Simon Willison’s Weblog

19th February 2019

The Eleven Laws of Showrunning (via) Fascinating essay on how to run a modern TV show by Javier Grillo-Marxuach. Being a showrunner basically involves running a 100+ person startup with a 7 digit budget, almost immovable deadlines, high maintenance activist investors and you're still expected to write some of the scripts!

So many useful lessons here about management, creativity and delegation: almost everything in here is relevant to product management, startup founding and engineering management as well.

Are you strong and secure enough in your talent and accomplishment to accept the possibility that other people - properly empowered by you - can actually enhance your genius... or will you cling to the idea that only you can be the source of that genius?

How you answer that question determines the leader you will be.

This one is the "nice" version - a not so nice version is available as well.