Right Now
I help boards and executives at growth-stage technology companies continue (or resume) rapid acceleration by advising them on improving their leadership capabilities, operations, and technology. While I specialize in executive advising on leadership and process, I can also dive into deep technical problems with Data Science or Software Engineering departments. Feel free to contact me directly to learn more.
I have a few tech projects in progress that will undoubtedly become blog posts. I’m working on an e-book about leadership in organizations, as well as a field manual for triaging performance and architecture in growth-stage startups. I sometimes write code for open-source projects like TinySite and CompressTest. I also work on ApplyByAPI, a tool that helps companies focus on quality over quantity in their tech hiring process.
Recent Publications
An Unreasonably Deep Dive into Project Euler Problem 3
Intro I’ve been busy as usual for the last couple of months, and haven’t really had time to extend the Project Euler series after Problem 1 and Problem 2 articles. However, I finally did set aside some time to play around with Problem 3: finding the largest prime factor of a number. Problem Statement The prime factors of 13195 are 5, 7, 13 and 29. What is the largest prime factor of the number 600851475143? ... read moreThe Ten-Minute Reorg
I spend a lot of time working with growth-stage startups. I often see similar problems across companies when it comes to scaling up their tech teams. At a certain point, the intuitive way to grow a team breaks down, and a reorganization (“reorg”) is necessary in order to adopt a scalable structure. Where some companies may take months to design and execute a reorg, I prefer to handle the majority of it in about ten minutes. In this post I’ll discuss the rationale, and introduce the major stages of the ten-minute reorg. ... read moreCommand and Control
Introduction When I advise organizations, they often ask if I have written down or somehow codified my perspectives on leadership and operations. Until now, the answer has been a polite not yet. I simply didn’t believe I have accumulated sufficient experience to warrant writing something from a position of authority on the topic of leadership and operations in organizations. After much consideration and gentle prodding from advisory clients, I have come to understand that my perspective may be flawed. I have long known that leaders benefit from sharing knowledge and experiences, and although I may never view myself as an authority on leadership, I can understand the value in having a summary of my philosophy available for distribution. If taking the time to share my experiences is something which can be helpful for others, then I am happy to do so. ... read moreI am Here to Win
I’m not here to be right, I’m here to win. That’s a phrase I often keep in mind, especially when I feel my own ego getting the best of me or when I see someone else’s ego affecting their judgment. In this context, win means making progress towards a larger strategic goal, likely by achieving some intermediate objective. So if you are playing to win and not just to be right then you are putting aside your own ego and emotional involvement in order to make progress towards a larger goal. ... read more