Board-relevant C-level. Hands-on enough that my code still ships to prod.
Wrong at two altitudes simultaneously, which is a gift.
I've spent thirty years in technology at two altitudes that rarely share a passenger. At one, I've been a C-level executive at public companies — boards, budgets, the calls that show up on earnings calls. At the other, I still write code that deploys to production, this week, with my name on the commit. Most people pick an altitude and defend it. I commute between them, which means the strategy is checked against what actually builds, and the code is checked against what actually matters.
At 30,000 feet
C-suite roles at public companies. Board rooms, earnings calls, four patents. The view where technology is a line item and a bet.
At sea level
Production code, this week, with my name on the commit. Data platforms, AI pipelines. The view where technology is a join that quietly duplicated 700 rows.
The industry is full of executives who haven't touched code in a decade and engineers who've never sat where the checks get signed, each confidently wrong about the other's world. I've decided the more honest position is to be wrong about both, simultaneously and in public. That's the newsletter. Buckle up at whichever altitude you boarded from.
Every essay lands twice
The Two Altitudes Debrief
Each piece closes with the same two paragraphs: what the executive should do with it, and what the practitioner should do Monday. Readers learn to scroll to their altitude.
Latest essay
The Interview Questions Coming for the Class of 2027
From 30,000 feet
Your screening stack — résumé, portfolio, take-home — now measures model access, not judgment. Rebuild one interview loop this quarter around planted landmines and verification questions, and re-examine whether your performance metrics still pay for output volume.
At sea level
Start the log today: every time an AI hands you something plausible and wrong, write down what it was and how you caught it. Interviews are about to be won by the people with a drawer full of true stories.