Introduction

I think subsequent posts will be better contextualized if I introduce myself with the first one. I'm the director of software development at a startup in the San Francisco Bay Area. It's a startup because it's still venture funded, but it's actually seven years old. The business is focused on digital media in the home, and was founded well ahead of that market actually existing. Over the years, I've been an individual contributor, technical lead, principal engineer, manager, and now a second-level manager. One theme has been present throughout my whole career: management in technology companies is generally awful. Ther are exceptions to this them, but the general concept is probably no surprise to you, gentle reader. When I finally gave in to the recurrent pressure for me to be in management, I set out to try to be a different kind of manager. I wanted to empower my people and make sure the business behaved in a manner that utilized their efforts to the greatest extent possible. I didn't want to be Mr. Cogsworth. I wanted my career to grow from my teams were successful, rather than from intense focus on the career itself. I wanted to put as much thought into being a great manager as I ever did into writing software. I'm more-or-less five years into this phase. From time to time, it's been a rocky road, and I haven't always lived up to my ideals, but I have never forgotten them. I'm getting better at staying focused on the guiding principals I set out for myself, and am having a lot of fun. There are many challenges to being a technology manager today. I will be discussing the ones I encounter over time in this blog.