HackerTubewatch
Surprise me
Frame from The Hustle Plays via YouTube's privacy-enhanced embed

The Hustle

6 videos recommended on HN
YouTube
3 HN users recommended this comedy video3 months2020–2026 score 3
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

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

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

“such a pitch perfect shot at a very common person in tech” (HN, 2024)

3 recommendations · 2 citations · 12 jokes · Comedy

17 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@beezlebroxxxxxx Apr 2024 Recommends
on HN thread 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]: [this video]
Pitch-perfect satire of a common tech stereotype.

Citations, criticism and jokes

@pcthrowaway Feb 2023 Cites it
on HN thread I hired 5 people to sit behind me and make me productive for a month
Read more
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
@Terr_ Dec 2025 Cites it
on HN thread Don't Become the Machine
Read more
> 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 - [this 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."
Satire capturing frustration with hustle culture.
@aaron-santos Sep 2020 Makes a joke
on HN thread 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] [this video]
@Apocryphon Sep 2022 Makes a joke
on HN thread 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: [this video] Though that video is from- 2018?!
@stenioaraujo Aug 2023 Makes a joke
on HN thread Youtube2Webpage: Create Websites with Text from Videos
Read more
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. [this 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.
@lioeters Sep 2024 Makes a joke
on HN thread 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 - [this video]
@Terr_ Oct 2024 Makes a joke
on HN thread 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] [this video] [1] [link]
@y0ssar1an May 2025 Makes a joke
on HN thread The great displacement is already well underway?
Read more
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 ( [this 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!

Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.

Keyboard shortcuts

/
Search
j k
Next / previous video
r
Surprise me
l
Like (video page)
w
Watch later (video page)
?
This help
Esc
Close