A candidate recently came to me seeking the advice for the following situation: A few weeks after accepting a software development position with Dell, he received an offer from Microsoft as a Program Manager. This was his dream job, and his dream company, but he would have to turn it down. Or would he? I [...]

A guest blog post I wrote for Women Grow Business: Working for Microsoft, Google and Apple, I not only became a better engineer – I became a better entrepreneur. Their successes and failures, encapsulated in these five lessons, provided me with invaluable instruction in how to build a company and effectively compete. #1. Build a [...]

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve started outsourcing. A lot. Most of the outsourcing goes to an (awesome) assistant in the Philippines, who does everything from online research to document editing. She’s great, and she’s quite literally changed my approach to working. Although most people are merely intrigued by my hiring a remote assistant, a surprising [...]

Last weekend marked my one year anniversary of leaving Google. So, with that said, here’s my one year re-cap! What have I been doing? EmptySpaceAds: I joined EmptySpaceAds as its VP of Engineering, where I helped to relaunch our product. We’ve created a brand new (and pretty fantastic, if you ask me) way of showing [...]

Last week, TechCrunch re-posted snippets from an email list for former googlers. This article was set up to make an obvious conclusion: Google is not the fairy tale land of employment. Wait, wait, you mean not everyone loves their job at Google? Shocking! A logical person might point out that what one person loves another [...]

I usually don’t cross-post Seattle Anti-Freeze events, but this one’s for a good cause… Drink for the Cure / Bid for the Cure – Charity AuctionOct 1, 2008 at 8pm (Location TBD – Belltown / Downtown) Every three minutes, a woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer. One out of every eight [...]

One week in Buenos Aires really makes you appreciate the things the U.S. gets right – simple things, like safety regulations. The sidewalks are uneven and have gaping holes. Lane dividers in the road are mere suggestions. Steps are barely large enough for your foot and often vary in size. Building doors frequently open inwards. [...]

Yes, folks, it’s true. April 11th, almost three years after my first day as a Googler (or “Noogler”), was my last day. Did I hate it? Did something go horribly wrong? Did the company completely change? No no, nothing like that. I loved Google. It’s a fantastic company, particularly for engineers. You’re driving the products, [...]

More than one friend has read my blog and asked, “when did you become such a feminist?” The assumption is, of course, that all feminists must be bra-burning and man-hating lesbians. Having never observed me actually burn a bra, universally hate men, or, well, “swing the other way” (much to some people’s disappointment), you can [...]

My laptop, which I fear is on its last legs, got a little servicing today from Dell. It’d been blue screening frequently since, well, since Dell last visited me two months ago (broken fan -> overheating laptop). I’m going to assume that’s just a coincidence, although the timing is suspicious… I tried reinstalling windows first, [...]