Thu Vu

Most people working in data are not advocating for their work enough.

I mean, so many interesting projects are kept in silos or forever forgotten.

Just because no one is talking about them.

So, if you've put hard work into your projects and learned something useful...

.. do WRITE about them. You never know what good things can happen!

In my newsletter tomorrow Friday 21 Aug, I'm sharing about how to write about your data/ AI projects on blog and social media.

Sign up to catch it here 👉 thu-vu.kit.com/49c5ee08f6

1 month ago | [YT] | 33

Thu Vu

Someone just asked me about how to build a personal brand around your technical skills. How to do it, how to create content that grows audience and trust, etc.

I'm starting to think building professional reputation through sharing your knowledge is becoming your most powerful asset. Especially in the age of AI(slop).

You can get inbound freelance requests, collaborations, event invitations, etc without shouting from the rooftop about your resume.

It's been hands down the best thing I've done in my career. Would build a Youtube channel 1000x over again 🙃.


I'm thinking of creating a workshop sharing my journey and how I think about content creation to help you showcase your skills.

Just an idea for now...

Would you be interested?

1 month ago | [YT] | 19

Thu Vu

What are you trying to accomplish right now? (tell me more in the comment if there's no suitable option for you).

This will help me create content on Youtube and newsletter that's more helpful to you 🤗

1 month ago | [YT] | 14

Thu Vu

Your GitHub is not your portfolio...

You've probably built a handful of side projects in data and AI.

The most common mistake after finishing them? Just pushing the code to GitHub and moving on 🤦🏻‍♀️.

In my last poll here, shockingly only 12% of you said you write about your projects on a blog, LinkedIn, or your website. The rest never showcase them anywhere or just push all the code to GitHub.

That's a huge missed opportunity...

Over the past 10 years, I've built dozens of personal data science and AI projects, and dozens more at work.

What I've found is... The projects that brought the most opportunities for me were the ones I actively shared about online (kinda obvious, right?).

To my surprise, I got invited to speak at conferences, got offered freelance gigs, jobs, and free coffee chats with cool people (who doesn't want that? 😉).

Most people found me through my Medium blog, YouTube videos, or LinkedIn posts. NOT my GitHub.

Here's the point:

No one is going to check your GitHub and read your code. Not your boss, not hiring managers, not future clients. The code is never the point...

In this Friday's newsletter (24 July), I'm sharing:

1. Why your GitHub is not your portfolio.
2. What kinds of opportunities that could open up for you once you start talking about your side projects online.
3. The easiest step to start showcasing your projects

Sign up to catch it here 👉 thu-vu.kit.com/49c5ee08f6


PS: Next newsletter, I'll cover frameworks I use for writing about your projects (for blog and social media), and for talking about your projects in chats and interviews.

2 months ago | [YT] | 89

Thu Vu

How are you presenting your portfolio projects right now?

2 months ago | [YT] | 10

Thu Vu

📣 I'M HIRING!

Do you know any good video editors for YouTube?

I'm looking for a skilled contractor to help me edit long-form videos (and Shorts) for my channel in data / AI.

I'd love to find someone through this community or your friend circle rather than a random agency.

✅ Quick context:
---------------------
I make ~2 videos / month, video length of 10-15 minutes.
My videos are often technical, and the editing varies from simple to complex, depending on the topic. Rate to be discussed.


✅ What I need:
---------------------
- Friendly, responsive communication
- A proactive attitude, you think along with me on editing
- Experience editing educational content (bonus points if you're a creative who can turn ideas into visuals naturally)
- Can create animation if necessary
- Genuinely cares about making high-quality content as a craft (no AI slops please)


✅ Really nice to have:
---------------------
You know your way around data/AI topics, or just have a genuine interest to learn these topics.

Know someone who fits this? Or is it you? Feel free to apply here or share with someone who may be a good fit:
forms.gle/7v4JGp3tqfmtB2nf9

I appreciate you! 🙌
Thu

2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 29

Thu Vu

Last year I worked with about 500 people in my program on building projects with AI and Python.

Do you know what their biggest challenge was?

Not lack of skills.
Not lack of motivation.
It's lack of TIME ⏳.

Most of them have a full-time job.
Some are even doing a whole Master's on the side.
Many have a family....

And somewhere in there, they're also trying to learn some hard technical skills.

My training could be great (I hope), but if you don't have the time to actually build things and see it pay off, that's the problem right there.

I used to believe in the hustle version of time management: squeeze every hour, sleep less, just push harder. Get into the "monk mode", they said.

Well, turned out I just didn't have kids yet 😅

I'm nowhere near figuring this out. But I've picked up a few things I thought worth sharing.

In the coming newsletter (10 July), I'm covering:

1. Why "no time" is mostly just a symptom of something else
2. The principles I lean on when there really is no time
3. A few useful practical tips I use day to day

If you're a working professional feeling overwhelmed with all the things you need to learn, while juggling other obligations, I'm writing this for you.


Sign up to catch it here 👉 thu-vu.kit.com/49c5ee08f6

PS: Last year I also travelled to Japan and absolutely love the peaceful scenaries there. It reminded me life is not just about optimizing time and staring at the computer screen all day lol.

2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 36

Thu Vu

A few days ago I had lunch with a former colleague from my data team. One of the smartest, hardest-working people I know.

He was stressed. Worried about staying relevant when business is slow, and unsure about his next move.

I get it.

Honestly, the last 3 years have given me a low-level anxiety 🤦🏻‍♀️.

Big Tech CEOs casually throwing around predictions about AI replacing workers. Existential risk headlines everywhere.

It's a lot for an ordinary human to cope with.

But here's what bothers me more: those CEOs have every incentive to say this stuff.

Scaring people is good for investment!

It's one thing for them to make those claims. But it's another thing for us to actually believe them.

Because what's ACTUALLY happening looks very different:

AI automation projects turn out to be way more work than expected. Human experts are becoming more important, not less.

The job apocalypse narrative isn't just unhelpful. I think it's actively dangerous to believe it as an individual.

I'm writing about this, and what I'm doing today to keep growing in my newsletter out tomorrow, June 30.

Sign up to catch it here 👉 thu-vu.kit.com/49c5ee08f6

2 months ago | [YT] | 143

Thu Vu

I've been using Claude Code for the past year to build Python projects end-to-end.

Coding is probably the best use case for AI right now.

Big labs have basically stopped talking about AGI timelines (btw, where's AGI in 2026??), and are just quietly making their coding agents better.

In my last survey, half of you said AI is helpful but needs a lot of handholding. I feel the same!

But there's a real difference between "somewhat helpful" and "hugely helpful."

This includes:
- Knowing which tasks in your workflow to give the AI (not all tasks are equal)
- Learning to supervise and review its work
- Not being afraid to say "you fool, this sucks!" and override it when needed

Later today (June 23) I'm sending my mailing list a breakdown of:

1. How frontier coding agents like Claude Code got so good (hint: coding harnesses)
2. The mindset I use when working with them
3. How I'm using Claude Code right now to build personal projects faster and better (and why I think it's important than ever to know the fundamentals)

Sign up to catch it here 👉 thu-vu.kit.com/49c5ee08f6

2 months ago | [YT] | 41

Thu Vu

You can write Python code. But you still get stuck turning your ideas into real, working projects.

From what I've seen, this is the number one thing that quietly turns competent people into impostors 🤦🏻‍♀️.

Tomorrow, June 6, I'm sending my mailing list a breakdown of:

- The real reasons you get stuck (it's not that you lack the skills)
- The process and workflow I use to turn an idea into a finished project
- How to scope your work, so you actually know when it's done

Sign up to catch it here 👉 thu-vu.kit.com/49c5ee08f6

3 months ago | [YT] | 94