Mike Julian
@mikejulian.com
Cofounder/CEO at DuckbillHQ.com. @mike_julian on Twitter
Pinned
Mike Julian
@mikejulian.com
· Nov 17
Consulting 101:
My top 10 lessons in getting paid to give advice. 🧵
My top 10 lessons in getting paid to give advice. 🧵
Want to start a FinOps program? The secret first step: do almost nothing. Just measure everything and show people the numbers. Let the gentle, persistent shame of a public dashboard work its magic. You'll be amazed how quickly costs go down.
#finops
#finops
October 24, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Want to start a FinOps program? The secret first step: do almost nothing. Just measure everything and show people the numbers. Let the gentle, persistent shame of a public dashboard work its magic. You'll be amazed how quickly costs go down.
#finops
#finops
So you want to know how your cloud spend stacks up against the competition? Great. Do you also want to be profoundly mediocre? Chasing benchmarks strips away everything unique about your business. Compete with the only company that matters: yourself, last month.
#finops
#finops
October 23, 2025 at 4:31 AM
So you want to know how your cloud spend stacks up against the competition? Great. Do you also want to be profoundly mediocre? Chasing benchmarks strips away everything unique about your business. Compete with the only company that matters: yourself, last month.
#finops
#finops
Should you use an AWS reseller? For the most part, no. But there are exactly three situations where they aren't a complete waste of time. If you're just buying AWS from them and getting nothing else, you've just added a useless—and expensive—middleman.
#finops
#finops
October 23, 2025 at 3:52 AM
Should you use an AWS reseller? For the most part, no. But there are exactly three situations where they aren't a complete waste of time. If you're just buying AWS from them and getting nothing else, you've just added a useless—and expensive—middleman.
#finops
#finops
If you're in San Francisco on Tuesday, we're hosting the first ever San Francisco FinOps Meetup in FiDi! Join us! lu.ma/v75d6o5e
San Francisco FinOps Meetup: Cloud Cost Insights & Networking · Luma
Join fellow FinOps pros, finance, engineers, and enthusiasts for an evening of insights and conversation in the heart of San Francisco.
5:30 PM – Doors open &…
lu.ma
August 23, 2025 at 9:16 PM
If you're in San Francisco on Tuesday, we're hosting the first ever San Francisco FinOps Meetup in FiDi! Join us! lu.ma/v75d6o5e
👏
Just wow: Brex looked at what paid newsletters corporate credit card customers at 30,000+ companies subscribe, and @Pragmatic_Eng is the 3rd most popular, and the most popular one for software engineering.
Right after Stratechery and Lenny’s Newsletter:
Right after Stratechery and Lenny’s Newsletter:
August 23, 2025 at 8:31 PM
👏
I know I'm supposed to be in Vegas for re:Invent but, uhh, the Excel World Championship Finals are in Vegas at the same time 🤔
August 21, 2025 at 3:02 AM
I know I'm supposed to be in Vegas for re:Invent but, uhh, the Excel World Championship Finals are in Vegas at the same time 🤔
A whole lot of SaaS products have been touting their cost optimization capabilities since ZIRP ended.
I think "can manage its own costs" is tablestakes for most SaaS products now to such a degree that it's not even worth mentioning in the core features--it's just _expected_.
I think "can manage its own costs" is tablestakes for most SaaS products now to such a degree that it's not even worth mentioning in the core features--it's just _expected_.
August 18, 2025 at 5:06 AM
A whole lot of SaaS products have been touting their cost optimization capabilities since ZIRP ended.
I think "can manage its own costs" is tablestakes for most SaaS products now to such a degree that it's not even worth mentioning in the core features--it's just _expected_.
I think "can manage its own costs" is tablestakes for most SaaS products now to such a degree that it's not even worth mentioning in the core features--it's just _expected_.
Just realized every major Vegas strip hotel is now unionized.
Venetian unionized last August. I wonder how long before "Relocate re:Invent" made it to someone's agenda--minutes? hours? 😆
Venetian unionized last August. I wonder how long before "Relocate re:Invent" made it to someone's agenda--minutes? hours? 😆
August 5, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Just realized every major Vegas strip hotel is now unionized.
Venetian unionized last August. I wonder how long before "Relocate re:Invent" made it to someone's agenda--minutes? hours? 😆
Venetian unionized last August. I wonder how long before "Relocate re:Invent" made it to someone's agenda--minutes? hours? 😆
Amazon acquiring Bee is a pretty strong admission that they can't make Alexa work.
www.linkedin.com/posts/activi...
www.linkedin.com/posts/activi...
Bee is joining Amazon and we couldn’t be more excited! | Maria de Lourdes Zollo
Bee is joining Amazon and we couldn’t be more excited!
When we started Bee, we imagined a world where AI is truly personal, where your life is understood and enhanced by technology that learns with ...
www.linkedin.com
July 23, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Amazon acquiring Bee is a pretty strong admission that they can't make Alexa work.
www.linkedin.com/posts/activi...
www.linkedin.com/posts/activi...
Just doin some wild shit in studio with @quinnypig.com today 🤘
July 22, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Just doin some wild shit in studio with @quinnypig.com today 🤘
Reposted by Mike Julian
Now that AWS fixed the free tier, I think the next biggest technical absurdity, in terms of a thing that seems like a decision made outside of technical considerations, is how you can't move an S3 bucket between accounts.
July 16, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Now that AWS fixed the free tier, I think the next biggest technical absurdity, in terms of a thing that seems like a decision made outside of technical considerations, is how you can't move an S3 bucket between accounts.
"Being a founder is, well, it actually sucks. It's oddly like being repeatedly punched in the face."
🤣
too real
🤣
too real
This comment made me go digging to find out what article he was talking about. It was worth the side quest!
Here, on whether enshittification is inevitable or not:
apenwarr.ca/log/20250530
Here, on whether enshittification is inevitable or not:
apenwarr.ca/log/20250530
July 15, 2025 at 5:01 AM
"Being a founder is, well, it actually sucks. It's oddly like being repeatedly punched in the face."
🤣
too real
🤣
too real
Reposted by Mike Julian
New post up, with a bunch of thoughts on what drives me personally, and my own 40-year career (h/t @lethain.com).
I have a pretty unusual life story. But one of the reasons I love the tech industry so much is how common unusual stories like mine have historically been.
charity.wtf/2025/07/09/t...
I have a pretty unusual life story. But one of the reasons I love the tech industry so much is how common unusual stories like mine have historically been.
charity.wtf/2025/07/09/t...
Thoughts on Motivation and My 40-Year Career
I’ve never published an essay quite like this. I’ve written about my life before, reams of stuff actually, because that’s how I process what I think, but never for public consumption. I’ve been pus…
charity.wtf
July 9, 2025 at 9:31 PM
New post up, with a bunch of thoughts on what drives me personally, and my own 40-year career (h/t @lethain.com).
I have a pretty unusual life story. But one of the reasons I love the tech industry so much is how common unusual stories like mine have historically been.
charity.wtf/2025/07/09/t...
I have a pretty unusual life story. But one of the reasons I love the tech industry so much is how common unusual stories like mine have historically been.
charity.wtf/2025/07/09/t...
In before an Amazon exec realizes a product team made something unique and interesting and ruins it by bringing it back into the fold a la Lightsail.
Well, this is awkward. AWS released a Cursor clone and it's... actually not terrible? It may be time to re-evaluate my life. kiro.dev/blog/introdu...
Introducing Kiro
A new agentic IDE that works alongside you from prototype to production
kiro.dev
July 15, 2025 at 3:48 AM
In before an Amazon exec realizes a product team made something unique and interesting and ruins it by bringing it back into the fold a la Lightsail.
The problem I have with modern observability tools is that I feel like an idiot trying to figure out how to use them.
June 30, 2025 at 3:26 AM
The problem I have with modern observability tools is that I feel like an idiot trying to figure out how to use them.
Reposted by Mike Julian
Ever wondered what is a day in the life of a server in an AWS data center ?
@quinnypig.com has it covered for you
www.lastweekinaws.co...
@quinnypig.com has it covered for you
www.lastweekinaws.co...
A Day in the Life of Server #47B-2: An AWS Data Center Memoir
Or: Surprise! I Contain Multitudes and Also Your “Serverless” Functions
www.lastweekinaws.com
June 13, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Ever wondered what is a day in the life of a server in an AWS data center ?
@quinnypig.com has it covered for you
www.lastweekinaws.co...
@quinnypig.com has it covered for you
www.lastweekinaws.co...
I'm hosting the @duckbillgroup.com office hours in ten minutes!
If you have questions about #AWS contracts, cost optimization, or #FinOps in general, come on over!
zoom.us/webinar/regi...
If you have questions about #AWS contracts, cost optimization, or #FinOps in general, come on over!
zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Duckbill Group Office Hours. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
• Get personalized advice on your AWS cost optimization strategy
• Ask questions about confusing billing elements
• Learn about AWS contract negotiations
• Connect with FinOps professionals who unders...
zoom.us
June 12, 2025 at 4:51 PM
I'm hosting the @duckbillgroup.com office hours in ten minutes!
If you have questions about #AWS contracts, cost optimization, or #FinOps in general, come on over!
zoom.us/webinar/regi...
If you have questions about #AWS contracts, cost optimization, or #FinOps in general, come on over!
zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Reposted by Mike Julian
Want to know the most telling metric about cloud cost management tools? Check how many people actually USE them.
Great tools matter, but without the right people driving your strategy, they're just expensive dashboards collecting dust.
Great tools matter, but without the right people driving your strategy, they're just expensive dashboards collecting dust.
Cloud Cost Tools Won't Fix Your AWS Bill (Here's Why)
Think throwing money at fancy cloud cost management tools will solve your AWS spending problems? Here's why that approach fails: Most companies have fewer th...
youtube.com
June 11, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Want to know the most telling metric about cloud cost management tools? Check how many people actually USE them.
Great tools matter, but without the right people driving your strategy, they're just expensive dashboards collecting dust.
Great tools matter, but without the right people driving your strategy, they're just expensive dashboards collecting dust.
Reposted by Mike Julian
Missing your AWS EDP commitment? Don’t panic. If you’re 10–15% underwater, doing nothing might be optimal since shortfall fees use discounted rates. Focus on total savings, not perfect forecasting.
What To Do When You’re Underwater on Your AWS EDP
Underwater? Let’s go swimming. You have options…
www.duckbillgroup.com
June 10, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Missing your AWS EDP commitment? Don’t panic. If you’re 10–15% underwater, doing nothing might be optimal since shortfall fees use discounted rates. Focus on total savings, not perfect forecasting.
Reposted by Mike Julian
Finance and Engineering need couples therapy when it comes to cloud costs.
Finance wants confidence in the numbers and trajectory.
Engineering thinks they need to defend every dollar. Better understanding leads to better outcomes.
youtube.com/shorts/XY4Ax...
Finance wants confidence in the numbers and trajectory.
Engineering thinks they need to defend every dollar. Better understanding leads to better outcomes.
youtube.com/shorts/XY4Ax...
The Finance-Engineering Gap in Cloud Costs: A Simple Fix
Stop assuming Finance wants a detailed justification of every dollar in your cloud bill. What they really want is confidence - confidence that someone unders...
youtube.com
May 26, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Finance and Engineering need couples therapy when it comes to cloud costs.
Finance wants confidence in the numbers and trajectory.
Engineering thinks they need to defend every dollar. Better understanding leads to better outcomes.
youtube.com/shorts/XY4Ax...
Finance wants confidence in the numbers and trajectory.
Engineering thinks they need to defend every dollar. Better understanding leads to better outcomes.
youtube.com/shorts/XY4Ax...
Reposted by Mike Julian
I have managed multiple teams at a company with a hybrid schedule. I have also been hiring pretty consistently for years now (basically until like a month ago).
One thing I hear from candidates often is that they are actively excited to come into the office a few times a week to be around others.
One thing I hear from candidates often is that they are actively excited to come into the office a few times a week to be around others.
I'll be honest though, I'm pretty irritated with the state of discourse around this topic on bsky.
Believe it or not, a lot of people are quitting their remote jobs and looking to return to office.
A lot of companies have struggled to make remote teams work.
We have something to learn from them.
Believe it or not, a lot of people are quitting their remote jobs and looking to return to office.
A lot of companies have struggled to make remote teams work.
We have something to learn from them.
May 27, 2025 at 1:06 AM
I have managed multiple teams at a company with a hybrid schedule. I have also been hiring pretty consistently for years now (basically until like a month ago).
One thing I hear from candidates often is that they are actively excited to come into the office a few times a week to be around others.
One thing I hear from candidates often is that they are actively excited to come into the office a few times a week to be around others.
Reposted by Mike Julian
You can skate by with informal knowledge and keeping state in people's heads and making it accessible via in-person conversation if you are in person. Mandatory written artifacts create a lot of overhead for many people if they are not reading and writing first people.
Another way of thinking about this is that your distributed company needs to "grow up" much faster than an in-person company, and needs more people doing glue .
The ratio seems to be ~5-10x, as in: a remote co with 20 ppl needs the same organizational infra & maturity as an office with 100-200 ppl.
The ratio seems to be ~5-10x, as in: a remote co with 20 ppl needs the same organizational infra & maturity as an office with 100-200 ppl.
May 27, 2025 at 12:58 AM
You can skate by with informal knowledge and keeping state in people's heads and making it accessible via in-person conversation if you are in person. Mandatory written artifacts create a lot of overhead for many people if they are not reading and writing first people.
Reposted by Mike Julian
The foundation of cloud cost management isn't about optimization—it's about understanding why engineering teams make the decisions they do.
Start there, and meaningful optimization follows.
Start there, and meaningful optimization follows.
Why Engineering Teams Don't Focus On AWS Costs
Here's something crucial about cloud costs that most people miss: Engineering teams are shipping features because that's exactly what they should be doing. T...
youtube.com
May 23, 2025 at 4:18 PM
The foundation of cloud cost management isn't about optimization—it's about understanding why engineering teams make the decisions they do.
Start there, and meaningful optimization follows.
Start there, and meaningful optimization follows.
Reposted by Mike Julian
This is great to see AWS centralizing info about their end of life products in one place! Hopefully I'll eventually be able to retire github.com/SummitRoute/...
aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/in...
aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/in...
Introducing the AWS Product Lifecycle page and AWS service availability updates | Amazon Web Services
Today, we’re introducing the AWS Product Lifecycle page, a centralized resource that provides comprehensive information about service availability changes across AWS. The new AWS Product Lifecycle pag...
aws.amazon.com
May 20, 2025 at 5:27 PM
This is great to see AWS centralizing info about their end of life products in one place! Hopefully I'll eventually be able to retire github.com/SummitRoute/...
aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/in...
aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/in...