You generally know when someone asks you to do something- am I more writing, or am I more editing? The editor is the best metaphor for your job.

Most people would agree that the details matter when it faces the user. But where the real debate is on things that don't face the user.

You want to start with the objective of everything should feel exactly the same.

Don't accept the excuse of complexity.

Ultimately, I don't believe that you can build a company without a lot of effort, and that you need to lead by example.

Basically this is what you want - a high performance machine that idiots can run.

Barrels are very difficult to find. But when you have them, give them lots of equity. Promote them, take them to dinner every week, because they are virtually irreplaceable because they are also very culturally specific. So a barrel at one company may not be a barrel at another company. One of the ways, the definition of a barrel is, they can take an idea from conception and take it all the way to shipping and bring people with them.