Three months since I posted, so here’s some random thoughts and updates.
Nearly three months at BrightSign now. Loving it, but it’s certainly more than I thought it was. It’s a large staff with code that spans from low-level Linux kernel and media rendering stuff all the way up to large cloud backends. The Electron/React parts are newer to me, but I grew to really like Typescript at AWS and we have loads of that too. In short, it’s impossible to get bored. In fact, I wish I could clone myself.
As I write this I’m in home quarantine. Yes, COVID again. I probably picked it up traveling last week. I was in the UK for nearly a month, moving my daughter into her new flat and then spending time with my teams in Cambridge.
Yes, that Cambridge. Not the newer one. The one with buildings that were holding college classes before Columbus sailed.
Musings on Automation
My advice to any company is automate early. If you approach it later in the company timeline, you will find a lot more sharp edges that make it slower. Not impossible, but slower. Constantly work to automate everything you can. That’s the game anyway.
What Are My Big Goals?
I ready a great tweet today about growing a company. Here’s the tl;dr I got from it:
Make the product better. What can we do today to make things the best they can be in 2-3 years? Hey points:
- What are the highest impact areas to focus on?
- How can you de-scope and move faster?
- How can the product improve?
- How can the team be more efficient?
- Is there a shared vision?
All of this is absolutely true and a great North Star. But you also have to make sure your processes and foundations are ready for it. And that they are consistent.
Making software is hard. Making it efficiently is harder. Doing that at scale is harder still.
But that’s the game, right?
Anyway, that’s all for now. Just wanted to drop something new so folks know I’m still kicking. If you are reading this drop me a note by email, DM or LI message. It’s always nice to hear from folks!
Disclaimer: as usual, all opinions here are my own and not my employer.
