Written Work
From time to time, I share my thoughts in long form written format.
Here are some of the highlights
Startups & Disruption
Becoming a high-growth startup
Managing a product team at scale
40 tips for building a startup after 19 years of success and failure
June 2018 - With the benefit of hindsight, I’ve observed a number of “obvious” mistakes that I and others have made — so I thought I’d catalogue as many as I could here so that others might benefit.
Unbundled
May 2016
In Silicon Valley we’ve used the term “Unbundling” to describe the phenomena of mobile apps breaking apart into multiple separate apps, each essentially providing more focused, single purpose features. Think of the Facebook app being separated into Facebook + Messenger.
I believe this Unbundling phenomena is happening almost universally across all aspects of life.
Tips and Tricks for Building a Great Developer Platform
July 2018
As a serial entrepreneur, strategic adviser, former Head of Product @ Uber Developer Platform, Co-founder of Echo (grew dev platform from zero to 85 Billion API calls a month), co-author of APML, and co-founder of the DataPortability Project I’ve spent my career building products that developers love.
Leadership
Book: The Leadership Lens
The playbook for being an intentional and impactful leader.
Leaders look at the world in a special way. They have a unique set of character traits, emotions, and thought processes. They approach relationships, work, and politics differently. They see and comprehend the world through a certain kind of lens. The Leadership Lens helps you see the world the way leaders do. This book provides concise, pragmatic insights into how leaders think and act - their lens - from the ground up; and give you actionable advice on how to implement their strategies in your own daily life.
Other topics
America, the land of the free.
March 2020
Liberals will have you believe that some groups are privileged while others are subject to systemic racism. Conservatives will have you believe that we are all individuals and we should just pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.
I’ve actually come to believe that it’s both things. The problem is that the individual people — of all races and cultures — are not just victims of each other, but of their government and the ultra-rich.
The downside of Hyper Expectations and Ambitions (HEA)
December 2012
It's easy to start feeling a sense of Hyper Expectations and Ambition (let’s call it HEA for short).
The challenge with HEA is that it can drive the ill-equipped, mad. By "ill-equipped" I mean those that lack a strong personal identity and emotional maturity. And aren't we all guilty of that at various points in our lives?
The upside of Hyper Expectations and Ambitions (HEA)
January 2013
The great thing about HEA is that it vacuums out most of the reasons/excuses for someone to not live up to their potential. All of us here are insisting to ourselves and each other that we do the next great thing we know we can do; Or better yet, to do something that scares us.
Climate Crisis over, nothing to see here
December 2009
Pollution in the air, extreme droughts and floods, record breaking hurricanes and the death of entire ecosystems under the ocean is perfectly fine. We don't need to breathe, grow crops, live on dry land or have a food chain.
WARNING: In case it's not clear, this post is satire
Social Media is Dead
June 2009
The media phenomena that is occurring all around is us not about being social, it is about being authentic and personal.
Perhaps instead of fixing Facebook, Facebook will fix us
April 2018
These new global voices have also shown us that there is no single truth because there are many valid perspectives — and some of those perspectives appear totally at odds with our own. That’s pretty hard to understand and confront for people who’ve grown up on simple good vs evil narratives.
The top 10 questions to ask ourselves before getting outraged by the news
March 2018
We’re currently living in an endless cycle of sensationalist media narratives resulting in mobs of outraged people attacking one target after the next. It’s destructive and unsustainable.
I am Pro Life
March 2010
WARNING: The headline does not mean what you think it means. Read the actual post.
I believe in life. I believe in allowing people to have the life they choose and make choices about their own body. I believe in the life of a mother forced to make a terrible decision.
You know who is pro choice? Republicans.
On Time, Trump and Developers
November 2016
When it comes to a range of arguments between people of good faith — from politics to open developer platforms — it seems to me that the bright dividing line might be time.
Peace Plan for Israel
August 2014
Those with great power have great responsibility. Israel is a powerful, democratic and moral country.
Recognize the right for the Palestinians to live in peace and establish a state of their own
A generation’s crisis of faith
August 2016
All of the institutions previous generations put their faith in have proven to be false and naïve. I wonder how this has affected our psyche and behavior. I wonder how much some of the craziness we see can be attributed to this fundamental crisis of faith.
You don’t need to ask permission to change the world
November 2011
More people need to stop asking for permission - or worse, assuming they could never do something because it's against the written or unwritten rules.
On platforms
May 2017
The only way to scale — and have a chance at becoming part of the fabric of the world — is to figure out the patterns and primitives, expose them as extensible interfaces that are opinionated enough to create consistency but not so restrictive so as to strangle creativity and innovation, provide clear best practices and samples, and let builders build.
Ruminations re: Relationships
April 2012
Our egos, pride and fear get in the way of real connections and meaningful leaps of faith. We classify ‘ideal’ as unattainable ‘fantasy’ instead of a worthy goal. We semi-commit, leverage, tell half truths, white lies or outright betrayals. What if your business model matched your vision? What if your words matched your thoughts?
On consensus and Tulips
December 2017
The only reason we can own a piece of land or money has value or the queen is the queen is because a sufficient number of people agree that those things are true. All the mechanisms and norms of society only exist because the majority basically agree they exist.
The Audacity of Hope
February 2008
Most people I talk to who 'wish' they could do something better, or more ambitious, have a common refrain. They dare not hope that their more lofty goals are attainable. They therefore do not act.