VP of Engineering

Taking the Initiative to Transition from Engineering to Product

A technical program manager wanted to transition into a product management role, but faced bias from their company. To prove themselves, they built a strong relationship with a VP of product, took on a small project, and studied for interviews. In the end, they received the offer to become a product manager. The lesson learned is that it is best to transfer internally and find a sponsor on the product team who will support you through the transition.

Make Hard Time Easier -- Work With a Sponsor

When the company needed to bring in a more experienced CTO, the Product Development team, including the author, had to go through a difficult transition. The author was able to recruit a technical advisor as the new CTO, and through their relationship, the author was able to learn valuable lessons about asking for and listening to feedback, challenging and disagreeing with their manager, and using what they learned to help turn their next manager into a sponsor.

How to Measure Success As a New VP of Engineering

This article discusses the importance of selecting the right performance measurement system for a VP of Engineering with R&D flavor. It compares and contrasts job descriptions for CTOs, VPs of Engineering, and Directors of R&D, and suggests trying OKR as a framework for goal setting. It also highlights the need to manage people, processes, and products, and suggests reading books to find wisdom and inspiration.

Creating Impact as One of the First Hires in a Startup

This article recounts the experience of joining a startup as the seventh employee and becoming a VP of engineering. It highlights the importance of self-awareness and adaptability when joining a startup, as well as the benefits of understanding the inner workings of a company. It also emphasizes the importance of being financially responsible when considering a startup job.

Hiring Senior Leadership When Scaling Massively

As CTO of a company that grew from 140 to 800 engineers in two years, the author had to anticipate the size of the team and assess the existing leadership potential. It took nine months to hire six VPs and restructure the organization, and two years later the plan worked out. The author learned that it is important to anticipate growth and hire people in advance, rather than waiting until they are needed.

Planning Product Development

The VP of Engineering for Ernit was the first technical person to join the company and faced the challenge of creating a protocol for the device to communicate back to the servers. After questioning the founders and creating a blueprint of the communication flow, they were able to come up with a solution that allowed them to ship the product in the Kickstarter phase. The lesson learned was that even if people aren't technical, they should be able to provide blueprints with communication flows to ensure information is flowing in both directions.