# Work on your Devtool Money Shot

Per [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_shot):

> a **money shot** is a moving or stationary visual element of a [film](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film), [video](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video), [television broadcast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_broadcast), or [print publication](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Print_publication) that is **disproportionately expensive to produce** or is **perceived as essential to the overall importance** or revenue-generating potential of the work.

You've seen them in movies:

![](https://beta.dx.tips/media/9cd4af4b54abbab047f58d3701eb6dd0583bc935aae9033ddbaeb4780006f18a.png align="center")

But they are less discussed in devtools. Let's fix that.

**Devtool money shots are the one visual that explains your product or message or story.** They are the infographic that maps out a worldview for an industry, the heavily researched chart that is sent to coworkers to prove a point, the slide that makes your audience members pull out their phones and snap a photo while you give a talk. The visual that industry insiders simply refer to by name and everyone nods because they've all seen it.

Money shots have a wildly disproportionate impact to your messaging. You might speak or publish 100,000 words in a year, but the 10 words on your money shot might make up what 90% of your audience remembers about you.

It stands to reason that you should invest accordingly — with the caveat that overdesigning a visual can decrease its "[moneyness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moneyness)", and a tiny amount of imperfection is charming.

What follows is a simple, nonexhaustive taxonomy of money shots from my experience. Please suggest others!

## Types of Money Shots

### The Benchmark

[![](https://beta.dx.tips/media/d504337c5a49611a645dc99aeaba5c53a6a33991e71613067d4127b228a8f801.png align="center")](https://github.com/evanw/esbuild)

### The Abstract Thesis

[![Slide from my Figma Config presentation, describing that iteration velocity is the solution to all known software problems](https://beta.dx.tips/media/008fbeefbed55a681ce9950e7b22f129127f0aef5b6f5afb1dba8994c158bea2.jpg align="left")](https://twitter.com/rauchg/status/1681694545845833729?s=20)

Jack Butcher is [particularly good](https://twitter.com/visualizevalue) at this one.

### The Mental Framework

[![Orbit raises $4M for its community experience platform | TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/orbit-model-canvas.png align="left")](https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C5GCEM_en&sxsrf=AB5stBh_VCJHWwqh1OODQfk7_wfMgX5ZvA:1689806300492&q=orbit.love+model&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiRsp6C65uAAxXh3DgGHRxHBFQQ0pQJegQIDxAB&biw=1066&bih=1111&dpr=0.9#imgrc=thvQwiPwg-PHyM)

![](https://beta.dx.tips/media/14f0ccfdb7a62ec852ef14302d13d480e189e7c7c20928a9b35151b7c4d571cb.png align="center")

### The Architecture

*todo: find iconic architecture diagram that gives people aha moment*

### The Trajectory

[![](https://beta.dx.tips/media/b34d45162d2dcbc0dc9bbd16bbf62d89946bfc49e8ea319c3aa1ed15701dae78.jpg align="left")](https://airbyte.com/blog/the-deck-we-used-to-raise-our-150m-series-b)

![Price Changes Over the Last 20 Years Prove the Economy is Rigged](https://beta.dx.tips/media/54e6cc79745e7550b6bacf3afef8f13a39e9c503a0e0fe484f21e095934f9c03.jpg align="left")

Here just paying attention to what is growing and what is not leads the reader to the conclusion you are trying to draw them to.

### The Timeline

[![Stripe: Thinking Like a Civilization | The Generalist](https://beta.dx.tips/media/c381b67473d08e4e02185114e7b9dbefa488a6ba09772fff45e6674ca3670751.jpg align="left")](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.generalist.com%2Fbriefing%2Fstripe&psig=AOvVaw1dR-ra3Vpw1oVyzQEiw9Zn&ust=1689893794784000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBMQjhxqFwoTCJjxo5Hvm4ADFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE)

Timelines are deceptive - they look objective, but are inherently subjective and suggestive of a message based on inclusion/exclusion criteria.

I used this in [the Third Age of JavaScript](https://www.swyx.io/js-third-age).

### The Taxonomy

![Vinija's Notes • Models • Transformers](https://beta.dx.tips/media/18b99c357eb01aef74ec52c789ad0f1d72c7b7b7d43c0364fdffc2760dcd64ac.png align="left")

You can join timelines with Taxonomies:

![Damien Benveniste, PhD on LinkedIn: #machinelearning #datascience  #artificialintelligence | 30 comments](https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E22AQEzayyKgJmZwQ/feedshare-shrink_800/0/1675439151638?e=1699488000&v=beta&t=nYNp2txXgUvm5SSUND7TKpYG19pEVY-eP6_FaftrKpA align="left")

### The Hidden Imagery

[![](https://beta.dx.tips/media/6c47a3cc348991c1bd87b363709cf44235f0efcfdd66e4051a68f9b35f9e1118.png align="center")](https://twitter.com/EricVicenti/status/1468652009058287621?s=20)

The "thing you're very used to seeing was secretly something else all along" is rare but very effective when the opportunity arises.

### The Audience Positioning

[![](https://beta.dx.tips/media/3982ba88b84015d7db217bdf11c94b47b51f2e59a9022692ce0373f4bfc0d246.png align="center")](https://twitter.com/swyx/status/1676666771938627584)

I used this one in [the Rise of the AI Engineer](https://www.latent.space/p/ai-engineer) and in [OSI Layers for Coding Careers](https://www.swyx.io/osi-layers-coding-careers). People like to know where they sit and be given clear language for how they differ from their peers.

### Memes

I've used that on this very magazine. Horizontal memes work better because of how these things tend to unfurl.

![](https://beta.dx.tips/media/fbf8f0646d04d84c70fe629e6c18de58c80032c655a417870426e5b5ea4970b4.png align="center")

### The Talk Map

[![](https://beta.dx.tips/media/ec7dfbeb4911d548a64e18613851eb93691b26184b02b73e5f6eb7ef6c80caff.png align="center")](https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/boundaries)

This one is mostly only useful for talks, so I leave it last.

## Money Shots that No Longer Work

They are overused, just stop (doing them badly and expecting any reaction at all).

### The God Box

[![](https://beta.dx.tips/media/41ce84dc6cd99387b020881b3c939910634cca89e43042c35e047ccb8bb1afd7.png align="center")](https://twitter.com/swyx/status/1629553997416910849?s=20)

### The 2x2

[![](https://beta.dx.tips/media/927ac15b1b2ed80a46ee67d03ab352faab690f256a2b2b310ffbbde52b0f28de.png align="center")](https://twitter.com/mattturck/status/1509167446833483791)

It's not hard to modify the 2x2 if you put a little more effort into it:

[![The Social/Communication Map](https://beta.dx.tips/media/3dac2c02deebfb7479db8ad8dd77754bc39abbdc41a833b2458587e0003e0d69.jpg align="left")](https://stratechery.com/2023/threads-and-the-social-communications-map/)

which directly inspired the one in [4.5 Kinds of Devtool Platforms](https://dx.tips/platform-kinds) and [Radiating Circles of DX](https://dx.tips/circles).