I initially binged Stranger Things like everyone else. The 80s nostalgia hit exactly right and was genuinely my favorite part as I loved my childhood in the 80s. The synth soundtrack, riding around on bikes everywhere everyday, and welcome back Winona Ryder. That first season had real magic to it.…
The place where Iβm Head of Engineering is my biggest headline. Nearly 500k customers, $MMM in processing and revenue, small engineering team, and it feels like the EVALS days again - good people, real impact, actual smiles. Big announcement coming in February π€« 2026: SMILES X 1290320993930223 π But, as the…
This video was sent to me by someone who called out this liar before, just as we did. Someone's baseline + deviation. You don't catch liars by looking for nervousness. Nervous people are everywhere. Honest people get nervous. Practiced liars are calm as a lake and paint…
Somewhere along the way we became the tollbooth between the business and their own data (well, ok, actually... this is how its always been. I still remember the platform i built in ~1997 to collect data for an insurance company... getting it to them how they needed, that was... . . . . hey…
I got certified in pencil sharpening last week. Twelve modules. Forty hours. There was a capstone project. I sharpened a pencil. It was a #2 pencil because, yah. I'm now a Certified Pencil Sharpening Professional (CPSP). Felt important. The course covered the history of pencils. The philosophy of…
I wrote another book! He's an outline of whats inside. Chapter 1: Type words into an API integration. Chapter 2: Change the words slightly. Chapter 3: Tell stakeholders you're "tuning the model." Chapter 4: Change the words slightly again. Chapter 5: Change the words…
Yup! I still remember my engineering mentor showing me my first white paper in 1995. I didn't understand a word of it (for real it was way over my head but he was a savant). But I knew someday, I too would share my learnings with the world.…
Back in late 1998, I was running one of the top πππππ¨π§ππ¬ fan websites called "ππ πππ’πππ‘ππ¬". I was just a Sacramento kid, completely obsessed with Deftones, the hometown band who felt like they knew me πΈ The site wasn't just some side projectβit was my heart and soul,…
(Continued from: "Your Technical Interviews Suck!" ) I get together with a group of engineering leaders regularly, and this topic continues to come up and we roll our eyes and laugh. πππ ππππ ππππ π€ Since 1996, Iβve never found myself in a situation where Iβm working, then suddenly brought before…
I get emotional, knowing that the blankets of memories Iβm making with my family will one day come to an end.Β I recognize all they will have are these blankets, and I hope they snuggle with them, reflecting on what we created together. These memories are all I am…