Here's what I'm doing now, as I've left Uber - and full time employment. Here are ways you can connect with me.
tl;dr
I spend my time writing my newsletter and book. You can send me scoop relevant for software engineers at Big Tech and high-growth startups here.
I'm currently not taking on any additional engagements. I don't do interviews, talks, podcasts, AMAs, mentoring, product feedback, collaborations, sponsorships, coffee chats, or other engagements.
Read on for details on what I do, and what I don't do, and pointers on people to contact instead for some of these areas.
The Pragmatic Engineer Newsletter
I'm writing the #1 newsletter for engineering managers and senior engineers on Substack. Weekly issues with actionable advice for engineering leaders. Especially relevant for those in big tech and high-growth startups.
Writing a Book
I have been writing a book on growing as a software engineer for close to four years. I'm hoping to publish on the fall of 2023. Sign up here to get notified of the release, or progress. Want to help? Share your experience on growing as a software engineer to help tweak contents. Thank you!
My published books:
- Building Mobile Apps at Scale. Free until 31 May, as a PDF.
- Growing as a Mobile Engineer
- The Tech Resume Inside Out. This book is free for any developer out of a job. If you are on Goodreads, feel free to add it to your queue or rate/review it.
Other projects
I am building TechPays - democratizing compensation data in tech - and running running The Pragmatic Engineer Talent Collective - helping software engineers and engineering managers get matched with world-class and exciting companies.
Podcasts, talks, conferences [On hold]
Writing my newsletter and working on my book takes up most of my time and the rest is consumed by other projects. I don't have the bandwidth for things I'd like to do below this line - including e.g. YouTube videos.
As of now, I am saying say no to all podcast, talk or conference requests until the middle of 2023, save for ones I agreed to before June 2022.
In 2022, the only conference I'm speaking at is at LeadDev Berlin in Nov 2022.
Partnering, collaborating, hopping on a call, coffee chats [No longer doing]
I get an increasing number of outreaches to chat about partnering, collaborating, meeting people.
Sadly, my answer to all of these is "no" for the simple reason that my plate is full, and as per my ethics policy I do not do any partnership or collaboration for any financial gain.
I am not looking for any partnerships or collaborations, and am no longer taking on advising or am interested in investing.
If I'm writing about a topic, I reach out to people and organizations directly if information might be helpful for my writing.
Mentoring [No longer doing]
I no longer do mentoring.
If you have a career-related question as a senior or above engineer or engineering manager, consider submitting it as a question for my newsletter. I tackle topics related to engineering managers in newsletter issues.
I do recommend mentorship for faster growth and here is a list of places you can find great software engineer or engineering manager mentors.
Advising and Angel Investing [Not taking on new ones]
I'm an advisor at mobie.dev, a startup revolutionizing the future of mobile tooling and one leading the shift left in mobile engineering. I'm also an advisor and small angel investor in a few other startups.
I invested/said yes to advising startups with a focus on platform engineering (monorepos, mobile tooling, service discoverability & ownership, internal tooling) or payments. Both areas are ones I'm deeply familiar with.
As of July 2022, I am no longer looking to invest in startups or advise them: my plate is full. Also, I learned that being a small-time investor is not always as fun as I imagined.
To find angel investors for developer tools, I recommend checking out the Devtools Angels list made by swyx. I was part of this list while I was still actively investing and I'd recommend several people on here.
Product feedback [Not doing]
Although I am flattered to be asked to give feedback on startup ideas or existing products, this is not something I do. This is for these reasons:
- I'm no customer. I am most likely not a current or future customer of the product. So my feedback would be far less relevant.
- I'm not an investor or advisor. I am not looking to invest or take on any more advisor roles. Another group of people to get feedback from are existing investors or those wanting to become an investor or advisor. They have a vested interest in helping businesses succeed both through advice and their network.
- I don't have the time. Giving proper feedback means familiarizing myself with a product first. I would only do this if I would want to become a customer - meaning it solves a pressing problem I now have - or I wanted to invest. If neither is true, I won't take the time.
You probably don't need feedback from someone like me - someone with no vested interest in the success of your product. You really need feedback from current or future customers - who have problems to solve that they would pay for -, and current or future investors - who are willing to invest in products that could become a financial success. Seek them out instead.
I do give feedback on products I am either a customer of, or ones that solve a pressing business problem I have. However, these are very different products to ones that I write about. The products I am a customer of are mostly tools I use for running a one-person business.
Sponsorships, affiliates [Not doing]
I don't take any form of sponsorships or affiliates per my ethics statement. I can recommend tech publications and websites which offer sponsorships and ones I also like.
This Blog and YouTube [Mostly on hold]
Read past articles and sign up for the newsletter to not miss future posts.
I occasionally make videos on my YouTube channel on software engineering and engineering management topics, as an alternative to the longer articles. Subscribe here.
I want to get back to doing more regular YouTube videos, but for now, this is on hold.
Interview Advice [On hold]
When I have additional time, I write advice for senior and above engineers, and engineering managers for preparing for Big Tech interviews. Sign up here.
This page was inspired by Derek Sivers' now page.