This collection gathers David Hoang's own words from essays on his personal site. — Choosing a company (David Hoang).

Infographic for "Lessons from David Hoang".

On Career and Leadership

  1. On the artifacts of a manager's portfolio: David Hoang: "There are a few common artifacts you’ll have as a manager: résumé/CV, portfolio deck, and website." — crafting-a-leadership-portfolio (David Hoang).
  2. On a personal board of directors: David Hoang: "When it comes to your career or life ambitions, I’m a proponent of assembling a personal board of directors—trusted individuals who can give you guidance as you need." — email-updates-to-career-advisors (David Hoang).
  3. On what you are optimizing for: David Hoang: "“What are you optimizing for?” I’ve asked this question to every person I’ve interviewed as a hiring manager for the past seven years." — choosing-a-company (David Hoang).
  4. On onboarding to a new company: David Hoang: "Onboarding is not simply following the artifact your new employer gives you." — the-fog-of-war-of-company-onboarding (David Hoang).
  5. On joining companies whose mission resonates: David Hoang: "I only join companies where the culture and mission resonates with me deeply because I feel it’s my responsibility to help grow it." — operator-mode (David Hoang).
  6. On paying it forward: David Hoang: "If you’re successful, I believe it’s your obligation to pay it forward to the ecosystem that made you successful." — 40-things-i-learned-in-40-years (David Hoang).
  7. On a self-imposed creative break: David Hoang: "It’s not a sabbatical or a formal PTO strategy—just a self-imposed ritual to step away from the chaos of work and reconnect with what inspires me." — career-reboot (David Hoang).
  8. On the management class: David Hoang: "The professional management class is getting slashed with the reduction in workforce and the advancement of AI capabilities." — operator-mode (David Hoang).
  9. On career advisor updates: David Hoang: "For the last few years, I’ve made an effort to keep them informed and updated on my progress—career advisor updates." — email-updates-to-career-advisors (David Hoang).
  10. On aligning with the culture: David Hoang: "When I decide to join a company, I make sure I’m aligned with the culture and values of the company." — operator-mode (David Hoang).
  11. On mission-driven operators: David Hoang: "In fact, the best mission-driven operators will challenge founders on the hardest parts and hold them accountable." — operator-mode (David Hoang).
  12. On proving youth was no obstacle: David Hoang: "I always gravitated toward proving that being young didn’t mean you couldn’t tag along with the big kids." — 40-things-i-learned-in-40-years (David Hoang).

On Design and Craft

  1. On the discourse about craft: David Hoang: "I empathize with those who feel frustrated about the discourse of a high bar for craft as they often are told it is important with no clear definition of the expectations." — the-obsession-over-craft (David Hoang).
  2. On articulating taste: David Hoang: "It’s the ability to say, “this is dope, and I’ll tell you in a detailed manner why it is.” Taste is being able to articulate why you enjoy the Riot in Belgium’s remix of Chromeo’s Bonafied Lovin’ more than the original." — the-role-of-taste-and-what-it-means (David Hoang).
  3. On the worst behavior you tolerate: David Hoang: "The saying is, “Culture is defined by the worst behavior you tolerate.” I wholeheartedly believe in this statement 100%." — the-obsession-over-craft (David Hoang).
  4. On design and engineering as young fields: David Hoang: "In software, engineering and design are infantile in existence compared to other sectors: mechanical, electrical, aerospace, and environmental engineering." — design-engineering (David Hoang).
  5. On designers building: David Hoang: "Ignore the question of whether designers should code and think of it this way: Designers build." — building-your-designs (David Hoang).
  6. On design and development tools: David Hoang: "From Visual Basic, to HyperCard, and to Macromedia Dreamweaver, I never cared (or knew) the difference between a design tool and development tool." — idde (David Hoang).
  7. On craft foundations: David Hoang: "Not having strong craft foundations as a team member is like a basketball player who understands different plays, communicates well, and is a great teammate, but cannot shoot, pass, or dribble." — the-obsession-over-craft (David Hoang).
  8. On accessibility and building your designs: David Hoang: "If you care about accessibility, building your designs will make you even more considerate of it." — building-your-designs (David Hoang).
  9. On going through the process yourself: David Hoang: "Going through this process yourself gives you a clear picture of what happens to the design through implementation." — building-your-designs (David Hoang).
  10. On publishing for yourself online: David Hoang: "Growing up along with the internet, I can’t tell you how powerful of an idea publishing for yourself online was." — 40-things-i-learned-in-40-years (David Hoang).
  11. On fixing mistakes: David Hoang: "Mistakes will happen and the culture of craft is putting the attention and care to fix them." — the-obsession-over-craft (David Hoang).
  12. On an impossible film: David Hoang: "In the 1970s, film director Alejandro Jodorowsky took on what people said was the impossible task: a film adaptation of Dune." — jodorowskys-product-roadmap (David Hoang).
  13. On Rubin’s way: David Hoang: "The first is Rubin’s way, where you have such a grasp on what you like that it influences how other people like it." — the-role-of-taste-and-what-it-means (David Hoang).
  14. On a pedigree in your craft: David Hoang: "The second is having such a pedigree in the work you’ve done in your craft that people respect your taste." — the-role-of-taste-and-what-it-means (David Hoang).

On Technology and the Future

  1. On a paradigm shift: David Hoang: "The pull-to-refresh gesture wasn’t just a novel interaction—it was a paradigm shift that would become ubiquitous across mobile applications." — waiting-for-ais-pull-to-refresh-moment (David Hoang).
  2. On tectonic plates: David Hoang: "There is never a single reason for this occurrence and multiple factors force tension like tectonic plates on the planet." — tech-is-going-through-a-factory-reset-moment (David Hoang).
  3. On the model, view and controller: David Hoang: "The Model handles data and business logic, the View manages the user interface, and the Controller acts as a middleman that processes user input and coordinates between them." — a-new-mvc-is-emerging (David Hoang).
  4. On where software is heading: David Hoang: "It might feel weird to think of software at first ponder, but this is where the world is heading." — the-four-types-of-software-in-the-future (David Hoang).
  5. On agents and hero animations: David Hoang: "They don’t scroll, they don’t hover, and they don’t care about a hero animation." — optimizing-for-agents (David Hoang).
  6. On storms: David Hoang: "Going through storms are difficult, but it is also the substance that allows new life to bloom." — tech-is-going-through-a-factory-reset-moment (David Hoang).
  7. On long-term thinking: David Hoang: "We over-indexed on companies that showed high value in a pandemic without considering what would happen on the road to recovery—a reminder that long-term thinking is crucial." — tech-is-going-through-a-factory-reset-moment (David Hoang).
  8. On learning new skills: David Hoang: "Though it’ll require learning new skills, I am optimistic it can empower people to do more of what they want." — tech-is-going-through-a-factory-reset-moment (David Hoang).
  9. On a syndicate that made investing real: David Hoang: "The vivid dream turned into a reality when Paige Finn Doherty inspired me to make it real by investing in a syndicate she led." — designs-seat-at-the-cap-table-part-i (David Hoang).
  10. On angel investing feeling out of reach: David Hoang: "Until recently, angel investment felt out of reach due to my perception of what it took to get started—a lot of capital and deal flow." — designs-seat-at-the-cap-table-part-i (David Hoang).
  11. On visits from AI agents: David Hoang: "A growing share of visits now come from AI agents — answer engines summarizing a page, assistants fetching a bio, retrieval bots gathering context for a model." — optimizing-for-agents (David Hoang).
  12. On designers who became investors: David Hoang: "Alumni designers who found success early at Silicon Valley startups formed entities like Designer Fund, Combine VC, and Form Capital." — designs-seat-at-the-cap-table-part-i (David Hoang).
  13. On learning to learn: David Hoang: "Be an expert at learning If there’s one specialty a generalist has, it’s learning to learn." — mastery-for-generalists (David Hoang).
  14. On user-centered design: David Hoang: "Underneath a benign name, “user-centered” design journeys are just rigid, biased environments where the user doesn’t have the freedom of choice." — ecosystem-design (David Hoang).
  15. On a wrong word and a different mental model: David Hoang: "One wrong word and someone might spawn a completely different mental model." — creating-value-with-artifacts (David Hoang).

On Life and Learning

  1. On being the oldest person: David Hoang: "Now I often find myself the oldest person and working with colleagues who were born after my favorite films." — 40-things-i-learned-in-40-years (David Hoang).
  2. On being the youngest person: David Hoang: "Early in my career, I was always the youngest person on the team or at the company." — 40-things-i-learned-in-40-years (David Hoang).
  3. On considering leaving: David Hoang: "Unless something unethical is happening, if you’re considering leaving, stay a few months longer." — 40-things-i-learned-in-40-years (David Hoang).
  4. On learning the roles of others: David Hoang: "During my four years at the health tech company, I learned about the various roles on clinical teams: primary care providers, registered nurses, care navigators, specialists, phlebotomists, and many more." — mastery-for-generalists (David Hoang).