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
Competitors are Not the Problem
I advise many successful companies, and some of them have grown very quickly to their current size and state. They developed a product or service, matched it with a market, and are experiencing a great deal of success. During the earlier parts of this journey they were acutely aware of the possibility of competitors being able to overtake them or the reality that other competitors really were jockeying for position in the market. However, their growth rate meant that any competitors simply couldn’t keep up. ... read moreHow Do You Punish People?
Introduction The title of this post is literally the first question I received from someone when I was doing leadership advising at a very successful company. The company was dominant in their market and were continuing to grow internationally. The person who asked me the question was intelligent and had previously worked for a large technology organization before taking on their current role leading a department. The person knew I was there to help the executive team become more effective leaders and thereby help the company continue their along their growth trajectory, but for this person leadership was seemingly a matter of delegation and punishment. ... read moreCulture Red Flags: Who is *They*?
Over the years I’ve advised many companies on how to improve their leadership capabilities in order to cultivate a more effective corporate culture and thereby achieve growth. One thing which is absolutely necessary for a company to thrive is for the culture to support collaboration and a sense of shared purpose. You need unit cohesion. You need the shared feeling that we are all one group, with one purpose, currently making progress towards one goal which supports that purpose. ... read moreWhat is Your Current Salary?
I’ve probably hired hundreds of people in my career and I also do a fair bit of mentoring for new technology professionals, especially new Data Scientists and Data Engineers, Software engineers, and similar roles. One thing that often comes up is looking for new jobs and how to go about that process. For more junior candidates especially, you are at risk of getting asked a very dangerous question; What is your current salary? It’s a horrible question, and should make you pause for a moment and consider if you really want to work for the kind of company that would ask it. ... read more