Tony Cho
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15-year engineer. Startup co-founder, CEO, developer, CTO — I've been
through the full cycle.
I've built and broken organizations, lived the rises and falls of the
business. Now I'm starting from zero again with my partner Ellie,
building new products.
Lazy enough to want efficient work, smart enough to actually do it. I
love people enough to enjoy team work, which sometimes makes me dumber
for the same reason.
I write retrospectives to hold onto what's passed, and I scribble the
stray thoughts that show up here.
Note: English posts on this site are AI-translated from the Korean originals. The Korean version is canonical.
Featured
Reading 'The Score Takes Care of Itself': On Leadership
Notes on Bill Walsh's leadership book 'The Score Takes Care of Itself.' The good-talent-bad-attitude equation, his declaration that teaching is the very definition of leadership, and the upward leadership chapter. The three-time Super Bowl winning coach's principles, read against my own failures.
The Moment You Spin Up an AX Team, You've Already Lost
The paradox of setting up an AX task force. MIT NANDA found the successful 5% weren't led by central AI labs but by line managers on the ground. What I learned from going from consultant to CTO. The first principle of organizational AX isn't tools — it's people and the organization.
Installing Claude Code Across Your Org Doesn't Make It AX
Rolling out an AI tool company-wide and going through an AX (AI Transformation) are two completely different things. Real AX starts when you redesign roles, KPIs, pipelines, and governance, not when you bolt AI onto a functional org.
✍️ 에세이
- The Moment You Spin Up an AX Team, You've Already Lost
The paradox of setting up an AX task force. MIT NANDA found the successful 5% weren't led by central AI labs but by line managers on the ground. What I learned from going from consultant to CTO. The first principle of organizational AX isn't tools — it's people and the organization.
- When Package Install Becomes a Hack: Why Zero Dependency Matters
In March 2026, the litellm and axios supply-chain attacks hit back-to-back. I trace ten years of dependencies turning from convenience to trust to risk, and use code to show why zero-dependency design is survival, not minimalism.
- AI Native Engineer: Taste Built on Principles
Being good with AI tools doesn't make you an AI Native Engineer. Taste without principles is guesswork; principles without taste stay academic. After hitting the wall in iOS, getting blindsided as a Maker, and falling into the sorcerer's apprentice trap, I came to one conclusion: an AI-era engineer's identity isn't the toolkit, it's taste built on principles.
📖 리뷰
- Books I Read in Q1 2026
Notes on the 10 books I read in Q1 2026: Stoner, The Obstacle Is the Way, Meditations, Source Code: My Beginnings, Bird That Drinks Blood, the second Krafton Way book, Lost and Founder, The Score Takes Care of Itself, Formula One, and Principles.
- Reading 'The Score Takes Care of Itself': On Leadership
Notes on Bill Walsh's leadership book 'The Score Takes Care of Itself.' The good-talent-bad-attitude equation, his declaration that teaching is the very definition of leadership, and the upward leadership chapter. The three-time Super Bowl winning coach's principles, read against my own failures.
- Reading 'The Obstacle is the Way' (with a side of Meditations)
A reflection on Ryan Holiday's 'The Obstacle is the Way' and Marcus Aurelius's 'Meditations', and the Stoic posture for facing failure and despair.
🔄 회고
- Wrapping Up January and February 2026 (Not Really a Retro)
After leaving the company, a sabbatical, a trip to Italy, fights and reconciliations with my partner, and finally getting back to work. Too thin on results to call a retro, too long to call a journal entry.
- Scrumble Tech Retro - 2. The Frontend, with a Side of Vibe Coding
A retro on Scrumble's Next.js frontend architecture, the realtime sync layer, the HEIC converter, and what I learned about Claude-driven vibe coding the hard way.
- Scrumble Team: First-Release Interview Updated:
Right after Scrumble's first release, Tony, Ellie, and George talk about how they joined the project, what tripped them up, the workshop afterward, and what they want to build next.
🔬 스터디
- How to Read Tech Articles: A Three-Pass Method
An efficient three-pass method for reading the tech blogs, RFCs, and newsletters that pile up every day. I adapt S. Keshav's Three-Pass Method for tech articles, and cover how to keep yourself in the driver's seat as a reader in the AI era.
- Give Claude Code Wings: Introducing Superpowers
Install Superpowers on Claude Code and a 7-stage workflow runs automatically, from clarifying questions to TDD to code review. Setup, the meta-skill, and how to build your own skills.