Can you really travel the world all without hoping on a plane? Well if that world is the world of coffee, it’s certainly possible to circumnavigate the globe all within a few blocks in New York City. From Italy to Australia and everywhere between, some of the world’s best coffee styles and shops are all easy to find between Port Authority and Penn Station. There’s no substitute to actually going around the world to experience […]
My first time in Berlin, I left thinking, “it’s alright, but it’s not Germany.” My second time, knowing a bit more of what to expect, I liked it more, but still didn’t love it, maybe because I visited in the depth of winter and during a cold streak. The third time though, during the marathon in the fall, I absolutely loved it. It may be different than the more traditional towns and villages around the […]
Should a new team focus on moving as fast as possible to get features out to their customers or start with the best practices and processes they know they’ll eventually need? Is it better to move fast and learn from users through a short feedback loop? If so, is a team doomed to suffer poor architectural decisions and accumulate massive tech debt until eventually someone decides to stop features and blow up the system? While […]
Last year I made a resolution to read more non-fiction and seek out books to expand my knowledge for business and leadership. Ready with my library card, Kindle, and of course Audible account, I read an astonishing 80 books in 2018. Many of them focused on business and leadership. I wanted to share some of my favorites from the year here. Some of the best books I read and the ones that stuck with me […]
When I started my new job at Amazon, I had the option to switch laptops. I’d been using a MacBook Pro for the last 5 or 6 years, and decided it was time to go back to Windows. My first day, a brand new HP Elitebook awaited me, and though it’s only been a week, I’m quite happy with the decision. Though I miss some parts of the Mac, I’ve already found a ton of […]
Raising twin boys brings a ton of joy, but for all the double snuggles, there are just as many times when it means double the fighting. Thankfully they aren’t yet big enough to do serious damage to each other, but it means it’s time to teach them to stop it now, before they can. Unfortunately, teaching them that expressing themselves in other ways goes against many cultural norms and is likely to get derailed by […]
Recently, a trend in parenting called intensive parenting has been getting a lot of attention. A style known for a high amount of time spent hands on with children and lots of activities, some have seen it as the antithesis of the hands off approach of earlier generations. Parents who practice this style tend to helicopter around and over their children and stay active in just about every activity, ensuring that their children are always […]
It’s never too early to teach our kids to be independent and self-reliant. We know independent kids grow up to be resilient and often successful adults. Sometimes though, it can be so hard to encourage independence in children, especially when it’s so much easier to just tell them what to do. But like so many things in parenting, the easy way isn’t usually the best. There are plenty of times when it’s so much easier […]
After nearly 7.5 years at Audible, I am moving over to Amazon NYC at the end of January. I’ll be joining the Supply Chain Optimization Technology group, leading a team using some pretty sophisticated Learning Machines – think Machine Learning, Deep Learning and more, as well as building on the latest Amazon technology. I’m super excited for it, but leaving Audible after the better part of a decade is incredibly bittersweet. I’m desperately going to […]
I’ve been playing with the Apple Watch for the last month, putting it through the paces as an everyday watch and a fitness tracker. I’ve had a Garmin Vivoactive for all three generations over the last three years, so I had a great comparison point. With it being a perfect time to test out running, skiing, and the normal daily uses of the watch, I was able to do a great head to head matchup […]