Stories and ideas
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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…
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On being Pro-Choice, in deed as well as name
I’ve been thinking a lot about the wave of recent laws criminalizing abortion. Despite memes from my liberal friends, the divide on this issue is not gender. 60% of women and 57% of men in america are pro-choice – the difference is within the margin of polling error. Meanwhile, many of the most dedicated pro-life…
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KPI’s for Life: Adding Beauty
My son was born almost 11 months ago and is just starting to walk on his own. Seeing him learn to stand on his own feet and the look of sheer glee on his face as explores his world is magical. Watching him and his big sister become more and more themselves is basically the…
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A sun drenched Wednesday
Sun drenched Wednesday afternoonParked in shade and watching my daughter sleepShe is exhausted, tired out from chasing wavesAnd watching the little crabs with their pinchy handsIn the tiny temporary stillness of tide pools And in all my years I have never loved as fiercelyAs I love this tiny utterly fearless personlike any father worth the nameI…
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Conquest culture
I’ve been thinking about gender and culture a lot lately. Part of that is my daughter transforming practically overnight from an infant to a walking talking little person with her own ideas and opinions, part of that is the immanent arrival of her little brother, and part of it is the ongoing string of revelations…
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My Daughter is not a princess
So this last weekend my wife and I hosted a Burn’s Night dinner for a few of our friends. It was great and we’re planning to make it an annual tradition. My favorite part of the night was after dinner sitting in a circle drinking whiskey and having everyone recite their favorite poem (sometimes with…
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A Close Look At Mobile Ad Fraud
I have a new article up on MediaPost looking at the various types of ad fraud in the mobile media space and how brands and their partners can combat them. Media quality remains a top challenge for digital marketers. With mobile ad spending accounting for 70.3% of total U.S. digital advertising spending, many of the techniques used…
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Tying digital media and actions to in-store behaviors
Many brands struggle to prove ROI for their digital media spend. These 3 simple strategies can to tie real-world conversions to digital advertising. Unlike TV and Radio advertising, digital media offers the possibility of tracking individual ad views to purchases. Many brands have made this leap for their online and in-app purchases, but a much…
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Thoughts on Trump’s election and California’s partisan divide
Like many Californians who grew up here, I have always considered myself a Californian more than an American. In my 20’s I spent years travelling back and forth across the United States as part of various environmental and social justice campaigns and that feeling only deepened. When outside the US I always tell people who…