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Tactical Routes to Keep Production Code Alive and Running

After becoming CTO of a company with a code base built by four people over five years, the last engineer left and took all the code knowledge with him. To keep everything running, the CTO divided his attention into two arenas: super tactical (incentivizing the engineer to stay for two months and contracting freelancers to write new code) and standard tactical (holding off production and hiring engineers). Over the next year and a half, the CTO hired eight people and stabilized the production code. He learned a lesson not to bring on juniors during a stressful time.

Setting Clear Expectations of the Leadership Roles

The CTO of an organization faced a taxing problem of having to address the preconceived notions of what the role of CTO entails. To address this, the CTO set up expectations of what the role of CTO, VP of Engineering, and VP of Product entails, and highlighted the differences between the roles. As the organization grew, the expectations of the team evolved and three specific leadership roles were defined. This evolution has been a major growth point for the organization.

Tours - Investing in People

This engineer was no longer a good fit for the company as it grew, so the author encouraged him to go on a 'tour' - a project with a defined challenge and success criteria. This allowed him to move into a role that fit his interests and personality type, and also allowed the company to fill in gaps that were not apparent before hiring. This highlights the importance of sponsoring freedom for people to go on 'tours' and not putting too strict of a box around people's roles.

Career Conversation With Your Rockstar Developer

A team leader faced the challenge of having a fast-paced developer whose co-workers were struggling to keep up. After comparing the developer's roadmap proposal to the team's, it was decided that he should move to a more suitable position within the company. The team was able to deliver the assigned task with only a week of delay due to improved morale. Lessons learned included the importance of building soft skills, having a champion in the company, and being a champion once a manager.

Unless You Prioritize Product Features, Your Product Will Remain Dormant

This article discusses a project that was stuck between a beta and a pilot version. To make the product Generally Available (GA), the team had to prioritize features and break down the project into manageable parts. With a four-month timeline, they were able to reduce the 16-month-long GA timeline to only four months while preserving the most valuable features to customers. The author also learned two main challenges while negotiating with the PM and talking to team members; the only way to move forward was to make compromises. The author applied the most effective tactic of asking "Tell me more" instead of "What do you mean" to his team members.

Ignoring- A Conflict Management Technique

In a volunteer organization for Management and Leadership, the president was not being informed of meetings by an ultra-confident colleague in charge of arranging them. The president used the four quadrants of Negotiation Conflict Styles to respond, but the colleague was unresponsive to authoritative action, so the president chose to ignore the colleague. This decision was a reflection of the president's personality, and the colleague had no self-introspection. If this was a business organization, the president would have taken matters to senior management.

Using Active Listening and Empathy to Improve a Situation

A manager was challenged with the task of addressing an anxious team member while also dealing with the situation for the betterment of the team. Through frequent one-on-one meetings, the individual was able to admit to the issue and come up with steps to avoid getting anxious. Separately, the manager had meetings with the other team members to listen to their complaints. As a result, the team and individual have improved, and the manager learned lessons about active listening, admitting to problems, and addressing issues privately.

Building an International Organization

This article discusses the challenges of starting a business in Belarus, a small country with limited access to sales and marketing talent. It outlines the steps taken to overcome these challenges, such as focusing on the international market, establishing a sales function, growing in the local market, creating a communication channel between two offices, and hiring people early on. It also emphasizes the importance of team building and hiring the right people in order to scale and move forward.

9-months Pregnant and Applying to Be a Manager

A software engineer with no management experience applied for a managerial position while 9 months pregnant and about to go on maternity leave. With the help of her previous manager, who vouched for her skills, she was offered the job. She asked her previous manager to be her mentor and they met weekly to help her transition from IC to manager. She learned that even if the timing is challenging, don't give up on your dreams, ask someone to vouch for you, and get a mentor to help you transition.

Overcoming Late Culture

This article discusses a problem of people not showing up on time and the actions taken to address it. The solution was to implement a money jar where those who were late had to pay a dollar. This was successful in reducing late arrivals, and people even got creative and put in more than a dollar or gift cards. The article also discusses the importance of company culture in making sure the solution is successful.

Steps to Take When Dealing with an Underperforming Employee

This case study outlines the steps taken by a manager to address an underperforming employee on their team. After auditing the situation, the manager spoke with the manager of the employee, the team, and the employee themselves. Ultimately, the employee was let go, and the team was made aware of the changes. The manager learned that the manager of the employee was hesitant to let them go due to visa and green card issues, and the team was not comfortable with the idea of having to mentor the employee. The employee revealed that they wanted to be in a more entrepreneurial role, and the manager was able to find them a suitable job. The team was reminded that there are repercussions for not meeting work standards.

Best Product Ideas Will Come When You Stop Forcing Them

This article discusses the process of coming up with a new product idea, specifically for HR software. It outlines the steps to take, such as learning more about the industry, identifying barriers to entry, and understanding the direction of the company. It also emphasizes the importance of not being discouraged by existing competition and understanding the challenges of competing with well-trained humans. Finally, it suggests that patterns will emerge once the client base reaches a certain size, and that a product should be built around one of these patterns.

The Approach of Not Stopping for a Massive Rewrite

This article outlines the steps taken by a company to keep innovating and upgrading their product over the past 14 years. They started off with a basic appointment screen built in Delphi and on-premise, and then moved to the cloud with Memento 7. They also had two big overhauls of Memento 7, a look and feel facelift and an infrastructure overhaul. They are now working on Phorest Web, which is built with Ember.js and has an embedded web browser. The article also discusses the common problems with scaling product and the approach taken to avoid having to build a Phorest Web 2 in a few years.

Using a Compelling Narrative to Influence Leaders and Investors

This article discusses the importance of presenting a clear and compelling narrative when attempting to influence senior product leadership, angel investors, and VCs. The author shares their experience of not presenting a clear narrative when discussing the Facebook photos strategy to Mark Zuckerberg and the lessons they learned from it. They also provide a template of an 8 slide presentation that they have found to be successful in influencing strategic thinkers. The article emphasizes the importance of understanding the root assumptions and creating a narrative that is aligned with the needs of the organization in order to be successful in influencing leadership teams.

A Thorough Methodology for Administering Consistent Interviews

This article discusses the challenges of the hiring pipeline and how to have consistent interviews and a solid interview process. The author has implemented methods to ensure a positive experience for the candidate, such as having a junior and senior interviewer in each interview and coaching and training interviewers to maintain a positive tone. The interview process is structured to keep it consistent across candidates, and there is a standardized form to gather information about how well the interview went. The author also recommends having a retrospective to review what went well and what didn't.

Determining What Levels to Hire

When hiring for an organization, it is important to consider the company culture and the type of hire needed. For startups, it is best to hire more senior-level people who can deliver quickly and get up to speed fast. For heritage companies, it is more beneficial to hire junior-level people with the promise of career growth. Senior hires should be strategic and focused, and should be able to lead and fill gaps.

Giving Appropriate Praise and Feedback

This article discusses the importance of providing feedback in the workplace, and the different ways in which it can be delivered. It emphasizes the importance of understanding how an individual responds to feedback, and the need to ask them in private to determine the best way to deliver it. It also highlights the importance of balancing the frequency of feedback to ensure that it is not too much or too little.

Why Your Developers Are Not Delivering On Time

An emerging leader must understand why their developers are not meeting deadlines and take action to help them succeed. This includes initiating a frank conversation with developers, minimizing interruptions, and being clear on priorities. Studies have shown that multitasking slows people down and lowers the quality of work, so it is important to focus on one task at a time. It is also important to question one's own estimates and expectations before blaming the developers.

How to Attract Engineers When Your Company Scales Massively

Companies face a massive challenge when scaling rapidly and needing to hire an additional 100 engineers in a year. Different approaches can be taken, but focusing on quality is essential. Relying on people's networks, creating a catchy pitch, and making managers accountable for hiring are all strategies that have worked. Additionally, taking advantage of other companies' slow hiring process and allowing engineers to move around the company can help to find the right people for the right positions.

The Startup Dilemma: Who Should Be Your First Hires

Early-stage startups face many dilemmas, including who to hire first. It is important to anticipate the company's growth in the next 12 months and plan accordingly. It is recommended to prioritize leadership over management, and to focus on collaboration and teamwork rather than hiring an Engineering Manager (EM) unless there are at least 30 engineers. Senior engineers can be responsible for code reviews and approvals, and the company can dedicate an hour monthly to testing with all business teams. During interviews, focus on chemistry and collaboration.

Tactical Routes to Keep Production Code Alive and Running

After becoming CTO of a company with a code base built by four people over five years, the last engineer left and took all the code knowledge with him. To keep everything running, the CTO divided his attention into two arenas: super tactical (incentivizing the engineer to stay for two months and contracting freelancers to write new code) and standard tactical (holding off production and hiring engineers). Over the next year and a half, the CTO hired eight people and stabilized the production code. He learned a lesson not to bring on juniors during a stressful time.

Setting Clear Expectations of the Leadership Roles

The CTO of an organization faced a taxing problem of having to address the preconceived notions of what the role of CTO entails. To address this, the CTO set up expectations of what the role of CTO, VP of Engineering, and VP of Product entails, and highlighted the differences between the roles. As the organization grew, the expectations of the team evolved and three specific leadership roles were defined. This evolution has been a major growth point for the organization.

Tours - Investing in People

This engineer was no longer a good fit for the company as it grew, so the author encouraged him to go on a 'tour' - a project with a defined challenge and success criteria. This allowed him to move into a role that fit his interests and personality type, and also allowed the company to fill in gaps that were not apparent before hiring. This highlights the importance of sponsoring freedom for people to go on 'tours' and not putting too strict of a box around people's roles.

Career Conversation With Your Rockstar Developer

A team leader faced the challenge of having a fast-paced developer whose co-workers were struggling to keep up. After comparing the developer's roadmap proposal to the team's, it was decided that he should move to a more suitable position within the company. The team was able to deliver the assigned task with only a week of delay due to improved morale. Lessons learned included the importance of building soft skills, having a champion in the company, and being a champion once a manager.

Unless You Prioritize Product Features, Your Product Will Remain Dormant

This article discusses a project that was stuck between a beta and a pilot version. To make the product Generally Available (GA), the team had to prioritize features and break down the project into manageable parts. With a four-month timeline, they were able to reduce the 16-month-long GA timeline to only four months while preserving the most valuable features to customers. The author also learned two main challenges while negotiating with the PM and talking to team members; the only way to move forward was to make compromises. The author applied the most effective tactic of asking "Tell me more" instead of "What do you mean" to his team members.

Ignoring- A Conflict Management Technique

In a volunteer organization for Management and Leadership, the president was not being informed of meetings by an ultra-confident colleague in charge of arranging them. The president used the four quadrants of Negotiation Conflict Styles to respond, but the colleague was unresponsive to authoritative action, so the president chose to ignore the colleague. This decision was a reflection of the president's personality, and the colleague had no self-introspection. If this was a business organization, the president would have taken matters to senior management.

Using Active Listening and Empathy to Improve a Situation

A manager was challenged with the task of addressing an anxious team member while also dealing with the situation for the betterment of the team. Through frequent one-on-one meetings, the individual was able to admit to the issue and come up with steps to avoid getting anxious. Separately, the manager had meetings with the other team members to listen to their complaints. As a result, the team and individual have improved, and the manager learned lessons about active listening, admitting to problems, and addressing issues privately.

Building an International Organization

This article discusses the challenges of starting a business in Belarus, a small country with limited access to sales and marketing talent. It outlines the steps taken to overcome these challenges, such as focusing on the international market, establishing a sales function, growing in the local market, creating a communication channel between two offices, and hiring people early on. It also emphasizes the importance of team building and hiring the right people in order to scale and move forward.

9-months Pregnant and Applying to Be a Manager

A software engineer with no management experience applied for a managerial position while 9 months pregnant and about to go on maternity leave. With the help of her previous manager, who vouched for her skills, she was offered the job. She asked her previous manager to be her mentor and they met weekly to help her transition from IC to manager. She learned that even if the timing is challenging, don't give up on your dreams, ask someone to vouch for you, and get a mentor to help you transition.

Overcoming Late Culture

This article discusses a problem of people not showing up on time and the actions taken to address it. The solution was to implement a money jar where those who were late had to pay a dollar. This was successful in reducing late arrivals, and people even got creative and put in more than a dollar or gift cards. The article also discusses the importance of company culture in making sure the solution is successful.

Steps to Take When Dealing with an Underperforming Employee

This case study outlines the steps taken by a manager to address an underperforming employee on their team. After auditing the situation, the manager spoke with the manager of the employee, the team, and the employee themselves. Ultimately, the employee was let go, and the team was made aware of the changes. The manager learned that the manager of the employee was hesitant to let them go due to visa and green card issues, and the team was not comfortable with the idea of having to mentor the employee. The employee revealed that they wanted to be in a more entrepreneurial role, and the manager was able to find them a suitable job. The team was reminded that there are repercussions for not meeting work standards.

Best Product Ideas Will Come When You Stop Forcing Them

This article discusses the process of coming up with a new product idea, specifically for HR software. It outlines the steps to take, such as learning more about the industry, identifying barriers to entry, and understanding the direction of the company. It also emphasizes the importance of not being discouraged by existing competition and understanding the challenges of competing with well-trained humans. Finally, it suggests that patterns will emerge once the client base reaches a certain size, and that a product should be built around one of these patterns.

The Approach of Not Stopping for a Massive Rewrite

This article outlines the steps taken by a company to keep innovating and upgrading their product over the past 14 years. They started off with a basic appointment screen built in Delphi and on-premise, and then moved to the cloud with Memento 7. They also had two big overhauls of Memento 7, a look and feel facelift and an infrastructure overhaul. They are now working on Phorest Web, which is built with Ember.js and has an embedded web browser. The article also discusses the common problems with scaling product and the approach taken to avoid having to build a Phorest Web 2 in a few years.

Using a Compelling Narrative to Influence Leaders and Investors

This article discusses the importance of presenting a clear and compelling narrative when attempting to influence senior product leadership, angel investors, and VCs. The author shares their experience of not presenting a clear narrative when discussing the Facebook photos strategy to Mark Zuckerberg and the lessons they learned from it. They also provide a template of an 8 slide presentation that they have found to be successful in influencing strategic thinkers. The article emphasizes the importance of understanding the root assumptions and creating a narrative that is aligned with the needs of the organization in order to be successful in influencing leadership teams.

A Thorough Methodology for Administering Consistent Interviews

This article discusses the challenges of the hiring pipeline and how to have consistent interviews and a solid interview process. The author has implemented methods to ensure a positive experience for the candidate, such as having a junior and senior interviewer in each interview and coaching and training interviewers to maintain a positive tone. The interview process is structured to keep it consistent across candidates, and there is a standardized form to gather information about how well the interview went. The author also recommends having a retrospective to review what went well and what didn't.

Determining What Levels to Hire

When hiring for an organization, it is important to consider the company culture and the type of hire needed. For startups, it is best to hire more senior-level people who can deliver quickly and get up to speed fast. For heritage companies, it is more beneficial to hire junior-level people with the promise of career growth. Senior hires should be strategic and focused, and should be able to lead and fill gaps.

Giving Appropriate Praise and Feedback

This article discusses the importance of providing feedback in the workplace, and the different ways in which it can be delivered. It emphasizes the importance of understanding how an individual responds to feedback, and the need to ask them in private to determine the best way to deliver it. It also highlights the importance of balancing the frequency of feedback to ensure that it is not too much or too little.

Why Your Developers Are Not Delivering On Time

An emerging leader must understand why their developers are not meeting deadlines and take action to help them succeed. This includes initiating a frank conversation with developers, minimizing interruptions, and being clear on priorities. Studies have shown that multitasking slows people down and lowers the quality of work, so it is important to focus on one task at a time. It is also important to question one's own estimates and expectations before blaming the developers.

How to Attract Engineers When Your Company Scales Massively

Companies face a massive challenge when scaling rapidly and needing to hire an additional 100 engineers in a year. Different approaches can be taken, but focusing on quality is essential. Relying on people's networks, creating a catchy pitch, and making managers accountable for hiring are all strategies that have worked. Additionally, taking advantage of other companies' slow hiring process and allowing engineers to move around the company can help to find the right people for the right positions.

The Startup Dilemma: Who Should Be Your First Hires

Early-stage startups face many dilemmas, including who to hire first. It is important to anticipate the company's growth in the next 12 months and plan accordingly. It is recommended to prioritize leadership over management, and to focus on collaboration and teamwork rather than hiring an Engineering Manager (EM) unless there are at least 30 engineers. Senior engineers can be responsible for code reviews and approvals, and the company can dedicate an hour monthly to testing with all business teams. During interviews, focus on chemistry and collaboration.

Tactical Routes to Keep Production Code Alive and Running

After becoming CTO of a company with a code base built by four people over five years, the last engineer left and took all the code knowledge with him. To keep everything running, the CTO divided his attention into two arenas: super tactical (incentivizing the engineer to stay for two months and contracting freelancers to write new code) and standard tactical (holding off production and hiring engineers). Over the next year and a half, the CTO hired eight people and stabilized the production code. He learned a lesson not to bring on juniors during a stressful time.

Setting Clear Expectations of the Leadership Roles

The CTO of an organization faced a taxing problem of having to address the preconceived notions of what the role of CTO entails. To address this, the CTO set up expectations of what the role of CTO, VP of Engineering, and VP of Product entails, and highlighted the differences between the roles. As the organization grew, the expectations of the team evolved and three specific leadership roles were defined. This evolution has been a major growth point for the organization.

Tours - Investing in People

This engineer was no longer a good fit for the company as it grew, so the author encouraged him to go on a 'tour' - a project with a defined challenge and success criteria. This allowed him to move into a role that fit his interests and personality type, and also allowed the company to fill in gaps that were not apparent before hiring. This highlights the importance of sponsoring freedom for people to go on 'tours' and not putting too strict of a box around people's roles.

Career Conversation With Your Rockstar Developer

A team leader faced the challenge of having a fast-paced developer whose co-workers were struggling to keep up. After comparing the developer's roadmap proposal to the team's, it was decided that he should move to a more suitable position within the company. The team was able to deliver the assigned task with only a week of delay due to improved morale. Lessons learned included the importance of building soft skills, having a champion in the company, and being a champion once a manager.

Unless You Prioritize Product Features, Your Product Will Remain Dormant

This article discusses a project that was stuck between a beta and a pilot version. To make the product Generally Available (GA), the team had to prioritize features and break down the project into manageable parts. With a four-month timeline, they were able to reduce the 16-month-long GA timeline to only four months while preserving the most valuable features to customers. The author also learned two main challenges while negotiating with the PM and talking to team members; the only way to move forward was to make compromises. The author applied the most effective tactic of asking "Tell me more" instead of "What do you mean" to his team members.

Ignoring- A Conflict Management Technique

In a volunteer organization for Management and Leadership, the president was not being informed of meetings by an ultra-confident colleague in charge of arranging them. The president used the four quadrants of Negotiation Conflict Styles to respond, but the colleague was unresponsive to authoritative action, so the president chose to ignore the colleague. This decision was a reflection of the president's personality, and the colleague had no self-introspection. If this was a business organization, the president would have taken matters to senior management.

Using Active Listening and Empathy to Improve a Situation

A manager was challenged with the task of addressing an anxious team member while also dealing with the situation for the betterment of the team. Through frequent one-on-one meetings, the individual was able to admit to the issue and come up with steps to avoid getting anxious. Separately, the manager had meetings with the other team members to listen to their complaints. As a result, the team and individual have improved, and the manager learned lessons about active listening, admitting to problems, and addressing issues privately.

Building an International Organization

This article discusses the challenges of starting a business in Belarus, a small country with limited access to sales and marketing talent. It outlines the steps taken to overcome these challenges, such as focusing on the international market, establishing a sales function, growing in the local market, creating a communication channel between two offices, and hiring people early on. It also emphasizes the importance of team building and hiring the right people in order to scale and move forward.

9-months Pregnant and Applying to Be a Manager

A software engineer with no management experience applied for a managerial position while 9 months pregnant and about to go on maternity leave. With the help of her previous manager, who vouched for her skills, she was offered the job. She asked her previous manager to be her mentor and they met weekly to help her transition from IC to manager. She learned that even if the timing is challenging, don't give up on your dreams, ask someone to vouch for you, and get a mentor to help you transition.

Overcoming Late Culture

This article discusses a problem of people not showing up on time and the actions taken to address it. The solution was to implement a money jar where those who were late had to pay a dollar. This was successful in reducing late arrivals, and people even got creative and put in more than a dollar or gift cards. The article also discusses the importance of company culture in making sure the solution is successful.

Steps to Take When Dealing with an Underperforming Employee

This case study outlines the steps taken by a manager to address an underperforming employee on their team. After auditing the situation, the manager spoke with the manager of the employee, the team, and the employee themselves. Ultimately, the employee was let go, and the team was made aware of the changes. The manager learned that the manager of the employee was hesitant to let them go due to visa and green card issues, and the team was not comfortable with the idea of having to mentor the employee. The employee revealed that they wanted to be in a more entrepreneurial role, and the manager was able to find them a suitable job. The team was reminded that there are repercussions for not meeting work standards.

Best Product Ideas Will Come When You Stop Forcing Them

This article discusses the process of coming up with a new product idea, specifically for HR software. It outlines the steps to take, such as learning more about the industry, identifying barriers to entry, and understanding the direction of the company. It also emphasizes the importance of not being discouraged by existing competition and understanding the challenges of competing with well-trained humans. Finally, it suggests that patterns will emerge once the client base reaches a certain size, and that a product should be built around one of these patterns.

The Approach of Not Stopping for a Massive Rewrite

This article outlines the steps taken by a company to keep innovating and upgrading their product over the past 14 years. They started off with a basic appointment screen built in Delphi and on-premise, and then moved to the cloud with Memento 7. They also had two big overhauls of Memento 7, a look and feel facelift and an infrastructure overhaul. They are now working on Phorest Web, which is built with Ember.js and has an embedded web browser. The article also discusses the common problems with scaling product and the approach taken to avoid having to build a Phorest Web 2 in a few years.

Using a Compelling Narrative to Influence Leaders and Investors

This article discusses the importance of presenting a clear and compelling narrative when attempting to influence senior product leadership, angel investors, and VCs. The author shares their experience of not presenting a clear narrative when discussing the Facebook photos strategy to Mark Zuckerberg and the lessons they learned from it. They also provide a template of an 8 slide presentation that they have found to be successful in influencing strategic thinkers. The article emphasizes the importance of understanding the root assumptions and creating a narrative that is aligned with the needs of the organization in order to be successful in influencing leadership teams.

A Thorough Methodology for Administering Consistent Interviews

This article discusses the challenges of the hiring pipeline and how to have consistent interviews and a solid interview process. The author has implemented methods to ensure a positive experience for the candidate, such as having a junior and senior interviewer in each interview and coaching and training interviewers to maintain a positive tone. The interview process is structured to keep it consistent across candidates, and there is a standardized form to gather information about how well the interview went. The author also recommends having a retrospective to review what went well and what didn't.

Determining What Levels to Hire

When hiring for an organization, it is important to consider the company culture and the type of hire needed. For startups, it is best to hire more senior-level people who can deliver quickly and get up to speed fast. For heritage companies, it is more beneficial to hire junior-level people with the promise of career growth. Senior hires should be strategic and focused, and should be able to lead and fill gaps.

Giving Appropriate Praise and Feedback

This article discusses the importance of providing feedback in the workplace, and the different ways in which it can be delivered. It emphasizes the importance of understanding how an individual responds to feedback, and the need to ask them in private to determine the best way to deliver it. It also highlights the importance of balancing the frequency of feedback to ensure that it is not too much or too little.

Why Your Developers Are Not Delivering On Time

An emerging leader must understand why their developers are not meeting deadlines and take action to help them succeed. This includes initiating a frank conversation with developers, minimizing interruptions, and being clear on priorities. Studies have shown that multitasking slows people down and lowers the quality of work, so it is important to focus on one task at a time. It is also important to question one's own estimates and expectations before blaming the developers.

How to Attract Engineers When Your Company Scales Massively

Companies face a massive challenge when scaling rapidly and needing to hire an additional 100 engineers in a year. Different approaches can be taken, but focusing on quality is essential. Relying on people's networks, creating a catchy pitch, and making managers accountable for hiring are all strategies that have worked. Additionally, taking advantage of other companies' slow hiring process and allowing engineers to move around the company can help to find the right people for the right positions.

The Startup Dilemma: Who Should Be Your First Hires

Early-stage startups face many dilemmas, including who to hire first. It is important to anticipate the company's growth in the next 12 months and plan accordingly. It is recommended to prioritize leadership over management, and to focus on collaboration and teamwork rather than hiring an Engineering Manager (EM) unless there are at least 30 engineers. Senior engineers can be responsible for code reviews and approvals, and the company can dedicate an hour monthly to testing with all business teams. During interviews, focus on chemistry and collaboration.

Tactical Routes to Keep Production Code Alive and Running

After becoming CTO of a company with a code base built by four people over five years, the last engineer left and took all the code knowledge with him. To keep everything running, the CTO divided his attention into two arenas: super tactical (incentivizing the engineer to stay for two months and contracting freelancers to write new code) and standard tactical (holding off production and hiring engineers). Over the next year and a half, the CTO hired eight people and stabilized the production code. He learned a lesson not to bring on juniors during a stressful time.

Setting Clear Expectations of the Leadership Roles

The CTO of an organization faced a taxing problem of having to address the preconceived notions of what the role of CTO entails. To address this, the CTO set up expectations of what the role of CTO, VP of Engineering, and VP of Product entails, and highlighted the differences between the roles. As the organization grew, the expectations of the team evolved and three specific leadership roles were defined. This evolution has been a major growth point for the organization.

Tours - Investing in People

This engineer was no longer a good fit for the company as it grew, so the author encouraged him to go on a 'tour' - a project with a defined challenge and success criteria. This allowed him to move into a role that fit his interests and personality type, and also allowed the company to fill in gaps that were not apparent before hiring. This highlights the importance of sponsoring freedom for people to go on 'tours' and not putting too strict of a box around people's roles.

Career Conversation With Your Rockstar Developer

A team leader faced the challenge of having a fast-paced developer whose co-workers were struggling to keep up. After comparing the developer's roadmap proposal to the team's, it was decided that he should move to a more suitable position within the company. The team was able to deliver the assigned task with only a week of delay due to improved morale. Lessons learned included the importance of building soft skills, having a champion in the company, and being a champion once a manager.

Unless You Prioritize Product Features, Your Product Will Remain Dormant

This article discusses a project that was stuck between a beta and a pilot version. To make the product Generally Available (GA), the team had to prioritize features and break down the project into manageable parts. With a four-month timeline, they were able to reduce the 16-month-long GA timeline to only four months while preserving the most valuable features to customers. The author also learned two main challenges while negotiating with the PM and talking to team members; the only way to move forward was to make compromises. The author applied the most effective tactic of asking "Tell me more" instead of "What do you mean" to his team members.

Ignoring- A Conflict Management Technique

In a volunteer organization for Management and Leadership, the president was not being informed of meetings by an ultra-confident colleague in charge of arranging them. The president used the four quadrants of Negotiation Conflict Styles to respond, but the colleague was unresponsive to authoritative action, so the president chose to ignore the colleague. This decision was a reflection of the president's personality, and the colleague had no self-introspection. If this was a business organization, the president would have taken matters to senior management.

Using Active Listening and Empathy to Improve a Situation

A manager was challenged with the task of addressing an anxious team member while also dealing with the situation for the betterment of the team. Through frequent one-on-one meetings, the individual was able to admit to the issue and come up with steps to avoid getting anxious. Separately, the manager had meetings with the other team members to listen to their complaints. As a result, the team and individual have improved, and the manager learned lessons about active listening, admitting to problems, and addressing issues privately.

Building an International Organization

This article discusses the challenges of starting a business in Belarus, a small country with limited access to sales and marketing talent. It outlines the steps taken to overcome these challenges, such as focusing on the international market, establishing a sales function, growing in the local market, creating a communication channel between two offices, and hiring people early on. It also emphasizes the importance of team building and hiring the right people in order to scale and move forward.

9-months Pregnant and Applying to Be a Manager

A software engineer with no management experience applied for a managerial position while 9 months pregnant and about to go on maternity leave. With the help of her previous manager, who vouched for her skills, she was offered the job. She asked her previous manager to be her mentor and they met weekly to help her transition from IC to manager. She learned that even if the timing is challenging, don't give up on your dreams, ask someone to vouch for you, and get a mentor to help you transition.

Overcoming Late Culture

This article discusses a problem of people not showing up on time and the actions taken to address it. The solution was to implement a money jar where those who were late had to pay a dollar. This was successful in reducing late arrivals, and people even got creative and put in more than a dollar or gift cards. The article also discusses the importance of company culture in making sure the solution is successful.

Steps to Take When Dealing with an Underperforming Employee

This case study outlines the steps taken by a manager to address an underperforming employee on their team. After auditing the situation, the manager spoke with the manager of the employee, the team, and the employee themselves. Ultimately, the employee was let go, and the team was made aware of the changes. The manager learned that the manager of the employee was hesitant to let them go due to visa and green card issues, and the team was not comfortable with the idea of having to mentor the employee. The employee revealed that they wanted to be in a more entrepreneurial role, and the manager was able to find them a suitable job. The team was reminded that there are repercussions for not meeting work standards.

Best Product Ideas Will Come When You Stop Forcing Them

This article discusses the process of coming up with a new product idea, specifically for HR software. It outlines the steps to take, such as learning more about the industry, identifying barriers to entry, and understanding the direction of the company. It also emphasizes the importance of not being discouraged by existing competition and understanding the challenges of competing with well-trained humans. Finally, it suggests that patterns will emerge once the client base reaches a certain size, and that a product should be built around one of these patterns.

The Approach of Not Stopping for a Massive Rewrite

This article outlines the steps taken by a company to keep innovating and upgrading their product over the past 14 years. They started off with a basic appointment screen built in Delphi and on-premise, and then moved to the cloud with Memento 7. They also had two big overhauls of Memento 7, a look and feel facelift and an infrastructure overhaul. They are now working on Phorest Web, which is built with Ember.js and has an embedded web browser. The article also discusses the common problems with scaling product and the approach taken to avoid having to build a Phorest Web 2 in a few years.

Using a Compelling Narrative to Influence Leaders and Investors

This article discusses the importance of presenting a clear and compelling narrative when attempting to influence senior product leadership, angel investors, and VCs. The author shares their experience of not presenting a clear narrative when discussing the Facebook photos strategy to Mark Zuckerberg and the lessons they learned from it. They also provide a template of an 8 slide presentation that they have found to be successful in influencing strategic thinkers. The article emphasizes the importance of understanding the root assumptions and creating a narrative that is aligned with the needs of the organization in order to be successful in influencing leadership teams.

A Thorough Methodology for Administering Consistent Interviews

This article discusses the challenges of the hiring pipeline and how to have consistent interviews and a solid interview process. The author has implemented methods to ensure a positive experience for the candidate, such as having a junior and senior interviewer in each interview and coaching and training interviewers to maintain a positive tone. The interview process is structured to keep it consistent across candidates, and there is a standardized form to gather information about how well the interview went. The author also recommends having a retrospective to review what went well and what didn't.

Determining What Levels to Hire

When hiring for an organization, it is important to consider the company culture and the type of hire needed. For startups, it is best to hire more senior-level people who can deliver quickly and get up to speed fast. For heritage companies, it is more beneficial to hire junior-level people with the promise of career growth. Senior hires should be strategic and focused, and should be able to lead and fill gaps.

Giving Appropriate Praise and Feedback

This article discusses the importance of providing feedback in the workplace, and the different ways in which it can be delivered. It emphasizes the importance of understanding how an individual responds to feedback, and the need to ask them in private to determine the best way to deliver it. It also highlights the importance of balancing the frequency of feedback to ensure that it is not too much or too little.

Why Your Developers Are Not Delivering On Time

An emerging leader must understand why their developers are not meeting deadlines and take action to help them succeed. This includes initiating a frank conversation with developers, minimizing interruptions, and being clear on priorities. Studies have shown that multitasking slows people down and lowers the quality of work, so it is important to focus on one task at a time. It is also important to question one's own estimates and expectations before blaming the developers.

How to Attract Engineers When Your Company Scales Massively

Companies face a massive challenge when scaling rapidly and needing to hire an additional 100 engineers in a year. Different approaches can be taken, but focusing on quality is essential. Relying on people's networks, creating a catchy pitch, and making managers accountable for hiring are all strategies that have worked. Additionally, taking advantage of other companies' slow hiring process and allowing engineers to move around the company can help to find the right people for the right positions.

The Startup Dilemma: Who Should Be Your First Hires

Early-stage startups face many dilemmas, including who to hire first. It is important to anticipate the company's growth in the next 12 months and plan accordingly. It is recommended to prioritize leadership over management, and to focus on collaboration and teamwork rather than hiring an Engineering Manager (EM) unless there are at least 30 engineers. Senior engineers can be responsible for code reviews and approvals, and the company can dedicate an hour monthly to testing with all business teams. During interviews, focus on chemistry and collaboration.

Tactical Routes to Keep Production Code Alive and Running

After becoming CTO of a company with a code base built by four people over five years, the last engineer left and took all the code knowledge with him. To keep everything running, the CTO divided his attention into two arenas: super tactical (incentivizing the engineer to stay for two months and contracting freelancers to write new code) and standard tactical (holding off production and hiring engineers). Over the next year and a half, the CTO hired eight people and stabilized the production code. He learned a lesson not to bring on juniors during a stressful time.

Setting Clear Expectations of the Leadership Roles

The CTO of an organization faced a taxing problem of having to address the preconceived notions of what the role of CTO entails. To address this, the CTO set up expectations of what the role of CTO, VP of Engineering, and VP of Product entails, and highlighted the differences between the roles. As the organization grew, the expectations of the team evolved and three specific leadership roles were defined. This evolution has been a major growth point for the organization.

Tours - Investing in People

This engineer was no longer a good fit for the company as it grew, so the author encouraged him to go on a 'tour' - a project with a defined challenge and success criteria. This allowed him to move into a role that fit his interests and personality type, and also allowed the company to fill in gaps that were not apparent before hiring. This highlights the importance of sponsoring freedom for people to go on 'tours' and not putting too strict of a box around people's roles.

Career Conversation With Your Rockstar Developer

A team leader faced the challenge of having a fast-paced developer whose co-workers were struggling to keep up. After comparing the developer's roadmap proposal to the team's, it was decided that he should move to a more suitable position within the company. The team was able to deliver the assigned task with only a week of delay due to improved morale. Lessons learned included the importance of building soft skills, having a champion in the company, and being a champion once a manager.

Unless You Prioritize Product Features, Your Product Will Remain Dormant

This article discusses a project that was stuck between a beta and a pilot version. To make the product Generally Available (GA), the team had to prioritize features and break down the project into manageable parts. With a four-month timeline, they were able to reduce the 16-month-long GA timeline to only four months while preserving the most valuable features to customers. The author also learned two main challenges while negotiating with the PM and talking to team members; the only way to move forward was to make compromises. The author applied the most effective tactic of asking "Tell me more" instead of "What do you mean" to his team members.

Ignoring- A Conflict Management Technique

In a volunteer organization for Management and Leadership, the president was not being informed of meetings by an ultra-confident colleague in charge of arranging them. The president used the four quadrants of Negotiation Conflict Styles to respond, but the colleague was unresponsive to authoritative action, so the president chose to ignore the colleague. This decision was a reflection of the president's personality, and the colleague had no self-introspection. If this was a business organization, the president would have taken matters to senior management.

Using Active Listening and Empathy to Improve a Situation

A manager was challenged with the task of addressing an anxious team member while also dealing with the situation for the betterment of the team. Through frequent one-on-one meetings, the individual was able to admit to the issue and come up with steps to avoid getting anxious. Separately, the manager had meetings with the other team members to listen to their complaints. As a result, the team and individual have improved, and the manager learned lessons about active listening, admitting to problems, and addressing issues privately.

Building an International Organization

This article discusses the challenges of starting a business in Belarus, a small country with limited access to sales and marketing talent. It outlines the steps taken to overcome these challenges, such as focusing on the international market, establishing a sales function, growing in the local market, creating a communication channel between two offices, and hiring people early on. It also emphasizes the importance of team building and hiring the right people in order to scale and move forward.

9-months Pregnant and Applying to Be a Manager

A software engineer with no management experience applied for a managerial position while 9 months pregnant and about to go on maternity leave. With the help of her previous manager, who vouched for her skills, she was offered the job. She asked her previous manager to be her mentor and they met weekly to help her transition from IC to manager. She learned that even if the timing is challenging, don't give up on your dreams, ask someone to vouch for you, and get a mentor to help you transition.

Overcoming Late Culture

This article discusses a problem of people not showing up on time and the actions taken to address it. The solution was to implement a money jar where those who were late had to pay a dollar. This was successful in reducing late arrivals, and people even got creative and put in more than a dollar or gift cards. The article also discusses the importance of company culture in making sure the solution is successful.

Steps to Take When Dealing with an Underperforming Employee

This case study outlines the steps taken by a manager to address an underperforming employee on their team. After auditing the situation, the manager spoke with the manager of the employee, the team, and the employee themselves. Ultimately, the employee was let go, and the team was made aware of the changes. The manager learned that the manager of the employee was hesitant to let them go due to visa and green card issues, and the team was not comfortable with the idea of having to mentor the employee. The employee revealed that they wanted to be in a more entrepreneurial role, and the manager was able to find them a suitable job. The team was reminded that there are repercussions for not meeting work standards.

Best Product Ideas Will Come When You Stop Forcing Them

This article discusses the process of coming up with a new product idea, specifically for HR software. It outlines the steps to take, such as learning more about the industry, identifying barriers to entry, and understanding the direction of the company. It also emphasizes the importance of not being discouraged by existing competition and understanding the challenges of competing with well-trained humans. Finally, it suggests that patterns will emerge once the client base reaches a certain size, and that a product should be built around one of these patterns.

The Approach of Not Stopping for a Massive Rewrite

This article outlines the steps taken by a company to keep innovating and upgrading their product over the past 14 years. They started off with a basic appointment screen built in Delphi and on-premise, and then moved to the cloud with Memento 7. They also had two big overhauls of Memento 7, a look and feel facelift and an infrastructure overhaul. They are now working on Phorest Web, which is built with Ember.js and has an embedded web browser. The article also discusses the common problems with scaling product and the approach taken to avoid having to build a Phorest Web 2 in a few years.

Using a Compelling Narrative to Influence Leaders and Investors

This article discusses the importance of presenting a clear and compelling narrative when attempting to influence senior product leadership, angel investors, and VCs. The author shares their experience of not presenting a clear narrative when discussing the Facebook photos strategy to Mark Zuckerberg and the lessons they learned from it. They also provide a template of an 8 slide presentation that they have found to be successful in influencing strategic thinkers. The article emphasizes the importance of understanding the root assumptions and creating a narrative that is aligned with the needs of the organization in order to be successful in influencing leadership teams.

A Thorough Methodology for Administering Consistent Interviews

This article discusses the challenges of the hiring pipeline and how to have consistent interviews and a solid interview process. The author has implemented methods to ensure a positive experience for the candidate, such as having a junior and senior interviewer in each interview and coaching and training interviewers to maintain a positive tone. The interview process is structured to keep it consistent across candidates, and there is a standardized form to gather information about how well the interview went. The author also recommends having a retrospective to review what went well and what didn't.

Determining What Levels to Hire

When hiring for an organization, it is important to consider the company culture and the type of hire needed. For startups, it is best to hire more senior-level people who can deliver quickly and get up to speed fast. For heritage companies, it is more beneficial to hire junior-level people with the promise of career growth. Senior hires should be strategic and focused, and should be able to lead and fill gaps.

Giving Appropriate Praise and Feedback

This article discusses the importance of providing feedback in the workplace, and the different ways in which it can be delivered. It emphasizes the importance of understanding how an individual responds to feedback, and the need to ask them in private to determine the best way to deliver it. It also highlights the importance of balancing the frequency of feedback to ensure that it is not too much or too little.

Why Your Developers Are Not Delivering On Time

An emerging leader must understand why their developers are not meeting deadlines and take action to help them succeed. This includes initiating a frank conversation with developers, minimizing interruptions, and being clear on priorities. Studies have shown that multitasking slows people down and lowers the quality of work, so it is important to focus on one task at a time. It is also important to question one's own estimates and expectations before blaming the developers.

How to Attract Engineers When Your Company Scales Massively

Companies face a massive challenge when scaling rapidly and needing to hire an additional 100 engineers in a year. Different approaches can be taken, but focusing on quality is essential. Relying on people's networks, creating a catchy pitch, and making managers accountable for hiring are all strategies that have worked. Additionally, taking advantage of other companies' slow hiring process and allowing engineers to move around the company can help to find the right people for the right positions.

The Startup Dilemma: Who Should Be Your First Hires

Early-stage startups face many dilemmas, including who to hire first. It is important to anticipate the company's growth in the next 12 months and plan accordingly. It is recommended to prioritize leadership over management, and to focus on collaboration and teamwork rather than hiring an Engineering Manager (EM) unless there are at least 30 engineers. Senior engineers can be responsible for code reviews and approvals, and the company can dedicate an hour monthly to testing with all business teams. During interviews, focus on chemistry and collaboration.

Tactical Routes to Keep Production Code Alive and Running

After becoming CTO of a company with a code base built by four people over five years, the last engineer left and took all the code knowledge with him. To keep everything running, the CTO divided his attention into two arenas: super tactical (incentivizing the engineer to stay for two months and contracting freelancers to write new code) and standard tactical (holding off production and hiring engineers). Over the next year and a half, the CTO hired eight people and stabilized the production code. He learned a lesson not to bring on juniors during a stressful time.

Setting Clear Expectations of the Leadership Roles

The CTO of an organization faced a taxing problem of having to address the preconceived notions of what the role of CTO entails. To address this, the CTO set up expectations of what the role of CTO, VP of Engineering, and VP of Product entails, and highlighted the differences between the roles. As the organization grew, the expectations of the team evolved and three specific leadership roles were defined. This evolution has been a major growth point for the organization.

Tours - Investing in People

This engineer was no longer a good fit for the company as it grew, so the author encouraged him to go on a 'tour' - a project with a defined challenge and success criteria. This allowed him to move into a role that fit his interests and personality type, and also allowed the company to fill in gaps that were not apparent before hiring. This highlights the importance of sponsoring freedom for people to go on 'tours' and not putting too strict of a box around people's roles.

Career Conversation With Your Rockstar Developer

A team leader faced the challenge of having a fast-paced developer whose co-workers were struggling to keep up. After comparing the developer's roadmap proposal to the team's, it was decided that he should move to a more suitable position within the company. The team was able to deliver the assigned task with only a week of delay due to improved morale. Lessons learned included the importance of building soft skills, having a champion in the company, and being a champion once a manager.

Unless You Prioritize Product Features, Your Product Will Remain Dormant

This article discusses a project that was stuck between a beta and a pilot version. To make the product Generally Available (GA), the team had to prioritize features and break down the project into manageable parts. With a four-month timeline, they were able to reduce the 16-month-long GA timeline to only four months while preserving the most valuable features to customers. The author also learned two main challenges while negotiating with the PM and talking to team members; the only way to move forward was to make compromises. The author applied the most effective tactic of asking "Tell me more" instead of "What do you mean" to his team members.

Ignoring- A Conflict Management Technique

In a volunteer organization for Management and Leadership, the president was not being informed of meetings by an ultra-confident colleague in charge of arranging them. The president used the four quadrants of Negotiation Conflict Styles to respond, but the colleague was unresponsive to authoritative action, so the president chose to ignore the colleague. This decision was a reflection of the president's personality, and the colleague had no self-introspection. If this was a business organization, the president would have taken matters to senior management.

Using Active Listening and Empathy to Improve a Situation

A manager was challenged with the task of addressing an anxious team member while also dealing with the situation for the betterment of the team. Through frequent one-on-one meetings, the individual was able to admit to the issue and come up with steps to avoid getting anxious. Separately, the manager had meetings with the other team members to listen to their complaints. As a result, the team and individual have improved, and the manager learned lessons about active listening, admitting to problems, and addressing issues privately.

Building an International Organization

This article discusses the challenges of starting a business in Belarus, a small country with limited access to sales and marketing talent. It outlines the steps taken to overcome these challenges, such as focusing on the international market, establishing a sales function, growing in the local market, creating a communication channel between two offices, and hiring people early on. It also emphasizes the importance of team building and hiring the right people in order to scale and move forward.

9-months Pregnant and Applying to Be a Manager

A software engineer with no management experience applied for a managerial position while 9 months pregnant and about to go on maternity leave. With the help of her previous manager, who vouched for her skills, she was offered the job. She asked her previous manager to be her mentor and they met weekly to help her transition from IC to manager. She learned that even if the timing is challenging, don't give up on your dreams, ask someone to vouch for you, and get a mentor to help you transition.

Overcoming Late Culture

This article discusses a problem of people not showing up on time and the actions taken to address it. The solution was to implement a money jar where those who were late had to pay a dollar. This was successful in reducing late arrivals, and people even got creative and put in more than a dollar or gift cards. The article also discusses the importance of company culture in making sure the solution is successful.

Steps to Take When Dealing with an Underperforming Employee

This case study outlines the steps taken by a manager to address an underperforming employee on their team. After auditing the situation, the manager spoke with the manager of the employee, the team, and the employee themselves. Ultimately, the employee was let go, and the team was made aware of the changes. The manager learned that the manager of the employee was hesitant to let them go due to visa and green card issues, and the team was not comfortable with the idea of having to mentor the employee. The employee revealed that they wanted to be in a more entrepreneurial role, and the manager was able to find them a suitable job. The team was reminded that there are repercussions for not meeting work standards.

Best Product Ideas Will Come When You Stop Forcing Them

This article discusses the process of coming up with a new product idea, specifically for HR software. It outlines the steps to take, such as learning more about the industry, identifying barriers to entry, and understanding the direction of the company. It also emphasizes the importance of not being discouraged by existing competition and understanding the challenges of competing with well-trained humans. Finally, it suggests that patterns will emerge once the client base reaches a certain size, and that a product should be built around one of these patterns.

The Approach of Not Stopping for a Massive Rewrite

This article outlines the steps taken by a company to keep innovating and upgrading their product over the past 14 years. They started off with a basic appointment screen built in Delphi and on-premise, and then moved to the cloud with Memento 7. They also had two big overhauls of Memento 7, a look and feel facelift and an infrastructure overhaul. They are now working on Phorest Web, which is built with Ember.js and has an embedded web browser. The article also discusses the common problems with scaling product and the approach taken to avoid having to build a Phorest Web 2 in a few years.

Using a Compelling Narrative to Influence Leaders and Investors

This article discusses the importance of presenting a clear and compelling narrative when attempting to influence senior product leadership, angel investors, and VCs. The author shares their experience of not presenting a clear narrative when discussing the Facebook photos strategy to Mark Zuckerberg and the lessons they learned from it. They also provide a template of an 8 slide presentation that they have found to be successful in influencing strategic thinkers. The article emphasizes the importance of understanding the root assumptions and creating a narrative that is aligned with the needs of the organization in order to be successful in influencing leadership teams.

A Thorough Methodology for Administering Consistent Interviews

This article discusses the challenges of the hiring pipeline and how to have consistent interviews and a solid interview process. The author has implemented methods to ensure a positive experience for the candidate, such as having a junior and senior interviewer in each interview and coaching and training interviewers to maintain a positive tone. The interview process is structured to keep it consistent across candidates, and there is a standardized form to gather information about how well the interview went. The author also recommends having a retrospective to review what went well and what didn't.

Determining What Levels to Hire

When hiring for an organization, it is important to consider the company culture and the type of hire needed. For startups, it is best to hire more senior-level people who can deliver quickly and get up to speed fast. For heritage companies, it is more beneficial to hire junior-level people with the promise of career growth. Senior hires should be strategic and focused, and should be able to lead and fill gaps.

Giving Appropriate Praise and Feedback

This article discusses the importance of providing feedback in the workplace, and the different ways in which it can be delivered. It emphasizes the importance of understanding how an individual responds to feedback, and the need to ask them in private to determine the best way to deliver it. It also highlights the importance of balancing the frequency of feedback to ensure that it is not too much or too little.

Why Your Developers Are Not Delivering On Time

An emerging leader must understand why their developers are not meeting deadlines and take action to help them succeed. This includes initiating a frank conversation with developers, minimizing interruptions, and being clear on priorities. Studies have shown that multitasking slows people down and lowers the quality of work, so it is important to focus on one task at a time. It is also important to question one's own estimates and expectations before blaming the developers.

How to Attract Engineers When Your Company Scales Massively

Companies face a massive challenge when scaling rapidly and needing to hire an additional 100 engineers in a year. Different approaches can be taken, but focusing on quality is essential. Relying on people's networks, creating a catchy pitch, and making managers accountable for hiring are all strategies that have worked. Additionally, taking advantage of other companies' slow hiring process and allowing engineers to move around the company can help to find the right people for the right positions.

The Startup Dilemma: Who Should Be Your First Hires

Early-stage startups face many dilemmas, including who to hire first. It is important to anticipate the company's growth in the next 12 months and plan accordingly. It is recommended to prioritize leadership over management, and to focus on collaboration and teamwork rather than hiring an Engineering Manager (EM) unless there are at least 30 engineers. Senior engineers can be responsible for code reviews and approvals, and the company can dedicate an hour monthly to testing with all business teams. During interviews, focus on chemistry and collaboration.