My thoughts on...

Being an effective contributor
As you progress through your career your accountabilities constantly change. I wanted to think through what I felt made me a good team mate, how I saw my accountabilities and how I responsibly saw beyond my own contributions.
Being an effective leader
At first I thought leadership was about managing people, but I ended up just getting in the way. Then I thought leadership was about teaching others to manage me, but then they were just getting in my way. Now I realize leadership is about teaching others to manage themselves. This is a collection of thoughts and accountabilities I have as a Director of Engineering, but applies to all levels of leadership.
Creating the right work culture
Team harmony is key to longevity. So called traditional "hard skills" can be taught, but being a good team mate and citizen takes personality. I worked hard to create the right culture on my team that starts with trust and ends with empowerment.
Finding your motivation
Money is a very temporary motivator. There is much more to it. I call my motivator "The Three Ps" - People, Problem, Pay. Finding your motivator is the first step to success.
Achieving your goals
Happiness is a direction, not a point in time. Set the right goals and you'll find happiness in your journey. This is my secret.
Working from home
Ie been working from home since 2014 and have gone through all sorts of iterations of what works for me and what doesn't. The comfort and flexibility is unmatched, but at the cost of bringing work stresses home. It can also wear on productivity because there's nobody around to tap on the shoulder and ask a question to or collaborate with. Here are my tips on what works.
Finding your dream job
Your next job isn't the important one. It's the one after that you should be focused on. These are my thoughts categorized into the 5 most important things to look for to continue pushing to your dream job.
Supporting teams with professional growth maps
If you want to build something great, it starts with great people. Nurturing great contributors doesn't happen by chance. Aside from helping them develop core skills, it takes support, focus and direction. The best way to pave this golden path is by explicitly setting out expectations on both sides. Here's how I've done it.
The true cost of outsourcubg development
Outsourcing is a popular option for individuals and organizations trying to bootstrap their product in a cost effective way. Comparing the cost per unit of work at face value for a team in a developing country vs a developed country usually leads you to believe that there's big savings involved. But this isn't the whole story.
My Career
No coding tutorial or bootcamp can prepare you for the feeling of having to tell your family that you don't know where your next paycheck is coming from because you didn't pass the job interview.
Being a specialist or a generalist
At different points of your teams evolutions you're going to need different skillsets. Sometimes you'll need generalists that can do a bit of everything and other times you'll need those surgical specialists that are really good with a subset of your tech stack.
Building a strategy for your team
The most important trait of a world class team is that everyone is rowing in the same direction. This doesn't happen by chance. Nothing has happened by chance for me. You have to create a plan, constantly evaluate it and be explicit about every decision you make. It takes a strong level of awareness to not only create a world class team, but also make sure they stay that way.
The best tech stack for your project
There's 2 philosophies when it comes to choosing the right tech stack.
My own team strategy
Strategy is not a lengthy action plan. It is the evolution of a central idea through continually changing circumstances.