Paul Graham’s recent “ Founder Mode ” blog post has stirred up a lot of chatter and a lot of opinions in the startup world. Some folks think he’s advocating for micromanagement, while others say he’s oversimplifying things by presenting two extremes. But here’s how I see it: "Founder Mode" is about one thing—doing whatever it takes to win. For me, being in Founder Mode is all about giving a…
I’ve had this blog post in my head for a couple weeks now. I’ve been thinking about how to lay out a strong case for what I momentarily thought was a controversial topic. I figured the post would be long and go to great lengths to help readers come to the conclusion that I have. But guess what? None of that is needed. there is such an easy answer to the question: “Should the head of Product Need…
I am lucky to be spending time in Portugal right now. Not vacation time, but an extended “live like a local” amount of time. Lisbon, where I am based, is beautiful and I am really enjoying it. The entire country is fantastic, and as you have probably heard from others over the last few years, it is (was) a hidden gem in Europe that deserves your attention. While Portugal is still reemerging onto…
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about a style of communication that I see from politicians and other public figures, and it is really getting to me. It’s not a just a general style of communication, it is specific to politics, government, and our free society. I'm talking about the clownish oversimplification where every issue, idea, or person is slapped with a "Democrat" or "Republican"…
Last night, my wife and I made the decision to book flights for an upcoming trip. We have a long-standing loyalty to United Airlines, having earned significant status over the years. On occasion, we opt to book our flights separately, each of us paying for our own ticket, yet flying on identical routes. What transpired during this booking process was both startling and infuriating, shedding light…
In what feels like a lifetime ago, I decided to build my first, real startup. From February 2010 to February 2014, I served as the co-Founder and CEO of a small company named CPUsage . Me and two amazing co-founders took a crazy idea, explored a big problem space, began building a prototype, raised venture capital, built a team, built a couple products, flirted with providing value to a market,…
Leadership is a quality that society values. It can be seen early on in a person’s life. It benefits those that excel at it, in school, in sports, with friends, and in careers. Many believe that people are born leaders, that it comes naturally. I believe that leadership is a quality that a minority of people are born with. I also believe that one’s environment will hone this quality for some, and…
We’ll, I guess this post could be more late than it is! Every year I write two year in review blog posts, usually in January. One about what I read , and one about where I traveled. Finally, in April, I am getting around to my 2019 year in travel! Two thousand nineteen was a big year of travel for me! I did a decent amount of domestic travel, but international was the big story of the past year. I…
In 2018, I read 8.5 books (I just couldn’t finish one and stopped halfway through). For 2019, I didn’t set a firm goal for myself, but I surely hoped I’d read more than I did in 2018. For 2019, it looks like I read 7.5 books, a dip from the year before and a negative trend considering I read more in 2017 than in 2018, which was more than 2019. I’m not going to worry about the amount I read. Sure,…
We’ve had it too good, for too long. Even with the 2008 financial crisis, we are in the midst of an incredible stretch of prosperity. Even with mass shootings, never in history have we been as safe from harm as we are today. Life is really fucking good for many Americans. So why rock the boat? Why risk what we have individually for the greater good? Why go out on a limb to uphold everything that…
The last time I updated my resume, I wrote a headline that said “customer obsessed product leader.” it’s true, I LOVE engaging with customers and serving their needs, those are my favorite things about product management. I’m not alone, putting the customer first is what many product managers agree on. Customer focused Product Managers are what employers want to hire. Who wouldn’t agree that being…
Just like my annual tradition of blogging about my travel experiences from the past year, I also like to write about my year in reading. Growing up, I hated reading, and in hindsight I believe that was because I had to read for school. As an adult, I love to read! Now, it’s the absorption of information and ideas that I love so much. That’s why I mostly read non-fiction, specifically books on…
New year, new opportunity to reflect on how I opened my mind and my world through travel! Every year, I like to do a blog post which makes me reflect back on my travel throughout the past 12 months, and set some goals for the new year. In 2017 , I was bummed to not have traveled internationally (Canada excluded). This year I am happy to report that I did 3 personal, international trips!…
Recently, I was talking about business with one of my co-workers. I enjoy chatting about innovation, strategy, products, and everything that has to do with commerce. In the middle of this conversation, I said something that prompted my co-worker to respond with something along the lines of "my brother worked at a startup that sold belts online...." Wait, what? A belt startup? I steered the…
Last year, two of my dear friends got engaged. To my surprise, a couple weeks later, they asked me to officiate their wedding. This was a first for me, and I was not only honored, but also scared! Not scared to talk in front of a group, but scared to have big responsibility for such an important milestone in their lives! I put a lot of effort into being an officiate that this couple could be proud…
Just as I believe that travel is critical to being an empathetic, intelligent, and thoughtful person, reading is a big piece of my effort to be a better human. To that end, I mostly read non-fiction but occasionally mix in a good novel. My level of reading in 2017, like most years, was less than I aspire to. Nonetheless, I read some great books! This year, it appears that every book was in Kindle…
A number years ago, when my personal and professional life took a major turn, I committed myself to traveling more. Prior to that, I was fully wrapped up in work, and when i wasn't, I just wanted to stay local where I was comfortable. It was a short-sighted view that kept me from really experiencing life. Since then, I've had some of the best times of my life while traveling near and far. I've…
I just had an incredible meal: wild caught salmon filet with a roasted cherry tomato & red chermoula topping, next to a caramelized endive salad with pine nuts and a lemon dill vinaigrette. The entire meal was organic and fresh. It was paleo, low carb, satisfying, and just $14. Most importantly, it exploded wth flavor and I loved every bite of it. In fact, I made this meal myself! I have no…
My entire career has been centered on using data to make decisions. From sales, inventory, product, financial, customer, and user data. Not only have I been a consumer of data and user of analytics products, I've built, purchased an implemented analytics products as well. So while I may not be the world's expert on analytics, I have a set of experiences that has led me to some strongly held…
Recently, I published a post that outlined 9 principles that make for great product management ( On Product Management ; May 23rd, 2017 ). I enjoyed writing the post as it was helpful for me to get my beliefs in a single place, and I was lucky to attract a great audience. My readers had some valuable thoughts, insightful questions, and astute clarifications via LinkedIn comments, Slack discussion,…