NetApp

Huge pool of some of the most talented engineers I have worked with. The most open management team I have ever seen.

Don't believe the hype. For those that are there that chant at every company meeting, "It's the best place to work," they must have worked at some horrible places. Technical Directors are a role without a mandate, with an inability to execute on a vision. Management spends time managing up rather than being honest with the reality of what we were doing.

Remove the layers of meaningless middle management, invest in the tools that enable productivity, stop wasting time with initiatives like SAP just to appease partners, tear apart the software stack and the management structure created around it, and enable innovation. The world is changing under your feet, and you can't react fast enough.