The Hustle

KRAZAM3 HN recommenders · 2020–2026
1.6M views · comedy · evergreen · Uploaded 2018-11-30

A KRAZAM satirical sketch about hustle culture and productivity obsession in tech.

HN posts it as a joke in productivity and focus threads, and some praise the channel as pitch-perfect satire of tech stereotypes.

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17 comments from Hacker News

@starpilot2020 · in “Ask HN: What are your favorite developer-efficiency tips?”

This vid changed my life: [VIDEO] Please watch it. You can choose to be part of the wheat or the chaff, and if you're not hustling, what's the point?

@aaron-santos2020 · in “Technology has created a barrage of notifications and interactions”

The author is self-aware enough to realize the issue with all of it, but not enough to know that boundary setting is what comes next? Either they can manage their boundaries an prioritize their life or maintain the status quo. Establishing boundaries requires actual effort. I guess it could be worse. They could be completely unaware which is what makes jokes about this kind of lifestyle land so well[1]. [1] [VIDEO]

@rozab2021 · in “EFF's reply to cease-&-desist letter – “Virtual Coachella” parody video”

Here's the actual video: [LINK] These guys have a lot of relevant content for HN types, they're really funny. [VIDEO] [LINK]

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@mLuby2021 · in “You Are Not ‘Behind’ (2016)”

Reminds me of "The Hustle" by the same guy who did "Microservices." [VIDEO] (2 minutes long)

@Apocryphon2022 · in “Note-taking isn't rocket science”

I see it as existing within the context of cultural trends. For years productivity porn and life hacks were in vogue. But the market for it has gotten big and bloated, the content overwhelming and over-monetized, so there's a cultural backlash against it now. The post mostly serves as a cathartic cry. For something more substantiative, satire can be more effective: [VIDEO] Though that video is from- 2018?!

@KronisLV2022 · in “Ask HN: How do you focus on work for long periods of time?”

This reminds me of "The Hustle" video by KRAZAM, who parodies various stereotypes and whatnot: [VIDEO]

@ianmcgowan2023 · in “I hired 5 people to sit behind me and make me productive for a month”

It reads like the script for the Krazam "The Hustle" video: [VIDEO] , but over several weeks instead of one day.

@pcthrowaway2023 · in “I hired 5 people to sit behind me and make me productive for a month”

I don't think that's what people are "objecting" to about this (well, not even objecting in many cases, just... flabbergasted). The author appears to do very little work, while he pays someone to sit there and be his surrogate mother, so that he can be a bit more productive. It seems somewhat attention-seeking (I personally believe it's honest, though it does invoke Poe's Law). That's fine too, people seek attention on HN, but they usually offer something insightful in return. This is more the equivalent of the Tiktok user who posted her "day in the life of an employee at (Meta? Airbnb?)" that involved very little work. Also fine, work isn't the point of life. But when you're showing off a flamboyantly eccentric "productivity hack" that got you to work 80 hours in a month instead of 25, so you could spend more time starting blog posts, breakdancing, doing yoga, going to the gym, "unironically starting a company (it's in stealth, sorry!)", doing online courses (at least this is at least somewhat related to the job they are presumably actually paid to do)... many people reading are going to be amused at the very least. It seems like they have time management issues that make this "experiment" only potentially useful to people who also struggles to get anything actually done due to battling severe ADHD while balancing working at a very casual pace, and shooting off in 10 different directions at once all the time. They would very likely benefit from some combination of a reality

@stenioaraujo2023 · in “Youtube2Webpage: Create Websites with Text from Videos”

This is interesting. I think the scenario it should be used is for non sublte messages, such as sarcasm. I gave it a try with KRAZAM's video and the answer is hilarious when you consider the video intended exactly the opposite. [VIDEO] > In "The Hustle," the narrator shares their jam-packed daily routine that exemplifies their dedication to productivity. From an early morning workout to late-night preparations for the next day, their schedule is filled with various activities. They efficiently manage their time, incorporating work, social media updates, and even a well-deserved happy hour. The narrator's commitment to self-improvement is also evident through their habit of reading before bed and tweeting inspiring quotes. Overall, this video highlights the narrator's hustle and structured approach to maximizing their day.

@beezlebroxxxxxx2024 · in “Krazam OS”

Their video "The Hustle" [1] is such a pitch perfect shot at a very common person in tech (and in NYC/SF especially). The "read Marcus Aurelius' Meditations in bed on my Nook - didn't understand shit!" comes back to me almost weekly reading HN comments sometimes. [1]: [VIDEO]

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@Terr_2024 · in “Night owls' cognitive function 'superior' to early risers, study suggests”

> I have this guilty feeling that I don't belong For your amusement, a satirical take on "The Hustle" that might also have a little but of uncomfortably-too-real moments for some folks: [VIDEO]

@kratom_sandwich2024 · in “Krazam: High Agency Individual Contributor [video]”

Piggybacking to recommend another video of his, "The Hustle", which is a fast-paced memefest: [VIDEO]

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@lioeters2024 · in “Does “building in public” work?”

> Its like energy looking for a place to be used but in the meantime why not run in place till we drop? Reminds me of the crypto space during the peak of its hype, where people wrote a flood of articles and software, attracting attention, claiming to be important and world-changing. Yet a year or two later, have evaporated into much ado about nothing. I'm not discounting the possibility that some of it will eventually become popular and practical, but there was sure a lot of smoke and mirrors. The Hustle - [VIDEO]

@Terr_2024 · in “What excessive screen time does to the adult brain”

Heh, I wish I could say it was because of time-optimized hustle grindset [0], but really I'm just trying to make myself actually eat in the mornings in case it helps me stop with the crazy late nights. [1] [0] [VIDEO] [1] [LINK]

@y0ssar1an2025 · in “The great displacement is already well underway?”

this site is filled with hypercaffeinated steve jobs wannabes, so of course they're gonna blame the victim. if you're not a future billionaire like them, then it's your fault for not hustling ( [VIDEO] ). don't sweat the cynics, bro. this AI shit is gonna come for them too. they won't be so smug after having their soul repeatedly annihilated by the job market. i don't have anything to offer except "hang in there" and "don't let the bastards win". you're in a rut, but don't give in to despair. our brains are efficient irrationality machines, so it's gonna feel hopeless. the first battle you have to win is with our human tendency towards irrational doom and gloom. once you conquer that, you'll be unstoppable. i'll be rooting for you, bud!

@Terr_2025 · in “Don't Become the Machine”

> I think hustle-culture and the vision being pushed on my timeline is a corrupted one. A satirical video which I think captures some of the frustration: "The Hustle" by Krazam - [VIDEO] > Machine Head - Derek Hobbs 1995 For anyone else a little nerd-sniped, the ASCII art head is 54,505 bytes, <=300 chars wide, 182 lines tall, using 20 distinct characters... But then I get hung up on what an equivalent picture could be, since the characters aren't just levels of greyscale intensity, but also contain internal detail that would then take more pixels to describe. My original motive was something like: "If this were a PNG it would have only taken a much smaller X bytes."

@Terr_2026 · in “FOMO Is the Cyberpsychosis of the AI Era”

> You pick up your phone before you’ve even brushed your teeth. First notification For similar sad-comedy vibes: "The Hustle" (2018)[0] [0] [VIDEO]