Thoughts
Essays and notes, newest first. Click a theme to filter.
2026
- What I still miss in CursorI love Cursor, but here are some features I still miss in my day-to-day work.
- Becoming an Adult, AgainOn fatherhood, losing the habit of finishing things, and what raising two toddlers teaches you about time, work, and adulthood.
- Your career after having kidsSome curious and surprising facts about you and your career after having kids.
2025
- Looking Back to 2025Reflecting on last year and looking ahead to 2026. A year of toddler parenthood and busy work, with highlights including completing a half-ironman, starting a Substack blog, traveling to Europe, and plans for the year ahead.
- Building with Claude CodeThoughts on programming interfaces, agentic workflows, and the future of coding.
- Becoming an AI-Enhanced EngineerReflections and workflows from an engineer learning to build with AI. Everything we know about programming and building software is changing.
- On Writing, Parenthood, and AI's FutureOn finding motivation to write again, parenting, and preparing for an AI future while working in big tech.
2023
- Ideas for AI-Driven CI/CDExploring how AI and Large Language Models can transform software engineering, particularly in the development and deployment lifecycle.
- Working at big tech can be interestingThis blog post provides my firsthand perspective on working in a big tech company. It challenges common misconceptions about the lack of innovation and personal growth in these companies, highlighting the diverse opportunities, collaboration, and deep technical specialization they offer.
- Falling in Love with ProgrammingIn this personal blog post, I share my journey of falling in love with programming as a teenager in Armenia and the transformative impact it has had on my life. Through dedication, passion, and hard work, I overcame obstacles to become a "serious" programmer and encourage others to pursue their dreams in the world of coding.
- On Vartan GregorianVartan Gregorian, an influential Armenian-American academic, historian, and educator, transformed education and society through his passion, dedication, and leadership, leaving a lasting legacy and inspiring lessons for future generations.
2022
- The Soul of Our WorkA story about hard work, passion, and a group of computer engineers who want to build a new microcomputer in the 1970s. Or, in other words, my review of Tracy Kidder’s "The Soul of A New Machine" outstanding book.
- Beyond Indie HackingReflections on the challenges and realities of building a solo business while working full-time, and how it compares to traditional employment.
- Why I want to learn RustEarlier this week, I shared in my yearly review that I would like to learn a new programming language next year and chose Rust. So today, I thought I'd write down my decision-making process and why I think Rust is a good language to learn.
2021
- Reflecting on 2021We are closing the year soon, and I'm off from work this week. I felt now is a good chance to reflect on my past year and write down how things went in 2021 and what I'm looking forward to in 2022.
- Reliability and performance in software toolsIt’s been a couple of years now since I discovered my deep passion for building developer tools. I’m particularly interested in tools that become an indispensable part of developers’ workflow. Most such tools have one thing in common: they provide exceptional developer experience.
- First impressions of Warp terminalIn the past couple of years, I've developed a deep passion for developer tools. I now work at Netflix, where I spend most of my time building tools for engineers. Since I'm very interested in the devtools space, I'm always looking forward to trying new dev tool products, especially when I see immense potential for the tool to make a difference.
- Less Twitter, more buildingThis is the message I keep telling myself for the past couple of months. After I started a new job at Netflix, it's been hard for me to find time and motivation to build things outside of work. The most challenging part is knowing that this feeling can compound and get more difficult over time if I don't take action and keep procrastinating. The longer you stay in this hole harder it becomes to escape.
- How to approach tech interviewsI have wanted to write about this topic for a while and promised myself a couple of months ago that after landing a new job, I’d finally sit down one weekend and write down everything I know about tech interviews and how I prepare for them.
2020
- Farewell BufferReflections on leaving Buffer after four and a half years, and the journey to joining Netflix to work on developer productivity and tooling.
- Learning how to learn as a programmerReflections on the learning process for programmers, the challenges of keeping up with rapidly evolving technologies, and strategies for effective learning.
- Doing one thing but doing it wellReflections on the benefits of single-tasking and focusing on one thing at a time, with practical tips for improving focus and productivity.
- Working for someone vs. doing your own thingExploring the challenges of balancing a full-time job with entrepreneurial aspirations, and the decision-making process involved in choosing between them.
2019
- Becoming a Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)A personal journey of transitioning from a product engineer to a site reliability engineer, exploring the challenges and learnings along the way.
- Ինչ-որ բաներ որ սովորել եմ մինչև 30 դառնալը
- Things you can do as a developer to make more moneyIn this blog post, I share the ideas that I think you can start exploring today to increase your income. All these ideas require substantial time investment in the beginning, but I think you can do them on the side while keeping your current job.
- What I learned in my first year as a solo founderIn 2018, I decided to start a side-business. I got into writing, found my true professional passion, generated around $4000 net revenue, and met great people who inspired and helped me.
2018
- Reflections on building a side-businessFor the past year or so I’ve started to value my time a lot and decided if I ever get involved in side-projects it won’t be for free. Having a full-time job and a family doesn’t give you too much free time so I better justify what I spend my time on. This thinking really changed my perspective on things that I was keen to work on. This article is a reflection of that journey.
- Reflections on being a remote developerIt was the winter of 2016 when I opened my phone and saw the job offer from Buffer. I remember I was in an Uber with my wife driving back home from the JFK airport. So many things have changed since then. I grew as a person and as an engineer. This article is a story where I openly share all my learnings and challenges I’ve experienced throughout my journey of working remotely as a software engineer.