We’ve been talking about using auditions, or test projects, in hiring technical talent. In the first article, we talked about why auditions are important, and reviewed at a high level how to run a successful audition. In our next article, we covered how to test for technical competency during the audition. In this article, we’re […]
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Auditions – Testing for Technical Competency
In our last article, we covered the three goals of an audition and the basic guidelines for using one to hire technical talent. If you happened to miss it, do go back and read it before you dig in here. In this article, we’re going to cover how you, as a non-technical founder or product […]
How to Use Auditions in Hiring Technical Talent
Without a doubt the topic I get asked most about is hiring and managing technical talent. Â Whether it’s your technical co-founder, a key early hire, or a contractor, a key part of your process should be a test project. In the next few articles, we’re going to cover how to properly run a test project, […]
What is Technical Debt?
“The borrower is a slave to the lender” – The Book of Proverbs It’s going to happen to you. It’s inevitable. You’re going to take on technical debt as you build your product. In this article, we’re going to cover three important questions that you, as the business or product owner, will need to understand: […]
If It’s Not Written Down, It’s Not Done
Do you ever have those moments where you solve the same problem again because you didn’t write down how you solved it the first time? When you’re running hard, particularly in the early-going of a new company or product, the temptation is to let documentation go until everything else is done. After all, things are […]
“How Do I Know the Quality of My Code?”
Whether you’re using contractors or you have your own development team, chances are you’re going to wonder at some point whether or not the quality of your code is up to par. As you’re learning by now, almost every part of software development is a nuanced topic. Quality is no exception. The Problem with Measuring […]
What Are the Different Ways Software Gets Released?
If you’re building your first technology project, you’ll need to understand the different ways software gets distributed to your users so that you can make intelligent decisions on what is and is not included in a particular release. What’s a Release? Let’s start with defining the term “release”, as it means different things to different […]
“Why Don’t My Developers Build What I Asked For?”
There are many reasons why technology projects go over the cliff, but the inability to clearly communicate between product owners and developers is at or near the top of the list. It’s remarkable how often teams will go through cycle after cycle of bad results, waste copious quantities of time and money, and not adjust their […]
How to Use Demo Days to Stay on Track
When I was running the product team at Symantec responsible for building a new IT Service Desk product, one of the best things we ever did was put in place a regular demo day with the product owners / managers / stakeholders. Each Friday we’d have a web meeting where anyone who was interested in […]
Your App Just Crashed – Will You Survive?
It’s rare, particularly in early stage companies, to find any kind of disaster recovery plan. It’s a common misconception that disaster recovery (or DR for short) is what big companies do, and that smaller companies have no need for such bureaucratic nonsense. After all, nothing ever breaks. Right? If I were to walk into your […]