“The first crisis is going to be a big opportunity for trust building. Look for those situations and really go for it. Leave it all on the floor with that first crisis because it’s going to pay dividends later.”

“In my less guarded moments, I refer to myself as a bureaucrat. Because bureaucracy is actually a very software-like scaling model. It’s not necessarily a bad word. Bad bureaucracy is bad and good bureaucracy is good.”

“If you have your unique set of engineering metrics and the business people have a bunch of different metrics, you are going to be misaligned. Sharing the same goals helps you fight that.”

“Even after 20 years in the industry, you have stuff to learn—even from a co-op student. I have things to learn about the industry, the company I work for and the tools I use. My way is not always the best way.”

“Don’t schedule everything for the last minute so that single, super-skilled person has to take responsibility for everything. Build time into your schedule so they can train other people.”

“You can’t take your job title with you, you can’t always take your seniority with you, but you can take your toolbox of skills. So when you have an opportunity to learn and build that toolbox, take it.”

Back in 2019, the shortage of highly skilled tech workers caused “extreme concern” for 79% of CEOs — and it’s only gotten worse. It’s now essential for startup leaders to invest in their remote developers’ experience not only to retain them, but to benefit from a higher quality of work, psychological safety, and engagement.

The US resignation rate hit an all-time high of 4M in April 2021. In July, job openings peaked at 5.8M positions, the cherry on top of hiring challenges. Unfortunately for tech startups, the Great Resignation isn’t evenly distributed across all sectors.