Call me maybe Over the last 12 months, I've gotten 48 different job reference calls about 41 different people who once worked at Textio. I don't know if people are especially actively looking for jobs this year or what, but this is almost twice as many as I've received in any prior year. I love doing job calls for Extios. If someone spent a long time doing great work building my company, they have me in their corner forever. This year, I've found it striking that, among all the people I've...
10 days ago • 3 min read
Your favorite robot Everyone is talking about the impact of AI on the job market. The headlines say things like, "Jobs getting replaced by AI" or "Your Favorite Company just laid off another 1,000 people thanks to AI." Though the downsizing stories are real (and get all the clicks), this is just one part of what AI is doing to workforce planning. The jobs landscape is changing rapidly right now. Remember 2023, when everyone was hiring prompt engineers? These days, not so much. But some new...
17 days ago • 3 min read
A modern way to fail Here's the stereotype about your worst manager: They're harsh, impatient, lose their temper. They yell a lot. They are defensive and dismissive. Intolerant of others. Sometimes they're just mean. If you've had a manager like that, I'm sorry. I haven't seen very many of them. In most workplaces, abusive managers aren't allowed to stick around. By contrast, most modern managers care about you and want you to grow. They’re understanding when you have personal emergencies....
24 days ago • 4 min read
Easy as A-B-C In my first job at Microsoft, I made it possible for Windows, Office, and other applications to put words from any language in alphabetical order. I know, you're thinking: That was a whole job? Any eight-year-old can put words in order! But at the time, Microsoft was expanding into languages that had never been encoded on computers before. Many of them didn't have traditional dictionaries and had no unified concept of alphabetical order. I'll never forget the weekend I spent in...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Like a broken clock that's right twice a day Last month, I wrote a nerd processor called Three things I was completely wrong about. In the piece, I shared three times that my guesses about data were absolutely wrong: #1: I was wrong about remote work #2: I was wrong about who says "I told you so" #3: I was wrong about small talk One thing I was right about, however, is that nerd processor readers would like reading about my mistakes. You shared the piece in record numbers. So for this week, I...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Spin the big wheel! Most of the time, when people recruit me for exec roles, they have a clear idea of the work they're asking me to consider. Over the last few months, I've had delightful conversations with companies looking for execs to lead AI transformation both in their products and in their internal operations. Many organizations are doing amazing work. But recently, I decided to explore one role in particular that was more nebulously defined. Let's play Job Roulette! Do not try this at...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Video killed the volleyball star Over the last year, I have recorded approximately eleventy zillion hours of my daughter playing volleyball. Do I know anything about volleyball? Not really! But my kid fell in love with the sport last year and has limitless enthusiasm for analyzing her game to see how she can improve. Cue the iPhone. You know who else has limitless enthusiasm for analyzing her game? ChatGPT. Unlike, say, me at age 15, my daughter loves getting feedback. She recently uploaded...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
You've gotta spend money to make money I don't know how many AI startups there are in the world, but I have looked at hundreds of them in the last 18 months. Let's assume I've seen only a small fraction of what actually exists, and the numbers get staggering quickly. I've written recently about why, despite quick early sales traction, it is pressingly difficult for AI companies to get renewals. I've also written about why most AI projects fail before they start. These are not especially...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Seattle vs. San Francisco As a long time Seattleite who has traveled to Silicon Valley a ton over the last decade, my trips always follow a predictable trajectory: Day 1Wow! It is like Stanford meets Disneyland here! Everyone is living in the future! This place is magical! Day 2I love the intensity. I am using my brain in stretchy ways, talking to smart people about interesting problems. (Also, my kids are in Seattle and I am only responsible for myself, so yes I can meet you for that 9pm...
2 months ago • 3 min read