Don't backfill by default
March 13, 2026newsletter
Hi there,
I'm back to share some new links, highlights, and updates as well as a topic that's been on my mind.
As a reminder - I'm Joel Gascoigne, Founder CEO of Buffer. My goal with this newsletter is to learn in public and share insights into how I operate while building a long term, independent, profitable business with big ambitions.
Did anything stand out from this edition? I'd love to hear from you - just hit reply.
π¬ My recent posts
AI is enabling innovation with new possibilities and also driving operational improvements across all roles.
My hunch is that in the longer term, the operational gains will be adopted by most businesses and not be a true differentiator.
β¦ view post on: LinkedIn β’ Threads β’ π β’ Mastodon
Something I've been having a lot of fun with recently: I've been building custom AI agents that help me with my weekly and monthly reviews.
I already had my GTD productivity system pretty well documented in Obsidian, and I had Claude Code create agents based on the documentation to help me do my weekly review, which I'd been struggling to keep up with each week. The agents are just markdown files that have the weekly review process documented including using Todoist via the command line to fetch my active projects and next actions. I can just ask Claude Code to fetch and run the agent, and it walks through the weekly review with me. It can do some pretty powerful reasoning around rescheduling, my capacity, and even things I might miss. It asks me questions and based on my answers it makes all the changes in Todoist on my behalf.
β¦ view post on: LinkedIn β’ Threads β’ Bluesky β’ π β’ Mastodon
Michael Porter's productivity frontier concept is playing out in real-time. We have 1-2 years where the frontier is getting pushed out by AI before it settles. We get to decide: wait for best practices to emerge, or engage in rebuilding? At Buffer we're choosing to be in the mess of the frontier.
β¦ view post on: LinkedIn β’ Threads β’ Bluesky β’ π β’ Mastodon
π Links I saved recently
Open Source in the Age of AI
β AI is reshaping industries, roles and approaches and open source is very much impacted. John is someone I really respect for his experience and insights on open source, and his reflections on this shift are worth reading.
The Barbell Method of Reading
β This article has always stuck with me. I think the suggestion of a "barbell" method for reading makes a lot of sense: focus on two extremes when reading books: fast, shallow reading to get a broad sense of the material, and slow, deep reading for the chapters or ideas that stood out and feel relevant to current areas of interest.
I Was Inconsiderate but Now Iβm Everywhere
β It's fun to see Derek Sivers adjust his approach to social from "post only on my own site" to POSSE (Publish on Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere). This is how I've been approaching social and my own website for a while now, and I love it.
π What Iβve highlighted recently
I used to think I had to choose: build a sustainable business or build something generous. Drupal taught me that is a false choice. Growth and generosity can reinforce each other. The real challenge is making sure one does not crowd out the other.
β Dries Buytaert in 25 Years of Drupal: What I've Learned
Beware of anyone who thinks innovation is about one lone genius or big piles of money. Itβs about communities, creativity, and the joyful optimism of coming together to do hard work.
β Anil Dash in Moguls Moving Money Isnβt the Same as Building a Business
π§ Something that's been on my mind
Don't backfill by default
For many years at Buffer, any time someone moved on we'd backfill their role by default. About 5 years ago I changed my approach: by default don't backfill.
I found that defaulting to backfilling roles meant that the team remained in a maintenance mindset rather than being in a builder mindset. Backfilling means assuming that we should keep things as they are, rather than allowing ourselves to reflect on whether there's another way.
It's always worth seeing how the team adapts to a gap and whether a better way to organize the team emerges. Especially when leaders move on it's worth letting people who are hungry step up before immediately denying them that opportunity.
I'm not saying never backfill, but to give it some time. There may be a more creative way forward. Or a little time may quickly determine that the role in it's existing form is absolutely needed.
If you decide you need more help again, treat it as a new hire, not a re-hire or a backfill. Everyone is different and the organizational structure should always be evolving and adapting to the unique group of people involved.
π¨π»βπ» New and noteworthy at Buffer
Buffer's API is available in Public Beta
I'm happy to share that the brand new Buffer API is in Public Beta π
It's ready to use for personal automations and to create enhancements for your Buffer account. Use it via MCP with your favorite AI, use it with n8n, or start developing on top of it via Claude Code or Codex (or even hand-written code!)
Note: this really is a beta, we have limited functionality exposed via the API right now, with much more to come.
To play with the beta of the Buffer API:
1οΈβ£ Enable beta features for yourself
2οΈβ£ Create an API key
3οΈβ£ View documentation
Trending Topics for Threads
Now when you open Buffer to write a Threads post, you'll see what's actually trending - whether it's quantum physics, the Oscars, or someone's controversial breakfast take. Available now on all plans.
Until next time,
β Joel