Hey there,
I'm excited to announce two new perks exclusively for full bundle members.
What's New
If you purchased the 4-course bundle (or upgraded from Course 1), you now have access to:
1. Weekly Q&A Videos
Every week, I'll answer the top questions from the community in a short video. This is your chance to get personalized guidance on:
- Building block selection - "Should I use a Queue or direct calls here?"
- Trade-off analysis - "When does this pattern break down?"
- Career questions - "How do I explain my system design thinking in interviews?"
- Anything systems thinking related
You can submit questions anytime through your Members Perks dashboard. I'll pick the most helpful questions each week - ones that will benefit the whole community.
The first Q&A episode drops this weekend. It'll include questions from early students plus topics I think are important for everyone starting out with the 7 building blocks.
2. The 7 Building Blocks Cheatsheet
A printable quick-reference guide covering:
- All 7 building blocks with icons and one-line descriptions
- The 3 external entities (User, External Service, Time)
- When to use each block
- Common combinations and patterns
Print it for your desk or save it as a PDF. It's designed to be the reference you wish you had when someone says "design X."
How to Access
- Log in to your course dashboard
- Look for "Members Perks" in the navigation
- You'll see the Q&A archive, question submission form, and cheatsheet
If you don't see the Members Perks section, you may have Course 1 only. Bundle members and those who upgraded get these exclusive perks.
Why These Perks?
I noticed two things from early students:
1. Questions are universal. When one student asks "why Key-Value Store instead of Relational DB here?", ten others had the same question. Weekly Q&A lets me answer once and help everyone.
2. Reference beats memory. Nobody memorizes all 7 blocks and their use cases. Having a cheatsheet means you can focus on thinking about the problem instead of trying to remember whether File Store or Relational DB handles images.
Not a Bundle Member Yet?
These perks are part of the early bird bundle offer. You get:
- All 4 courses (Course I now, II-IV as they release)
- Weekly Q&A Videos
- The 7 Building Blocks Cheatsheet
Already have Course 1? You can upgrade to the full bundle from your dashboard for $300.
Coming Up
- This weekend: First Q&A episode posted
- Next week: More Course 2 case study recordings
- Ongoing: New Q&A episodes every week
Questions? Just reply.
-- Kay
P.S. If someone forwarded this to you, sign up for the mini course to get these updates directly.