject to gate-keeping by your employer if you are an employee. That's quite different from my previous experience in smaller companies in Europe. I found it very off putting: you had to give up ownership. I thought it was demeaning that even what I create in my own private time would be owned and attributed to someone else.
My choice of not publishing anything however was a very bad one. I didn't understand what power is: the continuity of the Self into the Other, where you find your-Self at ease. If you don't assert yourself, you give up not just your power but your very identity.
The truth is that power is dialectic. If you don't speak up, you have no power. Both in what you create, and in the relationship of and with power that you live, you are constantly redefining the boundaries of what you are and what you are not. If you remain silent, you loose.
First, "should" is a form of judgement. What the author believes is "enough" is defined by their belief system, not anyone else's.
> If you lock yourself in a room and do the most marvellous[sic] work but don't tell anyone, then no one will know, no one will benefit, and the work will be lost.
A reasonable discussion could be had for all but the last two assertions:
Again, this is a presumption made without merit.First, work related to a person's profession contributes to experience and possibly ability. Second, work is only lost if it and lessons learned doing it no longer exist.
* Explain, don’t “sell”. If something is significant and you explain it well, the significance will be obvious without artificial emphasis.
* Explain, don’t “persuade”. Don’t assume agreement before or after. Make your reasoning clear. Don’t assert credibility or pressure for acceptance.
* Clarity and brevity compound each other. If you are clear, you don’t have to spell out every detail, or review important points.
If you find yourself trying to explain what you have explained, you have not been clear or concise and are now spiraling. Rethink. Rewrite.
* Finally, state your main point/purpose up front. For everything, every section, every paragraph. Gets attention. Filters readers by relevance. Assists clarity & brevity.
——
Avoid mixing multiple or deeper points, that are better communicated separately.
Find an unmissable visual way to indicate where the first point/purpose was accomplished, and additional material has a related but new purpose.
For any young programmers: live within your means, invest the difference, become independent, and work on what you enjoy. It’s the best (work related) gift you can give yourself. Skip the self promotion politics unless you enjoy it.
I don't agree with this assumption. One does not necessarily follow the other. Outside of work, I write programs that I need and that further my own personal curiosity and education. I don't have to release any of it to the world, in order for me to fully benefit from it. I plan to take all of the source code on my computer to my grave and that's totally OK.
I've found a lot of fulfillment in building tech products/services for friends and family, and making meeting their needs the complete scope of the project, with no intention to release it publicly. I present it as though it's a widely released product, including marketing materials, retail box, printed instruction manual, etc. I enjoy it thoroughly as a creative exercise, and it gives me the opportunity to integrate and combine lots of skills I'm not able to use at work.
I don't make any money doing this, but it scratches the itch I have to build things people will use, and I do enjoy showcasing and promoting my latest projects - and an audience of my (less technical) friends and family is a polite and encouraging one. Definitely less stressful than releasing things to the wider internet. This has brought improvements to my real job, where I'm finding myself more comfortable presenting and promoting my achievements.
Publicizing your work, will certainly let it be known to the masses, but aiming for the masses means that the half life of your work is in years. Work that stands the test of time, does not need publicizing. People of a high caliber will find it and proceed to further honor you for your work, your focus should be only on excellence which truly matters in standing the test of time.
The ultimate experience is doing as many interesting things for yourself and not stressing about them "living on". It's 99% a closed system inside your head anyway
Others will advertise for you... or simply pay attention when you do well. Being reliable is outstanding, a true rarity.
Plenty of folks will want to take advantage. Assuming you weren't actually hired to work alone in a closet, there will be opportunities to shine/get put on speed dial... if you really want that.
As my paid work runs out and I get more towards retirement I guess I will start moving on to documenting some hobby projects, I don't see any down-side to it except running out of interesting things to talk about.
Of course nobody will visit your site unless you post it around, kind of a catch 22.
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2012/05/07/tech/web/brogrammers/index.ht...
In the software world, salespeople are almost universally hated because of how obnoxious they can be. I recently attended a Couchbase talk, and now the salespeople are all over my inbox and LinkedIn DMs. You don’t want to sell your work like that.
While not all work needs to be published, monetized, and advertised, this piece only focuses on the kind that needs to be done but isn’t.
I absolutely agree on writing about software. I don’t write to advertise my thoughts. Writing is the process that helps me think deeply about a topic I’m interested in.
While I write for myself, and my blog[1] usually focuses on the things I’m currently tinkering with, it has garnered a solid number of readers. I even got hired at two places because someone higher up read my writing at some point. So I believe the author is encouraging everyone to publish and advertise these kinds of work.
[1]: https://rednafi.com
To create and to sell are very different skills and things , even somewhat contradictory - and they rarely appear in same person.
The Organisational patterns book [0] have a role of Matron - a person who knows everyone and what they're up to (without need of deep understanding) - but that's not the same, and it's organisational.
i think that such people are needed in everyday, personally, too. To knit and entangle the threads of society.
[0] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0131467409/
[1] https://www.svilendobrev.com/rabota/orgpat/OrgPatterns-patle...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1zDuOPkMSw
It's anecdotal, but I don't like consuming blogs that much, so I don't see point to do it myself.
Lately, I’ve been reflecting on this. I’ve worked in several interesting sectors and developed amazing projects, but I haven’t documented anything. And in today’s job market, having a portfolio is almost essential.
I’m not a prodigy programmer, but in the industrial sector, programming is a key skill. This post motivates me to start structuring and sharing my work because it perfectly aligns with the idea that if you complete a project but don’t share it, it’s as if it never existed.
Nowadays, showcasing your work has become essential, not just for the community, but also for recruiters looking for talent.
[1] https://chrisfrew.in shameless plug
Every new thing I build, everything I learn, seems to me to open a multitude of new possibilities, of new exploratory venues that I am eager to follow, instead of stopping to sell what I've just done.
Why is this so hard?
But, no. It’s the good old “20 content, 80 delivery” advice.
> “But you still have to sell!”
No, We don’t.
Can we stop putting everything “on sale,” please? — Especially selling your … “self?”
i also motivate myself to browse deeper (or visit obscure second hand dusty (book)shops) to find such unspoken of things.
Why HN? Why?!
What if I want to do work for making the world a bit better? Submit a fix for an open source project anonymously? This article feels like the career drivel I so often see on LinkedIn.
Also, I might not want the world to benefit at all from my work. I could spend a year building a better alarm clock for my own personal use. Was my time wasted? I think that people should try to help others, but there is value in developing things for fully personal use. Not every program needs to be a product, startup or open source project. Not every solution needs to be a blog post.
You don't need to "sell" anything. Having to sell yourself, whatever that means, is pathetic. If you have something of value that you want to exchange with some other thing of value from someone, just communicate the facts/specs about the thing you want to exchange.
Given that I'm not already famous, how do I get people to know that I wrote something?
Completely disagree though. That work hasn't been wasted if that software is used, if that aeorplane can fly safely as a result.
Knowing how to advertise oneself can be useful but some people can also take pride and sense of accomplishment in doing things silently and knowing they did something useful.
And there's a difference between communicating, and advertising. There's an overlap, but it's not the same thing. Communicating is crucial. Advertising... not as much and wildly dependent on the situation (like trying to land a job).
Start by telling your closest friends and colleagues. Seek feedback. Mention it in a few forums or other technical sites. Do a demo (a short one) and video record it for anyone to view at their leisure.
You will probably be disappointed if you expect some kind of viral response. It does happen, but like being struck by lightning, it doesn't happen often.
With LLMs advancing and may take over coding tasks, software engineers should focus on skills like selling, writing, and problem-solving.
Marketing can feel dirty. It can feel cheap and nagging.
I learned early on that if you can't do marketing yourself, find someone else that can do it for you.
An unfortunate situation where people are able to solve problems but are burdened with having to pimp it to others. In the minds of these people, it is pimping. People on the scale I guess. And they have extreme value, 10x people.
Unfortunately society capitalises on people being able to 'sell' rather than the value. Maybe AI can cut through that bullshit.
I don't publish a lot of my software since the amount of time it takes to make something production ready is 2x or more the amount of time it takes to make a "good enough for me" piece of software I can use every day.
My RSS reader for example uses hardcoded feeds as a config file in the code, mostly because I don't feel like setting up a database or something to save a configuration for a user. And why would I spend lots of time implementing things like that when I can just, you know, enjoy my RSS reader right now and work on other projects?
I heard that called a definition of fascism once.
Most of us don't do that, those that do are sometimes eventually considered "influencers" and "thought leaders" (urgh), because they have focused on the visibility of what they do.
Browse hackernews in CLI with hnterminal: https://github.com/Aperocky/hnterminal
Manager your task and add records in CLI with tascli: https://crates.io/crates/tascli
Just want to create your own cellular automata: https://aperocky.com/cellular-automata/
Or randomly generate terrain and see water flow down hills: https://aperocky.com/hydrosim/