The tech industry has changed after the zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) period ended. I want to talk about how these changes affect engineering managers (EMs). I became an EM before the end of the ZIRP period. I managed a single team of 5 engineers. I learned that coding was a hobby (or anti-pattern) for EMs. But, In 2025 we are in a different landscape and expectations have changed. I want to focus on two points: how many engineers should an EM manage? how technical should an EM be? James...
about 8 hours ago • 3 min read
It’s 2025, a new year. If you work for an established tech org your manager will likely ask you to set goals. Engineers and managers alike often dislike goal setting - viewing it as a box ticking exercise. In this article I’ll share my thoughts on making goal setting worthwhile. These are things I’m putting into practise myself. Understand your motivation We often go about goal setting the wrong way, especially within a company environment. Your manager suggests you set goals, so you set some...
3 months ago • 3 min read
This month I challenged myself to run better 1:1s. I’ve been in the industry for 13 years so I’ve done a lot of 1:1s. Either as a manger and with my manager. But lately I felt I could do better. My 1:1s were often stilted and unproductive. I felt I was just going through the motions. Bad 1:1s are a waste of time for everyone and cause people to feel unsupported. This month I tried to improve. I interviewed friends in the industry and consumed some great content. Here’s what I learned: 1....
4 months ago • 2 min read
What’s it like building a startup and raising money in London? I interviewed Antoine Asselin, the founder of UpMail, about his experience. He’s a solo founder, who has built out a team. He’s been operating the business successfully for 10 years. UpMail is a sales tool for hotel groups that helps sales people use media to make email more compelling. How did you get your first client and did you build software beforehand? Since I was working for a hotel group at the time, I knew what the team's...
6 months ago • 3 min read
Hi there, Recently I interviewed my friend and former colleague Wilhelm. He left his engineering job at a unicorn startup to found a company. Solo and self funded. After a year he ran out of money and decided to close the company. In this interview he shares what he learned through the process. The company Wilhelm started was called Meos. The aim was to give people back control of their personal data. Instead of Facebook and Linkedin owning your data Meos would be your personal cloud...
7 months ago • 4 min read