(last updated in 2022)
if I could retire, I would be a seed investor so I can invest in and mentor entrepreneurs / technologists full time. As part of being a “corporate athlete”, this is one of my recovery techniques. Talking to others about their issues calms me and gives me a “lethal” blend of dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin.
I love the confluence of business, technology and people, and thrive in environments where I help solve challenging problems in the intersections of these 3 domains. I thrive in stress
Iam a foodie and always looking for authentic food experiences whether in the US or in the original countries. The other mechanism for recovery (although I try not to let alcohol be a crutch)
I can take nuggets of information and connect the dots quickly
I'm a 2x founder, seed investor and startup mentor. I love going from 0->1, and have built a track record in building teams from the ground up and delivering pragmatic solutions. I’ve also rebuilt team culture/structures in every team I’ve taken over.
I’ve blogged, presented, done AMA, participated in peer groups on engineering concepts
I’ve considered writing a book about “Debunking myths of software engineering” (draft outline)
I’ve adept at connecting with people at a deeper level, and genuinely care about folks. I am pretty open about my own failings/learnings which helps. (maybe it's because I moved around as a kid or a foreigner / introvert)
I relish opportunities to tell stories on-stage or in front of c-level executives.
I used to do monthly revenue reports to the CEO when I ran my own division and had my own P&L (only 60M annual, but still good experience).
I was also sent into pitch and calm customers since I had that group and was the leader
As typical, my biggest strengths are also my weaknesses. These are my top areas for improvement:
I can be long winded, and verbose, both in written and verbal. If i have time to iterate and refine, I usually can pare things down, but combined with my “act first” mentality, I sometimes speak too much or too soon
Weakness to my “absorb context quickly” and “startup mentality”. My bias to action is too strong and need to take time to listen, absorb and deepen my understanding of a situation. When I do this, I gain enormous super powers (see API 2023 evolution)
For some reason, I believe I am not good at giving feedback, but maybe its because I don’t realize I’m doing it in a very opinionated way. With my “quick twitch” brain, I can decide on something too quickly, or analyze a situation incorrectly and pursue something thats not right. Especially as a tech leader, I need to let my teams opinions bubble up to the top and then help them refine and deepen it.