Best Books to Read in Your 20s to Advance Your Career
The decade between adolescence and adulthood was a transformative one for me and the lessons I learned helped define my career path and what I do today.
At the time, I was impatient and hungry for success that never seemed to come, but in hindsight, the foundations I set then were a big part of my success now. Reading was one of those foundations.
So, I decided I would take a slightly different angle this week and write about the books I found most influential on my early career. I don't know if I read all of these in my 20s, but they all would have been a good fit then.
Business
Silicon Valley companies find remote work is easier to begin than end
"Technology companies that led the charge into remote work as the pandemic unfurled are confronting a new challenge as the crisis winds down: how, when and even whether they should bring long-isolated employees back to offices that have been designed for teamwork."
The Startup Marketing Checklist
We work with dozens of early stage startups, so a lot of founders ask me what’s working in marketing for our other clients. Of course, the answer is, “it depends” but I wanted to offer a complete index of the steps you can take when you’re just getting ready to launch an early stage startup.
Technology
What is a Developer Advocate?
A few years ago, I started speaking at developer-focused conferences regularly. For me, it was a fun way to meet people, find new engineers to recruit, and share helpful information with the community, but along the way, I met my first developer advocates.
Becoming a Senior Software Engineer
The truth is that there’s no accepted definition or benchmark that universally makes you a senior engineer-it might take you 3 years at some companies and 15 at others-but I do have some thoughts on this question.
In this piece, I’ll explore the four paths I’ve seen most engineers take to become senior engineers. Along the way, I’ll share some of the skills and benchmarks you might need to hit to get there yourself.
Leadership
Why the status quo is so hard to change in engineering teams
"A set of behaviors where we give up on escaping a painful situation, because our brain has gradually been taught to assume powerlessness in that situation."
You should use forums rather than Slack/Discord
"For most developer communities a public, managed forum is better than a private, unsearchable Slack."