Work Fast, Die Young, and Leave a Beautiful Codebase
summary
A personal memoir about friendship, startup highs and addiction: the story of Tristan OʻTierney who co‑founds Square, builds the early iPhone Twitter client Twinkle, and helps make Tap Tap Revenge a No.1 hit, then pursues photography and dies of a drug overdose at age 35. Details include fixing an AddressBook bug, shipping the Obama app, multiple rehab attempts, how sudden success rewrites incentives, and practical grief work—anger, guilt, and concrete steps to mourn and change a broken culture.
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chapters (10)
- 0:00Introduction and warning
- 1:27Remembering Justin ‘Tristan’ Tierney
- 5:05Building Tapulous and early success
- 10:27Twinkle and the power of design
- 13:23Success turning toxic
- 19:59Aftermath and burnout
- 23:40Tristan’s later life and death
- 32:37Why Silicon Valley is sick
- 36:49Personal growth from loss
- 40:55Legacy and impact
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