korrents

← People and their mental models

Jeff Dean's mental models

3 claims Jeff Dean made fit 3 mental models. Most often: First principles, Taste is trained, Value moves to what stays scarce. Everything they said here.

Models they name

Their own words name the idea.

First principles

Reason up from what is known to be true, not from what is usually done or said.

Others who think with this model

Tim UrbanElon MuskBen KuhnJanna LevinMartin Kleppmann

Open the model page

Good ideas come from asking how you would solve a problem from first principles, rather than staying anchored on how it is solved today.

  1. Jeff Dean Chief Scientist at Google DeepMind and Google Research you know, because sometimes if you just squint at a problem and you think about not necessarily being anchored on exactly how that problem is solved today, but how you would solve it from first principles, you can come up with really good ideas that are, you know, maybe not what other people are thinking about. Jeff Dean: The 1% Rule for Building in AIyoutube.com · 30 Jul 2026 · 10:05 into the videoAll korrents from this video
    Their wordsyou know, because sometimes if you just squint at a problem and you think about not necessarily being anchored on exactly how that problem is solved today, but how you would solve it from first principles, you can come up with really good ideas that are, you know, maybe not what other people are thinking about.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 10:05 plays here

    ↗Jeff Dean: The 1% Rule for Building in AIyoutube.com

    30 Jul 2026 · video · 57m · spoken · machine transcript

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.

Taste is trained

Taste is learned by exposing yourself to the best work and asking why it works.

Others who think with this model

Dylan FieldJason YuanKarri SaarinenThiago CostaBrandon JacobyJulie Zhuoand 2 more

Open the model page

Taste can be trained deliberately: write down what you think will matter in twelve months, then go back in twelve months and score yourself.

  1. Jeff Dean Chief Scientist at Google DeepMind and Google Research Um, another way you can get more experience for yourself is to just write down a bunch of things you think might be important in the next 12 months. And maybe you pick one of them to work on, but go back and evaluate in 12 months of these other things, which ones actually seemed important or which ones did other people in the world go out and and create and which ones did they did not seem to do yet. Jeff Dean: The 1% Rule for Building in AIyoutube.com · 30 Jul 2026 · 35:57 into the videoAll korrents from this video
    Their wordsUm, another way you can get more experience for yourself is to just write down a bunch of things you think might be important in the next 12 months. And maybe you pick one of them to work on, but go back and evaluate in 12 months of these other things, which ones actually seemed important or which ones did other people in the world go out and and create and which ones did they did not seem to do yet.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 35:57 plays here

    ↗Jeff Dean: The 1% Rule for Building in AIyoutube.com

    30 Jul 2026 · video · 57m · spoken · machine transcript

Value moves to what stays scarce

When something becomes cheap and plentiful, the value moves to whatever is still rare next to it.

Others who think with this model

Adam MosseriAlexandr WangAnn HandleyAustin VernonBoris ChernyJohn Baiand 1 more

Open the model page

When agents do the building, the scarce skill is taste: choosing which problem is worth the time at all.

  1. Jeff Dean Chief Scientist at Google DeepMind and Google Research Yeah, I mean I think it's really having incredibly good taste in what you ask your agents to work on, right? That is the the crux of you know from my background uh a research problem. You know, a researcher can have all the tools and all the techniques, but often most of the battle is what problem are you gonna spend your time on? Jeff Dean: The 1% Rule for Building in AIyoutube.com · 30 Jul 2026 · 34:03 into the videoAll korrents from this video
    Their wordsYeah, I mean I think it's really having incredibly good taste in what you ask your agents to work on, right? That is the the crux of you know from my background uh a research problem. You know, a researcher can have all the tools and all the techniques, but often most of the battle is what problem are you gonna spend your time on?

    Where this was said

    Watch from 34:03 plays here

    ↗Jeff Dean: The 1% Rule for Building in AIyoutube.com

    30 Jul 2026 · video · 57m · spoken · machine transcript