Motivation

There I was, sitting at my desk on a beautiful Friday morning. I took a deep sigh of relief. I was officially unemployed for the first time in my life, a casualty of the 2023 tech layoffs. I needed a break.

"How could this happen?" I thought. I played an instrumental role as one of the first employees in a $75M startup.

As an individual contributor, I followed marching orders. I chose my battles wisely, voicing shared opinions. I advocated for automation and spotlighted the spoiling technology. But nobody cared.

As a manager of a rewrite, I was crippled. Each day blurred into the next, a fatigued haze as I hopped between meetings from sunrise to sunset. I tried to shield my team from external pressures and fallout.

After two rounds of layoffs, morale was at an all-time low. Talent became a revolving door, and the amazing people who had cared deeply gave up. Something must be terribly wrong. "It's a startup" was the excuse.

We made a lot of mistakes, including but not limited to:

• Lack of accountability.
• Poor communication.
• Conflicting opinionated processes.
• Disagreements on priorities.
• No clear aligned vision of the company goals.
• Adopting the wrong technologies.

Reflecting on the last 3+ years, I stumbled upon an X Post (opens in a new tab) that resonated with me. Elon Musk acknowledged technical debt as a major problem.

I'm interviewing for my next role and I'm noticing the same red flags:

Silicon valley is riddled with the gravestones of startups that focused on the wrong things.
Tyler Warnock (opens in a new tab)
Cofounder & CEO at Userfront

What advantages do companies such as Tesla and Apple have over their competitors? They are leading their industries, product-driven, and customer-obsessed.

But how do you get there as a startup or early stage company? How do you build a product that people will love? How do you align your team on goals and quickly plan and track progress without being in the office?

Fast forward, here I am today: young and motivated to solve the problems most technical startups face. I'm trying to build a product that addresses the issues I've experienced. I'm not sure if I'll succeed, but I'm determined to try.

Thank you for reading and your continued support,