They’re not resisting change. They’re protecting something.

It’s easy to think they’re pushing back just to be difficult.\
But more often, they’re trying to keep something from breaking.

This section slows the moment down.\
Just enough to ask: what might they lose if they say yes?

**Want to go deeper?**

- Explore more tools and courses at [**Taha’s Method**](https://www.tahasmethod.com/) — from interview prep to leadership development.

- Follow me on [**LinkedIn**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tahahussain/) and subscribe to my weekly newsletter, [**The Conscious Leader**](https://tahahussain.substack.com/), for more lessons like these.

- Get 30% off [**Top Tech Leader**](https://bit.ly/tarotopleader) with code **ILOVETARO** (exclusive for Taro members).

Maximize Your Equity And Benefits In Tech [Part 3] - Foundational Tax Concepts

Understanding how taxes work is key to making smart decisions about equity compensation—here are the core points from the lesson:

- Gross income is reduced by payroll taxes and deductions to determine adjusted gross income (AGI) and taxable income, which drives your federal tax liability
- Long-term capital gains (assets held over a year) receive lower federal tax rates than ordinary income, often saving high earners significant amounts
- State tax treatment varies—most states don’t offer preferential rates for long-term gains, and some, like Massachusetts, penalize short-term gains more heavily
- Investment losses can offset gains and up to $3,000 of ordinary income per year, but “wash sale” rules can disallow losses if you repurchase too soon
- The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) may kick in if you're using lots of deductions or exercising incentive stock options, so it’s important to model this in advance

Next steps with Andy:

- [Connect with Andy on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andymoranio)
- [Leave feedback and/or sign up for Andy’s newsletter](https://subscribepage.io/taroequitycourse)
- [Schedule a consultation](http://adastrafp.com/contact-us/)

Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech [Part 11] - Identifying Fit

Some people simply aren't meant to get along, and you will run into a lot of these people across your career. This lesson teaches you:

- Why finding right fit connections is so important for networking, particularly with your efficiency
- How professional networking really isn't that different from making friends "in real life" (IRL)
- Solidarity angles you can leverage to find good fit connections

SWE Internship Survival Guide [Part 16] - Diversify Your Mentors

As you approach the end of your internship, one of the most important factors in getting a return offer is how you’re evaluated during your performance review. This lesson focuses on how to set yourself up for success by building strong relationships across your team. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- Don’t rely solely on your assigned intern mentor—build relationships with multiple teammates to avoid single points of failure
- You’ll receive 360 feedback at the end of your internship, so proactively engage with others who can speak positively about your work
- Identify 2–3 potential advocates by week two and keep them updated through code reviews, one-on-ones, or casual check-ins

Learn how to build relationships here: [\[Masterclass\] How To Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/tyaPFMXPoz2pmzB7OVzt/masterclass-how-to-build-deep-relationships-quickly-in-tech/)

SWE Internship Survival Guide [Part 11] - Code Velocity

Your success as a software engineering intern hinges on one key metric: your ability to ship code consistently. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- Code velocity is the primary way interns are evaluated, so focus your time on writing and shipping impactful code
- Every company has a different pace, but you should ask your manager for benchmarks and observe full-time engineers to calibrate your own output
- Structure your day around long blocks of uninterrupted coding time, and avoid distractions like intern socials or long-term architecture meetings
- Make small, frequent code changes instead of large ones to make code review easier, allow quicker course correction, and prevent painful merge conflicts
- Communicate your approach with your team so they understand your intent to seek faster feedback through smaller pull requests

SWE Internship Survival Guide [Part 4] - How Internships Work At Top Companies

Top-tier internships at companies like Meta or Google are structured, high-impact opportunities that can transform you into a confident, job-ready new grad. Here are the core points from this lesson:

- Legitimate internships at top companies have clear structure—interns are given managers, mentors, well-scoped projects, and timelines
- Interns are treated like junior engineers, often contributing to real production work and collaborating closely with full-time teammates
- Larger companies offer more formal evaluation processes for return offers, which helps reduce ambiguity and stress compared to smaller, less organized internships
- You’ll likely focus on one or two substantial projects to avoid context switching and to enable deeper, more meaningful contributions
- Adopt a collaborative mindset with fellow interns—success isn’t zero-sum, and sharing knowledge will help everyone grow and build stronger networks

Ship & Grow 500k+ User Side Projects [Part 6] - Least Clicks Design

You don't need to be a product design to build great software with a smooth user interface. This lesson teaches you:

- Why *every* engineer needs to care about UX, not just front-end engineers (web/mobile)
- The core philosophy you need to remember when crafting user interfaces
- The difference between a good product and a bad product when it comes to least clicks design
- What it looks like to truly champion least clicks design, explained with an in-depth example

Ace The ML System Design Interview [Part 3] - Big Picture Design

A strong big-picture system design is crucial for success in machine learning system design interviews. It's not about drawing a perfect diagram immediately, but about demonstrating an understanding of the system's components and their interactions. Here are the core points from this lesson:

- Identify the inputs and outputs of the system during the alignment phase to establish a foundation for building the diagram
- Start with the user and the service, then progressively add components, especially those involving machine learning, to illustrate the flow of data and processes
- Break down machine learning components beyond a single "ML system" box to show the different stages and types of models involved
- Include essential infrastructure elements, such as feature stores, to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the system
- Iterate on the diagram, adding or modifying components as a deeper understanding of the problem and its requirements develops

If you like what Ilya has to say, subscribe to his YouTube for more high-quality ML/AI career guidance: [MLEpath - YouTube](https://go.mlepath.com/taro-youtube-mlepath)

If you want hands-on support from Ilya to crack the FAANG ML interview, join his coaching program: [MLEpath - Coaching Program](https://go.mlepath.com/taro-march-25)

Paper Reading: DeepSeek R1 - Incentivizing Reasoning Capability in LLMs via Reinforcement Learning

Session led by [Mike A](https://www.linkedin.com/in/malik-mike-a-32b63818b/) 

Join us for an insightful session on the groundbreaking paper, DeepSeek-R1: Incentivizing Reasoning Capability in LLMs via Reinforcement Learning. In this session, we will explore DeepSeek-R1, a state-of-the-art reasoning model that pushes the boundaries of reinforcement learning (RL) applied to large language models (LLMs). 

This paper introduces two novel models, DeepSeek-R1-Zero and DeepSeek-R1, showcasing advancements in reasoning capabilities through RL-driven self-evolution. Unlike traditional models relying heavily on supervised fine-tuning (SFT), DeepSeek-R1-Zero develops its reasoning abilities purely through RL, while DeepSeek-R1 combines RL with a multi-stage training pipeline for enhanced performance. 

The paper highlights exceptional benchmarks achieved by DeepSeek-R1 on math, coding, and STEM-related reasoning tasks, where its performance rivals that of leading closed-source models such as OpenAI's o1-1217. Additionally, we’ll discuss distilling these capabilities into smaller, more efficient models to make advanced reasoning accessible for diverse applications. 

Whether you're a researcher, developer, or enthusiast in AI and LLMs, this paper reading will provide an in-depth understanding of the novel reinforcement learning techniques driving DeepSeek-R1 and its implications for the future of AI-driven reasoning systems. Don't miss this opportunity to engage with cutting-edge advancements in the field! \[2501.12948\] DeepSeek-R1: Incentivizing Reasoning Capability in LLMs via Reinforcement Learning 

GitHub - deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-R1 

Mark Chen X Post: <https://x.com/markchen90/status/1884303237186216272?s=12&t=BSlMYtugAr8LLWXLnMLLrQ> 

GRPO Diagram: <https://www.reddit.com/r/LocalLLaMA/comments/1i78sfs/deepseek_r1_grpo_code_open_sourced/#lightbox> 

The Bitter Lesson: <http://www.incompleteideas.net/IncIdeas/BitterLesson.html> 

Gradient Descent Image: <https://miro.medium.com/v2/format:webp/1\\\*f9a162GhpMbiTVTAua_lLQ.png> 

V3: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.19437> 

DeepSeek Math: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.03300> 

rstar-math: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.04519> 

Verify Step-by-Step: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.20050> 

DeepSeek catch-up chart: <https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/v2/D4E22AQG552O63UNJWg/feedshare-shrink_800/B4EZTN\\\[…\\\]41824000&v=beta&t=ubyKQniaCJTL37PzIOJi9YZRo1AF8yipuauSioyn59U> 

UC Berkeley Student $30 replication of Aha: <https://x.com/jiayi_pirate/status/1882839370505621655> 

Deep Agent R1-V replication: <https://x.com/liangchen5518/status/1886171667522842856> 

s1: <https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.19393> 

DeepSeek-r1 cost breakdown: <https://semianalysis.com/2025/01/31/deepseek-debates/> 

R1 Deep Dive: <https://fireworks.ai/blog/deepseek-r1-deepdive> 

All in Podcast: <https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/all-in-with-chamath-jason-sacks-friedberg/id1502871393?i=1000687638652> 

Peter Gostev LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-gostev/> 

LLM Agents Learning: <https://llmagents-learning.org/sp25>

Engineer Your Ideal Tech Career [Part 14] - Defining Near-Term Goals

Moving into your last section and with inspiration from the engineers you just heard from, you can expect to start defining near-term goals that you can implement within the next week, month, or quarter, to start charging towards your ideal long-term career.

This section will include tangible advice you can implement on the job or if you are preparing for interviews.

Looking for mentorship from tech’s top engineers + personalized job hunt assistance and interview prep? [Formation.dev](http://Formation.dev) can provide you unlimited career coaching, technical mentorship, personalized practice, and mock interviews. Join us here: <https://formation.dev/partners/taro>

Worksheet: [Formation - Coding Your Career](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/tech-career-growth.appspot.com/o/courses%2Fslides%2FFormation%20Career%20Direction%20Worksheet.pdf?alt=media&token=f6344b78-529a-411e-a449-7a34a8d55fc8)

Amazon Behavioral Interview [Part 28] - Recovering From A Bad Decision (Evaluation)

This video segment provides feedback on an individual's response to a behavioral interview question about a time they made a bad decision.

- **Strengths:**

  - **Owned the Mistake:** The interviewee openly acknowledged the mistake and took responsibility for the negative consequences.
  - **Demonstrated Self-Awareness:** They identified the root cause of the mistake – focusing solely on short-term revenue gains while neglecting long-term customer value and potential.
  - **Highlighted Corrective Actions:** The interviewee described the steps taken to rectify the situation, such as revising the incentive structure, improving call center response times, and implementing measures to address long wait times.
  - **Learned from the Experience:** The interviewee outlined the key learnings from this experience, including the importance of considering long-term customer value and gathering input from stakeholders before implementing significant changes.

- **Areas for Improvement:**

  - **Quantify Impact:** The interviewee could have further quantified the impact of the mistake and the subsequent corrective actions. For example, they could have provided specific data on the improvement in customer satisfaction scores or the increase in customer retention rates after implementing the changes.
  - **Emphasize Positive Outcomes:** The interviewee could have further emphasized the positive outcomes of the project, such as the improved focus on customer lifetime value and the development of a more robust customer retention strategy.
  - **Connect to Amazon Leadership Principles:** The interviewee could have explicitly connected their actions and learnings to relevant Amazon Leadership Principles, such as "Customer Obsession," "Learn and Be Curious," and "Ownership."

- **Overall:**

  - The interviewee effectively demonstrated their ability to acknowledge and learn from mistakes, take responsibility for their actions, and implement corrective measures.
  - By incorporating the suggested improvements, the interviewee can further enhance their response and increase their chances of success in the interview.

Learn more about Alan's job search program, Kadima Careers, using this [discount link](https://signup.kadimacareers.com/mQBsDvu).

Amazon Behavioral Interview [Part 4] - Tell Me About Yourself (Discussion)

This video segment discusses strategies for individuals who may not have the same level of prestigious work experience as those who have worked at Google, Facebook, or Salesforce.

- **Focus on Impact:** Instead of solely focusing on the names of companies, emphasize the impact you made in your previous roles. Quantify your achievements whenever possible (e.g., "increased revenue by 1400%").
- **Keep it Concise:** The "Tell me about yourself" section should be brief and impactful. Aim for a concise summary (around 3 minutes) to maintain the interviewer's attention.
- **Avoid Excessive Detail:** Steer clear of irrelevant details, such as personal anecdotes that are not directly related to your professional experience.
- **Prepare Thoughtful Questions:** Demonstrate your engagement and interest by preparing insightful questions to ask the interviewer.

By focusing on these points, individuals can effectively present their skills and experience, even without a background at major tech companies.

Learn more about Alan's job search program, Kadima Careers, using this [discount link](https://signup.kadimacareers.com/mQBsDvu).

Get The Rating You Deserve [Part 18] - Build Inner Strength

**In this final section, we explored the importance of building inner strength to sustain long-term success.**

To cultivate inner strength, we should:

- **Prioritize self-care:** Invest in physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
- **Develop strong habits:** Establish routines that support our goals and values.
- **Practice mindfulness:** Cultivate awareness of our thoughts and feelings.
- **Build strong relationships:** Foster meaningful connections with others.
- **Embrace a growth mindset:** View challenges as opportunities for learning and growth.

By building inner strength, we can navigate challenges with resilience, maintain a positive outlook, and achieve lasting fulfillment.

If you want to get personalized support from Yogi, you can reach out to him at [coaching@yogisharma.com](mailto:coaching@yogisharma.com) or schedule an introductory call to dive into your situation at <https://tinyurl.com/meetyogi>.

Get The Rating You Deserve [Part 14] - Regular Check Ins

**In this section, we explored the importance of regular check-ins with key stakeholders.**

To effectively leverage regular check-ins, we should:

- **Prioritize career discussions:** Shift the focus of our one-on-one meetings from status updates to career development.
- **Proactively communicate:** Initiate conversations about our goals, aspirations, and challenges.
- **Exhaust the feedback process:** Actively seek and incorporate feedback to improve our performance.
- **Communicate effectively:** Clearly articulate our needs and desires, using compassionate language.
- **Be patient and persistent:** Understand that change takes time and be persistent in our efforts to achieve our goals.

By effectively utilizing regular check-ins, we can accelerate our career progression and build strong relationships with our colleagues and managers.

If you want to get personalized support from Yogi, you can reach out to him at [coaching@yogisharma.com](mailto:coaching@yogisharma.com) or schedule an introductory call to dive into your situation at <https://tinyurl.com/meetyogi>.

Get The Rating You Deserve [Part 7] - Build Relationships Proactively

**In this section, we'll explore the importance of building and nurturing relationships in your career.**

- **Proactive Relationship Building:** We emphasize the importance of building relationships before you need them, focusing on giving value and aligning goals.
- **Mindful Communication:** We discuss the power of effective communication, including active listening, empathy, and clear expression of needs and desires.
- **Leveraging Power for Good:** We explore how to use power to create positive change and foster strong relationships, rather than for personal gain.
- **Overcoming Pitfalls:** We identify common pitfalls in relationship building, such as impatience and a short-term focus, and provide strategies to avoid them.
- **Practical Tips:** We offer actionable advice, such as dedicating time to relationship building, seeking out opportunities to help others, and practicing empathy and understanding.

If you want to get personalized support from Yogi, you can reach out to him at [coaching@yogisharma.com](mailto:coaching@yogisharma.com) or schedule an introductory call to dive into your situation at <https://tinyurl.com/meetyogi>.

Get The Rating You Deserve [Part 8] - Engaging In Conflicts

**In this section, we'll delve into the importance of effectively managing conflicts in the workplace.**

- **The Benefits of Conflict Resolution:** We'll explore how resolving conflicts can save time, build stronger relationships, and enhance career growth.
- **Key Strategies for Conflict Resolution:** We'll discuss essential strategies such as empathetic negotiation, non-violent communication, and the importance of focusing on common ground.
- **Recognizing Conflict:** We'll discuss the importance of identifying early signs of conflict, such as changes in body language and emotional state.
- **Avoiding Common Pitfalls:** We'll highlight common mistakes people make when dealing with conflict, such as avoidance and blame, and provide strategies to overcome them.
- **Practical Tips:** We'll share actionable advice, such as practicing mindfulness, active listening, and seeking win-win solutions.

If you want to get personalized support from Yogi, you can reach out to him at [coaching@yogisharma.com](mailto:coaching@yogisharma.com) or schedule an introductory call to dive into your situation at <https://tinyurl.com/meetyogi>.

Come Up With 500k+ User Project Ideas [Part 13] - Look For Gaps

You have found some competitors that you want to beat with your side project. Now how do you do that? This lesson teaches you:

- How adding efficiency and reducing clicks can be extremely compelling
- General basic UI/UX (user interface/user experience) improvements you can make for a product
- A simple way you can level up an application without doing anything (everybody hates ads)

How Do I Know If I'm Making Progress With Leetcode?

It's demoralizing to get stuck on similar problems repeatedly. How do you know if you're making progress?

Course: <https://www.jointaro.com/course/crash-course-data-structures-and-algorithms-concepts/>

How To Apply The 80/20 Rule To Leetcode Prep

Even Alvin, who has mastery over Data Structures and Algorithms, would not pass all the tech interviews!

Course: <https://www.jointaro.com/course/crash-course-data-structures-and-algorithms-concepts/>

DSA Crash Course [Part 85] - Array Stepper Approach

In this lesson, Alvin explores the strategy to solving the following interview problem:

> Write a function, *array_stepper*, that takes in a list of numbers as an argument. You start at the first position of the list. The function should return a boolean indicating whether or not it is possible to reach the last position of the list. When situated at some position of the list, you may take a maximum number of steps based on the number at that position.
>
> For example, given:
>
> - idx =  0  1  2  3  4  5
> - numbers = \[2, 4, 2, 0, 0, 1\]
>
> The answer is True.
>
> We start at idx 0, we could take 1 step or 2 steps forward.
>
> The correct choice is to take 1 step to idx 1.
>
> Then take 4 steps forward to the end at idx 5.

```
array_stepper([2, 4, 2, 0, 0, 1]) # -> True
```

```
array_stepper([2, 3, 2, 0, 0, 1]) # -> False
```

```
array_stepper([3, 1, 3, 1, 0, 1]) # -> True
```

```
array_stepper([4, 1, 5, 1, 1, 1, 0, 4]) # -> True
```

```
array_stepper([4, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 0, 4]) # -> False
```

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [**Alvin's**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [**Structy**](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [**this link to get 20% off**](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: [**https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/)

Tech Career Growth Videos

Our instructional videos provide software engineers with insights needed for career growth. Masterclasses go incredibly in-depth on a specific tech topic while case studies are real examples from established engineering leaders.