Do you remember the point at which you knew you’d crossed over from being a kid to a grown up? When you realized that you were now one of those older / wiser / more successful professionals that used to be a league apart?
I have to admit it was bit of a shock when I slowly woke up to the fact that I was now “that” person. I didn’t really feel any different, but everyone else seemed to think I was. And the truth is I was different. I knew things that others hadn’t learned yet, my instincts were honed by successes and failures, I had a wealth of experiences to draw on and share, and I could connect the dots better simply because I had more dots to connect.
With this in mind I have a lot of mentors to thank for sharing their experiences and knowledge with me, and I owe it to the next generation to share what I’ve learned. Hence this blog.
So what have I learned? Well, for starters, a bit about technology. After studying biochem and serving as a submariner I moved into the software space where I’ve run the table from coder to CTO. I know software, hardware, and networks as well as data storage, transfer and analysis. I’ve been fortunate to be heavily involved in business activities, including one IPO, so I have a working knowledge of decidedly non-technical topics like sales and marketing, financial modeling, business operations and product management. Finally as I’ve been in leadership roles for my entire adult life, I’ve developed a deep appreciation for the fact that businesses, even tech businesses, are about the people first (and the people that lead them).
This will be an “agile” blog, adapting as needed given the events in tech and markets. There will be some war stories, opinions, lessons learned and current events. I’ll break them down into core themes – tech, leadership, business, general – so you can follow whichever threads interest you the most.
So please subscribe to the blog, comment often with questions or your own experiences, and enjoy!