Leo Kim

An intriguing startup called Fragment is shaking up the ledgering game. 💡 If you’ve ever dealt with tracking customer balances, you know how tedious it can be—Fragment's API aims to simplify that by offering real-time, double-entry accounting without the accounting jargon overload.📊 Founders Thomas Neckel and Omi Chowdhury are onto something big here, especially with their track record of successful startups. With early adopters like TruckSmarter and Nala already onboard, it's exciting to see where this tech goes. 🚀 #Fintech #Startup #Innovation #AccountingTech #TechTrends https://lnkd.in/eUrC-tJE

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It's been less than two weeks since we released Replit Agent into the wild. The response has been more than we expected. So many people have great ideas for software, and their creativity has just been unleashed. As a result, we're hiring for multiple roles in engineering to help double down on our efforts and keep improving it every week (our weekly all hands is called Weekly Wins for a reason). Want to be part of the action? Message me or just check out: replit.com/careers Want to know more about Replit Agent? Check out Matt's deep dive: https://lnkd.in/gb8z8i6S

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Fellow engineering leaders, how do you and your teams handle product and technical bets that fall outside of annual planning? At Cedar, we've developed a framework to mitigate risk and provide clarity in such scenarios, helping us avoid pitfalls like the sunk-cost fallacy. Our approach is structured around three key steps: 1. Pitch, 2. Manage, 3. Pivot or persevere. By following this process, I’ve found we have a much better understanding of the success, or failure, of our bets. I recently shared our framework in detail in a post created in collaboration with Coda after receiving interest in this framework from my recent talk on this topic - https://lnkd.in/g5zGQX3V. You can explore it here: https://lnkd.in/gdEvsMKw. The post not only outlines the framework but also offers templates for immediate use. I welcome your feedback and insights on how you approach this challenge. Is it similar to Cedar's method, or have you discovered a different approach? Share your thoughts! I also want to thank those who helped refine my thoughts on this blog: Jonathan Collette Aaron Zollman Justin Hales Latham Arneson Annie Lux Craig Beveridge

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Comp leaders - is your equity program working? How about beyond year 4? Charlie's latest newsletter highlights the hidden factors at play in common equity programs. How do we make it a win-win?

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I had to chuckle about the comment in today's Fortune Term Sheet from a VC saying platform teams are BS. With Chatham House rules, we don't know the context behind the hot take, but my guess is whomever said it is secretly jealous they can't offer these kinds of services to their investments. Maybe that's why you believe the "most valuable support is often simply having access to the partners." Entrepreneurs, if you're not going to have access to the partners at a firm, don't take the money. Since capital is still relatively accessible, find a VC that is going to give you their time and money. Some of a VC's time may come from a broader team of experts they've hired to help you out. These platform / value-add services are not a replacement for doing the work yourself, but I don't know any entrepreneurs who would turn down the offer of more hands to help out, or guidance from operator who has "been there, done that." Would love to hear from founders and portfolio companies if you think platform services from your VCs are worthless. https://lnkd.in/gepWTQ2m

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This made me chuckle. And I’m super fortunate that my Dev partners are active participants in the feature design and definition, so in my experience this really applies to the entire team, not just the Dev team. We’ve all underestimated the complexity of features, but this is why a good UX/UI team is so helpful! That research is invaluable! Some things we’ve done to get feedback: - monitor those logs…daily! - watch for drop-offs at unexpected points of the flow - solid research going into the feature - prototyping!! - A/B testing - exit surveys What else do you do to gather feedback? #digital #productmanagement #product #productleadership #UX #UI

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When a $1,000 learning stipend requires 5 different tools to take advantage of, we've lost sight of what matters: developing talent. This isn't just inefficient - it's devastating to growth. While HR, L&D, and finance teams juggle spreadsheets and approval chains, your top performers are questioning their future with you. The cost? Beyond the 15+ weekly hours of admin time, you're losing the 800% productivity advantage that comes from developed talent. Professional development shouldn't require a PhD in process navigation. It should be as simple as: see opportunity, seize opportunity, grow. How are you removing barriers between your talent and their growth potential?

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I keep reading this every couple days and falling in love with it more. We keep having more and more systems because people need to write articles and books. And, of course, you have to have your own acronym. But when we step back and look at the core of things, most of it boils down to: 1. Go to therapy and deal with your own shit 2. Talk to other people. Be humble. 3. Actively listen to them and think deeply about what you heard from them 4. Don't be a dick. Have empathy. 5. Try to figure out situations where everyone wins That's it.

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Three Wins I Hope Every Founder, Builder Experiences 1. Hands-On with the Cool Tech Nothing beats diving into promising tech and seeing the impact firsthand. Getting up close with foundational models and LLM applications over the last three years is an experience I hope everyone got a taste of. 2. The Magic of an Aligned Team Being part of a team that’s not just smart but also daring greatly and committed to winning together - that's the best. A great mix of people bringing purpose, energy, and good vibes. 3. The Win of Creating Real Value Watching ARR take off, seeing customer value grow significantly, and knowing your work drives real impact - that's amazing. ----------- Looking back on the past three years at everc, I'm grateful for all that and more. From the hands-on work with LLMs to the friendships, amazing memories and lessons — What a ride. Together, we tripled ARR, drove significant customer value growth, and built a product group focused on speed and impact. A big thank-you to everyone who made this journey special ! Keep on keeping on — daring greatly, building, pushing forward, and inspiring each other. So long, and thanks for all the fish 🐟🐟🐟 ----------- What’s Next for Me? Exploring: • Zero-to-One LLM app product opportunities • Fractional product roles in early and mid-stage startups Who are the startups you know that could use an expert product hand to drive significant impact quickly?

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🤔 It may be an unpopular opinion, but I think it's always best to be first to the party 🥳 Innovation is the engine of growth, and the partnership between MikMak and DoorDash is a testament to this principle. This first-of-its-kind integration is a game-changer, revolutionizing how consumers shop and brands sell. Imagine this: you're scrolling through your favorite social media platform, see an ad for a product you love, and within moments, you can have it delivered to your doorstep via DoorDash. This is the power of MikMak's integration with DoorDash, a seamless fusion of social commerce and on-demand delivery. But this partnership isn't just about convenience; it's about empowering brands with valuable data and insights. MikMak's closed-loop attribution provides a granular understanding of consumer behavior, enabling brands to optimize their marketing strategies and drive sales. 🚀 This is the future of omnichannel shopping, a world where every interaction is a potential purchase, and every purchase is a data point. MikMak and DoorDash are leading the charge, and I'm excited to see where this journey takes us. 🗞️ Read the Press Release here: https://lnkd.in/e-VqFtSb? #MikMak #DoorDash #Omnichannel #ecommerce #innovation #marketing #attribution #data #insights #partnership #futureofretail

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SCALE. Technology driven scale wins. Sales, PR or Investor driven “scale” often proves to be an unsustainable period of growth. Boom has built the infrastructure to win.

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This essay hits the mark: https://lnkd.in/gaf-uDw6 It's easy for me personally to get stuck attempting to figure out the optimal solution for a given problem. The concept of managing/minimizing complexity is an excellent way to organize the decision process. A lot of potential "optimizations" can actually increase complexity to the point that the long-term costs of managing the complexity outweigh the gains from the optimization. Example applications could be a new convention within a codebase or changes to infrastructure. It could even apply to a new process that's completely offline. Is the new concept adding or reducing complexity? If we have to implement a new concept while simultaneously maintaining an old concept, does that add or remove complexity? Does the improvement justify the complexity? Is the complexity necessary? Furthermore, the concept of engineers & product leaders ultimately being responsible for critically examining and questioning business requirements that may lead to unnecessary complexity is core to how we function as a product & engineering organization. The more effective we are at managing complexity, the more we are able to spend time creating instead of maintaining.

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One of the other things I ❤️ about Everlaw is our dominant approach to building software at Everlaw - optimizing for overall throughput over the latency of shipping a specific feature. It was one of my primary draws of joining Everlaw and it continues to be one of the compelling draws for engineering-minded candidates to Everlaw. People often ask me how it can work and the article (https://lnkd.in/gMSQeWbR) provides a great overview of it. Definitely worth a read!

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Leaders, ask not what your reports can do for you but what you can do for your reports. Maximize your impact by fostering environments where people can do their best work. Great post from John Cutler about shifting a reactive perspective and getting clarity on how to respond when things seem too complex. #Leadership #ProductDevelopment #PeopleFirst #Empathy

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Pulling back the curtains a little more, here is part 2 which covers the system architecture, implementation, and roll out details, https://lnkd.in/dgHXqgGk

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**In-person SWE roles at top NYC startups** Things are heating up at July, and we’re on the hunt for a fresh face to join our new office and take the last open desk (for now)! As a company, we’ve always kept things lean, operating with a “hire slow” philosophy to make sure we only bring on absolute KILLERS — and every one of them have been found through LinkedIn. If you’re looking for a new opportunity and want to play at the highest level, I would challenge you to apply. What we're looking for: 1️⃣ Side project junkies (people who love to build) 2️⃣ People who obsess over the details 3️⃣ Founder mentality 4️⃣ Those that love to hustle and want to level-up in all areas If not with us, a few of my good friends are also on the hunt for similar candidates. Daniel Andrews (Playground), Benjamin Döpfner (Vesto), Avante Price (Posh), Keyan K. (222), and Steven Schwartz (Whop), are also on the prowl for talented NYC based engineers that fit the above description. Comment your email down below and someone from our team will reach out with more information about the role! If you don't want your current employer to see you're interested in joining the dark side, DM me! I hope to chat soon 😉 #nyc #startups #growth

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Here's one fun and easy hack that designers and product managers can use to GREATLY level up their technical chops: Learn how to use Airtable. Why? It's a hands-on way to learn the fundamentals of relational databases, data types, and database querying. Knowing these concepts intuitively will benefit your working relationship with devs and make you MUCH more effective at your job. Here are some easy database project ideas to get you started: 1. Your Library -- Books, authors, genres, etc. 2. Trips You've Taken -- Locations visited, travel companions, experiences, etc. 3. Recipes -- Types of food, ingredients, kitchen tools needed, etc. Have fun! https://www.airtable.com DM me if you want to learn Airtable and need tips on getting started. Happy to help. #Airtable #Data #ProductManagement #UX #CareerGrowth

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Last Tuesday, Malsgufa, our legacy CMS backend, was shut down. This milestone for BI's Tech and Product team culminated years of planning, effort, and execution. Malsgufa's first commit was on July 25, 2014, leading to 5,186 commits across nearly 30 repositories. Built and maintained by scores of engineers, its deprecation represents significant cost savings (20 production replicas, 3 instances of Solr, and an insane number of Zookeeper instances!), reduced security risk, and the elimination of an often-blamed boogeyman. The journey began in January 2020. Our challenge: moving traffic off Malsgufa without rebuilding everything in Muse. Initially, we tried GraphQL as an intermediary between Viking and our services, but progress was limited by Viking's complex Angular/Vue architecture. In January 2023, we pivoted to the strangler fig pattern with a shim. This approach proved far more effective – all Malsgufa traffic went through the shim first, with verbose logging to track unhandled requests. Meanwhile, we built Story Versioning API (SVAPI), incorporating lessons learned from Malsgufa's limitations around history and publishing states. We ran four major migrations (stories, custom pages, slideshows, and videos), building support in Muse and shimmed compatibility for Viking. Traffic gradually decreased from a torrent to a trickle, leading to the gloriously uneventful shutdown. Next, we will deprecate Viking by Q2 2025, unifying our users in the Muse ecosystem to create the industry's most innovative CMS. Special thanks to the entire Story Creation team: Chase Gruber, Chris Speziale, Daniel Arita, Danny Feliz, Dasha Lary, Dawin Camillo, Eric Saam, Frederica Chen, John Laslo, Kelly Filush, Morgan Cohn, Sarah Pai, Tyler Greenfield! Thanks also to DaD, Engagement, Helpfulness, Cloud Engineering, Test Engineering, and Operational Excellence! Finally, we recognize Malsgufa itself. Developed as a unified CMS backend to support Business Insider's expansion into new markets, it served our global newsroom reliably for a decade, publishing millions of stories despite no major changes in recent years. While it became less sustainable as our business evolved, it deserves our respect. Thank you, Malsgufa. May you rust in peace.

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