Mr. Blue Bear

I was on a boat for an event. The ship had three levels – the dance floor, the catering, and the top where you could see the city lights. The party was meant for business networking so I held a drink roaming up and down the floors talking to strangers. A man several decades older […]

I often talk to individual contributors who want to transition to engineering management. We start the conversation around why they want to become one and what they’re looking for in their career. When we dive into the details on what they should pay attention to, here’s my framework for coaching new engineering managers: Nobody sets […]

A potential acquisition was looming ahead for the previous startup I was at. We were going to talk about our company’s technology so I rehearsed the presentation over thirty times. Ten to the team, twenty solo in my apartment. I remember drinking coffee before a practice round. My team’s feedback was I bolted through the talk in […]

I remember a winter with storms the first year or so I joined a startup. The roads turned slick and caused car accidents. Bay Area rainstorms could transform a 15-minute commute into an hour. One day despite warnings on the news, I drove to the office after looking outside. A trickle of rain – what […]