In the first part of this article, I outlined seven critical traits of innovative teams that propel their businesses to success: Team Size, Team Construction, Team Duration, Team Alignment, Team Empowerment, Vision, and Culture. In this part, I’ll elaborate on the first three[…]

Innovation is often touted as the key to business success, but what does it entail beyond creating uniquely valuable products? The concept of innovation is frequently used broadly, and its precise definition is rarely explored in depth. Innovation alone does not guarantee success,[…]

The chief technology officer (CTO) is one of the least understood and most broad of all c-suite positions.  The role also varies quite a bit at different company stages.  What one company expects of its CTO may be entirely different from what the[…]

I’ve been thinking about how much of my time is leaking to the digital, always-available norm that exists, especially in the high tech industry that I work.  Basically, I’m in the same group of folks who are wired up to the inbox and always[…]

I use a 5-bay Synology network-attached server (“NAS”), Model 1513+, with 5 x 6TB drives in a number of different RAID configurations for various storage needs such as a personal media network, backups, and general storage.  There are plenty of things that you[…]

A couple of years ago, I posted some thoughts about high-level architecture and design goals, really they are just the tip of the iceberg.  Here are some additional engineering principles – predominately don’t over-engineer and leverage the cloud.  Complex systems are difficult and[…]

I come across many businesses that are not grounded in basic high level architecture and design goals.  Basically, they simply leap from features to building stuff, most often this happens because everyone is in a mad rush to just get something working as[…]

If I tell you that you can purchase a brand new iPhone for $5, what do you think?  Yet if I tell you that you can hire an outsourced developer for $10 / hour, somehow we set aside our dad’s advice that “nothing is[…]

Since I’ve been about 14 years old, I’ve been an entrepreneur.   I started mowing lawn, shoveling driveways and painting houses.  I bought a freaking office desk with my own money when I was 16 – ok I admit it that’s a bit weird.[…]