/Management

The State of Startup Security Report 2022

tl;dr: Vanta asked startups to honestly and anonymously answer questions about their security posture, their security roadmap, and how satisfied they are with their security in general. Over 500 people took part in our survey and we break down the results in our first annual State of Startup Security Report. Want to learn more? See the data for yourself in the State of Startup Security Report 2022.

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Advice For Engineering Managers Who Want To Climb The Ladder

- Charity Majors tl;dr: "We have been interviewing and hiring a pile of engineering directors at Honeycomb lately. In so doing, I’ve had some fascinating conversations with engineering managers who have been trying unsuccessfully to make the leap to director. Here is a roundup of some of the ideas and advice I shared with them."

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What To Do When Your Feedback Doesn't Land

- Lara Hogan tl;dr: You want to "check that this person has internalized the feedback and will begin to make changes." (1) Ask them if they understand the feedback and urgency. (2) Intentionally create space and pauses to give them time to respond. (3) Ask them to reflect back what they heard. (4) Ask open coaching questions e.g. “okay, given this feedback, what are you planning on changing to be able to meet these expectations?” (5) Identify next steps.

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The Value Of Embarrassment

- Ed Batista tl;dr: The impulse to pretend that nothing has happened is understandable, it carries a cost: You may actually heighten your embarrassment and distress. Instead, by acknowledging and addressing your embarrassment, you: (1) Diminish your embarrassment and the resulting distress. (2) Clarify the situation, restore consistency to your self-presentation, and reduce others' anxiety. (3) Role model a productive response to unwelcome events.

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Real-Time Video, Built Differently

tl;dr: In the beginning, there was on-demand video. Then came live streaming. Now, Mux presents Real-Time Video. The online video trifecta is complete, and it is good.

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Engineering Levels At Honeycomb: Avoiding The Scope Trap

- Ben Darfler tl;dr: "Your area of influence should expand as you gain experience. Yet, there is an unfortunate shadow side to this approach: a ladder that conflates advancement with scope is a ladder that only rewards engineers who work on the largest projects. This doesn’t seem fair." Based on this, Ben shares Honeycomb's new engineering job ladder and growth framework.

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The Hidden Power Of Momentum

- Paulo André tl;dr: "When an army has the force of momentum, even the timid become brave; when it loses the force of momentum, even the brave become timid.” Building momentum is about increasing velocity - speed and direction. Leading is about increasing: (1) confidence in the direction i.e. vision, planning, strategy. (2) speed at which you're moving i.e. execution. Paulo discusses practical ways to achieve momentum.

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Proving Security Just Got Easier With The Vanta Trust Report

tl;dr: Proactively demonstrate your commitment to security, externally and in real-time with the Vanta Trust Report. Vanta Trust Reports showcase first-party data in an easy-to-understand dashboard, alongside commonly requested security documents, certifications, reports, and more, to create a single source of truth for your security and compliance.

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What Is Negative Engineering?

- Jeremiah Lowin tl;dr: "If positive engineering is taken to mean the day-to-day work that engineers do to deliver productive, expected outcomes, then negative engineering is the insurance that protects those outcomes by defending them from an infinity of possible failures." Jeremiah discusses the impact on productivity. 

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How To Eliminate Organizational Debt

- Aaron Dignan tl;dr: (1) Launch a bounty programs so any employee that encounters a policy or process hindering their ability to deliver value can submit it with a recommendation. (2) Practice continuous governance so individuals have the power to recommend changes to their own roles. (3) Don’t rush to a policy and process for everything as there can be an efficiency cost to keeping things open-ended.

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