Brendan's Reflections

  • Can I explore your API in a browser address bar?

    I like this best practices guide to designing APIs by Vinay Sahni. In it he offers some excellent advice, but one particular design principle is worth heeding and has lots of implications, namely the API should be “explorable via a browser address bar.”  This means several things (some of which he mentions, some of which…

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  • How To Get That Product Manager Job

    Interested in becoming a Product Manager?  Check out this informative and entertaining presentation by Google Product Manager Shreyas Doshi on How To Get That Next PM Job: Some Highlights: Go ahead and do the job at your current company, before you earn the title Best outcome of an interview: the interviewer learned something new

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  • The one cost engineers and product managers don’t consider

    I love this article from Chris Gale, VP of Engineering at Yammer – The one cost engineers and product managers don’t consider – which is about reducing complexity… On the product side, your best tool for eliminating complexity cost is data. Studies show that most product ideas fail to show value, and many even remove value. If…

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  • Are coders worth it?

    An interesting long form piece in Aeon Magazine by James Somers – titled “Are coders worth it?” – aims to examine whether web developers are worth the six figure salaries that they currently command in their first year of employment. I am a web developer, and there has never been a better time to do what I…

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  • The Automattic Creed

    I’m a sucker for a good creed.  Check out Automattic’s: I will never stop learning. I won’t just work on things that are assigned to me. I know there’s no such thing as a status quo. I will build our business sustainably through passionate and loyal customers. I will never pass up an opportunity to…

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  • Avoiding Innovation Debt

    Peter Bell wrote an interesting blog entry on Avoiding Innovation Debt.  What he is calling Innovation Debt is the stagnation that follows long periods of failing to invest in the technical skills of engineers. Innovation debt is the cost that companies incur when they don’t invest in their developers. It happens when the team is…

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  • Brant Cooper in the founders’ studio

    Two days ago I attended my first London Meetup.  It was with Lean Startup London, and the topic was In The Founders’ Studio With Brant Cooper, Entrepreneurs Guide to Customer Development. The affable host was Salim (‘Sal’) Virani (@SaintSal) who organized it as a open chat with Brant Cooper.  I had never heard of Brant…

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  • On Monetizing Intent

    90%+ of Google’s Revenue comes from monetizing intent.  What does that mean?  It means that google is best positioned to know what you are looking for *right now*.  Because you start your search with them.  So they sell you and your current intentions to advertisers. There is huge $ in knowing the intent of consumers. …

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