Updated: September 17, 2026
My career has given me the privilege of witnessing some pretty spectacular failures and successes. I know for myself, experience is the best teacher (we’ll blame my ancestors and my upbringing read on »
Updated: September 17, 2026
Startups don’t fail because the team "lost motivation." They fail because there’s no stable system holding the work in orbit. This post is about building momentum the boring way: repeatable outreach, predictable communication, real feedback loops, and a product center strong enough to say "no" without spiraling into a death flail. read on »
Updated: September 17, 2026
Learn how startups can build trust and long-term success through ethical marketing practices while avoiding manipulative tactics like dark patterns, false scarcity, and misleading claims. read on »
Updated: September 17, 2026
In this installment of "Flashes & Failures," we pull back the curtain on startup theatrics, exposing the reality behind dazzling promises. From "AI-powered automation" that's really just glorified spreadsheets, to corporate vampires draining companies of assets, to pre-IPO paradises that turn into support floor nightmares, we explore the smoke and mirrors of the startup world. Learn to develop a healthy skepticism and ask the right questions to separate genuine innovation from elaborate theater. read on »
Updated: September 17, 2026
I used to think startup red flags were subtle. They're not. They show up fast: a culture that tells on itself, "algorithm optimization" that's just cheating, and sales teams paid to promise vaporware. Here are three stories I wish I'd taken more seriously-and a checklist to help you avoid becoming the fall guy with a laptop. read on »
Updated: September 17, 2026
Stop "disrupting" the boring stuff. Payroll, compliance, accounting, and infrastructure aren’t your product - they’re the floor you stand on. Buy the boring vendor, pay people on time, follow the checklist, and save your team’s brainpower for the thing customers actually pay for. read on »
Updated: September 17, 2026
AI resumes are getting too good at sounding right-and too bad at sounding human. This post breaks down the new red flags (perfect grammar, keyword mirroring, zero scar tissue) and the screens that still work: informal writing, concrete artifacts, and a short paired task that forces real thinking. If your hiring process still treats the resume as the truth layer, you're selecting for costume quality, not engineering ability. read on »
Updated: September 17, 2026
Startups don't usually fail out of nowhere. They telegraph it for months-silence, frozen hiring, fake "transparency," desperate cost cuts, exec exits, and a rotating cast of "saviors." This post breaks down the six smoke signals, the numbers you must track before the runway disappears, and how to shut down with integrity if it's truly over. read on »
Updated: March 18, 2026
Your MVP isn't a tiny "platform." It's a learning machine built to test one scary assumption fast. Cut features until only the core pain remains, validate with real behavior (not opinions), and use "smoke and mirrors" ethically if it helps you learn sooner. Ego and feature creep burn runway; a good MVP measures reality and ships fixes daily. read on »
Updated: December 22, 2025
Explore the Lean Startup methodology for tech entrepreneurs, covering its core principles, build-measure-learn loop, MVP creation, pivoting strategies, and customer development techniques. Learn how to apply these concepts to build successful, innovative startups through real-world examples and practical tips. read on »
Updated: September 17, 2026
I stopped trusting coding quizzes after hiring someone who aced ours and then couldn't write a single function. Brainteasers and LeetCode screens reward practice, not real work. Here's the hiring setup I use instead: a simple competency scorecard plus a short, realistic code review that shows whether someone can actually ship Python. read on »
Updated: September 17, 2026
"Technical debt" has become the excuse for everything: slow features, bad deploys, even the broken coffee machine. Most of the time it's not debt. It's a mess. Real debt is a deliberate shortcut with known costs, written down at the time, plus a payback plan. If you can't point to the note and the date, you didn't take on debt. You just made a mess and gave it a fancy name. read on »
Updated: December 22, 2025
After more than two decades as an engineer and over a decade as a hiring manager I've experienced my fair share of terrible engineering interviews. From quizzes to whiteboarding, take-home tests to awkward real-time coding exercises; I feel as though every startup I've worked at has had the exact same growing pains. read on »
