/Management

So, Why Are Software Engineers Better CEOs?

- Gandalf Hudlow tl;dr: Out the top 10 companies with the largest market, 7 are founded by engineers. There are 4 "forces" why: (1) More likely to pursue solutions to big emerging problems leveraging analytics (data) more effectively. (2) Able to discover solutions by failing repeatedly, at low cost. (3) More focussed on problem vs profit, and experiments. (4) Open to creative management and solutions.

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Getting To Yes: Solving Engineering Manager Hiring Loops That Reject Every Candidate

- Will Larson tl;dr: (1) Think about what you need engineering managers to do. (2) Refine those tasks into four or five key skills for the role. (3) Create an interview to evaluate each skill. (4) Create a rubric to score each of those interviews. (5) Train the interviewing team on the new rubric. (6) Remove interviewers from the loop if they refuse to use the rubric.

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Better Coordination, Or Better Software?

- Jessica Kerr tl;dr: As a company scales and software scales, more inter-department co-ordination is required. It may seem like a good idea to help departments coordinate smoothly and frequently, but the counter is better - help them coordinate less, and establish boundaries and the few interfaces that cross them. This leads to better quality software.

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Security Reviews for Startups

tl;dr: This guide will 1) demystify security reviews 2) give you tips on how to navigate lengthy questionnaires and 3) introduce third-party audits (SOC 2, HIPAA, & ISO 27001)

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Run Code Faster Than The Speed Of Light

tl;dr: Nanos is a Linux binary-compatible unikernel that runs one and only one application in the cloud. Faster and safer than Linux.

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Engineering Manager To Director: What It Takes?

- Tao Wang tl;dr: Fundamental differences are that Directors: (1) Have more impact around hiring. (2) Have the ability to "coach" managers. (3) Able to plan for the long term with imperfect data. (4) Have "higher requirements for communication, prioritization, multitasking, empathy."

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How to Reduce Development Time (And Why You Need To!)

tl;dr: (1) Define the project requirements thoroughly. (2) Review past project timelines to get a sense of accuracy for previous estimates, and how it might apply to your current project. (3) Breakdown tasks to assign points. (4) Talk to stakeholders and leverage the RACI framework, and more.

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Heuristics For Effective Software Development: A Continuously Evolving List

- Allen Holub tl;dr: An evolving list based off of the Agile Manifesto starting with: (1) "Without psychological safety, respect, and trust, none of the following is possible." (2) Process exists in service of people; the people come first. (3) "The best ways to work are collaborative...," and 24 more digestible points.

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Leaving Well

- Fred Wilson tl;dr: Leaving a company "well" is something leaders and companies should promote. Companies need to facilitate this process by reacting well to the news, perhaps providing a financial incentive to stick around during a transition. Fred believes it's best to set this culture up at the beginning as precedent is powerful, and people feel more comfortable being open and honest.

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Pre-Mortem: Working Backwards in Software Design

- Seema Thapar tl;dr: "Pre-mortem is a strategy in which a team imagines that a project has failed, and then works backward to determine what potentially could lead to the failure of a project." This encourages teams to "see the big picture", breaks down silos, requires teams to use their imagination and normalizes failure. Seema discusses how to execute one in this post.

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