Performance
review
week.

What to walk in with, what to walk out with.

The review-prep one-pager that turns the meeting on its head.

The default review meeting is your manager telling you what they thought of your year. The version that pays is you arriving with a one-page memo that makes the conversation about outcomes, comp-band positioning, and next-half scope — in that order. Per Levels.fyi Q1 2026 comp band data, the median delta between the 50th and 75th percentile inside the same level is $48k. That delta is decided on the prep, not the year.

The H1 tax-loss harvest most operators leave on the table.

Tax-loss harvesting is treated as a December problem. It isn’t. The H1 window — now through June 30 — is where the cleanest losses sit, because the year’s gainers haven’t fully run and the laggards aren’t yet washed out. Per IRS Publication 550 rules, a realized capital loss offsets capital gains dollar-for-dollar, then up to $3,000/year against ordinary income, with the rest carrying forward indefinitely.

Practical: scan your taxable brokerage for positions down >8% from your cost basis. Sell, log the loss, buy a similar-but-not-identical replacement to dodge the 30-day wash sale rule (e.g., VTI → ITOT). A reader who did this in March banked $31k of realized losses against her concentrated-stock unwind from Issue 005. Net tax saving at her bracket: $7,440.

Claude as your performance-review rehearsal partner.

Most senior ICs prep the substance and skip the rehearsal — then the meeting goes sideways because the manager asked the one question they didn’t expect. Claude Projects fixes this in 25 minutes. Drop your one-pager + a one-paragraph sketch of your manager’s priorities + your last two perf-cycle ratings into a project. System prompt below.

You’ll find your two weakest claims inside the first three rounds. Those are the questions you’ll get in the real meeting. Tighten the one-pager, run the simulation again. Two passes = roughly 90% of the upside.

The 8-week post-review pivot — if the conversation goes badly.

A bad review is information, not a verdict. The 8-week sequence that turns it into option-value: Weeks 1–2: ship the productized $3k offer from Issue 001 Play 04. Weeks 3–4: convert it to a $5k retainer with the same buyer. Weeks 5–6: add a second retainer. Weeks 7–8: document the production stack so a $25/hr VA can run delivery while you handle scoping. End of week 8: $10k MRR, ~6 active hours/week.

You don’t quit. You keep the W2 and run the holding co (Issue 002 Play 04) in parallel. Two months from now, you’re back at the same review meeting with optionality. The recursive part: knowing you have it changes the conversation.

What Q1 SaaS earnings just told you about your 2026 RSU.

Q1 2026 earnings wrapped last week. Per Bloomberg aggregates and individual 10-Q filings, the top-30 public SaaS names guided FY2026 revenue down a median 4.6% from their January outlook. NDR contracted from 109% to 102% on average. The cause is consistent across calls: budget reallocation from horizontal SaaS to AI tooling.

The career math: if your RSU is denominated in a Q1-guidance-cutter, the headline value on your offer letter is now ~12–18% optimistic on a forward basis. Don’t price your next 12 months against the grant-date number. Use the post-guidance market quote and discount another 10% for volatility. The honest read is your equity is worth less than your manager will reference next week.

The loyalty tax: 8% raise vs 25% switch.

Reply with one number: 01, 02, 03, 04, or 05 — which play you’d run first this week.

I read every reply. They shape what shows up in Issue 012.