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"I’ve also discovered that nothing is more motivating than a high profile, non-negotiable deadline." Sweet jesus no. If you don't understand what is required

"I’ve also discovered that nothing is more motivating than a high profile, non-negotiable deadline." Sweet jesus no. If you don't understand what is required do NOT sign your team up for that. That's what causes death marches. Now if you had the team already analyze the opportunity and prototype "the hard parts" then by all means go for it :)

hga 13y ago
I found that bit suspect as well, but I think this guy is more flexible, e.g. look at her discussions on features vs. making things sold. The one deadline she mentioned was implicitly a decision, "we will launch at X event". That eliminates the first general problem with these, they're usually artificial (vs. what I like to refer to as the "pesky" customer challenge). It also allows for the right sort of deadline bargaining, what shall we present then? Vs. the "I think I can do this in 4 weeks" which the worst managers take as a starting negotiating position.
binarysolo 13y ago
The followup text: "Our team performed brilliantly in the month leading up to our launch at the South by Southwest festival; they worked day and night. Now I look for major events that we can all work toward every three months. It’s a great way to keep everyone pointing in the same direction and working fast." Ugh, I'm really not sure this founder learned the right lesson here either. I'm hoping there's an unspoken here that deadlines are being set in a less-arbitrary method grounded with a technical reality check.
- rhizome 13y ago
  "The death march was a complete success!"
hagbardgroup 13y ago
More wisdom from the "Talent Management Secrets of Joseph Kony."
mattm 13y ago
> Within a few months, we had a team of four. Development seemed slow and our live site was littered with bugs. Our team didn’t seem driven; they all finished work each day at 5:30. I remember watching “The Social Network” and admiring the passion and intelligence of the group of young engineers. My team didn’t look like that. I think the real lesson is she hired the wrong team. In all fairness, it's a tough thing to do seeing as she had no technical background to evaluate them. Finishing work at 5:30 is a good thing but slow development and a site "littered with bugs" is something that shouldn't happen, especially with such a small team.
- Bahamut 13y ago
  It may very well be that she hired the wrong developers. However, it doesn't look like she's respectful of developers either.
- watwut 13y ago
  I do not think she is able to recognize slow development from fast one. However, "littered with bugs" is a red flag for both team and the process (whoever sets it).
- pan69 13y ago
  This is a great example of misaligned expectations. She seems to think that developers are just as passionate about her startup idea as she is, be they aren't, even though they might say it. For these developers is just another job. By simply paying people and giving then a "task" to perform you don't create an intrinsic involvement. This is why you need a technical co-founder. By the way, the "posse.com" that's up there now is already a pivot from the original idea which was something with bands and music etc, can't remember.
- IsaacL 13y ago
  I agree with you, and I don't think you deserve the downvotes. (Especially as people shouldn't downvote you just because they disagree). She sounds like a competent founder but one who started out with almost no knowledge of managing developers. No-one is born knowing how to manage developers and it does sound like she is learning. I think she expressed herself ineloquently in this article, which makes her sound like a bit of a slave-driver, but I think it's misleading to draw that conclusion. I can empathise with devs who find themselves stuck on projects with clueless managers, but I can also empathise with passionate product founders who see their vision and savings wasted on crappy contract developers. Hard to say which situation this is.
angersock 13y ago
Had a conversation with two of our C-level folks a week or two ago specifically about deadlines. They'd used the word "crunch", and also were talking about "marathon, not sprint". I explained that they really shouldn't use the C-word unless they were ready to deal with the consequences--especially with folks from the gamedev industry or startup stuff, there is a lot of psychic baggage with that. ~ If you tell me that we're doing a crunch, I take that to mean that the product deadline is paramount--bugs that can't be papered over a distant second, and everything else is not worth thinking about. Crunch means that I work whatever schedule lets my team write the most code fastest, and that we are released from any obligation other than "make this date". If that means working until four or five in the morning, and then stumbling in around noon, and telling a veep to fuck off and get out of the way, that's what it is. The c-word is something that has cost people their marriages, has cost companies millions in technical debt, and has cost our industry a lot in untrackables--it's the nuclear option. ~ They thanked me for my explanation, and promised not to use the c-word again unless they really, really meant it.
- captainmojo 13y ago
  I've gone through more of these than I can count. They've all ended as victories, but that's just because my luck hasn't changed yet. Thanks for messaging this up, angersock. Double thanks if you're one of the kind souls who shields delirious coders from having to communicate with stakeholders.

hga 13y ago

I found that bit suspect as well, but I think this guy is more flexible, e.g. look at her discussions on features vs. making things sold. The one deadline she mentioned was implicitly a decision, "we will launch at X event". That eliminates the first general problem with these, they're usually artificial (vs. what I like to refer to as the "pesky" customer challenge). It also allows for the right sort of deadline bargaining, what shall we present then? Vs. the "I think I can do this in 4 weeks" which the worst managers take as a starting negotiating position.

binarysolo 13y ago

The followup text: "Our team performed brilliantly in the month leading up to our launch at the South by Southwest festival; they worked day and night. Now I look for major events that we can all work toward every three months. It’s a great way to keep everyone pointing in the same direction and working fast." Ugh, I'm really not sure this founder learned the right lesson here either. I'm hoping there's an unspoken here that deadlines are being set in a less-arbitrary method grounded with a technical reality check.

rhizome 13y ago
"The death march was a complete success!"

hagbardgroup 13y ago

More wisdom from the "Talent Management Secrets of Joseph Kony."

mattm 13y ago

> Within a few months, we had a team of four. Development seemed slow and our live site was littered with bugs. Our team didn’t seem driven; they all finished work each day at 5:30. I remember watching “The Social Network” and admiring the passion and intelligence of the group of young engineers. My team didn’t look like that. I think the real lesson is she hired the wrong team. In all fairness, it's a tough thing to do seeing as she had no technical background to evaluate them. Finishing work at 5:30 is a good thing but slow development and a site "littered with bugs" is something that shouldn't happen, especially with such a small team.

Bahamut 13y ago
It may very well be that she hired the wrong developers. However, it doesn't look like she's respectful of developers either.
watwut 13y ago
I do not think she is able to recognize slow development from fast one. However, "littered with bugs" is a red flag for both team and the process (whoever sets it).
pan69 13y ago
This is a great example of misaligned expectations. She seems to think that developers are just as passionate about her startup idea as she is, be they aren't, even though they might say it. For these developers is just another job. By simply paying people and giving then a "task" to perform you don't create an intrinsic involvement. This is why you need a technical co-founder. By the way, the "posse.com" that's up there now is already a pivot from the original idea which was something with bands and music etc, can't remember.
IsaacL 13y ago
I agree with you, and I don't think you deserve the downvotes. (Especially as people shouldn't downvote you just because they disagree). She sounds like a competent founder but one who started out with almost no knowledge of managing developers. No-one is born knowing how to manage developers and it does sound like she is learning. I think she expressed herself ineloquently in this article, which makes her sound like a bit of a slave-driver, but I think it's misleading to draw that conclusion. I can empathise with devs who find themselves stuck on projects with clueless managers, but I can also empathise with passionate product founders who see their vision and savings wasted on crappy contract developers. Hard to say which situation this is.

angersock 13y ago

Had a conversation with two of our C-level folks a week or two ago specifically about deadlines. They'd used the word "crunch", and also were talking about "marathon, not sprint". I explained that they really shouldn't use the C-word unless they were ready to deal with the consequences--especially with folks from the gamedev industry or startup stuff, there is a lot of psychic baggage with that. ~ If you tell me that we're doing a crunch, I take that to mean that the product deadline is paramount--bugs that can't be papered over a distant second, and everything else is not worth thinking about. Crunch means that I work whatever schedule lets my team write the most code fastest, and that we are released from any obligation other than "make this date". If that means working until four or five in the morning, and then stumbling in around noon, and telling a veep to fuck off and get out of the way, that's what it is. The c-word is something that has cost people their marriages, has cost companies millions in technical debt, and has cost our industry a lot in untrackables--it's the nuclear option. ~ They thanked me for my explanation, and promised not to use the c-word again unless they really, really meant it.

captainmojo 13y ago
I've gone through more of these than I can count. They've all ended as victories, but that's just because my luck hasn't changed yet. Thanks for messaging this up, angersock. Double thanks if you're one of the kind souls who shields delirious coders from having to communicate with stakeholders.