Archive for the ‘ My Experience ’ Category

Why aren’t there more tech women?

I usually don’t like to debate issues of gender or race, but the with the tech community buzzing about the dearth of women entrepreneurs and women in tech I decided it was time to throw in my two cents, after all I am a femgineer.  I think the community overall is conflating two issues into one: [ READ MORE ]

Fundraising and Feedback

Dave McClure’s recent post on investing before product/market fit inspired me to address a few observations I’ve made as an entrepreneur when pitching to investors (angels and VCs), crafting my product proposal, and explaining the vision of my current startup. Risk and Rejection As a first time entrepreneur I understand that I’m seen as a huge risk, [ READ MORE ]

Retaining Startup Engineers

In my previous post I focused on the key issues to think about when recruiting a startup engineer.  In this post I’d like to shift focus on how to keep them. Engineers jump ship early for various reasons, its usually a combination of the following three: instability in management, unclear path to an exit, and work that [ READ MORE ]

Recruiting Startup Engineers

With the startup market taking off, there is always a clamor to find good engineers, developers, and designers.  People constantly ask if I know people, where to find the so-called ’startup-engineers’, or even where the can find someone like me. Here are some things to think about for those on the recruiting side: 1. When to start [ READ MORE ]

From Duke to Mint: The Blue She-Devil and Successful Startup

Podcast of my talk to the Master of Engineering Management students in January 2010 is available on iTunes. Tweet This Post[ READ MORE ]

Startup Founder: Prepping, Prototyping, and Pitching

In 2 days I’ll be celebrating my 6 month anniversary of leaving my last startup and working on my current one (cue Jay-Z).  Having been a startup engineer I knew I had to prepare myself for the transition to founder. The long hours of a startup engineer are drastically different from the long hours of a founder. [ READ MORE ]

Startup Engineer: Which number is right for you?

Having been an engineer at a startup I empathize with people who are being recruited into startups especially if it’s their first startup. The key deciding factor for me was that I wanted to learn everything about engineering a consumer product. Sure making bank is a nice motivation, but I quit my Masters [ READ MORE ]

Self-Direction Leads to Your Calling

From the ripe age of 8 I’ve been thinking about my career, I aspired to be a lawyer, professor, and writer.  I read all the time and wrote stories for fun.  I had lofty goals of being published in seventh grade, but my dreams were curtailed when my family moved.   I can’t say it [ READ MORE ]

Momentum

Being at the ground floor of a startup is the best, not that I’ve ever come in at a later stage, but having gone through the full lifecycle of one startup I can vouch for the beginning being the most exciting and romantic period.  You define the product, engage with users, research technologies to use [ READ MORE ]

Living Life on Your Own Terms Requires Work.

When I tell people I’m starting a company they somehow think I’m taking a huge risk. To me it’s the next logical move for my career. I could have gone back and finished the masters I quit three years ago, applied to B-school, or gone and worked [ READ MORE ]