What LinkedIn won't show you
Honest stories from real workplaces.
The Reply-All Apocalypse
I complained about a client being “completely clueless” in what I thought was a private Slack message. It was an email. With reply-all. To the client. They replied: “Happy to jump on a call and clarify where I’m confused.” I led that call.
Lesson learned
Nothing. It will happen again. Very certainly
Accidentally got viral on LinkedIn with a post
Yesterday I shared some thoughts and learnings and it went viral. Don't really know why. Thing is: this post is crap! It was about how AI confuses proximity for meaning and therefore makes false predictions. Today I read an article from a former OpenAI researcher about this particular problem. He states that this is not a matter anymore, since new models work differently. I was baffled and ashamed.
Lesson learned
100k impressions for one single post don't mean anything. The post itself can be absolutely dog shit. Clicks and reach are not a good measurement for quality!
Constant fear of being laid off
Somehow I have a naggingly bad fear about losing my job. All is good. My ratings, colleagues giving good feedback but I don’t trust any of that. I got laid off in the past so at least I know where my fear from. But what can I do to ease my anxiety?
Lesson learned
Need to stop worrying
Testing MVP in production
I am vibe coding a LinkedIn alternative and test it in production. because why not?
Lesson learned
Build as you go!
I deployed to prod without testing
It was Friday afternoon. I was confident my 'small fix' wouldn't break anything. I pushed directly to production without running tests. Within minutes, the checkout flow was broken for thousands of users. My manager got paged. I spent my weekend fixing it while apologizing to everyone.
Lesson learned
No change is too small to test. Friday deployments are never a good idea. My confidence was actually recklessness in disguise.
Got laid off after 6 years
I gave everything to this company. Late nights, weekends, missed family events. I thought I was safe because I was 'essential.' Then came the restructuring. A 15-minute call, and suddenly I was escorted out with a box of my things. Six years of my life, gone in an afternoon.
Lesson learned
A job is never your family, no matter how much they say it is. Diversify your identity. Your worth isn't measured by your employment status. It took me losing everything to finally start therapy.
Told a patient's family the wrong prognosis
I was exhausted from a double shift. I mixed up two charts and told a family their loved one was improving when they weren't. They were so happy. Then I realized my mistake. I had to go back and deliver the real news.
Lesson learned
Fatigue kills judgment. It's not heroic to push through exhaustion—it's dangerous. I now speak up when I'm too tired to be safe. Patient safety starts with caregiver wellbeing.
My startup failed after burning through savings
I quit my stable job to pursue my dream startup. I was so sure it would work. Two years later, I had burned through my savings, maxed out credit cards, and had nothing to show for it. The product never found market fit.
Lesson learned
Failure is part of entrepreneurship, but I wish I had set clearer boundaries on how much I was willing to lose. A dream is worth chasing, but not worth destroying yourself over.