https://mxstbr.com CEO and co-founder of Stellate, creator of styled-components and react-boilerplate and angel investor in early-stage startups. https://mxstbr.com/thoughts/graphql https://mxstbr.com/thoughts/graphql It might be surprising to hear the co-founder of a GraphQL company say you probably don't need it. Let me explain. Wed, 10 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://mxstbr.com/thoughts/tailwind https://mxstbr.com/thoughts/tailwind Why Tailwind is blowing up, why I (the creator of styled-components) love it and how I avoid the downsides of atomic CSS. Mon, 07 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMT https://mxstbr.com/thoughts/margin https://mxstbr.com/thoughts/margin We should ban margin from our React components. Hear me out. Tue, 24 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMT Sun, 11 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://mxstbr.com/thoughts/gatsby https://mxstbr.com/thoughts/gatsby I am joining Gatsby to work on open source R&D projects including Blocks, the visual editor for React apps, theme-ui, mdx and Gatsby themes! 🎉 Mon, 03 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT https://mxstbr.com/thoughts/css-in-js https://mxstbr.com/thoughts/css-in-js For three years, I have written all my CSS in JavaScript. In fact, I am the creator of styled-components, one of the most popular CSS-in-JS libraries. Let me explain why. Mon, 18 Feb 2019 00:00:00 GMT https://mxstbr.com/thoughts/tech-choice-regrets-at-spectrum https://mxstbr.com/thoughts/tech-choice-regrets-at-spectrum Spectrum is an open source chat app for large online communities. With the benefit of hindsight, here are the technology choices I regret. Wed, 16 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMT https://mxstbr.com/thoughts/streaming-ssr https://mxstbr.com/thoughts/streaming-ssr We recently implemented streaming server-side rendering and caching for Spectrum, here is how Wed, 07 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/gratitude-circles https://mxstbr.com/notes/gratitude-circles Credit to Sue Ko who taught me this many years ago. Gratitude circles are a beautiful way to get team members feel seen by their peers. I run them in-person at least once a year with each of my teams. Quote from one of my engineers after their first ... Wed, 08 Oct 2025 13:30:01 GMT Wed, 08 Oct 2025 14:39:06 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/how-to-present-to-executives https://mxstbr.com/notes/how-to-present-to-executives 1. Know all your details Know and be able to speak to all the details. Review your own work and ask yourself what somebody else might ask you about it, then make sure you have a solid answer to all those questions. Even things that are technically ou... Thu, 11 Sep 2025 17:58:27 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/working-hours https://mxstbr.com/notes/working-hours Send me messages whenever inspiration strikes or when it makes sense for your workflow. I'll respond when I'm back online. This isn't about being "always on," quite the opposite: it's about respecting that we each know how to structure our own work l... Thu, 30 Jan 2025 17:55:58 GMT Fri, 18 Apr 2025 14:57:48 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/todos https://mxstbr.com/notes/todos Kanban board with five columns: Inbox, Backlog, Blocked, Delegated, Done Most importantly: GTD-style “if it takes less than 2 minutes, do it immediately.” Create todos for everything (and I mean, everything, including replying to people) that go in... Tue, 07 Jan 2025 20:04:31 GMT Tue, 14 Jan 2025 22:02:13 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/efficient-recurring-meetings https://mxstbr.com/notes/efficient-recurring-meetings Start with a checkin question for connection (10% of the meeting length) Capture decisions made Capture open action items and check in on open ones every time, otherwise they get lost/forgotten due to poor personal execution Align on discussion ... Wed, 02 Oct 2024 16:40:26 GMT Wed, 02 Oct 2024 16:40:59 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/taste https://mxstbr.com/notes/taste Taste is what differentiates the good from the great. So, how can I have better taste? This is my ongoing log of what I have learned. Mon, 02 Sep 2024 19:49:00 GMT Thu, 05 Sep 2024 16:58:06 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/storytelling https://mxstbr.com/notes/storytelling The more my stories resonate, the higher the chance I will achieve my goals. So how can I better at it? These are the tips that have stuck with me. Tue, 27 Aug 2024 17:08:06 GMT Fri, 30 Aug 2024 15:13:31 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/brainstorming https://mxstbr.com/notes/brainstorming Brainstorming usually fails. But, I noticed a pattern in the times that it worked exceptionally well. Here's how to make it work. Thu, 22 Aug 2024 01:06:21 GMT Thu, 22 Aug 2024 03:37:55 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/innovation https://mxstbr.com/notes/innovation Innovation happens by combining things we can see and touch today in novel ways. So how can we have more things to see and touch? Thu, 22 Aug 2024 01:00:28 GMT Mon, 02 Sep 2024 16:06:36 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/being-unreasonably-responsive https://mxstbr.com/notes/being-unreasonably-responsive Creators who respond to feedback quickly unlock two virtuous cycles that allow them to build better solutions more quickly. Mon, 19 Aug 2024 17:42:11 GMT Thu, 22 Aug 2024 03:34:39 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/feedback https://mxstbr.com/notes/feedback Every day, you will find me hunting down a founder's email to send them feedback about my experience with their product. Why? Mon, 19 Aug 2024 15:13:18 GMT Thu, 22 Aug 2024 03:34:56 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/how-to-ship-faster https://mxstbr.com/notes/how-to-ship-faster Humans have the ability to get ambitious things done ridiculously fast. How can I get more things done quickly? Mon, 19 Aug 2024 13:52:47 GMT Thu, 22 Aug 2024 03:35:06 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/decision-making https://mxstbr.com/notes/decision-making What can I do before, during, and after making decisions to be better at making them? Mon, 19 Aug 2024 07:00:00 GMT Mon, 02 Sep 2024 15:23:06 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/digital-garden https://mxstbr.com/notes/digital-garden My quests with this digital garden are to publish more and to have fun. Let's explore why I even have a digital garden and how it's going. Mon, 19 Aug 2024 02:30:28 GMT Fri, 23 Aug 2024 18:46:48 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/david-cain-do-quests-not-goals https://mxstbr.com/notes/david-cain-do-quests-not-goals I love this reframing from "goal" to "quest": "goals" feel like pressure, "quests" feel like excitement and adventure! Sun, 18 Aug 2024 22:56:37 GMT Fri, 23 Aug 2024 18:42:30 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/deliberate-practice https://mxstbr.com/notes/deliberate-practice Many people are doing deliberate practice wrong in one specific way though. The Brazilians are an example of what happens when you get it right. Sun, 18 Aug 2024 21:14:22 GMT Thu, 30 Apr 2026 04:03:19 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/connection-in-remote-teams https://mxstbr.com/notes/connection-in-remote-teams I believe that teams that are more connected perform better and that remote teams have worse connections. How can we improve that? Wed, 14 Aug 2024 07:00:00 GMT Thu, 22 Aug 2024 15:02:53 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/talent https://mxstbr.com/notes/talent When people see somebody they perceive to be really good at something, they often say, “Wow, they are so talented!” I think that’s a bullshit compliment. Sun, 11 Aug 2024 07:00:00 GMT Thu, 22 Aug 2024 03:36:40 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/how-to-slow-down-life https://mxstbr.com/notes/how-to-slow-down-life Childhood memories seem endless because they were filled with constant discovery. Learning new things can potentially slow our internal sense of time. Fri, 09 Aug 2024 07:00:00 GMT Thu, 22 Aug 2024 03:37:03 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/1-on-1s https://mxstbr.com/notes/1-on-1s My 1:1s are unusual. Here's why. Sun, 02 Jun 2024 07:00:00 GMT Tue, 15 Apr 2025 16:49:02 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/devtools-startups https://mxstbr.com/notes/devtools-startups How do you build a business selling tools to people who can technically build anything you can? Fri, 24 May 2024 07:00:00 GMT Sun, 25 Aug 2024 16:17:33 GMT https://mxstbr.com/notes/developer-tools https://mxstbr.com/notes/developer-tools We developers build our own “commercial-grade” tools every day. On top of that, sharing one of these abstractions with the entire world takes git push! Sun, 19 May 2024 07:00:00 GMT Thu, 22 Aug 2024 03:37:47 GMT