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opening the archiverev. 2026.10.10

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Last written to August 2026

Rajdeep Mondal · rajdeepmondal.com

Start anywhere.

Grouped and newest first. Start with the three below, or jump to a shelf.

Three to start with

Become UndefinableThe letter everything else here answers to.
Stack Money for the Wrong ReasonsA letter about the fuel nobody admits to running on.
Think for YourselfThe essay the other essays assume you have read.

Most read

Claude Code Is A State Machine2.8K reads
Become Undefinable1.4K reads
Stack Money for the Wrong Reasons976 reads
Publish Through Your People652 reads

Jump to

Essays10
In order5
Letters I write to myself18
Books I have read73
Notes from the AI build1
Treks I have walked3

Essays10

Attention, choice, and how to keep going when the work turns dull. Browse this shelf on its own page.

Luck Is an Engineering Problem15 min · 161 reads
Storytellers Get Paid First5 min · 298 reads
Publish Through Your People26 min · 652 reads
Commit Before You Are Sure8 min · 433 reads
Clean Up Your Mind4 min · 243 reads
Think for Yourself10 min · 502 reads
Every Choice Sends Its Bill Later9 min · 220 reads
Deciding Is a Skill6 min · 331 reads
The Will to Finish6 min · 354 reads
Your Hour Has a Buyer4 min · 426 reads

In order5

Each one reads from part one, and every part lives inside its sequence rather than loose on the shelves. Browse every sequence on its own page.

Guides I have written

My own long-form work, written to be read from part one.

Claude Code, Under The Hood18 parts

Course notes I have taken

Four university courses I worked through lecture by lecture, writing as I went.

Building Language ModelsCS336 · 18 notes
Large Language Model AgentsCS294 · 13 notes
Understanding and Developing Large Language ModelsCS324 · 15 notes
Deep Learning for Computer VisionCS231n · 21 notes

Letters I write to myself18

Each one works through a decision I was getting wrong. Browse this shelf on its own page.

Stack Money for the Wrong Reasons5 min · 976 reads
Let Your Calm Be the Threat7 min · 125 reads
Become Undefinable12 min · 1.4K reads
Keep Your Mind Fed4 min · 131 reads
Nothing You Do Not Earn Stays Free4 min · 191 reads
Earn Your Name in Private6 min · 171 reads
Your Ceiling Is Other People's Trust6 min · 197 reads
Keep Your Heart, Trust Your Eyes5 min · 169 reads
The War Starts Before the Punch6 min · 187 reads
Take the Risk While the Door Is Open4 min · 201 reads
Never Bet Your Life on One Door4 min · 147 reads
Build Yourself First4 min · 162 reads
Stay Long Enough to Become Unavoidable4 min · 190 reads
Building Luck4 min · 203 reads
Luck Follows the Ones Who Move4 min · 141 reads
No More Excuses4 min · 208 reads
No One Is Coming to Save You4 min · 180 reads
Start Today4 min · 197 reads

Books I have read73

What I took from each one, and what I changed after it. Browse this shelf on its own page.

Advertising Is a Volume Game10 min · 35 reads
Predictable Beats Heroic11 min · 39 reads
Charge More, Collect Sooner10 min · 42 reads
The Founder Sells First7 min · 49 reads
Terms Outrank Valuation11 min · 45 reads
Profit Is an Estimate11 min · 59 reads
Prepare Until Thinking Is Optional11 min · 54 reads
Good Products Die in the Chasm7 min · 475 reads
Three Seats Beat One Genius11 min · 37 reads
Narrow Until the Numbers Work11 min · 57 reads
Separate the Bet From the Result11 min · 57 reads
Small Turns Compound11 min · 56 reads
Price Before You Build7 min · 57 reads
Own Equity, Sign Your Name11 min · 86 reads
Draw Before You Decide11 min · 56 reads
Match Quality Beats a Head Start11 min · 98 reads
Arithmetic Beats Patience11 min · 66 reads
Traction Comes Before the Pitch6 min · 85 reads
Weave Your Mental Lattice11 min · 86 reads
Your Creditor Sets Your Growth Rate11 min · 101 reads
The Save Is Already In The Building11 min · 67 reads
The Refused Test Is the Finding11 min · 93 reads
The Pitch Is a State Change7 min · 95 reads
Own More of Less11 min · 102 reads
Direction Beats Diligence11 min · 82 reads
Manage for the Bad Case11 min · 140 reads
Cap the Downside, Keep the Option10 min · 111 reads
Stop Pitching6 min · 149 reads
Low Margin Is a Moat11 min · 133 reads
Culture Is What You Pay For11 min · 86 reads
The Standard Comes Before the Score11 min · 95 reads
Cheap Tests Beat Forecasts11 min · 95 reads
Systems Beat Willpower11 min · 181 reads
Mechanisms Outlive Intentions11 min · 91 reads
Fifty Feet Beats a Status Report11 min · 77 reads
Your Output Is Your Team's Output11 min · 104 reads
The Leader Is the Constraint11 min · 87 reads
Fewer Goals, Scored in Public11 min · 133 reads
Score the Job Before the Person11 min · 89 reads
Depth Is a Scheduling Decision11 min · 145 reads
Ruinous Empathy Costs the Most11 min · 115 reads
Adding People Makes It Later11 min · 183 reads
Every Rung Is a Different Job11 min · 89 reads
Effectiveness Is a Habit11 min · 124 reads
The Owner Is the Discount11 min · 127 reads
The Cue Outranks the Case11 min · 133 reads
The Buyer Must Say It First11 min · 137 reads
Teach the Buyer Their Own Problem11 min · 149 reads
Context Before Authority11 min · 95 reads
Stick First, Then Spread11 min · 161 reads
Replace Policies With Context11 min · 157 reads
No Starts the Negotiation11 min · 161 reads
Clarity Outsells Beauty11 min · 130 reads
The Trigger Moves Inside11 min · 176 reads
The Prototype Is the Spec11 min · 143 reads
Run the Plant by Its Constraint13 min · 98 reads
Start Smaller Than the Market11 min · 210 reads
Name the Obstacle First11 min · 170 reads
Search Before You Execute11 min · 141 reads
Look to the Barrier First11 min · 176 reads
Learn Faster Than Anyone Else11 min · 228 reads
Good Management Is the Root Cause11 min · 225 reads
Human Error Is Design Error10 min · 205 reads
Escape Competition11 min · 190 reads
Fit Is a Stack of Hypotheses11 min · 179 reads
Compete to Be Unique11 min · 166 reads
Discovery Is a Weekly Habit12 min · 132 reads
Capital Allocation Is the Job11 min · 185 reads
You Can Negotiate Anything9 min · 192 reads
The Courage to Be Disliked10 min · 247 reads
Psycho-Cybernetics7 min · 293 reads
The War of Art9 min · 450 reads
E-Myth Revisited12 min · 235 reads

Notes from the AI build1

How coding agents work underneath, and where the field moved next. Browse this shelf on its own page.

The Battlefield Moved17 min · 252 reads

Treks I have walked3

Written in the Himalaya, typed up after I came back down. Browse this shelf on its own page.

Dayara Bugyal: Twenty-One Kilometers, Sixteen Months Later9 min · 69 reads
Goechala: Sixty-Five Kilometers to One Sunrise6 min · 530 reads
Dayara Bugyal: The Trek I Was Not Fit For9 min · 297 reads