Thoughts on software engineering, product management, women in tech, and more.
Brewer’s CAP theorem explains the tradeoffs to storing and retrieving large quantities of data. It basically says that you can just pick 2 of the 3 following characteristics for your distributed data architecture: consistency, availability, and partition tolerance.
I love it when a gnarly technical concept can be elegantly explained via a good analogy. In fact, I have found myself searching for these perfect analogies throughout my career. I’ve been working on NoSQL projects of late, and found the following two articles – both with brilliant
The expectations and responsibilities of Product Management are defined very differently from company to company, even within a tightly defined industry sector. But what are the core activities that every PM must take on?
A favorite interview question for Product Managers is "What's your favorite product and why?" Here are some products I truly love. They either solve a major problem for me, actually deliver on their promises when their competitors don't, or are just such a joy
Seems like the title "product manager" is going out of fashion. I keep seeing PM types who are now introducing themselves as "the Product Guy." I can't stand this term. And I'm not the only one . Why? I find the term kind
Ever wonder why so many startup entrepreneurs put out misguided and doomed products, even after taking four steps toward an epiphany and reading the "Lean Startup"? Face Palm Alas, I have witnessed similar "attempts" at market validation too many times to count. Maybe a product manager
Q: How are startup CEOs (and CTOs) like seagulls? A: They both fly by, swoop in, ruin your lunch, shit on you, and leave. Ahh, the Startup CEO and CTO. God bless 'em. The ones that are capable enough to grow their company to the point where they hire
There's a book, called "On Apology" by Aaron Lazare. He's a guy who actually got a PhD in this stuff. Anyway, he lays out the steps for a proper apology: Acknowledge your offense. Take responsibility. Explain your actions. Express remorse and regret, not that
I used to interview applicants to MIT (undergrad), and the biggest things I looked for were...
Regarding the now famous Google memo situation ... I have thoughts. Many, many, thoughts. And I'm going to tell you ALL about them. But never fear, I'll not rehash the "He's sexist" vs. "No, he isn't" blah-blah you&
I have recently become obsessed with the TV Show Hoarding: Buried Alive . If you are unfamiliar, it is a reality show that profiles people who hoard stuff -- tons of worthless artifacts and even unsanitary crap (literally crap! think rotten food! old diapers! full cat boxes!) -- until the point that they
My answer, originally published on Quora . Q: What level of coding experience should a good product manager have? My Answer Caveat: I'm assuming we are talking about software products. In THEORY, actual coding experience should be irrelevant to the hiring decision of a product manager. As Steve said,
A guest post, from the point of view of an engineer, about the difficult emotional journey involved in tracking down a nasty, horrible, elusive, hard-to-reproduce bug.
I've been honored as follows! (And I live for the external validation! Seriously, I really do.) Listed as one of " 52 Women Making an Impact in Product Management " by the Product Management Feestival. Listed by LevelUpPM as a Product Management Thinker to follow Highlighted in Michael