Software Lead Weekly
Issue #220, 10th February 2017
This Week's Favorite
GitLab’s Secret to Managing 160 Employees in 160 Locations (Video)
16 minutes read.
"What wisdom can Sid share for other YC companies (or any startup) who may want to try to grow a company this way? Be a broken record about writing everything down" -- writing the way you interview, conduct meetings, running design reviews, code reviews and pretty much anything else is critical for remote companies. I think it's also critical for successful companies that share an office, as it's one of the most effective ways to scale explicit expectations, to scale hiring, to scale your culture. Write things down, share it internally and with the world. GitLab did amazing PR last week from it, probably earning more trust and fame than the business cost due to losing (some) data.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
16 minutes read.
"What wisdom can Sid share for other YC companies (or any startup) who may want to try to grow a company this way? Be a broken record about writing everything down" -- writing the way you interview, conduct meetings, running design reviews, code reviews and pretty much anything else is critical for remote companies. I think it's also critical for successful companies that share an office, as it's one of the most effective ways to scale explicit expectations, to scale hiring, to scale your culture. Write things down, share it internally and with the world. GitLab did amazing PR last week from it, probably earning more trust and fame than the business cost due to losing (some) data.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Culture
I Knew It! (Or -- When Coding Late at Night, Then Going to Bed Half Asleep)
1 minutes read.
My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face. Happened to me just last night.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
1 minutes read.
My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face. Happened to me just last night.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
DevOps Transformation Using Theory of Constraints
12 minutes read.
Evgeny Zislis with a brilliant post, one that you can feel the pain: "The thing is that this way of decision making is by far better than just making arbitrary decisions. Due to the shortage of information, a manager can rarely decide on any better decision and has to compromise on his local optima."
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
12 minutes read.
Evgeny Zislis with a brilliant post, one that you can feel the pain: "The thing is that this way of decision making is by far better than just making arbitrary decisions. Due to the shortage of information, a manager can rarely decide on any better decision and has to compromise on his local optima."
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Getting Out of the Startup Rat Race
5 minutes read.
Josh Pigford (CEO of Baremetrics) say things as they are: Startups are extremely hard, and our chase for x10 every year can often only push us off the cliff, instead of building a great business that would make us happy and fulfilled: "We were treating our company like we were in some race for time. But there is no race. There isn’t another runner we could lose to and we can’t “come in first”... Because doing things your own way, on your own terms, is where you’ll find fulfillment. And really, that’s what we’re all after."
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 minutes read.
Josh Pigford (CEO of Baremetrics) say things as they are: Startups are extremely hard, and our chase for x10 every year can often only push us off the cliff, instead of building a great business that would make us happy and fulfilled: "We were treating our company like we were in some race for time. But there is no race. There isn’t another runner we could lose to and we can’t “come in first”... Because doing things your own way, on your own terms, is where you’ll find fulfillment. And really, that’s what we’re all after."
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Make Operations Your Secret Weapon - Here’s How
12 minutes read.
A fascinating overview of the role of COO, covering the different types of COOs and tips on how to excel at this role. Linda Kozlowski, Etsy's COO, shares great tips from her vast experience. The section about "Be specific with the company on why now" is golden: "We’ve been able to implement and scale operational changes at Etsy because Chad made the growth opportunities incredibly clear to me and the rest of the team".
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
12 minutes read.
A fascinating overview of the role of COO, covering the different types of COOs and tips on how to excel at this role. Linda Kozlowski, Etsy's COO, shares great tips from her vast experience. The section about "Be specific with the company on why now" is golden: "We’ve been able to implement and scale operational changes at Etsy because Chad made the growth opportunities incredibly clear to me and the rest of the team".
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Peopleware
Senior Engineers Reduce Risk
5 minutes read.
"But there are other issues that can prevent the business atop the software from succeeding — risks around process, or product design, or sales, or the company’s culture. A senior engineer understands these risks, and mitigates them where possible... Most startups die because they build the wrong product. The core risks are rarely technical;" -- are you reducing risk for your team? Your product? Your company? Are you sure that your definition of risk is the same as your manager?
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
5 minutes read.
"But there are other issues that can prevent the business atop the software from succeeding — risks around process, or product design, or sales, or the company’s culture. A senior engineer understands these risks, and mitigates them where possible... Most startups die because they build the wrong product. The core risks are rarely technical;" -- are you reducing risk for your team? Your product? Your company? Are you sure that your definition of risk is the same as your manager?
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
MVPM: Minimum Viable Product Manager
12 minutes read.
Okay, stop everything you do and share it internally with Product Managers or people who aspire to become PM at some point. It's the best explanation I've read about being an exceptional PM, covering business, tech, marketing and user experience.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
12 minutes read.
Okay, stop everything you do and share it internally with Product Managers or people who aspire to become PM at some point. It's the best explanation I've read about being an exceptional PM, covering business, tech, marketing and user experience.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
The 10 Commandments of Good Thinking
3 minutes read.
Good list to follow if we want to train our thinking muscle. The first one -- " Always be able to change your mind. On anything" -- is Jeff Bezos's (Amazon's legendary CEO) favorite advice to entrepreneurs.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
3 minutes read.
Good list to follow if we want to train our thinking muscle. The first one -- " Always be able to change your mind. On anything" -- is Jeff Bezos's (Amazon's legendary CEO) favorite advice to entrepreneurs.
Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.
Inspiring Tweets
@ThePracticalDev: Good thing I thought to comment out those failing tests. Almost wasn't able to ship.
- Oren
P.S. Can you share this email? I'd love for more people to experiment and improve their company's culture.
P.S. Can you share this email? I'd love for more people to experiment and improve their company's culture.