motivation

Overheard : Passion and Edge

Bill Gurley in conversation with Shane Parrish on on how using AI to deeply understand both the foundational history and the cutting-edge trends in your domain can become an unfair career advantage

I mean, it’s kind of an interesting contrast. I’m suggesting you should understand the really old stuff, the history, because it’s differentiating and shows a passion and it gives you a great frame of mind, but you also want to really understand the new edge. If you do both of those things, I think you’re a power player in your field.  

And the second one is a great way for young people…. That’s another thing that could really differentiate you in an interview. If you’re applying for that marketing job and you understand all the legends and the history, but you also really get TikTok, that’s going to be a very differentiated skill going into those companies, and it matters. It really matters. It gives you a chance to shine. 

August 13, 2026 by AI OverHeard 0

HOW TO : Reduce phone usage

I know this is not really practical :-).. But hear me out

Every 6 months, switch from an Android to an iPhone as your primary phone. You’ll be amazed at how much free time you suddenly get.

The Reset Button

When you switch ecosystems, you get a blank slate. No apps. No habits. No notifications. Your phone is boring. And that’s the feature.

Most phone usage is pure inertia. You open Instagram because it’s there. You check email because the badge is red. But when you switch phones, those habits become a bit tougher to adhere to.

Starting Fresh

When setting up the new phone, be intentional:

  • Grayscale icons. Colors are designed to grab attention. Grayscale strips that away. Your apps become tools, not emotional triggers.
  • Only install what you need. Don’t install “just in case.” Start with essentials. Everything else can wait.
  • Disable notifications. Disable all notifications except calls and messages from people you know. You’ll notice which apps you actually miss.

The cycle starts afresh

Over time, you’ll add apps. But you’ll add them consciously, not because they came pre-installed. And as your collection grows, you’ll naturally develop habits around them. And that’s when the addiction/distraction cycle kicks in again.

Why (I believe) This Works

When you have unlimited options, you default to what’s easiest. When you have to choose, you choose what matters.

Most productivity advice tells you to optimize your existing system. But you’re fighting accumulated habits that have grown over time. Switching phones is different, it’s a reset, not optimization.

Give it a try.

January 26, 2026 by HOWTO Humanity 0

From consumer to producer

I stopped making New Year resolutions a while ago. My philosophy has been simple: if something is actually important, waiting for a specific date on the calendar doesn’t make sense. You should just start doing it, like the Nike ad says.

But for 2026, I’m making an exception.

I have never considered myself a prolific writer, but lately, I’ve noticed a growing friction when trying to express my ideas in written form. I suspect I’ve fallen into the trap of becoming a habitual consumer. When you spend all your time consuming and less time creating, the “writing muscle” starts to atrophy.

In the past, I felt a certain pressure when publishing here. I wanted every post to be thoughtful, insightful, and universally helpful. That high bar often became a barrier to actually hitting “publish.”

I think it’s time to listen to Kevin Kelly and focus on the audience of one – me.

The goal for this year isn’t to write for the world, but to write to think, to clarify my own ideas, and to move back from being a consumer to a producer.

Here’s to 2026 being the year I start writing again 😊.

January 11, 2026 by Resolutions 0

Overheard : On constant increase in expectations

Sam Altman’s June 10, 2025 post on achieving singularity captured something I’ve been thinking about lately. There’s a particular passage that perfectly describes how we’re constantly ratcheting up our expectations:

Already we live with incredible digital intelligence, and after some initial shock, most of us are pretty used to it. Very quickly we go from being amazed that AI can generate a beautifully-written paragraph to wondering when it can generate a beautifully-written novel; or from being amazed that it can make live-saving medical diagnoses to wondering when it can develop the cures; or from being amazed it can create a small computer program to wondering when it can create an entire new company. This is how the singularity goes: wonders become routine, and then table stakes.

This hits at something fundamental about human psychology. We have this remarkable ability to normalize the extraordinary, almost immediately.

I see this everywhere now. My kids casually ask AI to help with homework in ways that would have seemed like science fiction just three years ago. We’ve gone from “can AI write coherent sentences?” to “why can’t it write a perfect screenplay?” in what feels like months.

The progression Altman describes—paragraph to novel, diagnosis to cure, program to company—isn’t just about AI capabilities scaling up. It’s about how our mental models adjust. Each breakthrough becomes the new baseline, not the ceiling.

What struck me most is his phrase: “wonders become routine, and then table stakes.” That’s exactly it. The wonder doesn’t disappear because the technology got worse—it disappears because we got used to it. And then we need something even more impressive to feel that same sense of possibility.

June 10, 2025 by AI Humanity OverHeard Rantings Technology 0

30 day challenge : create software with AI

I like to do 30 day challenges to explore new areas, or to form habits. Some of my previous ones were

I am starting a new challenge today, to create software by leveraging AI. The recent boom in AI and GenAI specifically has made it very easy and quick to bring your ideas to fruition. It is time to start coding and developing software for ideas that have been swirling in my head for sometime.

I will be publishing them at https://kudithipudi.org/lab . I will expand and write up about some ideas and the experience in bringing them to life.

Inspired by https://tools.simonwillison.net/.

November 13, 2024 by AI Technology 0

Overheard : Leadership

Leadership isn’t about being the hero. It’s about empowering your team to become heroes themselves.

Google Gemini

For folks that are driven, wired to see an issue and tackle it head-on, it is difficult to not jump in and “try” to help your team whenever they run into an issue. But the reality is that most folks are capable, creative individuals. They just need the space to flex their own problem-solving muscles.

If you team has the skills and experience, let them handle it :-).

April 9, 2024 by OverHeard 0