Writing Proposals
Technical Depth

Technical Depth vs Buzzwords

Buzzwords hide ignorance. Depth shows competence.

Buzzword Detox

❌ Before (Buzzword Salad)

"I will leverage machine learning with blockchain 
integration and cloud-native architecture to create 
a scalable, synergistic solution that optimizes 
stakeholder value through disruptive innovation."

Translation: "I have no idea what I'm doing."

✅ After (Real Technical Depth)

"I will implement a caching layer using Redis 
with LRU eviction policy, cache invalidation 
on writes, and fallback to PostgreSQL queries 
if cache misses exceed threshold."

Translation: "I know what I'm talking about."

How to Show Depth

1. Explain the Why

❌ Shallow:
"I will use Docker for deployment."

✅ Deep:
"Docker allows reproducible environments and 
simplifies CI/CD. I'll use multi-stage builds 
to minimize image size and leverage layer caching 
for faster builds."

2. Discuss Trade-offs

"I considered:
- Option A (pros/cons)
- Option B (pros/cons)
- I'm choosing Option C because [specific reasons]"

3. Acknowledge Challenges

"This approach has risks:
1. Cache coherency in distributed setup
   → Mitigation: TTL-based invalidation
   
2. Complexity in testing
   → Mitigation: Test fixture factories"

Depth Checklist

  • Specific technology choices with reasoning
  • Trade-offs considered and explained
  • Potential challenges and mitigations
  • Testing strategy with concrete examples
  • Performance considerations and metrics
  • Security implications thought through

Mentors can spot bullshit immediately. Be honest about what you know and don't know.