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← People and their mental models

Casey Muratori's mental models

4 claims Casey Muratori made fit 3 mental models. Most often: Speed is a feature, Network effects, Trade-offs. Everything they said here.

Models we see in what they say

Our reading: their claim applies the idea without naming it. The claim is theirs; filing it here is ours.

Speed is a feature

Fast software feels simple, and waiting makes everything feel complicated.

A 300-millisecond response budget is not an achievement but an admission: 300 milliseconds is an eternity in computing, and a product pitching it shows how far the bar has fallen.

  1. Casey Muratori Game and engine programmer 300 milliseconds is like an eternity in computing, right? And so if you're talking about like our pitch is that we're not more than 300 milliseconds, that just shows you how the bar was so far past where it probably should have been for something. Why performant code matters (but gets widely ignored), with Casey Muratoriyoutube.com · 26 Aug 2026 · 0:20:51 into the videoAll korrents from this video
    300 milliseconds is like an eternity in computing, right? And so if you're talking about like our pitch is that we're not more than 300 milliseconds, that just shows you how the bar was so far past where it probably should have been for something.

    Watch from 0:20:51 plays here

    ↗Why performant code matters (but gets widely ignored), with Casey Muratoriyoutube.com

    26 Aug 2026 · video · 1h 53m · spoken · machine transcript

A decade of arguing that software is too slow has started to work: new products are now attacking established categories on a performance pitch alone, and getting traction.

  1. Casey Muratori Game and engine programmer I also see people attacking major product categories now with performance-based pitches. Things like File Pilot or the Blick video editor, like things like this that have been coming out lately where it's like, oh, really performant software to try to take on uh incumbents in a space and they've been getting traction. Why performant code matters (but gets widely ignored), with Casey Muratoriyoutube.com · 26 Aug 2026 · 0:19:45 into the videoAll korrents from this video
    I also see people attacking major product categories now with performance-based pitches. Things like File Pilot or the Blick video editor, like things like this that have been coming out lately where it's like, oh, really performant software to try to take on uh incumbents in a space and they've been getting traction.

    Watch from 0:19:45 plays here

    ↗Why performant code matters (but gets widely ignored), with Casey Muratoriyoutube.com

    26 Aug 2026 · video · 1h 53m · spoken · machine transcript

Network effects

Something worth more to each user the more users it has; a strong defence, but not one that lasts by itself.

Performance cannot win a market on its own: against an incumbent held up by network effects, being far more responsive is a nice plus and nothing more.

  1. Casey Muratori Game and engine programmer maybe performance could be part of a package where you try to take on one of those players. like, hey, look at how much more responsive our thing is than theirs. Might be a nice plus, but that's not going to be sufficient. Why performant code matters (but gets widely ignored), with Casey Muratoriyoutube.com · 26 Aug 2026 · 0:18:28 into the videoAll korrents from this video
    maybe performance could be part of a package where you try to take on one of those players. like, hey, look at how much more responsive our thing is than theirs. Might be a nice plus, but that's not going to be sufficient.

    Watch from 0:18:28 plays here

    ↗Why performant code matters (but gets widely ignored), with Casey Muratoriyoutube.com

    26 Aug 2026 · video · 1h 53m · spoken · machine transcript

Trade-offs

Every choice gives something up, so name the cost; and check, because some trade-offs everyone assumes are not real.

There is no trade-off between well-architected code and fast code: in practice, the code that is architected properly is also the code that runs quickly.

  1. Casey Muratori Game and engine programmer I have never really understood the sort of mentality of there's a difference between code that is like well architected by some principles and code that runs quickly because in my experience usually the code that is architected properly is also the code that runs quickly. Why performant code matters (but gets widely ignored), with Casey Muratoriyoutube.com · 26 Aug 2026 · 1:25:50 into the videoAll korrents from this video
    I have never really understood the sort of mentality of there's a difference between code that is like well architected by some principles and code that runs quickly because in my experience usually the code that is architected properly is also the code that runs quickly.

    Watch from 1:25:50 plays here

    ↗Why performant code matters (but gets widely ignored), with Casey Muratoriyoutube.com

    26 Aug 2026 · video · 1h 53m · spoken · machine transcript