Hacker News: joaoqalves

Hi! Thanks for the comment. Indeed, some, if not most, are using LLMs in their daily activities. They have access to GitHub copilot, and there were pilots with other tools like Claude Code, recently.

Generally speaking, these folks are empowered to make their lives better and more productive through LLMs. There are a few things to consider, though:

1. It’s not the same a brand new codebase vs a big, existing one. Context management helps, but you also need to invest a lot on it. Especially legacy projects. Bear in mind that producing code is part of the job of a Software Engineer but not the biggest chunk, especially in legacy apps. Observability, setting up good cloud infrastructure, etc is still there. I think there’s also room to improve it with LLMs but we must also acknowledge we’re in the early days, although it does not seem so.

2. When you work for a bigCo, there are tempos. Approvals, budget, licenses… All of this makes the adoption of these tools a bit slower than wanted.

3. Finally, there’s a cultural change. A lot of great SWE, even on HN, despise the idea of having someone writing code for them. “It’s bad code”, etc. We need, as an industry, to make sure we get the most out of the available tools, and be proficient with them. So, this is a more cultural/people’s problems. And these are harder than vibe coding.

New comment by joaoqalves in "Building on vibes: Lessons from three years with LLMs"

joaoqalves — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 09:38:39 +0000

I’ve spent the past three years "vibe coding" with LLMs, building side projects I wouldn’t have had time to ship otherwise. Along the way, I’ve learned how to structure context for ChatGPT, utilize PRDs to minimize rework, and address areas of weakness, such as testing.

It doesn’t feel like "magic" anymore, but it does feel like a real productivity boost. Wrote up the reflections + shipped projects in this blog post.

Happy to hear your thoughts and comments.

Building on vibes: Lessons from three years with LLMs

joaoqalves — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 09:38:39 +0000

Article URL: https://world.hey.com/joaoqalves/building-on-vibes-lessons-from-three-years-with-llms-564f2801

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45525458

Points: 1

# Comments: 4

New comment by joaoqalves in "You can just open-source things"

joaoqalves — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 08:24:08 +0000

I’ve open-sourced "SupportHero" [1], a Slack-to-Jira support bot inspired by a similar, internal one, built by a colleague where I work.

The original idea was simple: reacting to a Slack message would automatically create a ticket. This reduced friction for users (“please create me a ticket” was no longer needed), provided platform teams with better visibility into support load, and surfaced real demand. I extended it while leading the Runtime team, then rewrote it as "SupportHero".

For a while, it sat on the shelf: useful, but not perfect. Recently, inspired by the builder mentality I see in projects like DHH’s Omarchy, I decided just to clean it up, write some docs, and release it.

It’s not something I plan to monetize, and it’s not a polished product. But that’s the point: sometimes you don’t need a business plan or a launch strategy. You can simply build things and open-source them.

The code is tested, easy to deploy, and can serve as a base for teams who want to automate away this kind of support overhead.

More details and the backstory in my blog post.

1 - https://github.com/abistama/support-hero

You can just open-source things

joaoqalves — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 08:24:08 +0000

Article URL: https://world.hey.com/joaoqalves/you-can-just-open-source-things-2c1e2b77

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45023792

Points: 3

# Comments: 2

Five opinions I've kept, let go, and picked up as a software builder and leader

joaoqalves — Fri, 30 May 2025 19:30:32 +0000

Article URL: https://world.hey.com/joaoqalves/five-opinions-i-ve-kept-let-go-and-picked-up-as-a-software-builder-and-leader-5ab3b919

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44139241

Points: 4

# Comments: 1

New comment by joaoqalves in "Private Equity 101 for the tech industry"

joaoqalves — Fri, 16 May 2025 16:03:32 +0000

Hi! João here

The company I work for [1] was recently taken private by a PE consortium. I put together a write-up on what changes post-acquisition. It's not just the headlines (layoffs, cost cuts) but how decision-making, KPIs, product focus, and internal culture shift.

It’s based on direct experience + patterns I’ve seen from others in similar situations. Might be useful if you're in a SaaS company or just curious about how PE works from the inside.

I'm curious to hear how this compares to others' experiences. In particular, from folks who've been through something similar.

1 - https://www.ft.com/content/9bbd28de-e3f3-4eb5-8b04-39c145c72...

Private Equity 101 for the tech industry

joaoqalves — Fri, 16 May 2025 16:03:32 +0000

Article URL: https://world.hey.com/joaoqalves/private-equity-101-for-the-tech-industry-472e9ee7

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44007044

Points: 3

# Comments: 2