[hsn915]

In my humble opinion, Mike Acton's talks are the best introduction, although he doesn't use the term "first principles", and they seem - at the surface - to be about game engines, but they are generalizable to everything.

Data Oriented Design (2014):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX0ItVEVjHc

Solving the Right Problems (2017):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B00hV3wmMY