Stories and ideas
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Crop Diversity and Climate Change
One of the big questions I got asked when talking to potential investors for Manzanita Cooperative was why in the world we were working with wild plants instead of already domesticated plants like every other agricultural research company in the world? The short answer was that genetic diversity in our food is critical to human…
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Manzanita
It’s been a long time since I updated this blog! Over the last almost 2 years now, I’ve transitioned from being a Product Manager / Head of Product for software startups to following in both of my grandfather’s footsteps in agriculture – with the crucial difference that I’m working on sustainable agricultural systems. I knew…
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First Generation Professional
I had a conversation recently with a recruiter friend and they used a phrase to describe me that I hadn’t realized was applicable – first generation professional. And it’s true. Both of my grandfathers grew up as farmers. My father’s father grew up in a 1-room house with a dirt floor as sharecropper in Oklahoma…
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Ozymandius
I met a traveler from an antique land,Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stoneStand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,Tell that its sculptor well those passions readWhich yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,The hand…
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Playing nice
I often drop my kids off for school and daycare in the morning. It gives me a little more time with them, and being in management now means I have more control over my schedule than my wife, which makes it easier. Lately, I’ve often also been dropping the neighbor’s daughter as well – let’s…
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Leadership lessons from my garden
Since leaving my most recent position, I’ve found myself with plenty of time to spend in my garden. The timing could hardly be better – October-December is planting season for most native plants here in California as the winter rains spur growth and renewal. For Californians who are in tune with our natural cycles this…
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On the Ethics of Professionalism
This article is a plea for human empathy, for connection, for community. For all the things that make us human. That may not come across as “professional” to some people. Which is why it’s necessary. I recently wrote a post about the true story of a father stranded on the road with his little girl,…
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Paying Privilege Forward
A few thoughts on the race and class privileges baked into tech startup culture.
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The political science of product roadmapping
One of the trickiest parts of Product Management is roadmapping – figuring out what to build. There are almost as many strategies and approaches to figuring it out as there are product managers! I’m currently working on roadmapping for a major effort at Rockbot, and so I’ve been thinking a lot about my process and…
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The Toddler: A Prestige class for Pathfinder RPG
It’s an open secret that I am, to put it delicately, a gigantic nerd. One of the few pastimes that has survived becoming a father is the occasional session of Pathfinder (a tabletop roleplaying adventure game that was originally based on the D&D 3.5 rule set) that I play with friends. One of the essential…
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Be the person who stops
Let me tell you a true story. A father goes back to Utah where he grew up to show his three year old daughter the beauty of the high desert. As they are driving, the car breaks down. He goes to call a tow truck but his cell phone has no signal. He’s worried, but…