I’ve been involved with many web applications through the years, and had the chance to explore different technology stacks. If you’re working on a legacy application, you have to use whatever technology is already in place, and work around what is available to you. If you’re working on something more greenfield, you get the opportunity […]
It’s exciting to be a founder and a business owner — you get to set your own schedule, run your own team, and do things the way you want. Unfortunately, especially for first-time founders, this is often a huge trap! As a founder, it’s often assumed that you must come up with all the answers […]
The chaotic nature of a startup can leave team members feeling confused or left out. Creating any body of work in a team environment generates a ton of energy. However, sometimes this energy must be deliberately channeled to achieve favorable outcomes. In user interface design, fidelity helps define exactness — low fidelity is rough and […]
When building a minimum viable product (MVP), there’s a lot to consider. If you’re an expert in the industry, it may be easy to dive in and start planning product features or generating mock-ups right away. While both are great things to do, it’s better for your whole team to start with context. If you’ve […]
There are many product development methodologies, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and unique characteristics. Choosing a perfect methodology for your organization is impossible. While an existing methodology will be useful to start with, over time it should evolve and change as the company does. Here is a product development life cycle that has worked […]
I was asked recently if engineering interns were actually useful. My unwavering stance is: Yes! I’ve had the pleasure of working with 11 great interns in a previous role — 2 continued on to be full-time engineers with the company, while others went on to other companies like Google, Facebook, Disney, and Shell Oil. I, […]
Recently I’ve found myself answering a similar question: “What tech stack should I use? What’s the best programming language to learn?” The response always starts with: “It depends…” The tech stack is defined as the combination of technology that makes your web application — anything from your web server, to application back-end, database, and cloud […]
Company culture always starts from the top and works its way down. Even though leadership will be pushing certain ideas, it’s important that everyone has buy-in and ownership of embracing the cause. When thinking about developing a customer-first culture, don’t forget that it is actually about the customer. It won’t always be easy or straightforward […]
Once you’ve got paying (or non paying) customers, you’ll inevitably find yourself doing some support. In the early stages, before you’ve gotten your first customer success team member, it’s all hands on deck. Sometimes support will be frustrating. You know how everything works inside and out — things that are obvious to you, aren’t obvious […]
Jenga is a popular tabletop game where players remove pieces from a stacked tower and stack them back on top. The voids created by the removed pieces eventually weaken the structure enough that it cannot hold the weight of the pieces now stacked on top. The tower falls, and the winner is the last person […]