A lot of software engineers coming out of college will need to make an important decision right out of the gate: Should you take that high paying FAANG job or go to that hip looking startup to change the world? My advice? Skip the startup. Startups have been glamorized in the tech culture and media…
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A Simple Project Plan for a TPM
If you are a TPM, you will spend a lot of time planning and executing projects, so it’s worth thinking through a model so it’s easy to repeat. There’s a lot of advice and frameworks out there for how to plan out a project. Unfortunately, I’ve found that about 90% of them are too complicated…
How to Crush the Behavioral Interview for Technical Program Managers
Tech interviews aren’t just about algorithms and system design. You’ll also need to convince the interviewers that you are someone they want to work with. Here’s my step by step guide to preparing for the behavioral interview as a technical program manager.
Ideas are Underrated
I’m beginning to think the common wisdom that “ideas are useless, execution is everything” is wrong. I suspect the original intent of this mantra was that ideas without execution are useless, which makes sense. But then that somehow morphed into “ideas are useless” and people began to undervalue ideas. Ideas are extremely valuable. Here’s why:…
The Future of Remote Work
Facebook, Twitter, and several other big tech companies announced permanent plans to pivot towards full time remote work for their employees. For companies that insisted on in person collaboration as the key to innovation, this is big news. Expect remote work to surge, but expect bumps in the road. It won’t work out for everyone.…
System Design for Technical Program Managers
I have been a technical program manager now for over ten years at a mix of big tech (FAANG) and startups. I have been on both sides of dozens and dozens of interviews for TPMs. The one area of weakness that I constantly see (and the area that I struggled with the most in the…