Startups & Engineering

A collection of posts about building and scaling technical startups, drawing from my experiences as both a founder and technical leader. These articles cover everything from engineering methodologies to team building and technical decision making.

Build-Measure-Learn: Faster Decisions, Smarter Products

May 1, 2025

Tags:decision-making, leadership, product-development, startups, strategy

Explore Lean Startup's Build-Measure-Learn cycle. Learn how this feedback loop (MVP -> Metrics -> Pivot/Persevere) revolutionizes product development.

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Finding Your World-Class Niche

April 16, 2025

Tags:business, startups, strategy

Align your unique skills, passion, and market needs to find your world-class niche. Discover how focus creates unmatched value and advantage.

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Exploring EOS: A Guide to the Entrepreneurial Operating System

February 8, 2025

Tags:business, eos, management, startups

Explore the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and its six key components: vision, people, data, issues, process, and traction. EOS helps businesses thrive.

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The Art of Design in Technical Startups

June 15, 2024

Tags:communication, design, startups, strategy

Examining how design influences communication and success in tech companies, from customer touchpoints to brand perception and product development.

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The Invisible Hand of Startup Culture

May 15, 2024

Tags:culture, leadership, management, startups, team-building

An in-depth exploration of how company culture shapes interactions, role boundaries, and trust in technical startups, influencing success and growth.

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Decision Making Under Uncertainty: Lessons from Practice

April 15, 2024

Tags:decision-making, mathematics, startups, strategy

Explore decision-making under uncertainty using concepts beyond expected value, like the St. Petersburg Paradox and cost of exploration in startups.

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Science vs. Engineering in Startups: A Tale of Two Methodologies

March 15, 2024

Tags:engineering, methodology, project-management, startups

Examining how scientific and engineering methodologies intersect in tech startups, and why traditional project management approaches need rethinking.

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Startup Structure and Information Flow

January 18, 2024

Tags:communication, management, startups

Framework for structure & info flow in early-stage startups. Understand core roles (Eng, Sales, Mgmt, Product) & managing the science vs. engineering divide.

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Investment: Cambrium Bio

September 27, 2022

Tags:biotech, startups

Angel investment review: Cambrium Bio. Exploring their synthetic biology platform for sustainable luxury materials and alignment with my investment thesis.

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Reflecting on 2018: A Year of Growth and Transitions

December 25, 2018

Tags:meta, startups

Reflecting on 2018. Predikto''s acquisition by United Technologies, the winding down of PedalWrencher, and the continued growth of Category Encoders.

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Exit Interviews in Startups

May 5, 2016

Tags:culture, management, startups

Exit interviews are crucial for startups. Discover methods to gather honest feedback, identify systemic issues, and enhance retention from departing employees.

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Building an Engineering Team Around Ownership

April 28, 2016

Tags:engineering-management, leadership, startups, team-building

Clear ownership, not just cross-functional talent, defines high-performing engineering teams. Learn how role boundaries prevent micromanagement & build respect.

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Journalism and the Perfect Pitch Deck

February 15, 2016

Tags:entrepreneurship, startups, venture-capital

How the principles of journalism can be applied to create more effective startup pitch decks, using the 5 W's and 1 H framework.

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Market-Product fit vs Product-Market fit

December 28, 2015

Tags:entrepreneurship, startups

An exploration of the differences between market-product fit and product-market fit, and how to determine which path is right for your startup.

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CyberLaunch: An Accelerator for Machine Learning Companies

December 8, 2015

Tags:atlanta, data-science, machine-learning, startups

Explore CyberLaunch, Atlanta's accelerator for machine learning and info security startups, its program details, and its impact on the local startup ecosystem.

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Solving Inherent Stickiness in SaaS: The Power of Convexity

November 2, 2014

Tags:business, saas, startups

Explore how SaaS products achieve true stickiness through convexity and integrated offerings, creating competitive advantages beyond exit barriers.

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