Hello! You've found the navel-gazing section of this blog. My name is Allen Cheung, and this is where I lay out my thoughts—typically every week or so.

Personal

I am based in the scenic San Francisco Bay Area, and have resided here for the past two decades. In settling and growing our family here, we're rediscovering appreciation for the simple things: our small town community, the challenges of parenting, and other horrible midlife clichés.

In my spare time, I pick up new hobbies. Earlier in life I picked up video games and reading science fiction, both activities that I still enjoy now, just to a lesser degree. Other fascinations include mechanical watches, photography, e-ink displays, mechanical keyboards, and occasionally jigsaw puzzles. I buy way too many tech gadgets.

Professional

Currently, I'm taking a prolonged sabbatical after spending 20+ years in tech.

Previously, I held technical positions at software companies—first as a full-stack software engineer, then as an engineering manager and executive. My prior roles include: the SVP of Engineering at UJET; the VP of Engineering at Kiddom; VP Eng & Product at Mystery.org; Senior Director of Engineering at Affirm. I was also a manager at Counsyl and Square, and a software engineer at Google.

By happenstance, my career has focused on Fintech and finance, but I've also taken made an effort to explore other <domain>×tech areas like Edtech and Healthtech. I have a soft spot for growth-stage startups; they often encounter scaling challenges around their teams, products and technologies that benefit from strong leadership. I enjoy mentorship and coaching, and catalog a wide range of my opinions on management in my writing here.