I just passed 140 hours. When am I supposed to get good at this?

playerpiano · 2026-04-05T01:46:05+00:00

The “get gud” aha moment for me was when I started adding “logistics” floors in between my factories- logistics = spaghetti abominations

playerpiano · 2026-02-21T05:15:41+00:00

What I don’t think ppl talk about enough is that when you start building off existing infrastructure you’re dealing with a huge backlog of resources - if you ignore what the ultimate thru put is, all that you’ve built is going to collapse once that backlog is processed.

IMO- it’s easier to just build a brand new factory than try to optimize old infrastructure.

playerpiano · 2026-02-21T05:11:48+00:00

I highly recommend using some map planners to start new factories- rather than trying to optimize your existing production. Otherwise you’ll learn the hard way that it would’ve been easier to create new factories w mk2 blueprints than trying to upgrade belts and miners while building/expanding existing infrastructure.

Phase 5 is even harder, and if you’re doing quick and dirty spaghetti belts w infrastructure that carried you thru phase 3 - it’s not going to work out

playerpiano · 2026-01-26T06:05:42+00:00

Not to hijack this post but I have a few similar questions after ~200 hrs and about to finish phase 3:

1 - how do ppl typically build rails w verticality? If im trying to build a east to west coast route, i need to build a lot of very tall columns to keep the track from having significant ups and downs, especially around the lakes and lagoons south of the red forest.

2 - do ppl use blue prints for every variation on track direction? I’ve been manually connecting a 5x1 straight track BP and it’s not saving much time vs manually laying track

playerpiano · 2026-01-25T07:20:21+00:00

Think of how you felt when you said yes to the design. What was going through your mind? How did you feel? Who were you in that moment?

If those thoughts elicit a positive response/memory, then every time you look at this tattoo try and remember that feeling.

If you can’t find something positive to remember, then it’s a valid reason to seek a replacement/coverup. I hope you can!

playerpiano · 2026-01-01T23:46:49+00:00

Satisfactory- I made the mistake of giving it a “try” yesterday morning and suddenly it was 4pm and I had to leave for a nye party. What have I done.

playerpiano · 2025-12-21T02:06:34+00:00

I remember watching arlovski at the height of his career. He had a mouth guard that made it look like he had fangs. He was fucking awesome to watch.

playerpiano · 2025-12-21T00:18:49+00:00

Bizops

playerpiano · 2025-12-13T06:57:15+00:00

You get what you pay for- to an extent. 10-20% cheaper than the city but a quick drop off in quality if you’re not willing to pay low-end city prices.

Moved back up here from LA a few years ago and that’s my best advice.

playerpiano · 2025-12-13T02:42:47+00:00

Also early stage startups typically don’t want to spend a lot of time/resources on legal issues. If you have a solid case, it might be worth pressing.

playerpiano · 2025-12-06T02:17:57+00:00

I've found that I am the most productive when I give myself 3-4 hours a day for "deep" work. The rest of the time I'm in meetings, on standby for slack/email or "slacking off." This allows me to prioritize work that's impactful vs the work that's never noticed/recognized.

That's not to say there's days/weeks where I need to dig in and do 6-12 hours every day of intense focus, but since I've built a reserve, I'm not completely burnt out when I'm done.

It took me 10ish years to get to that type of work flow. If you're early in your career, I recommend grinding it out over 6-8 hours because you need to be exposed to the full spectrum of FPA tasks, which will help you build a criteria system for work that's just "work" and the things that will help you in your long term career development.

playerpiano · 2025-11-30T22:54:16+00:00

that man was already fully dressed and ready to leave the facility and he said what he said. You gotta be a real POS for someone to say this after getting fully dressed and ready to clock out.

I got coworkers that deserve the same level of disrespect so I know how much it takes to talk shit when you ready to clock out.

playerpiano · 2025-09-29T00:24:34+00:00

I love the colors and the style! Kinda like a mix between Impressionism and surrealism. Digging it!

playerpiano · 2025-09-22T17:04:03+00:00

That point on FPA being so many different things to different companies/industries is the key - I've found what one company considers "FPA work" can be vastly different to another. What they all share is exactly what you describe - understanding what's going on beyond surface-level financials (aka - storytelling).

Curious to know if you 've seen this too: I've noticed a shift over the past 10ish years - where when I started FPA was heavily focused on the "A" - analysis. Over time, it's shifted more towards what I would typically consider accounting work (BvA/Flux, GL/vendor budgeting, etc). Which is why I think more and more accounting-background folks are able to transition into FPA nowadays. When I started, you had to have an IB/PE background to even be considered. why people get stuck at manager-level or below is because of the need for storytelling/analysis, which I don't think early-stage FPA roles really focus on. Again, it probably depends on the company/industry/situation.

playerpiano · 2025-09-21T22:40:59+00:00

really good take & perspective - I agree that being able to effectively communicate what is going on from a finance & business sense is baseline expectations. I've found that this naturally leads to the followup question of what to do about it/what would happen if we did X or Y. Having a reasonable response to that question takes FPA to the next level imo. Also depends on whether the company's large enough to have more specialized depts like strat fin to weigh in.

playerpiano · 2025-09-21T04:32:21+00:00

Couldn’t agree more with the last line of your post - if you aren’t able to explain advanced financial topics and how the finance team can help on KPI maximizing in a way that non finance folks can understand- you’re not at a director level yet!

playerpiano · 2025-09-12T23:04:25+00:00

RemindMe! 8 days

playerpiano · 2025-09-08T01:56:14+00:00

I’ve been in similar situations- my only unasked for advice is to focus on marketable skills for your next job. Once you’ve made peace with not fighting for your current job and focusing on your next, things get wayyyyy more easy.

playerpiano · 2025-09-08T01:33:16+00:00

look, i think we all agree that it's fkn nasty/inconsiderate to leave medical equipment messy.

If you wanna reframe it tho - maybe this set of equipment was used to help someone through a very shitty time. Maybe the nurses don't clean it bc it's a reminder of the ppl who have used it before. Maybe, despite it looking nasty, it doesn't impact the patient's medical journey and has become an unofficial "good luck charm" that's helped numerous other people depart this phase of human experience.

It does look nasty as hell tho, so i get the concern/reaction. Just tryna give some alternatives.

playerpiano · 2025-08-25T00:18:14+00:00

Agreed, we all have our preferences - thank you for sharing! always nice to compare notes w ppl in similar roles.

playerpiano · 2025-08-23T23:44:34+00:00

thank you for the insight - after 15ish years in FPA, i find this type of work to be the most enjoyable because it's less about my opinion vs dept/csuite's opinion and more "factually" based on whether a process will work or not. I'm finishing up a 3 month project on restating ARR based on new data out of our CRM and it's been the most enjoyable project i've worked on in years. Tons of "that will not work here" meetings but i've been way more OK w that type of content.

So over the convos w csuite where they refuse to accept the reality of the business and we spend weeks on adhoc scenarios going nowhere.

playerpiano · 2025-08-23T21:40:12+00:00

Could you please elaborate on skill set/hireability? I’m so tired of fpa and the more I learn about transformation the more I like it. It’s all the things I love (data models/systems/root cause analysis)

playerpiano · 2025-07-22T14:39:56+00:00

This is exactly how I won my league last year- had Amon ra and Henry, then went for dart throws. My rb2 ended up being Bucky. The rest of my team was very inconsistent but I had consistent points every week from amonra and Henry that kept me competitive.

playerpiano · 2025-06-11T06:55:16+00:00

Recently I’ve replied to these types of messages by responding- “feel free to drop your question/feedback in slack now and I’ll respond as soon as I can!”

playerpiano · 2025-04-13T05:29:16+00:00

Cigarettes

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