Reflections on my startup and business experiences
30 June 2018
Over the past few years, I have reviewed several thousand graphic designer and product designer job applications. I have interviewed dozens of candidates and hired twelve. All of the designers who landed an interview and were hired took specific actions that made them stand out from their peers. This post details five ways you can gain a similar competitive advantage.
5 February 2018
This week marked my fifth year working full-time at Industry Dive. And what an adventure it has been – from our small office in Dupont to a 50+ person company in Chinatown to a 100+ employee company in McPherson, two blocks from the White House. How did it all begin? Here's a quick look back describing how and why I joined the Dive team during the startup phase.
5 March 2017
This post captures my evolution as a manager from Nov. 2014 – March 2017. When I first became a manager, it was out of necessity. I needed help. At the time, I was the only designer at Industry Dive, a B2B media rocket ship, and the projects were hitting my inbox faster than I could read the requests. So I made my first hire, and my quality of life improved. Then I started to grow. The transactional perspective with which I began slowly shifted to one focused more on individual and team development.
28 April 2016
Following a NASA hackathon, I decided to capture some of the lessons I've learned over the years. What follows is sort of a playbook or "how to" guide for hackathons based on my experiences. It is totally biased and by no means comprehensive. Use it to start thinking creatively about common questions and problems a lot of hackathon participants encounter.
24 February 2016
I have been asked for design career advice from a number of college students. One of the questions that keeps coming up… Do I need to learn to code? A lot of times, I’ll say, “it depends.” This week, I changed my answer. I told a college senior, “no.”
6 June 2015
I was accepted into the no. 1 HCI program in the country. This is why I decided not to go.
