So, lately, you can't scroll through tech Twitter or open certain newsletters without bumping into this whole "taste" conversation.

Now everyone feels qualified to draw a line in the sand and tell you who has taste -- and guess what? They're always conveniently standing on the "has taste" side.

Let's talk about the Rick Rubin thing for a second (an example tech bros bring up every single time).

Yes, he's a legendary record producer. He listens, gives feedback, and helps shape work. Sometimes that leads to magic; other times, not so much. Take Eminem's Revival album, for example -- Rubin was the main executive producer, and that record got torn apart by critics. That's not a knock on Rubin, it's just reality: even great collaborators don't always strike gold. But turning his process into the definition of taste - and then assuming that admiring it means you now possess elite creative intuition?

That's not insight. That's cosplay.

And here's the kicker:

This whole obsession is morphing into a new kind of gatekeeping. We used to talk about skills, experience, community. Now, some folks - yeah, especially in startup circles including YC bros -- are weaponizing "taste" like it's some proprietary software only they know how to run. It's giving strong "10x engineer" energy: vague, unprovable, and mostly useful for making other people feel inadequate.

But here's the truth: everyone has taste.

Seriously. You, me, the person scrolling next to you on the commute.

Taste isn't some rare gem bestowed on a chosen few. It's personal. It's yours. We all vibe with different things -- that's what keeps culture alive. The weird thing happening in tech right now is pretending taste is objective, quantifiable, and, conveniently, something they have a monopoly on.

They don't.

And if someone tells you your taste doesn't count because it doesn't align with some curated, over-polished ideal they've built in their head? Push back. That's not about taste - that's about control. It's about narrowing the field so only a certain aesthetic, a certain worldview, a certain type of person gets to lead or be heard.

You want a real moat for your work or your company?

Make something useful. Make something beautiful. Be kind. Be honest. Let your weirdness show. Let your personal taste guide you, sure - but don't mistake taste itself as the thing that matters most. It's a compass, not a crown.

Thanks for reading my not so tasteful blog post.