What motivated your transition from Dev to Product manager? I am looking to make a similar switch, would it be okay to reach out to you for guidance? Advice on the transition would be incredibly useful!
Mild digression, but my 2 cents would be to document as much as you can. Some people say, Good code should be self explanatory. Building something on top of existing code, debugging can be a real pain in the butt with that attitude.
People are quite comfortable living in places (yes, rent is shit) where there are multiple opportunities so that when one doesn't work out, they can move to the next without uprooting their family/social system. Silicon Valley allows for that in a 30-40 mile radius.
- Number of likeminded folks as @dhogan pointed out. The sheer volume of meet ups, etc. is incredible.
So many startups, so many cutting edge tech companies and a lot of driven folks. You can bounce around as much as you like in the valley. Companies tend to home themselves here, since there is an easier talent pool to tap into. I am not saying other places don't have that, but the volume of such folks + opportunities is very high!
Can you clarify what aspect of the relationship you intend on tracking ?
If it is going to be a "how frequently do I stay in touch with X", I might consider it since it will be nice to get an automated reminder to text/call this person.
My 2 cents on this(opinion) and how I am struggling to cope with tech usage in my life.
I noticed that I spend a disproportionately high volume of time "consuming" than "creating". Recently I have been making efforts to create more. writing, drawing, painting. Something, anything so that the brain can spend some time coming up with new things instead of just reading/passively participating.
Technology has empowered a lot of us to create more, but it has also played a huge part in 'consumption', since it is so easy to swipe up and get the next article and the next and the next. Not to forget passive reading where I just skim through without actually paying any kind of attention to detail.
Yeah, consumption vs. creation is a great way to sum it up.
By and large I've cut WAY back on my video game playing (like, from several hours a week down to maybe a half hour of mobile gaming in bed at night) and tried to replace it with "healthier" activities like learning guitar and gardening.
Oddly enough, I don't feel like I have any more free time in my life. I'm wondering if I've filled the gap with more consumption via Reddit/HN/reading books enough to make up for the difference.
And that's the rub, because a lot of the stuff I read online or in books isn't garbage. HN has some interesting topics, my Reddit feed is lots of interesting stuff for the most part now, and I'm reading a great book on investing. Ultimately though those are still consumptive activities.
* Lolita by Vladmir Nabakov ; an absolute master class.
* The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling ; one for the memories!
Non Fiction :
* Letters of Note by Shawn Usher; a compendium of wonderful letters from the past. Highly recommended. https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Note-Collection-Correspondenc...
* Deep work by Cal Newport ; very applicable to the modern day distracted soul.