.. ama director of engineering at a Series D start up, that was unicorn at a time, then dipped a bit, and now maintaining value.. not naming the company because then identity will become too obvious.. Ask me anything.. Could I be of any help?
What was your path from an IC to Director on Eng?
Do you regret leaving Google? Do you see hope in IPO market?
Net worth?
For me, it was leaving the comfort zone, and getting to lead in a cutting edge area.. the thing with new tech is that there is always less supply and high demand and as a result, career grows naturally.. This wouldn't happen, let's say if you were in some regular team with no specialized knowledge doing everyday work.. My first career jump came when i joined Autonomous vehicle AI, and second when I left G.. "eventually, you need ppl to respect you to give you position of power and trust you with that"..
Great practical advice google
How to become better SWE ? What helped you to reach this position?
I made my way through a contested path.. creating things that my chain didn't feel were right to build because they were busy protecting headcounts.. i focused on getting results and quantifying them without worrying shortterm headcount.. that's why you see em->staff dip.. so, i built things that others didn't buy in.. counter to what they teach you..
This is inspiring. But how did you go against your manager? Won't you take on tremendous career risk?
How do you feel about your choice to leave Google, and how did it mold your current standing as a Director of Engineering? Iโve read on Blind many things about Googleโs talent, and wanted to know what your take was. Thank you and keep up the great work! TC: 105K
Do you feel there was a benefit to the roles you had between Sr swe and director or could you have more or less done your job w/o going through the intervening roles? Are you only directing SW or do you run HW teams as well?
No. Intervening roles taught quite a lot. Learning to manage ppl was an uphill task.. that started with first em role.. there was some struggle in the beginning..
How do you build a team and what people did/do you hire?
Have few extra ordinary talented folks.. and for rest of the team, look for signs of genuine interest and drive.. Challenge the team and give them clear path to next level in career.. Remove bad apples regularly.. Do not hire who jump to your company and then jump to another coz they are bridging time.. lack of motivation - deal breaker.. finally, being a team player is a must.. i did some work that i didn't like just because team needed it - i couldn't say at that time that this is not for me, i did it coz it was what was needed from me..
Do you regularly identify high potential junior engineers and help them grow to leadership roles? What are your approaches to grow leaders internally? Do you hire managers from external sources? How do you manage talents in your team and maintain a good healthy balance?
How many YoE? What was your last job? How many people roll up to you now?
17th year running.. swe->sr swe-> stuck there for sometime->em->staff swe->em->director..
What was that back and forth between staff IC and EM about? Looks like you had second thoughts about management once you got there?