Live now · 24-hour work-in-progress stories

The Lab.

Show the messy middle. The half-built thing. The problem you haven't solved yet. The Lab expires in 24 hours — no pressure, no permanence. Just the real work in motion.

+
Your Lab Post now
AM
Amara M. 2h left
DK
Dev K. 6h left
NP
Nina P. 11h left
MK
Marcus K. 14h left
SL
Sofia L. 18h left
JC
James C. 20h left
TM
Tara M. 22h left
LW
Lena W. 23h left
AM

Amara M.

2 hours left

AM

Amara M. ⭐

1h 58m left · 📊 Finance
1h 58m
# Working on the sensitivity table — this part is being annoying
def sensitivity_table(base, var1_range, var2_range):
  results = []
  for v1 in var1_range:
    for v2 in var2_range:
      # TODO: why does this break at v2 > 0.4?
      irr = calc_irr(base, v1, v2) # ← sometimes returns NaN
      results.append((v1, v2, irr))

LBO sensitivity table is breaking at high leverage — anybody solved this?

3 hours into building the IRR sensitivity analysis for the LBO model and hitting a wall. The calc breaks when leverage exceeds ~40% and I can't figure out why. Going to share the full model tomorrow once I fix it. Current Proof Score estimate: 62 → 89 when done.

WIP LBO Python Financial Modeling
DK

Dev K. ⭐

5h 44m left · 💻 Engineering
5h 44m
// Vectorized this — went from O(n²) to O(n log n)
// before: nested loops, 8.4s for 1M rows. after:
const result = data
  .sort((a, b) => a.key - b.key) // O(n log n)
  .reduce(mergeWindows, []);

// Now: 0.3s ✓ — posting the full thing tomorrow

Went from 8.4s to 0.3s — the algorithm was wrong, not the code

Spent 4 hours trying to optimise a loop. Turns out I was using the wrong data structure entirely. Switching from a hash map to a sorted array and doing a reduce pass instead. Will post the full before/after as an artifact once benchmarks are done.

WIPJavaScriptPerformanceAlgorithms
NP

Nina P. ⭐

11h 12m left · ✍️ Writing
11h 12m

DRAFT — editorial essay — 1,247 / ~2,500 words

"The cover letter is the last remaining place in professional life where lying is not only permitted but expected. Nobody writes a cover letter that says 'I need this job because my rent is due.' They write one that says 'I am passionate about synergising cross-functional outcomes.' The reader knows it's a lie. The writer knows it's a lie. The ritual continues anyway…"

[editing this paragraph — the tone is close but not quite there yet]

Working on: "The Cover Letter Is A Polite Fiction" — 1,247 words in

About halfway through a piece on why cover letters are the most performative and least useful document in professional life. The thesis is solid — the voice isn't quite landing yet. Sharing this as I go. Will be an artifact tomorrow.

WIPEssayEditorial
MK

Marcus K.

14h 30m left · 🎨 Design
14h 30m

v3 — modal layout

Iterations:

v1 ✗
v2 ✗
v3 →

Third attempt at this modal — the first two were wrong in different ways

Modal design is deceptively hard. V1 was too heavy. V2 lost the hierarchy. V3 is feeling closer. Sharing the progression so you can see what "wrong" looks like on the way to "right." That's the part design portfolios usually hide.

WIPUI DesignFigmaComponent
TM

Tara M.

22h 8m left · 📊 Finance
22h 8m

Cost restructure project — progress

Data gathering
Vendor analysis
P&L rebuild
72%
Board slide deck
20%
MER write-up
0%

Day 3 of the cost restructure. P&L is 72% done. Board deck not started.

Adapting Amara's methodology for a healthcare client with 12 cost centres. Vendor analysis took twice as long as expected — healthcare contracts are a mess. Still on track to publish by Friday. Sharing daily updates here.

Day 3 of 5FinanceHealthcareCost Restructure
🏠Home 🔍Discover 💬Messages 👤Profile