These are the exact strategies that 10x developers are using to outcompete 99% of other developers and dominate the industry.

If you’re still thinking in terms of clean code, then you’re focusing on the wrong things. Here’s what actually matters:


1. Solve the Right Problems, Not Every Problem

Prioritise tasks that have an exponential ROI over polishing rarely used features.


2. Think in Business Impact

Frame decisions in terms of revenue, user engagement, and metrics specific to your business.
Communicate in stakeholder language and focus on problems that move the needle on your business’s key metrics.


3. Prioritise Deep Work at All Costs

Development is hugely taxing on our brains, and in my experience, it can take upwards of half an hour to get into the zone where you’re actually producing something of value.

  • Allocate large stretches of time where all you’re doing is focusing on hard problems and their solutions.
  • Consider setting a personal rule that you don’t accept meetings before noon.
  • Set your phone to Do Not Disturb mode.

4. Ship First, Refine Never

Write good enough code that solves a user’s problem and only optimise when metrics demand it.
Too often, we’re focused on perfectionism or premature optimisation, which prevents getting our code in the hands of users quickly.

  • Identify the critical components of your feature.
  • Deliver only those to the user.
  • Users just want to click the button, do the thing, and move on—anything else is wasting time.

5. Become a Force Multiplier for Your Team

  • Build documentation, processes, and internal tools that scale your team’s impact 10x.
  • Script anything that can be automated.
  • Eliminate manual work aggressively.

6. Steal Code Mercilessly

  • Don’t build things in-house if an open-source library will do the trick.
  • If another team in your company provides a service or platform you can leverage, do so.
  • Value speed over originality.

7. Don’t Solve Problems—Remove Them

  • Eliminate root causes rather than just treating symptoms.
  • Design systems or processes that prevent problems from occurring in the first place.
  • Make impossible states unrepresentable in your code—for example, by leveraging type systems or constraints in relational databases.

8. Master Meta-Skills Over Syntax

  • Focus on transferable skills rather than language specifics.
  • Prototyping, debugging, and problem decomposition will serve you well regardless of your stack.
  • Learn how to use AI tools effectively.

9. Build Slack Into Estimates

Unexpected problems always occur, so it’s good to have a buffer to resolve them without having to reorganise the whole project.
And if you do end up with extra time:

  • Improve code quality.
  • Create documentation.
  • Build internal tools.

10. Create Strategic Alliances

  • Cultivate relationships with key stakeholders who can support you when needed.
  • Create shields around organisational chaos to protect your team’s deep work.
  • Learn as much as you can about how your industry works from a non-technical perspective.