Posts by Allen Cheung
The Passage of Time, in Software Development Years
Sometimes all these years seem to be physically weighing me down. I turned 30 this year, and while that's hardly old by most standards[1], it feels like a significant amount of time particularly when I think about…
Thinking about the Motivation to Write
Blogs are abandoned all the time. Somewhere between 50% and 99% of blogs are started and then quickly left for dead, after that initial honeymoon period of content and inspiration fades and the hard work of producing something interesting and…
Are Startup Engineers Untalented?
It's cool to do a technology startup. Conventional wisdom has been that employees from big companies get tired of the lack of impact, the bureaucracy and the middle management, and the ones who have smarts and ambition will…
"I Don't Know"
One thing that's inevitable in a growing software company is that engineers are tasked with the chore of interviews, and I've done more than my fair share of talking with candidates through technical problems and projects…
Building from the Fountain of Youth
A few months ago, I opined on that hiring not just A-players is a legitimate strategy; the gist was that, for most jobs and business models, "A players" simply were not required for all positions. (and oftentimes,…
The Right and the Wrong Kind of Recruiters
Maybe it's hiring season, but I had a particularly bad day today fending off tech recruiters. I count: * 4 LinkedIn requests * 2 random emails[1] * 2 3 unsolicited cold calls Sadly, the increasing volume of spam no longer…
