Management Q&A - Revision history

Klenwell: /* Questions */

2022-05-31T17:31:11Z

Questions

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 == Questions ==
 ==== In 1-3 paragraphs describe a time-sensitive situation you faced that had major impact on the overall company. What was it, why was it so important and time sensitive, what did you do, what was the result? ====
 Shortly after I started at the first startup I worked at, a fintech startup building a turnkey asset management platform for independent retirement advisors, the CEO sat me down and informed me that he had signed a contract with an API-driven clearing service. This would be the backend for the new investor interface we wanted to build to automate and accelerate client onboarding for our advisor platform. For independent advisors, onboarding new clients with the advisor's broker is a major pain point. CEO wanted to know how long it would take for us to deliver this.
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 What I find especially interesting is, in the wake of this project, I encountered similar bottlenecks or anti-patterns at two subsequent companies where I worked. The first I dubbed "mind-reading-as-a-service", the second "workaround-driven-development". In those cases, lack of clear service boundaries together with organizational politics made it hard to acknowledge the issues and was the source of ongoing complications in development.
 ==== Describe the process you used with your team in deploying a major product feature. ====
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 If something else is meant by the term deploy here (e.g. the process of actually deploying the completed code) or you'd like to dig deeper into the process outlined above (say, requirement gathering or user acceptance testing), I'm happy to discuss that.
 ====How do you determine shipping confidence? what tools and/or process do you rely on?====
 A deliberate crafted ever-improving process organized around automated tests, continuous integration, user acceptance testing, and, when needed, postmortems.
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 https://kinsta.com/blog/php-vs-python/
 ====What are your Career Goals / Aspirations? - Where do you want to be in 3/5/10 years?====
 I'd love to be at the same organization continuing to help it build great products for its users while promoting the well-being of those with whom work.

Klenwell: /* Tell us about a time you received feedback that was accurate but tough to hear? What was it? How did you respond to it? */

2022-05-26T01:26:59Z

Tell us about a time you received feedback that was accurate but tough to hear? What was it? How did you respond to it?

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 ==== Tell us about a time you received feedback that was accurate but tough to hear? What was it? How did you respond to it? ====
 Here's an incident involving some uncomfortable feedback that ultimately proved instructive. While I was heading Engineering for a fintech startup, I read an interesting book on sleep, [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34466963-why-we-sleep Why We Sleep]. For our team's quarterly all-hands meeting, I put together a short presentation about it. At some point in my presentation, I made a joking offhand remark, something like, "This is information that Tucker Carlson and Fox News doesn't want you to know." I may have referenced that guy who does the pillow commercials.
 ==== Describe the process you used with your team in deploying a major product feature. ====

Klenwell: /* Describe the process you used with your team in deploying a major product feature. */

2022-05-26T01:23:47Z

Describe the process you used with your team in deploying a major product feature.

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:23, 25 May 2022
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	What I find especially interesting is, in the wake of this project, I encountered similar bottlenecks or anti-patterns at two subsequent companies where I worked. The first I dubbed "mind-reading-as-a-service", the second "workaround-driven-development". In those cases, lack of clear service boundaries together with organizational politics made it hard to acknowledge the issues and was the source of ongoing complications in development.		What I find especially interesting is, in the wake of this project, I encountered similar bottlenecks or anti-patterns at two subsequent companies where I worked. The first I dubbed "mind-reading-as-a-service", the second "workaround-driven-development". In those cases, lack of clear service boundaries together with organizational politics made it hard to acknowledge the issues and was the source of ongoing complications in development.

			==== Tell us about a time you received feedback that was accurate but tough to hear? What was it? How did you respond to it? ====
			Here's an incident involving some uncomfortable feedback that ultimately proved instructive. While I was heading Engineering for a fintech startup, I read an interesting book on sleep, [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34466963-why-we-sleep Why We Sleep]. For our team's quarterly all-hands meeting, I put together a short presentation about it. At some point in my presentation, I made a joking offhand remark, something like, "This is information that Tucker Carlson and Fox News doesn't want you to know." I may have referenced that guy who does the pillow commercials.

	==== Describe the process you used with your team in deploying a major product feature. ====		==== Describe the process you used with your team in deploying a major product feature. ====

Klenwell: /* What are your Career Goals / Aspirations? - Where do you want to be in 3/5/10 years? */

2022-05-21T02:06:19Z

What are your Career Goals / Aspirations? - Where do you want to be in 3/5/10 years?

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:06, 20 May 2022
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	====What are your Career Goals / Aspirations? - Where do you want to be in 3/5/10 years?====		====What are your Career Goals / Aspirations? - Where do you want to be in 3/5/10 years?====
	I'd love to be at the same organization~~. Not one necessarily focused on hyper-growth but on sustainable growth, investment rather than extraction or exploitation, and~~ the well-being of ~~its employees~~.		I'd love to be at the same organization continuing to help it build great products for its users while promoting the well-being of those with whom work.

Klenwell: /* Tell us in detail about the architecture of a project you’ve led and/or designed. Lay out the high level components (e.g. front-end, web servers, database) and then drill down and review the design of each component. */

2022-05-21T01:09:00Z

Tell us in detail about the architecture of a project you’ve led and/or designed. Lay out the high level components (e.g. front-end, web servers, database) and then drill down and review the design of each component.

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:09, 20 May 2022
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	Rather than present the customary architectural diagram, I created this sequence diagram to illustrate the complications we discovered:		Rather than present the customary architectural diagram, I created this sequence diagram to illustrate the complications we discovered:

	* [~~[sequencediagram.org~~ https://sequencediagram.org/index.html#initialData=C4S2BsFMAIEkDsBukDOwD2AnaB5eAjdAQ0wBMR4BzaAMXHQHcAoQ4DAWwAcTQBjEbvGApoTJkV4ZsCZGizjJWaAEFSiECnndMfAUSHQARKvWbsABSzAi4Q9CIjl5ptt2DgRmaim4CxMhSUdg5wOGJecpgAtAB8JhpYAFzQAMLo8CgAruDWoOliALwF8WbQ9JQiFBj2nJwAdKTo7EQUdbxNRQDE4CCUABbA+OCZkGIlWLFOyWlcUMAwFLLA7JAGnJjonOgoNkzw6PPQ6MjYU6kASgCiygAql9C8PavAABQoAJRMTrGwOMlOsGS5hwAGUbtB1pttrt9odjpBpDhOqQSABrLD6SiQaZXW73IicAD6jxAzzenwiUgAPFFfolLs0QOBkgB1SDgdoraDVX6FAqUpQk3iokQ9eCo6AAMyUIHQDSaLXgbQ6BU6vF4ksl6vCSG8ExiLwAzO86edIJQNPNsC9eJhIERDos9ZhPrCYPDEckQdYdEc-CRyFRoAwQAAvAPiQgADyOJ1CABonJ0MVQEZBSF6AJ7wXgPJ4GAD00CdkXJewO7rjv06ADYa6RSHXkgLsJzOHNUH7CBHfpNzP9zIDoOZbikABJ50lCMu9mIAXUSwLB3PQD0ycnI+hUg6AA]]		* [https://sequencediagram.org/index.html#initialData=C4S2BsFMAIEkDsBukDOwD2AnaB5eAjdAQ0wBMR4BzaAMXHQHcAoQ4DAWwAcTQBjEbvGApoTJkV4ZsCZGizjJWaAEFSiECnndMfAUSHQARKvWbsABSzAi4Q9CIjl5ptt2DgRmaim4CxMhSUdg5wOGJecpgAtAB8JhpYAFzQAMLo8CgAruDWoOliALwF8WbQ9JQiFBj2nJwAdKTo7EQUdbxNRQDE4CCUABbA+OCZkGIlWLFOyWlcUMAwFLLA7JAGnJjonOgoNkzw6PPQ6MjYU6kASgCiygAql9C8PavAABQoAJRMTrGwOMlOsGS5hwAGUbtB1pttrt9odjpBpDhOqQSABrLD6SiQaZXW73IicAD6jxAzzenwiUgAPFFfolLs0QOBkgB1SDgdoraDVX6FAqUpQk3iokQ9eCo6AAMyUIHQDSaLXgbQ6BU6vF4ksl6vCSG8ExiLwAzO86edIJQNPNsC9eJhIERDos9ZhPrCYPDEckQdYdEc-CRyFRoAwQAAvAPiQgADyOJ1CABonJ0MVQEZBSF6AJ7wXgPJ4GAD00CdkXJewO7rjv06ADYa6RSHXkgLsJzOHNUH7CBHfpNzP9zIDoOZbikABJ50lCMu9mIAXUSwLB3PQD0ycnI+hUg6AA sequencediagram.org]

	The diagram shows basic client onboarding flow for a new client of an advisor. Notes in orange and red highlight problem spots we identified in our original design. We refactored those elements of our architecture to consolidate data around a single source of truth and clearly delineate client and service roles in our architecture thereby simplifying development.		The diagram shows basic client onboarding flow for a new client of an advisor. Notes in orange and red highlight problem spots we identified in our original design. We refactored those elements of our architecture to consolidate data around a single source of truth and clearly delineate client and service roles in our architecture thereby simplifying development.

Klenwell: /* Tell us in detail about the architecture of a project you’ve led and/or designed. Lay out the high level components (e.g. front-end, web servers, database) and then drill down and review the design of each component. */

2022-05-21T01:08:03Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:08, 20 May 2022
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	Rather than present the customary architectural diagram, I created this sequence diagram to illustrate the complications we discovered:		Rather than present the customary architectural diagram, I created this sequence diagram to illustrate the complications we discovered:

	* [sequencediagram.org https://sequencediagram.org/index.html#initialData=C4S2BsFMAIEkDsBukDOwD2AnaB5eAjdAQ0wBMR4BzaAMXHQHcAoQ4DAWwAcTQBjEbvGApoTJkV4ZsCZGizjJWaAEFSiECnndMfAUSHQARKvWbsABSzAi4Q9CIjl5ptt2DgRmaim4CxMhSUdg5wOGJecpgAtAB8JhpYAFzQAMLo8CgAruDWoOliALwF8WbQ9JQiFBj2nJwAdKTo7EQUdbxNRQDE4CCUABbA+OCZkGIlWLFOyWlcUMAwFLLA7JAGnJjonOgoNkzw6PPQ6MjYU6kASgCiygAql9C8PavAABQoAJRMTrGwOMlOsGS5hwAGUbtB1pttrt9odjpBpDhOqQSABrLD6SiQaZXW73IicAD6jxAzzenwiUgAPFFfolLs0QOBkgB1SDgdoraDVX6FAqUpQk3iokQ9eCo6AAMyUIHQDSaLXgbQ6BU6vF4ksl6vCSG8ExiLwAzO86edIJQNPNsC9eJhIERDos9ZhPrCYPDEckQdYdEc-CRyFRoAwQAAvAPiQgADyOJ1CABonJ0MVQEZBSF6AJ7wXgPJ4GAD00CdkXJewO7rjv06ADYa6RSHXkgLsJzOHNUH7CBHfpNzP9zIDoOZbikABJ50lCMu9mIAXUSwLB3PQD0ycnI+hUg6AA]		* [[sequencediagram.org https://sequencediagram.org/index.html#initialData=C4S2BsFMAIEkDsBukDOwD2AnaB5eAjdAQ0wBMR4BzaAMXHQHcAoQ4DAWwAcTQBjEbvGApoTJkV4ZsCZGizjJWaAEFSiECnndMfAUSHQARKvWbsABSzAi4Q9CIjl5ptt2DgRmaim4CxMhSUdg5wOGJecpgAtAB8JhpYAFzQAMLo8CgAruDWoOliALwF8WbQ9JQiFBj2nJwAdKTo7EQUdbxNRQDE4CCUABbA+OCZkGIlWLFOyWlcUMAwFLLA7JAGnJjonOgoNkzw6PPQ6MjYU6kASgCiygAql9C8PavAABQoAJRMTrGwOMlOsGS5hwAGUbtB1pttrt9odjpBpDhOqQSABrLD6SiQaZXW73IicAD6jxAzzenwiUgAPFFfolLs0QOBkgB1SDgdoraDVX6FAqUpQk3iokQ9eCo6AAMyUIHQDSaLXgbQ6BU6vF4ksl6vCSG8ExiLwAzO86edIJQNPNsC9eJhIERDos9ZhPrCYPDEckQdYdEc-CRyFRoAwQAAvAPiQgADyOJ1CABonJ0MVQEZBSF6AJ7wXgPJ4GAD00CdkXJewO7rjv06ADYa6RSHXkgLsJzOHNUH7CBHfpNzP9zIDoOZbikABJ50lCMu9mIAXUSwLB3PQD0ycnI+hUg6AA]]

	The diagram shows basic client onboarding flow for a new client of an advisor. Notes in orange and red highlight problem spots we identified in our original design. We refactored those elements of our architecture to consolidate data around a single source of truth and clearly delineate client and service roles in our architecture thereby simplifying development.		The diagram shows basic client onboarding flow for a new client of an advisor. Notes in orange and red highlight problem spots we identified in our original design. We refactored those elements of our architecture to consolidate data around a single source of truth and clearly delineate client and service roles in our architecture thereby simplifying development.

Klenwell: /* Tell us in detail about the architecture of a project you’ve led and/or designed. Lay out the high level components (e.g. front-end, web servers, database) and then drill down and review the design of each component. */

2022-05-21T01:07:22Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:07, 20 May 2022
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	==== Tell us in detail about the architecture of a project you’ve led and/or designed. Lay out the high level components (e.g. front-end, web servers, database) and then drill down and review the design of each component. ====		==== Tell us in detail about the architecture of a project you’ve led and/or designed. Lay out the high level components (e.g. front-end, web servers, database) and then drill down and review the design of each component. ====

			For this question, I discussed a key refactor we made while building the investor interface for the turnkey asset management system we built while I was Head Engineer at a fintech startup.

			Rather than present the customary architectural diagram, I created this sequence diagram to illustrate the complications we discovered:

			* [sequencediagram.org https://sequencediagram.org/index.html#initialData=C4S2BsFMAIEkDsBukDOwD2AnaB5eAjdAQ0wBMR4BzaAMXHQHcAoQ4DAWwAcTQBjEbvGApoTJkV4ZsCZGizjJWaAEFSiECnndMfAUSHQARKvWbsABSzAi4Q9CIjl5ptt2DgRmaim4CxMhSUdg5wOGJecpgAtAB8JhpYAFzQAMLo8CgAruDWoOliALwF8WbQ9JQiFBj2nJwAdKTo7EQUdbxNRQDE4CCUABbA+OCZkGIlWLFOyWlcUMAwFLLA7JAGnJjonOgoNkzw6PPQ6MjYU6kASgCiygAql9C8PavAABQoAJRMTrGwOMlOsGS5hwAGUbtB1pttrt9odjpBpDhOqQSABrLD6SiQaZXW73IicAD6jxAzzenwiUgAPFFfolLs0QOBkgB1SDgdoraDVX6FAqUpQk3iokQ9eCo6AAMyUIHQDSaLXgbQ6BU6vF4ksl6vCSG8ExiLwAzO86edIJQNPNsC9eJhIERDos9ZhPrCYPDEckQdYdEc-CRyFRoAwQAAvAPiQgADyOJ1CABonJ0MVQEZBSF6AJ7wXgPJ4GAD00CdkXJewO7rjv06ADYa6RSHXkgLsJzOHNUH7CBHfpNzP9zIDoOZbikABJ50lCMu9mIAXUSwLB3PQD0ycnI+hUg6AA]

			The diagram shows basic client onboarding flow for a new client of an advisor. Notes in orange and red highlight problem spots we identified in our original design. We refactored those elements of our architecture to consolidate data around a single source of truth and clearly delineate client and service roles in our architecture thereby simplifying development.

			This is really a discussion of cost-benefits and strategic trade-offs. We refactored the two applications involved around a strict client/service relationship bounded by a conventional REST API. This required delaying release of the product by 3 or 4 weeks. But it ended up a paying off when, a couple months later, we had to swap out our backend custodial service provider due to an unexpected shake-up in the online broker industry.

			What I find especially interesting is, in the wake of this project, I encountered similar bottlenecks or anti-patterns at two subsequent companies where I worked. The first I dubbed "mind-reading-as-a-service", the second "workaround-driven-development". In those cases, lack of clear service boundaries together with organizational politics made it hard to acknowledge the issues and was the source of ongoing complications in development.

	==== Describe the process you used with your team in deploying a major product feature. ====		==== Describe the process you used with your team in deploying a major product feature. ====

Klenwell: /* Tell us in detail about the architecture of a project you’ve led and/or designed. Lay out the high level components (e.g. front-end, web servers, database) and then drill down and review the design of each component. */

2022-05-21T01:06:03Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:06, 20 May 2022
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	This was all highly speculative as we hadn't even hired the team yet when the request was presented to us. I made this clear to the CEO when I presented him our estimates. In the end, the product took about 15 months to release to production (less than 12 months if measuring from when the 4-developer team was fully assembled). Our company negotiated some minor concessions on the monthly fees. A major unexpected development in the online broker industry, as the project was readying to exit beta, ended up requiring a major pivot away from our original API vendor (which went pretty smoothly thanks to the care we took in developing our code.) Our company was acquired a year later. A few months after that, the new owners laid off me and most my team and ended up abandoning the platform. I learned several lessons from this experience I'd be happy to talk about in more detail.		This was all highly speculative as we hadn't even hired the team yet when the request was presented to us. I made this clear to the CEO when I presented him our estimates. In the end, the product took about 15 months to release to production (less than 12 months if measuring from when the 4-developer team was fully assembled). Our company negotiated some minor concessions on the monthly fees. A major unexpected development in the online broker industry, as the project was readying to exit beta, ended up requiring a major pivot away from our original API vendor (which went pretty smoothly thanks to the care we took in developing our code.) Our company was acquired a year later. A few months after that, the new owners laid off me and most my team and ended up abandoning the platform. I learned several lessons from this experience I'd be happy to talk about in more detail.

	== Tell us in detail about the architecture of a project you’ve led and/or designed. Lay out the high level components (e.g. front-end, web servers, database) and then drill down and review the design of each component. ==		==== Tell us in detail about the architecture of a project you’ve led and/or designed. Lay out the high level components (e.g. front-end, web servers, database) and then drill down and review the design of each component. ====

	==== Describe the process you used with your team in deploying a major product feature. ====		==== Describe the process you used with your team in deploying a major product feature. ====

Klenwell: /* In 1-3 paragraphs describe a time-sensitive situation you faced that had major impact on the overall company. What was it, why was it so important and time sensitive, what did you do, what was the result? */

2022-05-21T01:05:47Z

In 1-3 paragraphs describe a time-sensitive situation you faced that had major impact on the overall company. What was it, why was it so important and time sensitive, what did you do, what was the result?

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:05, 20 May 2022
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	This was all highly speculative as we hadn't even hired the team yet when the request was presented to us. I made this clear to the CEO when I presented him our estimates. In the end, the product took about 15 months to release to production (less than 12 months if measuring from when the 4-developer team was fully assembled). Our company negotiated some minor concessions on the monthly fees. A major unexpected development in the online broker industry, as the project was readying to exit beta, ended up requiring a major pivot away from our original API vendor (which went pretty smoothly thanks to the care we took in developing our code.) Our company was acquired a year later. A few months after that, the new owners laid off me and most my team and ended up abandoning the platform. I learned several lessons from this experience I'd be happy to talk about in more detail.		This was all highly speculative as we hadn't even hired the team yet when the request was presented to us. I made this clear to the CEO when I presented him our estimates. In the end, the product took about 15 months to release to production (less than 12 months if measuring from when the 4-developer team was fully assembled). Our company negotiated some minor concessions on the monthly fees. A major unexpected development in the online broker industry, as the project was readying to exit beta, ended up requiring a major pivot away from our original API vendor (which went pretty smoothly thanks to the care we took in developing our code.) Our company was acquired a year later. A few months after that, the new owners laid off me and most my team and ended up abandoning the platform. I learned several lessons from this experience I'd be happy to talk about in more detail.

			== Tell us in detail about the architecture of a project you’ve led and/or designed. Lay out the high level components (e.g. front-end, web servers, database) and then drill down and review the design of each component. ==

	==== Describe the process you used with your team in deploying a major product feature. ====		==== Describe the process you used with your team in deploying a major product feature. ====

Klenwell: /* Questions */

2022-05-18T18:30:20Z

Questions

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:30, 18 May 2022
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	== Questions ==		== Questions ==
			==== In 1-3 paragraphs describe a time-sensitive situation you faced that had major impact on the overall company. What was it, why was it so important and time sensitive, what did you do, what was the result? ====
			Shortly after I started at the first startup I worked at, a fintech startup building a turnkey asset management platform for independent retirement advisors, the CEO sat me down and informed me that he had signed a contract with an API-driven clearing service. This would be the backend for the new investor interface we wanted to build to automate and accelerate client onboarding for our advisor platform. For independent advisors, onboarding new clients with the advisor's broker is a major pain point. CEO wanted to know how long it would take for us to deliver this.

			The catch? In 6 months, we would be on the hook for a flat monthly service whether our product was ready or not. (The fee would be about the same as one developer's monthly salary.)

			I met up with the first engineer I had hired, who had past experience as a product manager, to review integration requirements and come up with an estimate organized around major features and milestones. We came up with three estimates: the 6-month version (totally unrealistic), a time-insensitive version (much more realistic but projecting 12-18 months for delivery), and a Goldilocks version that made some optimistic (but not too optimistic) assumptions and aggressively narrowed scope on some features. The Goldilocks version projected 9-12 months.

			This was all highly speculative as we hadn't even hired the team yet when the request was presented to us. I made this clear to the CEO when I presented him our estimates. In the end, the product took about 15 months to release to production (less than 12 months if measuring from when the 4-developer team was fully assembled). Our company negotiated some minor concessions on the monthly fees. A major unexpected development in the online broker industry, as the project was readying to exit beta, ended up requiring a major pivot away from our original API vendor (which went pretty smoothly thanks to the care we took in developing our code.) Our company was acquired a year later. A few months after that, the new owners laid off me and most my team and ended up abandoning the platform. I learned several lessons from this experience I'd be happy to talk about in more detail.

	==== Describe the process you used with your team in deploying a major product feature. ====		==== Describe the process you used with your team in deploying a major product feature. ====
	In brief, work with the product owner to break it down into milestones (if it's big enough to warrant them) and provide estimates on those. Break those milestones into user stories. Each user story should represent a unit of work ready for release upon completion. Milestones are mutable, user stories immutable (once development starts). Release continually: my teams usually work in two week sprints where main branch is released at sprint's end. If we need to defer the release of certain features or want to release the feature selectively for live testing, we use feature flags.		In brief, work with the product owner to break it down into milestones (if it's big enough to warrant them) and provide estimates on those. Break those milestones into user stories. Each user story should represent a unit of work ready for release upon completion. Milestones are mutable, user stories immutable (once development starts). Release continually: my teams usually work in two week sprints where main branch is released at sprint's end. If we need to defer the release of certain features or want to release the feature selectively for live testing, we use feature flags.
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	If something else is meant by the term deploy here (e.g. the process of actually deploying the completed code) or you'd like to dig deeper into the process outlined above (say, requirement gathering or user acceptance testing), I'm happy to discuss that.		If something else is meant by the term deploy here (e.g. the process of actually deploying the completed code) or you'd like to dig deeper into the process outlined above (say, requirement gathering or user acceptance testing), I'm happy to discuss that.

	==== ~~In 1-3 paragraphs describe a time-sensitive situation~~ you ~~faced that had major impact on the overall company. What was it, why was it so important~~ and ~~time sensitive, what did~~ you ~~do, what was the result~~? ====		====How do you determine shipping confidence? what tools and/or process do you rely on?====
	~~Shortly after I started at the first startup I worked at~~, ~~a fintech startup building a turnkey asset management platform for independent retirement advisors~~, ~~the CEO sat me down~~ and ~~informed me that he had signed a contract with an API-driven clearing service~~. ~~This would be the backend for the new investor interface we wanted to build~~ to ~~automate and accelerate client onboarding for~~ our ~~advisor platform. For independent advisors, onboarding new clients~~ with ~~the advisor's broker is a major pain point. CEO wanted to know how long it would take for us to deliver this~~.		A deliberate crafted ever-improving process organized around automated tests, continuous integration, user acceptance testing, and, when needed, postmortems.

			Services like Bugsnag and Datadog have also proven useful and allow our team to measure performance of our apps with greater confidence.

	~~The catch~~? In ~~6 months~~, ~~we would be on the hook for a flat monthly service whether~~ our ~~product was ready or not~~. ~~(The fee would be about the same as one developer's monthly salary~~.)		====What does testing mean to you? Why is it important and when have you done it?====
			Testing is critical. For both understanding and even explaining an application and for guarding against regressions. In my last role, lack of tests with legacy apps was one of our biggest challenges. With tests, I try to focus on two things in particular: majors specs/feature requirements and bugs.

	I ~~met up with~~ the ~~first engineer~~ I ~~had hired, who had~~ past ~~experience as a product manager, to review integration requirements and come up with an estimate organized around major features~~ and ~~milestones~~. ~~We came up with three estimates:~~ the ~~6-month version (totally unrealistic), a~~ time~~-insensitive version (much~~ more realistic but projecting 12-18 months for delivery), and a Goldilocks version that made some optimistic (but not too optimistic) assumptions and aggressively narrowed scope on some features. The Goldilocks version projected 9-12 months.		====Code review: What is this process like for you and the person being reviewed and vice versa?====
			On recent teams I've led, the process has been good. Good linting tools like Rubocop have eliminated a lot of the chippiness that I've experienced in distant past and read other engineers complain about. Our biggest issue was the time investment. We were always searching for ways to make it more efficient.

	~~This was all highly speculative as we hadn't even hired the team yet when the request was presented~~ to us. I ~~made this clear to the CEO when~~ I ~~presented him our estimates. In the end, the product took~~ about ~~15 months to release to production (less than 12 months if measuring from when the 4-developer team was fully assembled)~~. ~~Our company negotiated some minor concessions on the monthly fees~~. ~~A major unexpected development in~~ the ~~online broker industry~~, as ~~the project was readying~~ to ~~exit beta, ended~~ up ~~requiring a major pivot away from our original API vendor (which went pretty smoothly thanks~~ to ~~the care we took in developing our code.) Our company was acquired a year later. A few months after~~ that~~, the new owners laid off me and most~~ my ~~team and ended up abandoning the platform. I learned several lessons from this experience I'd be happy to talk about in more detail~~.		====What are your thoughts on pair programing?====
			I prefer to use it sparingly. I've never worked for an organization that's done it full-time but I've read about them. One point I've seen noted repeatedly is how mentally taxing it can be. At the same time, it's often praised as a great way to get new developers up to speed and that's how my teams have generally used it.

	====In order to best run routine database queries on very large datasets, is it better to build the software in PHP or Python?====		====In order to best run routine database queries on very large datasets, is it better to build the software in PHP or Python?====
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	https://kinsta.com/blog/php-vs-python/		https://kinsta.com/blog/php-vs-python/

			====What are your Career Goals / Aspirations? - Where do you want to be in 3/5/10 years?====
			I'd love to be at the same organization. Not one necessarily focused on hyper-growth but on sustainable growth, investment rather than extraction or exploitation, and the well-being of its employees.