Come Up With 500k+ User Project Ideas [Part 11] - Simple Is Complex

Engineers tend to get excited for complex ideas and bored with simple ones. However, there's more to the technical realm than simply "complex" and "simple". This lesson teaches you:

- How simplicity and complexity aren't a binary spectrum
- How complexity can actually be created from simplicity if you come in with the right mentality
- Why striving for a certain level of quality always brings a meaningful degree of complexity, explained with how Alex made 60,000+ lines of code changes to grow Random Name Picker to a 1 million+ user app
- Why the "simple is complex" mentality is critical towards becoming a truly strong engineer

Understanding ESPP - 85k Salary Example

This segment breaks down a numerical example of how **Employee Stock Purchase Plans (ESPPs)** work in practice. While ESPPs may offer modest financial gains, they remain a valuable benefit—especially at companies that don't provide RSUs.

- **Basic Example:** With an $85,000 base salary, contributing the maximum 10% ($8,500) into an ESPP with a 15% discount allows purchase of 100 shares at $85/share when market price is $100/share—equating to $10,000 worth of stock.
- **Annual Gain:** This results in an immediate $1,500 gain, illustrating the perk's effective “free money” nature through discounted stock purchasing.
- **Complex Structure:** Though ESPPs involve layers such as salary withholding, fund accumulation, and exercise schedules, the benefit is relatively straightforward once broken down.
- **Limited Upside:** Because ESPPs are tied to salary and offer a modest discount, the overall financial impact is smaller than RSUs—yet still meaningful.
- **Prevalence at Non-Big Tech Companies:** Many companies, particularly outside top-tier tech, offer ESPPs instead of RSUs. For example, PayPal provided only ESPP (no RSUs) to new grads eight years ago.

Become A Debugging Master [Part 7] - Understand The Blast Radius

One of the biggest mistakes software engineers make is jumping straight into fixing a bug without first understanding the full impact. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- Before fixing anything, assess and document the “blast radius” by asking when the issue started, who and where it impacts, and what product versions are affected
- Think ahead to the post-mortem by tracking detection, notification, response, and mitigation details early, even while still gathering info
- Communicate frequent updates to leadership and stakeholders—even if there’s no fix yet—to maintain trust and reduce panic

Come Up With 500k+ User Project Ideas [Part 14] - Your Superpower: Thinking Small

As a software engineer building things on the side, there is no chance that you'll take down Google. The good news is that you don't have to in order to achieve massive career benefits with side projects. This lesson teaches you:

- The massive advantage you have over Big Tech companies when it comes to the types of products you can build
- Why taking the more humble outcome with a lower success ceiling is much better for you tactically (and statistically) when it comes to building side projects

How To Make Sure Your Engineering Manager Gives You The Proper Credit

So many software engineers are frustrated with the amount of credit their manager gives them, especially during performance review. Watch this video to ensure that this never happens again.

Here are the core points from the video:
- **Assume that your manager doesn't know what you're doing** - Engineering managers are *extremely* busy, and they are unfortunately more busy the higher quality they are (i.e. more people will want to book meetings with them if they are good). A lot of the time, they simply won't have the time to proactively scan what you're doing - They aren't unaware of your impact/problems due to bad intent.
- **Alert your manager of important events**
  - cc them on communications (Slack/Teams message, emails) and documents
  - Put them as optional on meetings (they may even want to join if it's an important meeting)
  - Share in 1:1 meetings (this is the most powerful medium)

Related resources:
- [[Taro Top 10] Software Engineer To Engineering Manager (IC -> M Track)](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/oz0mnJvHHgM8NfVF7rgp/)
- [[Masterclass] What Software Engineers Should Look For In Their Engineering Manager](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/oeY7ncZhzJ5NO6dij5e7/masterclass-what-software-engineers-should-look-for-in-their-engineering-manager/)

SWE Internship Survival Guide [Part 3] - Do Your Research

Preparing before your internship starts can dramatically boost your success and confidence. Here are the core points from this lesson:

-  Do early research to understand your team, tech stack, workflow, and company culture so you can hit the ground running
- Gather information in two key areas: the day-to-day process (tools, tech, work style) and desired outcomes (like return offer criteria and evaluation timelines)
- Use sources like your future manager, forums, and most importantly, upperclassmen who’ve done similar internships—they’ll offer the most candid, balanced insights
- Ask thoughtful questions to get meaningful answers (e.g., “What do you wish you had known at the start?” instead of “Did you like it?”)
- Even learning small details—like which version control system is used—can give you a valuable head start and make your first week much smoother

Learn how to succeed overall in school as a Computer Science student here: <https://www.jointaro.com/course/15-years-of-software-engineer-knowledge-in-1-hour-30-minutes/succeeding-in-school/>

[Timeless Career Advice] How Software Engineers Use Code

Understanding The $$$ Behind Stock Options - Hypothetical Startup Example

This video uses a hypothetical example from Carta to illustrate how startup stock options can lead to financial gain—or loss—depending on the company’s trajectory. It highlights both the upside potential of a successful IPO and the downside risk if the company underperforms.

- A fictional employee joins a startup, *Meatly*, in January 2020 and receives 16,000 stock options at a $1 strike price. After two years, 8,000 options (50%) have vested.
- When the company IPOs at $5/share, the employee exercises the options, spending $8,000 for shares now worth $40,000—a **$32,000 profit**.
- Alternatively, if the employee exercises at departure and the company later sells for only $0.75/share, the same $8,000 purchase yields **just $6,000 in value**, resulting in a **$2,000 loss**, not including taxes.
- This example underscores that **stock options carry real financial risk**, unlike RSUs, which are granted outright and do not require upfront payment.
- Employees need to carefully consider market performance and timing before exercising options to avoid losses.

Beyond 'Cracking the Coding Interview': 10+ Years Of Tech Interview Evolution

For over a decade, *Cracking the Coding Interview* has been hailed as the "bible" of interview prep. Now, its high-anticipated sequel, [**Beyond Cracking the Coding Interview**](https://www.amazon.com/dp/195570600X), is out. While the original delved deeply into coding problems, the sequel shifts its focus to teaching you how to think—both in the context of technical interviews and throughout the job search process.

In this event, the authors of [**Beyond Cracking the Coding Interview**](https://www.amazon.com/dp/195570600X) will share how tech hiring has changed in the last decade. Ask them anything about interview prep, job stuff, negotiation, or algorithms and data structures. The authors are:

- [**Gayle Laakmann McDowell**](https://www.gayle.com/), the original author of CtCI
- [**Michael Mroczka**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-mroczka/), Google engineer and top interview coach on [**interviewing.io**](https://interviewing.io/?c=taro)
- [**Aline Lerner**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alinelerner/), founder of [**interviewing.io**](https://interviewing.io/?c=taro)
- [**Nil Mamano**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nilmamano/), Google engineer and algorithm researcher

Redeem a discounted mock interview from [interviewing.io](https://interviewing.io/?c=taro) on Taro Perks: [jointaro.com/perks/](https://www.jointaro.com/perks/)

DSA Crash Course [Part 76] - Counts Paths Walkthrough

In this lesson, Alvin walks through the python implementation for the *count_paths* problem.

Code along and test your work in the following editor workspace: <https://structy.net/problems/count-paths?language=py>

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [**Alvin's**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [**Structy**](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [**this link to get 20% off**](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: [**https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/)

How Rigid Should You Be With Your Coding / Content Schedule?

As a 17 year veteran of Amazon, Steve understands seasonality. Q4, the holiday season, is crunch time. There’s a huge pressure on Amazon employees to keep up with demand, and engineers will routinely spend long hours to ensure stability and quality.

The key to doing sustained creative work is to lean in and lean out of periods of intense work, at the right times. Amazon employees know that Q4 will end, and therefore, the crunchtime will end within a few months.

Similarly, for content creation or writing code, **it’s important to segment your schedule into chunks where you can create a deadline or “crunch time”.**

Another perspective is to think about quantity vs quality. For your side projects or content creation endeavors, it’s worth being rigid for a bit (“a commit everyday” or “a video every week”), but it’s also worth changing the routine after some time.

Burnout happens when people don’t see an end in sight from a stressful period. 

- [Learn about burnout](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/xsbM1ctL9HYa6d7E9ejh/the-silent-killer-of-too-many-software-engineer-careers-burnout/)
- [Avoid burnout](https://www.jointaro.com/question/CfPvvtIW02MxVwR1fnP4/how-can-i-avoid-burning-myself-out/)
- [3 Mistakes Engineers To Avoid (from an Eng Director)](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/lhj2batcsdMiEOSKOGLo/3-mistakes-too-many-software-engineers-make-from-a-director-at-airbnb/)

Connect with Steve: 
- [Taro](https://www.jointaro.com/profile/aZJL3ucq9dQnscO09F4JDRkgPo72/)
- [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@ALifeEngineered)

Ship & Grow 500k+ User Side Projects [Part 10] - Dogfooding

It's hard to get meaningful feedback to improve on your side project when it's just starting out. However, there is a way that you should really pursue as the developer. This lesson teaches you:

- The critical way for you to self-power leveling up your side project's quality
- Why dogfooding was an instrumental part of Facebook's and Instagram's success (and why it made the engineers better)
- Tips for dogfooding effectively and finding concrete ways to make your side project better

DSA Crash Course [Part 81] - Summing Squares Approach

In this lesson, Alvin explores the strategy to solving the following interview problem:

> Write a function, *summing_squares*, that takes a target number as an argument. The function should return the minimum number of perfect squares that sum to the target. A perfect square is a number of the form (i\*i) where i &gt;= 1.
>
> For example: 1, 4, 9, 16 are perfect squares, but 8 is not a perfect square.
>
> Given 12:
>
> summing_squares(12) -&gt; 3
>
> The minimum squares required for 12 is three, by doing 4 + 4 + 4.
>
> Another way to make 12 is 9 + 1 + 1 + 1, but that requires four perfect squares.

```
summing_squares(8) # -> 2
```

```
summing_squares(9) # -> 1
```

```
summing_squares(12) # -> 3
```

```
summing_squares(1) # -> 1
```

```
summing_squares(31) # -> 4
```

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [**Alvin's**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [**Structy**](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [**this link to get 20% off**](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: [**https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/)

Taro Book Club: Designing Data Intensive Applications - Chapter 1

Discussion led by: [**Ankur Agrawal**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/erankuragr/) & [**Raj Shah**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/therajshah/)\
\
In this #taro-bookclub discussion, we'll go over Chapter 1 of the book [**"Designing Data-Intensive Applications"**](https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Data-Intensive-Applications-Reliable-Maintainable/dp/1449373321) by Martin Kleppmann. This chapter is about Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Applications and will provide good mental models to think about reliability, scalability and maintainability of Distributed Data Systems.

Here's the agenda:

- We’ll break down and discuss the key concepts from Chapter 1.
- There will also be time for any questions and answers you might have.

Get ready for our first session on this engaging and informative book!

We hope to see you for Chapter 2 as well: [**Taro Book Club: Designing Data Intensive Applications - Chapter 2 (Data Models and Query Languages)**](https://www.jointaro.com/event/taro-book-club-designing-data-intensive-applications-chapter-2-data-models-and-query-languages/)

If you don't have a Taro Premium membership, you can get it at a discount with Ankur's special link here: [**https://www.jointaro.com/r/eventu507/**](https://www.jointaro.com/r/eventu507/)

DSA Crash Course [Part 85] - Array Stepper Approach

In this lesson, Alvin explores the strategy to solving the following interview problem:

> Write a function, *array_stepper*, that takes in a list of numbers as an argument. You start at the first position of the list. The function should return a boolean indicating whether or not it is possible to reach the last position of the list. When situated at some position of the list, you may take a maximum number of steps based on the number at that position.
>
> For example, given:
>
> - idx =  0  1  2  3  4  5
> - numbers = \[2, 4, 2, 0, 0, 1\]
>
> The answer is True.
>
> We start at idx 0, we could take 1 step or 2 steps forward.
>
> The correct choice is to take 1 step to idx 1.
>
> Then take 4 steps forward to the end at idx 5.

```
array_stepper([2, 4, 2, 0, 0, 1]) # -> True
```

```
array_stepper([2, 3, 2, 0, 0, 1]) # -> False
```

```
array_stepper([3, 1, 3, 1, 0, 1]) # -> True
```

```
array_stepper([4, 1, 5, 1, 1, 1, 0, 4]) # -> True
```

```
array_stepper([4, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 0, 4]) # -> False
```

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [**Alvin's**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [**Structy**](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [**this link to get 20% off**](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: [**https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/)

You can’t force someone into ownership.

You don’t know how much someone is carrying.\
But you feel it when they stop moving.

This isn’t about accountability frameworks or “holding people to outcomes.”\
It’s about what shuts people down—and what might help them open back up.

**Want to go deeper?**

- Explore more tools and courses at [**Taha’s Method**](https://www.tahasmethod.com/) — from interview prep to leadership development.

- Follow me on [**LinkedIn**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tahahussain/) and subscribe to my weekly newsletter, [**The Conscious Leader**](https://tahahussain.substack.com/), for more lessons like these.

- Get 30% off [**Top Tech Leader**](https://bit.ly/tarotopleader) with code **ILOVETARO** (exclusive for Taro members).

How To Navigate Your Stock Options

This section of the video explores **what to do with startup stock options**—both while employed and after leaving a company. It emphasizes evaluating offer quality upfront and making strategic decisions about exercising options based on company outlook and personal risk tolerance.

- **Understand the offer**: When joining a startup, it's important to know both the **strike price** (cost to buy shares) and the **fair market value (FMV)** of the shares. A significant gap between these numbers indicates more potential upside.
- **Don’t exercise too early**: While employed, it's typically better to wait before exercising options. Exercising early ties up personal capital and carries risk if the company performs poorly or fails before a liquidity event.
- **Exception for early-stage employees**: If the cost to exercise is very low (e.g., a few hundred dollars), it may make sense to do so early to start the **long-term capital gains clock** for better tax treatment.
- **After leaving the company**: Most startups require options to be exercised within **90 days of departure**. If there's confidence in the company’s future, it may be worth exercising all or part of the options—otherwise, it might be best to walk away.
- **Weigh risk vs. return**: Exercising options is a personal investment decision. If the company is struggling or unlikely to succeed, even favorable strike prices can result in total losses.

DSA Crash Course [Part 78] - Max Path Sum Walkthrough

In this lesson, Alvin walks through the python implementation for the *max_path_sum* problem.

Code along and test your work in the following editor workspace: <https://structy.net/problems/max-path-sum?language=py>

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [**Alvin's**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [**Structy**](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [**this link to get 20% off**](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: [**https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/)

Asking Great Questions [Part 12] - Length Balancing

One of the most important attributes of a question is its length, and the reason why is simple: The length of a question is directly connected to how much time a helper needs to spend answering it. This lesson teaches you:

- Why questions that are too short are bad
- Why questions that are too long are bad
- What to do if your question seems too short
- What to do if your question seems too long
- What a healthy question length is, demonstrated with a real-world example
- A tactic you can use to keep the length of your question in-check while still including a lot of important context

Different Roles, Different Focus

In this section, we explore how the emphasis on the four pillars of ML interview success shifts depending on the specific role we’re targeting. The course is designed to help us align our strengths with the expectations of different ML career paths.

- We learn that **ML infrastructure roles** prioritize software engineering and system design, as these roles focus on building scalable and reliable ML platforms.
- **Product-focused ML roles** value end-to-end system design and business impact, requiring us to connect our technical solutions directly to user outcomes.
- For **research-oriented roles**, a deep dive into ML theory and algorithms is essential, with an emphasis on innovation and pushing technical boundaries.
- We’ll identify our personal strengths and tailor our preparation to highlight the most relevant ones for our target role.
- We’ll also work on filling any skill gaps so we can enter interviews with greater confidence and a clear strategy.

If you want to learn even more from Yayun:

- Book 1 on 1 career guidance with her here: <https://calendly.com/your-friend-yayun/1on1>
- Follow her on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/yayunjin/>

Tech Career Growth Videos

Our instructional videos provide software engineers with insights needed for career growth. Masterclasses go incredibly in-depth on a specific tech topic while case studies are real examples from established engineering leaders.