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Like... seriously? Its 2014, not 2004...
A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company
21–30 of 62 posts
Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company
#22She sounds horrible and I hope she fails. First, there's her focus on hours. Our team didn’t seem driven; they all finished work each day at 5:30. I remember watching “The Social Network” and admiring the passion and intelligence of the group of young engineers. My team didn’t look like that. She wasn't unhappy because of the bugs. She was unhappy because her team didn't look like a star team. (How many stars would p…
Is the seething rage really necessary?
Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company
#23"To continue reading this article, please log in or register for free." Like... seriously? Its 2014, not 2004...
Newspapers still gotta make money even in 2014.
Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company
#24She sounds horrible and I hope she fails. First, there's her focus on hours. Our team didn’t seem driven; they all finished work each day at 5:30. I remember watching “The Social Network” and admiring the passion and intelligence of the group of young engineers. My team didn’t look like that. She wasn't unhappy because of the bugs. She was unhappy because her team didn't look like a star team. (How many stars would p…
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Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company
#25"I’ve also discovered that nothing is more motivating than a high profile, non-negotiable deadline." Sweet jesus no. If you don't understand what is required do NOT sign your team up for that. That's what causes death marches. Now if you had the team already analyze the opportunity and prototype "the hard parts" then by all means go for it :)
Had a conversation with two of our C-level folks a week or two ago specifically about deadlines.
They'd used the word "crunch", and also were talking about "marathon, not sprint".
I explained that they really shouldn't use the C-word unless they were ready to deal with the consequences--especially with folks from the gamedev industry or startup stuff, there is a lot of psychic baggage with that.
~
If you tell me that we're doing a crunch, I take that to mean that the product deadline is paramount--bugs that can't be papered over a distant second, and everything else is not worth thinking about. Crunch means that I work whatever schedule lets my team write the most code fastest, and that we are released from any obligation other than "make this date". If that means working until four or five in the morning, and then stumbling in around noon, and telling a veep to fuck off and get out of the way, that's what it is.
The c-word is something that has cost people their marriages, has cost companies millions in technical debt, and has cost our industry a lot in untrackables--it's the nuclear option.
~
They thanked me for my explanation, and promised not to use the c-word again unless they really, really meant it.
Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company
#26"I’ve also discovered that nothing is more motivating than a high profile, non-negotiable deadline." Sweet jesus no. If you don't understand what is required do NOT sign your team up for that. That's what causes death marches. Now if you had the team already analyze the opportunity and prototype "the hard parts" then by all means go for it :)
> Within a few months, we had a team of four. Development seemed slow and our live site was littered with bugs. Our team didn’t seem driven; they all finished work each day at 5:30. I remember watching “The Social Network” and admiring the passion and intelligence of the group of young engineers. My team didn’t look like that. I think the real lesson is she hired the wrong team. In all fairness, it's a tough thing to…
I do not think she is able to recognize slow development from fast one. However, "littered with bugs" is a red flag for both team and the process (whoever sets it).
Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company
#27This reads as how to run a company poorly and how to build a terrible company culture. Some gems: > they all finished work each day at 5:30. I remember watching “The Social Network” and admiring the passion and intelligence of the group of young engineers. Yep, a fictional movie about the founders of a social network is definitely a good benchmark for how much your engineers should be working—not standard professiona…
Great comment, and I agree with all your points, except:
> Yes, blame the designers for ridiculously high turnover, where you have 3 people in the same position within a year.
She doesn't blame the designers anywhere. The only one she blames even implicitly is herself, in the paragraph that follows on the one you quoted.
> Not surprising that she's (according to Crunchbase) only raised $500k.
You seem to be implying that raising half a million dollars is a failure, but perhaps you're still using irony there.
Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company
#28 It’s an unwritten law of nature that development always
takes longer than predicted. Because I’m a non-techie
boss, my engineers know that I don’t understand how much
time they will need to complete a task, a deficiency
that I’m sure they sometimes exploit and that I find
incredibly frustrating.
B) Automatically assumes some weird laws of nature.
C) Indulge in paranoia and mistrust to compensate for ignorance.
D) Blame others and get frustrated.
E) Write an article about it
Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company
#29"To continue reading this article, please log in or register for free." Like... seriously? Its 2014, not 2004...
Newspapers still gotta make money even in 2014.
Well I thought most of online newspapers make money with advertising and offering corporate services and tools... But hey, what do I know.
Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company
#30This reads as how to run a company poorly and how to build a terrible company culture. Some gems: > they all finished work each day at 5:30. I remember watching “The Social Network” and admiring the passion and intelligence of the group of young engineers. Yep, a fictional movie about the founders of a social network is definitely a good benchmark for how much your engineers should be working—not standard professiona…
Great comment, and I agree with all your points, except: > Yes, blame the designers for ridiculously high turnover, where you have 3 people in the same position within a year. She doesn't blame the designers anywhere. The only one she blames even implicitly is herself, in the paragraph that follows on the one you quoted. > Not surprising that she's (according to Crunchbase) only raised $500k. You seem to be implying…
> You seem to be implying that raising half a million dollars is a failure, but perhaps you're still using irony there.
I don't know that I can call it a success either. It's like gaining admission into a competitive university. Hard to pull off for many people, but just the first step on a long road to success if everything goes well.