Become A Debugging Master [Part 17] - Share The Learning

A lot of engineers move on immediately after landing a fix, but the best ones take the time to reflect and prevent similar issues in the future. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- Retrospectives help you identify root causes and system weaknesses so you can either prevent a future incident or make it much easier to detect and fix
- A good postmortem analyzes what went well and what didn’t across detection, notification, response, mitigation, and analysis, with detailed documentation to capture all learnings
- Writing a clean, detailed doc with screenshots and explanations makes it much easier for future engineers to learn from the incident without having to dig through chaotic logs or chat threads
- Big tech cultures like Facebook normalize failure and focus on minimizing damage and learning quickly, often using formal SEV reviews to improve systems and processes over time

The Resource You Need For Promotion That Few Understand

Which of the following is the resource needed for promotion that many engineers don't understand or even realize exists, particularly more junior ones?

True or false: When you are onboarding as a software engineer, the one and only thing that matters is your ability to understand the codebase and extend it.

Why is social capital important for senior engineers?

Autism Allyship and Identity in Tech - By Lee McKeeman & Jaswir Raghoe

[Lee McKeeman](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmckeeman/) and [Jaswir Raghoe](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaswir-raghoe/) give an insightful talk on Autism Allyship in the tech industry, and how one can discover the power of creating inclusive workplaces for autistic individuals while gaining valuable tips on how to be an effective ally to autistic colleagues.

Lee and Jaswir talk about how autism is a spectrum with individuals having a wide range of abilities and needs. They give a deeper understanding of general biases and assumptions about autism, and learn why it's crucial to challenge them. They expound on the importance of asking autistic individuals about their preferences and needs, while understanding the significance of respecting their boundaries. Jaswir and Lee uncover the value of patience and understanding, as well as the importance of not expecting autistic individuals to always conform to social norms.

Join us in celebrating the diversity of autistic individuals and learn how you can become an advocate for their inclusion in the workplace.

Don't miss this enlightening talk that will empower you to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for all.

Incase you missed it, also check out Lee McKeeman's previous talk about his career journey: [An Autistic Journey To Google Staff Engineer [L6] From Software Analyst](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/nujUVma6boGJxGAQzoiX/an-autistic-journey-to-google-staff-engineer-l6-from-software-analyst-by-lee-mckeeman/)

From Multiple Rejections to Landing Six Offers and Negotiating A $100K Raise

*Unlock all events and courses with Taro Premium. Join at a discount with Yogi's link: [**https://www.jointaro.com/r/yogi-sharma/**](https://www.jointaro.com/r/yogi-sharma/)*

In 2017, amidst the bustling innovation and relentless pace of Facebook, I encountered a pivotal moment in my career. The sting of receiving not one, not two, but three job rejections in as many weeks (and *first round rejections* at that) set the stage for a profound professional transformation. This period, marked by deep introspection and resilience, was not just about coping with disappointment; it became a launchpad for unprecedented growth and success.

But all that came after an initial period of dejection.

The journey from those initial rejections to eventually landing six coveted job offers, with negotiations exceeding $100k, is a testament to the power of strategic habit shifts and mindset realignment. The experience, while daunting, unfolded the essential principles of leveraging one’s time and energy efficiently, ensuring readiness for job transitions *without compromising current job performance*.

In this talk, I aim to demystify the path from setback to success. I will unveil the practical strategies and mental adjustments that not only helped me navigate the turbulent waters of job searching but also equipped me with the tools to excel beyond expectation, which I have used in my work with over 400 professionals in my coaching practice. This narrative is more than a personal victory; it's a blueprint for anyone facing the disheartenment of rejection, providing actionable insights to transform challenges into opportunities for substantial growth and achievement.

Join me as I dissect the critical principles, mindset shifts, and habit changes that can empower us all to turn job search woes into wins, illustrating that with the right approach, navigating the job market can be a journey of triumph even though tribulation are inevitable at times.

Negotiation content on Taro:

- [**\[Taro Top 10\] Pay Negotiation**](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/uyWSc5q79zFw2Ei7w59d/)
- [**\[Masterclass\] Understanding And Optimizing Your Pay In Tech**](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/gk408yBIV2fa5RjVR213/masterclass-understanding-and-optimizing-your-pay-in-tech/)

Yogi's next event about going from the PIP danger zone to a top performer: [**https://www.jointaro.com/event/behind-the-scene-from-meets-most-greatly-exceeds-in-3-months-at-facebook/**](https://www.jointaro.com/event/behind-the-scene-from-meets-most-greatly-exceeds-in-3-months-at-facebook/)

Yogi on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/yogi1/>

Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech [Part 12] - Build In Public

It's way easier to have people come to you instead of you having to go to them. This lesson teaches you:

- The difference between inbound and outbound
- Why building in public is such a powerful technique to generate inbound (i.e. talented people coming to you)
- Different ways to build in public

Interview Preparation Is Way Better With Others

Here are the core points from the video:
- Social accountability is a good way to motivate yourself to work hard when studying data structures and algorithms, especially given how miserable studying them can be. Peer pressure works!
- Doing a mock interview with a friend can help you prepare for interviews because you are forced to explain yourself out loud. This process will be more akin to the actual interview process, far more than grinding LeetCode at your computer all day.

If you're looking for a mock interview partner, find one with [Taro Networking](https://www.jointaro.com/networking/): [https://www.jointaro.com/networking/?selectedServices=Mock+Interviews](https://www.jointaro.com/networking/?selectedServices=Mock+Interviews)

Related resources:
- [[Masterclass] How To Manage Your Time Optimally In Tech And Achieve More Results](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/rnX9EKpzc43TgGW9MozG/masterclass-how-to-manage-your-time-optimally-in-tech-and-achieve-more-results/) - This is the time management session Rahul mentions
- [[Taro Top 10] Effective Interview Prep](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/HLBYxJI7D1j8STolrwum/)
- [[Taro Top 10] Finding A Tech Job](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/E6R0wVJ5EyCfVnVrlfno/)

Maximize Your Equity And Benefits In Tech [Part 16] - Stock Options Strategy

Stock option strategies can significantly affect your financial outcomes depending on timing, tax implications, and company events. Here's the core points from the lesson:

- Early exercise with an 83(b) election can offer long-term tax benefits, especially for qualified small business stock, but requires accepting the risk of losing the money invested
- For non-qualified stock options (NSOs), exercising and holding is risky due to upfront ordinary income tax that isn't offset if the stock later declines
- Strategies like exercising and immediately selling (or cashless exercise) can reduce risk and lock in gains, especially around liquidity events like IPOs
- AMT planning for incentive stock options (ISOs) includes spreading exercises across tax years or alternating years of exercise and sale to manage tax impact and recover AMT credits
- Exercising ISOs early in the year offers flexibility to sell later in the year if the stock drops (avoiding AMT) or hold into the next year for favorable capital gains treatment

For more on why you might want to exercise your ISOs early in the year, [click here](https://adastrafp.com/exercising-isos-early-in-year/). For my AMT Calculator (for informational purposes only, not tax advice), [click here](https://adastrafp.com/amt-calculator/).

Next steps with Andy:

- [Connect with Andy on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andymoranio)
- [Leave feedback and/or sign up for Andy’s newsletter](https://subscribepage.io/taroequitycourse)
- [Schedule a consultation](http://adastrafp.com/contact-us/)

Maximize Your Equity And Benefits In Tech [Part 6] - Strategy (RSUs/Bonuses)

Many people default to holding their RSUs without stepping back to ask whether they’d actively choose to buy company stock with a cash bonus. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- Since RSUs are taxed as ordinary income upon vesting, treating them like a cash bonus and selling immediately is often a lower-risk strategy—especially when combined with auto-sell and supplemental withholding features some companies offer

- You can also take a more nuanced approach, like retaining a portion based on your net worth, holding for a set period, or setting specific sale triggers, but it's best to define these plans before emotions kick in

- A minimum financial bar is covering tax liability; use safe harbor rules or proactive withholding adjustments to avoid penalties, especially as year-end approaches

- Flow-based budgeting using separate accounts by expense type and timeline can help you allocate RSU income toward irregular goals like large purchases or saving targets

Next steps with Andy:

- [Connect with Andy on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andymoranio)
- [Leave feedback and/or sign up for Andy’s newsletter](https://subscribepage.io/taroequitycourse)
- [Schedule a consultation](http://adastrafp.com/contact-us/)

The Onus Is On You

In this lesson, we focus on how to approach the engineering manager (EM) relationship effectively, emphasizing that our success depends heavily on how we engage, not on our manager doing everything for us.

- We stress that the responsibility for our career growth lies with us, not with our EM; they’re busy, context-switching across many reports, and can’t automatically know our needs or struggles.
- We explain that EMs need clear direction from us—without input, they can’t create opportunities, remove blockers, or advocate on our behalf.
- We compare managers to an API: they won’t initiate action on their own, but when we “call” them with the right inputs, they can be incredibly valuable resources.
- We reinforce that good managers will support us deeply if we engage correctly, but it’s our job to plug in and guide that support.
- We highlight that initiative is one of the most appreciated traits: EMs love working with engineers who proactively identify problems, propose ideas, and seek impact without needing to be pulled along.

Are Big Tech Incubation Labs Good Preparation For Being A Startup Founder?

Many companies will have a skunkworks or incubation division. Meta has **New Product Experimentation (NPE)**, Google has **Area 120**, and companies like Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, and others all have toy projects. 

Despite being branded as a “startup within a big company”, there are some important differences to keep in mind between these roles and real entrepreneurship: 
- Apps launched within larger companies have a huge unfair advantage in being able to leverage the parent company’s distribution channels. 
- There’s not as much urgency or risk in these divisions since, even if the app fails, the staff will just get reallocated to other parts of the company.
- Most of these projects eventually get killed by the parent company since they’re looking for multi-billion dollar market opportunities.

Connect with [Eric](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericbahn/)

Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech [Part 19] - Common Mistakes To Avoid

Networking is really easy to mess up as there's a lot of toxic mentalities you can fall into. This lesson teaches you:

- The #1 way people mess up networking
- How to strike a balance between being pragmatic (having shields up) and being idealistic (helping people)
- Why going outside of your comfort zone is critical for networking
- What fake networking looks like, shown with a very common example among engineers

Mine Customer Support Data

We expand beyond metrics mapping and customer experience mapping by introducing **additional, nuanced techniques** to help us continuously refine our input metrics. These customer- and defect-driven approaches give us real-world signals that are often overlooked—but are rich with opportunities for improvement.

### Key Takeaways:

- **We believe customer and shareholder interests are aligned**: At Amazon, we were driven by the conviction that obsessing over customers naturally serves the long-term interests of shareholders. This philosophy shaped our approach to metrics and improvement.
- **We treat every customer interaction as a source of insight**: Whether the "customer" is a buyer on Amazon or an internal team we support, we use their feedback to uncover meaningful input metrics that help us improve service and outcomes.
- **We mine customer support data as a diagnostic tool**: We tracked the top reasons customers contacted support—questions like “Where’s my stuff?” or complaints like “You sent the wrong item”—and used these to create new metrics such as “the switcheroo,” which measured item mix-ups.
- **We made problem frequency visible and actionable**: These contact reasons and metrics were reviewed weekly in our WBR, ensuring we remained focused on resolving the most impactful customer issues.
- **We talked directly to customer-facing teams**: We routinely engaged with customer support representatives to gather firsthand insights about recurring pain points by category—adding human intelligence to our data-driven approach.

These additional techniques may not generate as many metrics as mapping exercises, but they provide powerful context and depth to our understanding of what truly matters to customers.

To dive deeper into Input Metrics Mastery and learn more from Bill and Colin, follow these links:

- Take the full course at their website: <https://workingbackwards.com/>
- Buy the book: <https://www.amazon.com/Working-Backwards-Insights-Stories-Secrets/dp/1250267595>
- Bill's LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-carr/>
- Colin's LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinbryar/>

Maximize Your Equity And Benefits In Tech [Part 9] - Taxes (ESPP)

Selling stock from your Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) can lead to very different tax outcomes depending on timing. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- A disqualifying disposition (selling within 1 year of purchase or 2 years of the offering date) results in ordinary income tax on the discount and short-term capital gains on additional profits
- A qualifying disposition (selling after both 1 year from purchase and 2 years from offering) splits the gain into lower-taxed long-term capital gains and a smaller portion of ordinary income
- 1099-B forms often underreport your cost basis, so you may need to correct it using Form 8949 to avoid paying tax twice on the same income

Next steps with Andy:

- [Connect with Andy on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andymoranio)
- [Leave feedback and/or sign up for Andy’s newsletter](https://subscribepage.io/taroequitycourse)
- [Schedule a consultation](http://adastrafp.com/contact-us/)

Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech [Part 15] - Have Their Back

Disagreement is everywhere in tech, and it's often quite stressful. However, it's also a prime time for you to deepen your network and relationships. This lesson teaches you:

- Why having someone's back in times of disagreement is so powerful
- The main avenue to have someone's back
- How engineers completely waste the meetings they go to
- How having someone's back against yourself is insanely powerful
- Where so many engineers go wrong when it comes to their mentality around being right

Become A Debugging Master [Part 18] - Build The Infra

Building debugging infrastructure is a powerful way to level up your team and career. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- Invest in infrastructure like logging, dashboards, session recordings, bisect tools, and experiment tracking to make debugging easier for everyone

- Plan ahead by adding useful logging into products before bugs occur to speed up investigations and root cause analysis

- Funnel logging is especially valuable because it formalizes the end-to-end data flow, making it easier to spot where issues happen

- Building internal tools, even simple ones like the Log Insight tool at Meta, can lead to major team-wide adoption and career milestones

- Internal tooling projects are great side projects because they serve engineers directly, have less red tape, and can be very high impact

Rahul's internal tool case study: [\[Case Study\] Building A Meta Internal Tool To Empower An Entire Org: Staff Promotion Story](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/qvp2quodqAEWSkN7sayt/case-study-building-a-meta-internal-tool-to-empower-an-entire-org-staff-promotion-story/)

Taro Book Club: Designing Data Intensive Applications - Chapter 2 (Data Models and Query Languages)

Discussion led by: [Ankur Agrawal](https://www.linkedin.com/in/erankuragr/) & [Raj Shah](https://www.linkedin.com/in/therajshah/)

Topic: Chapter 2 - Data Models and Query Languages In this #taro-bookclub discussion, we'll go over Chapter 2 of the book "Designing Data-Intensive Applications" by Martin Kleppmann. This chapter is about Data Models and Query Languages and will provide good mental models to think about Relational vs Document Models, Graph Data Models and various types of Query Languages.

Here's the agenda: We’ll break down and discuss the key concepts from Chapter 2. There will also be time for any questions and answers you might have.

Get ready for our second session on this engaging and informative book! 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/>

Event Link: <https://www.jointaro.com/event/taro-book-club-designing-data-intensive-applications-chapter-2-data-models-and-query-languages/>

How Rahul Accidentally Got 70k Installs On An Android App

### The Story
- Before 2021, Rahul's YouTube channel was focused on Android tutorials.
- One of the tutorials he made was a simple Android app that let you set your status as an emoji. It was a pretty basic example of using Firebase.
- To make the output of the tutorial accessible, Rahul published the completed app to Google Play.
- What he didn't realize is that the app would be discovered by tens of thousands of users. After the past couple years, it has gotten 70,000+ installs with near-0 effort from Rahul.

### Learnings
- *Always publish* - So many people make projects that they then abandon or declare victory after the GitHub has gotten to a good state (even sharing this on their resume). Your code will pretty much never matter until it's fully out there in the world - If you're looking for your projects to help with job searching, recruiters are not going to care how clean the GitHub is.
- *Android distribution is extremely powerful* - Android has over 2.5 billion active users, and that number continues to grow. Due to the sheer volume of people, Android is one of the easiest platforms, if not **the** easiest platform, to publish something that gets a ton of users. There are far fewer Android apps compared to websites, so it's easier competing for Google Play search traffic vs. Google website search traffic. You only need to pay a 1-time $25 fee to publish an infinite amount of apps.

If you want to learn how to build your own side projects that get a ton of users:
- [In-depth Session On How To Come Up With Side Projects That Can Get 100k+ Users](https://link.jointaro.com/4m3CpQGgvkN3Xuem9)
- [In-depth Session On How To Grow Side Projects To 500k+ Users](https://link.jointaro.com/8QPgCkexjUjR9AA29)

The First Thing You Must Figure Out

Choosing the right company or team is hard because what’s “great” truly depends on our individual priorities.

Here are the core points from the lesson:

- We emphasize that people differ in life stage, location, responsibilities, and goals, which means there is no universal “best” company or team, only what is best for our personal priorities.
- We caution against blindly chasing FAANG or big tech, noting that while it can be optimal for some, it can be a poor match for others depending on what they value and need at this stage of their career.
- We outline the key first step: listing all potential priorities and stack-ranking them to create a clear, personalized hierarchy that guides the next career move.

Maximize Your Equity And Benefits In Tech [Part 11] - Insider Trading Considerations

Insider trading rules can create real constraints on when and how you can sell company stock, especially for those with access to sensitive information. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- Insider trading laws prohibit trading on material non-public information, and companies often enforce blackout periods to limit employee risk
- Executives and directors face stricter requirements, including preclearance, holding periods, and detailed SEC reporting (e.g., Forms 4, 144)
- A 10b5-1 plan allows for pre-scheduled trades made while not in possession of inside info, offering a compliant path to selling equity under constraints

Next steps with Andy:

- [Connect with Andy on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andymoranio)
- [Leave feedback and/or sign up for Andy’s newsletter](https://subscribepage.io/taroequitycourse)
- [Schedule a consultation](http://adastrafp.com/contact-us/)

Why Startups Can Be Better Than FAANG For Career Growth

Whether you are just starting your career or have years of experience in Big Tech, startups can be a powerful accelerator for your career and expose you to unique opportunities.

[**Ben Rudolph**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brudolph/), cofounder and CTO of Peregrine, argues the value of startups in this talk. Ben built Peregrine from within the San Pablo homicide Investigations Unit where, among other cases, he worked with detectives to help solve a high profile cold homicide case. After spending a year embedded onsite with the customer and securing their first contract, Ben has overseen the growth of the company from 2 to 100+ people. Their technology now serves over 30 million citizens and ingests approximately a million data points every 10 minutes.

Topics covered:

- Understanding how the right startup can offer unique experiences not available in Big Tech.
- Deciding if and when to explore startups for your next career move.
- Effectively evaluating the potential of a startup.
- Common traits of top-performing startup engineers.
- Comparing the mindset required for success in startups vs large tech companies.

Related discussions on Taro:

- [**How to evaluate a startup?**](https://www.jointaro.com/question/UCG4XxyEOTjjyg4pEuwY/how-to-evaluate-a-startup/)
- [**How Effectively Do Big Tech Engineers Perform In Startups?**](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/TFhKpoVuu4iKdbrAiJ8d/how-effectively-do-big-tech-engineers-perform-in-startups/)
- [**What questions to ask a CTO of a startup?**](https://www.jointaro.com/question/R4FGhmGlZOQK7Lb1YAlt/what-questions-to-ask-a-cto-of-a-startup/)

Peregrine is hiring Senior Engineers in the SF/DC area (or open to relocation) who have 4+ years of experience. Taro members can use this link to get expedited feedback: [**https://www.peregrine.io/taro**](https://www.peregrine.io/taro)

- [**Connect with Ben on LinkedIn**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brudolph/)
- [**Learn more about Peregrine Technologies**](https://www.peregrine.io/)

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.