Book Reviews
Should Engineering Management Stay Technical?
In engineering management circles, a common question that gets asked—in podcasts, in job interviews, and sometimes in peer coaching sessions—is whether managers should stay technically proficient, and if so, how and how much. The subtext here is that…
The Startup Flywheel
The PayPal Mafia is stuff of legend around Silicon Valley—at least, for the first 2 decades of the 21st century. Counted in this group of early employees are a number of entrepreneurs and investors for some major companies during…
Textbook Answers
One of the first interview questions I learned to give, as a new grad engineer a couple months out of college, was asking candidates how to detect a cycle in a linked list. I was taught that the "right…
Where Engineers End Up
Often, I end up relating my own experiences in industry to other software engineers and managers to help them in their careers. At times, it's someone on the same team at work, one of my direct or skip-…
Educational Equity vs. Exceptionalism
First, some personal news: I've recently started a new job as the VP of Engineering at Kiddom! Upon leaving my previous role at Mystery, I found myself still intrigued by the educational space and how it intersects—or…
Career Advancement in Large Teams
I had a chance to chat with someone who recently joined one of the major tech companies[1] as an engineering manager. Upon settling into their team, they were disappointed to learn that the actual work environment, plus the work…
