When you accept a new job, you don’t know who you are going to work with, what you are going to be doing, and how much (or little) you’re going to like it. Call everyone you want. Ask their opinions. Trust the fact that a good friend referred you for the gig. Revel in the… more
The rules are simple: Take 20 minutes from your busy day Grab some stickies (or equivalent) And tell everyone what’s up Post a link with a comment (or don’t) Winner gets a copy of the book (but that’s not the point) Tell a friend.
The creation of a Rands article goes like this. First, the idea strikes me at some random part of the day… usually in the car to or from work. I spend anywhere from a day to a month fine-tuning this idea in my head until it’s something I want to start writing about. It’s entirely… more
On the list of things I do a lot, typing is up there close to breathing. It started with the Apple II forever ago and now it’s now and I’m still typing every single day and each day I wait for the sharp pains to start racing up my forearms My only guess that I… more
Buried. Back at the start-up, we were shifting gears. After six months of talking about shipping a product, we needed to ship a product and nothing gets everyone’s attention like a deadline. The good news was that QA had been doing its job and there was a pile of work in our bug database. The… more
“Rands, I’ve got the idea. I’m serious. It’s going to be big and I’ve got my three MBA buddies lining up seed financing. Seriously big idea here, Rands. And I need a favor.” Uh oh. “I need a Free Electron.” There is a list of the six confirmed Free Electrons that I know. Every six… more
Actual conversation. DSL has been off for over 12 hours and that’s about my limit. There’s only so long I can do without a fresh set of bits, so I break down and do my third least favorite thing to do… call customer support. Customer support frustrates me because of the well-designed ability to do… more
Two days later and the WWDC hangover is just about gone. I’d like to say the hangover was primarily booze-related, but it was a stress hangover. We had some big things to pitch this year and getting that pitch refined took some work. That is an understatement. Thanks to everyone who dropped by to say… more
The week before WWDC is a good time to remember that it won’t always be like this. Take a deep breath and…
The first few days of any significant overseas trip, I’m a jerk. It’s not just the jetlag that’s poisoning my attitude; it’s the lack of context. I get twitchy when I don’t know where my stuff is. Combine that with the fact that no one is speaking English, there are two toilets in the bathroom,… more
