Last month I accepted a role at Databricks. I’m writing this post explaining my decision mostly for me to look back on and hold myself accountable to, but perhaps it will also help anyone else going through a similar decision. I’ve decided to be candid about the decision as that is the only way this post will be helpful for others. I suspect the ideas will be relevant for multiple groups of people: those in the exact situation (deciding between Google and Databricks), those in similar situations (people considering Databricks or people deciding between another large tech company and a smaller tech company), and even those people making general career decisions. I mainly want this current blog post to be about Databricks and the reasons behind my deciding to join them, but it is impossible to consider that decision completely in a vacuum. Every decision represents passing by some other
Better every year. That is my goal. I believe that through focused effort I can keep improving and ensure my best years are still in front of me. With that in mind, at the start of a new year, I take the time to set my focus for the coming year. By being selective about where I direct my energy, I can achieve results that are exponentially greater than if I split my attention. I detailed my 2022 focus here (read that first if you want more context) & did a quarter year and half year updates as well.. Here is how I’m progressing. 2022 Theme: Forecasting I’m 3.5 books into this theme and generally still enjoying it. I’ve found forecasting and optimal decision making are very closely intertwined topics and the book I’m reading now ‘Thinking Fast and Slow” is a bit more focused on decision making and how
Last week I accepted a role at Databricks. I wanted to write about why I made that decision (like I previously wrote about my decision to accept a role at Google), but I realized it is impossible to discuss that decision completely in a vacuum. Every decision represents passing by some other opportunity, and in this case, the other opportunity was Google. With that in mind, before I write about my decision to join Databricks, I’ve decided to take this as a chance to explain a bit more about how I make career decisions. I think this post help provide context for that post while also serving its own purpose as a valuable look inside how one particular (and peculiar) person thinks about this type of decision. Ready for some spreadsheets? My Job Rubric If you’ve stumbled upon any of my blog posts previously, you might have picked up on
I recently resigned from my role at Google after four years (technically 20 days short of that) and so I wanted to take a moment to pause reflect on my time there. You can see previous updates for my 3rd year, 2nd year, 1st year and upon deciding to join. To start, I should be clear, that I’m >50% sure that I’ll work for Google again at some point in my career and I currently have a 7.5% chance assigned to me being the CEO at some point. Google is a great company and has many productive years ahead of it. My leaving Google is less about me leaving and more about me being lured away. I wasn’t looking to leave (in fact, I was setup for another few years of fast-paced growth) but a company reached out and made me an offer I wasn’t able to turn down (more
My work at Google is so mentally taxing that it turns my brain to unresponsive mush by the end of the day. I look forward to going home to see my kids, play with LEGO, wrestle, watch Disney movies and eventually fall asleep (sometimes before they do). My time spent with my with four kids, ages 4-8, so tries my patience. Answering ‘why?’, mediating conflicts, thinking about how to train them, consumes so much of my EQ that by the end I just want to be alone, in silence, running through the woods. Running for 4, 12, or 24 hours, covering up to 100 miles of mountainous trails is so physically demanding, the by the end I just want to sit in my desk chair and relax my body. Perhaps occupy my mind with a meeting or a few emails. Sometimes people ask me how I do everything. The answer
Twelve hours into my challenge, I reached the summit of Mailbox peak for the fourth time that day. I stood alone, next to the mailbox installed there as a monument, basking in the golden glow of sunset. Soft white flakes drifted down around me in my peripheral vision. Wait a second. It wasn’t snowing. It was June and far too warm. No, the drifting white flakes were only there for me. I was just getting a bit lightheaded. Maybe I should take it a bit easier for the next lap. On June 20th and 21st, 2022 I competed a 24 Hour footrace up and down Mailbox Peak. I propelled myself up 29,035 ft of elevation and 38 miles. Here is the race report. Goals Results New personal record for elevation covered in 24 hours – (Current Record = ~13k ft) – ACCOMPLISHED Complete a 24 hour footrace on Mailbox Peak
Better every year. That is my goal. I believe that through focused effort I can keep improving and ensure my best years are still in front of me. With that in mind, at the start of a new year, I take the time to set my focus for the coming year. By being selective about where I direct my energy, I can achieve results that are exponentially greater than if I split my attention. I detailed my 2022 focus here (read that first if you want more context) & did a quarter year update as well.. Here is how I’m progressing. 2022 Theme: Forecasting I’m 2.5 books into this theme and really enjoying it. I’ve found forecasting and optimal decision making are very closely intertwined topics and so I might have to take up the latter topic soon in order to keep reading any of these I can’t finish this year. “Superforecasting:
Tree types that are nice to have in a yard Giant killing and why I feel so connected to the character of David in that story Whether there are laws of physics that make it so enterprise software has to be horrible. Or, if it possible to make beautiful enterprise software and what that would require High performance cars Why there isn’t an EV minivan yet Risk Koi ponds What the chances are that I will be the CEO of Alphabet some day. What that would require of my and why I might or might not want to do it. How to prepare for it. Decentralized trust. What it is and how we would model it in a programmatically accessible way Walking across the state of Washington on the PCT The creation process behind the Ninja Turtles and why those characters were such a phenomenon How to structure decision making
Better every year. That is my goal. I believe that through focused effort I can keep improving and ensure my best years are still in front of me. With that in mind, at the start of a new year, I take the time to set my focus for the coming year. By being selective about where I direct my energy, I can achieve results that are exponentially greater than if I split my attention. I detailed my 2022 focus here (read that first if you want more context). Here is how I’m progressing. 2022 Theme: Forecasting I’ve gotten a good start to the year and have had a chance to make some solid progress here. I read Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction by Philip Tetlock and am now working on Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke. I’ve got a few more books lined up that were on my reading
This year my bucket list item is a repeat of last year’s item that I didn’t accomplish – running a 100 mile mountain trail race. Specifically, I want to finish the Cascade Crest 100. I would really love it if I could do so in under 24 hours, but I learned last year how hard that was and so I’m setting more moderate expectations (though, of course, I’ll try to overdeliver and get under 24 hours, because that is how I do things). Finishing the race at all is an accomplishment features over 20k ft of elevation gain (running up mountains), and is mostly on rocky, single-track trail. Last year I got COVID the week before the race and ended up dropping out after 35 miles, though later in the year I was able to run 100 miles in 24 hours on a flat course. Though I attribute most of