Hi, I’m Allen!
I’m a software engineering executive and technology enthusiast based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Having worked for companies big and small, I’m most energized by the dynamic potential of startups, early in their journeys. I’m at my best helping scale teams while up-leveling the people that I work with.
With my wife and two kids, we enjoy the quiet serenity of reading, nearby national parks, and simple crafts. I get overly excited by new gadgetry, and nurture a bad habit of picking up new hobbies. Since 2011, this site has collected my regular, late-night musings.
A Dent on the Floor
When we moved into our current home, we prioritized replacing the floors with hardwood…
Review: The Ride of a Lifetime
I was recommended a few years back by a colleague to read through The Ride of a Lifetime.…
The Staff Meeting Ritual
Ah, the dreaded staff meeting. Chances are, if you work for a company of a certain size,…
Fueling Infrastructure
It’s a shame that hydrogen fuel cells didn’t work out for cars. On their face,…
Review: Interior Chinatown
Some 18 months ago, I noticed and wrote about the surge of Asian-American cinema in…
Translating Culture
Before ChatGPT made AI mainstream, Google and others had already experimented with,…
Tech Savvy Stasis
The other day, my dad forwarded me a screenshot of a Google Gemini-generated summary: some…
An Environment of Trust
About 2 years ago, a mini-banking crisis eventually caused several mid-sized banks to become…
Financialization Endgame
2024 was a pretty rough year for the video game industry. Even though there were some great…
Review: Shift Happens
Shift Happens is a labor of love. The author, Marcin Wichary, quit his job to start the…