Resumé

Here’s a copy of my current resumé. This page will set my job experience in context & explain what I’m looking for; think of it as a kind of all-purpose cover letter.

Priorities

In order of priority, what I look for in an employer are:

  1. That both the product and industry vertical are interesting (see below).
  2. That the company culture is a good fit. I like working hard, but I firmly believe in the “no asshole rule“. (If you’re going to put statements like “If you are not successful you will be fired” on your hiring page, you’re probably not the place for me.)
  3. That I can wear a variety of hats in my job, both technical and non-technical. I consider myself more of a generalist, and I’m a tech guy who likes to talk with non-technical people (e.g. customers, executives, etc.) and demonstrate to them how the technology can add value to their business. (I am not the “superstar” programmer or engineer  you were looking for. While I enjoy hacking around, that’s not my core competency & I don’t want to do it all day long.)

Industry Verticals

My background is in digital media, so naturally that’s a vertical in which I’m interested. I also prefer product companies versus service companies. I’ve included examples of companies that I would consider interesting enough to work for, if the culture was a good fit.

Verticals that are less interesting to me but which I wouldn’t rule out if the opportunity was interesting enough:

  • Pure-play infrastructure services (e.g. CDNs, cloud hosting/webhosting)
  • Finance
  • Advertising and marketing
  • Pure social networks (although I like social networks with some extras beyond just the social media component. For example, Twitter is not that interesting whereas Instagram is)

My Strengths

  • Technically well-rounded with solid fundamentals in computer science, engineering, and operations
  • Ability to converse with developers and be trusted — know their pain points, processes, and how to improve code quality
  • Ability to converse with clients and senior management — I can understand (or learn) the business, develop relationships and trust with key stakeholders, and am excellent at diplomacy
  • Integrity and honesty in all dealings. (I take the professional engineer’s code of conduct very seriously even though I’m not building nuclear reactors.)

My Goals

  • Rise to a position where I have significant influence on the direction of a product (product manager or head of product). I’m more interested in the strategic goals of the product & business: high-level features, product roadmap, how it makes people’s lives easier/benefits society etc. rather than the nitty-gritty design details.
  • Improve my understanding of business fundamentals: venture capital, investments, financial operations, P/L, legal implications, etc.
  • Be in a customer facing role because I love talking to people & evangelizing about something I truly believe in! (Hence why it’s so important to me that the product/industry be something I can get excited about.)
  • Develop more confidence & skills in speaking to large groups.

Get in Touch

After reading all of this, if I sound like someone you’d like to have on your team (or you just want to chat), please do get in touch by e-mail. I’m very open to meeting with anyone.

One lesson I’ve learned after being in the industry for over ten years: you never know when your paths will cross with someone again.

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