---
title: The Pit of Success
link: https://www.computerenhance.com/p/pit-of-success
source: computerenhance-com
published: 2026-08-19T17:24:18Z
updated: 2026-08-19T17:24:18Z
first_seen: 2026-09-19T21:30:23.395188495Z
authors:
- Casey Muratori
summary: An Interview with Rico Mariani
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Most of the material I make for *Computer Enhance* focuses on the programming side of software performance. What about the institutional side? How do you raise awareness of performance concerns inside an organization? At what stages of a project is a performance expert most useful? When did software development lose its emphasis on performance in the first place?

In this interview with [Rico Mariani](https://x.com/ricomariani) [1](https://www.computerenhance.com/p/pit-of-success#footnote-1) , we talk about precisely these questions. He spent much of his career at Microsoft trying to fix performance problems, both directly and indirectly. While working on the C# CLR, he coined the term “pit of success” to express the need for platform developers to design APIs such that non-experts will create software that performs well by default.

Rico walks me through that episode, and many more, in this hour-and-a-half interview.

*If you’re interested in software performance, you’ve come to the right place. Computer Enhance is [a giant archive](https://www.computerenhance.com/p/table-of-contents) of performance programming materials, with more added every week. Check out our free and paid subscription options here:*

[1](https://www.computerenhance.com/p/pit-of-success#footnote-anchor-1)

In addition to following him on X, Rico also posts about performance from time to time [on medium](https://ricomariani.medium.com/) . You can also find him on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricomariani) .