A picture of Phil
Phil Liao

Hey 👋, I'm Phil and you've found my personal site. Below you'll find posts, notes (half-baked, weekly ideas), book reviews and a list of projects. This site is a work in progress, and expect it to change frequently.

To reach out DM me on Twitter!

Posts
Stop Asian Hate
Mar, 28 2021

To stop Asian hate, we must get educated on how Asians have been dehumanized.

With gas in Ethereum being so expensive these days, here are some tools and tips to help you save.

A list of books and articles that speak honestly about the Asian American experience

I struggled for over a year to rank on SEO. Then, I learned some basics and started using some free tools. This is a guide for how you can do it too.

Some thoughts on how we should be valuing ETH

Algorithmic stablecoins are here and they're expanding their supply. What will become of them?

Some notes on Soros talking about Reflexivity

A list of resources to help you prepare for software engineering interviews. There are links to questions and tips

This is how I learned to type faster (from 65 WPM to 100 WPM). From touch typing (not looking at the keyboard), to speed drills, and finally getting results on TypeRacer

This is my learning plan to become a blockchain developer. Updated frequently with resources and articles

Uniswap shows us what it looks like to reward users with equity

How to Yield Farm
Nov, 20 2020

Yield farming might not be as profitable as it was earlier this year, but if you're curious about this opportunity in DeFi, read this guide.

Day 30 of 30
Nov, 12 2020

I'm finally done with my 30 day writing challenge! Here's my immediate reflection of how it went

How do we evict, or at least manage, ideas that live rent free in our heads?

A collection of quotes from the book "Minor Feelings" - and some minor commentary

Reacting to "Minor Feelings" by Cathy Park Hong

Latent Value
Nov, 08 2020

Sometimes, we succeed because of seemingly unwise or strange decisions we made in the past

I started Naval's 60 x 60 meditation challenge. Did a quick check in for day 11

What do Bitcoin, TCP, and retries have in common? They all employ some simple form of exponential growth (or decay) in their operations.

Psychologists say we only learn when we change our behavior. So how can we implement advice such that it really changes behavior?

Getting into Flow
Nov, 04 2020

Yesterday and today could not have been more different - and the difference was flow. Here's what helped me get into flow today.

I just finished my 4000th typeracer competition. Time to reflect

Day 20 of 30
Nov, 02 2020

Day 20/30 of my writing challenge. Some additional reflections

Halloween 2020
Nov, 01 2020

If we left out a bin of candy, with guidance to take only 3 pieces, what would happen? Well, the obvious happened

Legibility is simplicity, but not all simplicity is good. Where do we have opportunities to introduce "good" legibility into our systems?

Richard Feynman used to ask some pretty dumb questions. Here's what we can learn from him

A glossary of "hard to remember" terms from Designing Data Intensive Applications

168 Hours
Oct, 28 2020

I started tracking my time in 15 minute intervals. This is what my practice looks like

Neil Postman warns us that technology is disruptive - not of industries, but of our culture and our wisdom. My notes from his talk in 1998

Two Energies
Oct, 26 2020

Sometimes, I've got a lot of energy. Othertimes, nothing. They connect together like booms and busts of the stock market

In an interview, Josh Waitzkin shares some wisdom about learning and life. Here are some notes and takeaways

A Good Meeting
Oct, 24 2020

I'm weird. I love meetings. Here are my tips for having good ones

Day 10 of 30
Oct, 22 2020

Today is day 10 of my 30 day writing challenge. Some reflections

Metawork
Oct, 21 2020

All things are created twice. Do the metawork so the real work gets done right

Good Teammates
Oct, 19 2020

Working on a good team is a joyful. Over the years, here are a few patterns I have seen in good teammates

My thoughts on the question "Where are you from?"

Our brains form emotional memories that are inaccessible to our conscious minds

Making a change? Here's a lesson from Anthony Davis: Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can

Writing as Input
Oct, 15 2020

Day 3 of my 30 day writing challenge, and I'm making a shift in how I think about the pieces I write

According to LinkedIn, most of us have 50,000 second degree connections. Here's a thought on how to meet more of them

Writing online can be scary. If you're freezing up, here's a tip to make it more approachable

30 Days
Mar, 26 2020

What can you do in 30 days? It turns out - quite a lot. Here are some stories of people who catalyzed big changes with 30 day challenges

AirPods
Jan, 22 2020

Some lessons from AirPods: small delights, naming matters, real life virality

Itchier
Jan, 05 2020

Should you "scratch your own itch" before validating the market?

Built a "throwaway project" to get a feel for launching on ProductHunt

Job Search (2018)
Apr, 24 2018

The story of how I landed at Uber. At a glance: 65 days, 18 companies, 9 onsites, 3 offers. Lots of details for job seekers

Books
Rewire Your Anxious Brain

Rating: 7 / 10

The Boron Letters

Rating: 8 / 10

How to Take Smart Notes

Rating: 7 / 10

Thanks for visiting