The ability to create things with computers and software is magical and has been part of my life since I was 11. It's like those nesting dolls. I started my career working on the inner dolls: Z80 Assembly on a TRS-80 Model 1. I then worked my way out - VAX/VMS device drivers, machine operations, database internals, B2C ride-hailing systems, and distributed enterprise systems at scale. It's been wonderful having the privilege to practice the craft of software engineering and to solve technical problems - creating products that help people live better lives - and make a living doing it.

Speaking of crafts, leadership is a craft as well. As my career has progressed, I've gone from dealing with the complexities of code and chips to the complexities of projects, teams, products, organizations, companies, cultures, and industries. I've had ~30 years of building software and products, debugging broken architectures and teams, and creating healthy and urgent technology organizations across startups, SMBs, and enterprises.

When it comes to tech, I am and have always been technically as deep as I can be. That's often in tension with having executive/BoD/C-level roles. However, I've always kept up with the technology at the bottom layers of the stack, particularly distributed systems and operations. I also learn about each new domain area as I join it (e.g., Grab, MongoDB). This has resulted in a steady stream of technology growth areas and in some cases patents. With the advent of AI coding, we can get back to what matters and stop worrying about which framework does what 1% better, so I'm coding pretty much every day now, whether that's on design, websites, or systems-level AI apps.

What do I stand for? I believe in helping all parts of the business work together to delight customers, fulfill employees, and reward stakeholders. I believe in listening. I believe in caring. I believe in respect.

I believe that we need more women in tech — and once they're there, we need to mentor and champion them (along with other underrepresented groups). We've done a crappy job of this for 75+ years, and getting women to roughly 25% of the Tech population is not nearly enough. It's personal for me: my mom programmed one of the first mainframes in Ohio in the 1950s, and I watched her struggle with both conscious and unconscious bias her whole career. Watching her navigate it taught me to notice the quiet ways talented people get overlooked — and that the most valuable thing anyone in the room can do is use their voice and their seat to open doors for someone else.

But it's not just personal — it's backed by the data. Groups with a diversity of opinion make better decisions, and companies with more diverse leadership teams see stronger financial performance and more innovation. In my experience, people are also kinder to each other. So my very narrow area of focus is helping a handful of dedicated, high-potential women reach their full potential — through direct mentorship, sponsoring them into the rooms and roles they've earned, and giving them the candid feedback that accelerates growth. Tech becomes fundamentally more effective when we succeed at this.

I believe that if we make today better than yesterday and strive for tomorrow to be better than today, a lot of other things take care of themselves. I believe in technical excellence and team excellence in all their forms. I believe in respectful and productive discourse about important topics. I believe in pride of behavior, pride of integrity, and pride of craft.

As we enter a new time, there is even more magic we can create in products, companies, and people. Let's do it with empathy, urgency, a tolerance for ambiguity, and a commitment to excellence - just in the new way. Tech has never once satisfied the needs of the business in speed, quality, or predictability - I believe we now have that chance. I firmly believe that this is a new age of amazing software innovation - and I'm excited to be a part of it.

I spend a lot of time writing and talking about what actually works with both wet and dry computing machines - and what doesn't. This site is meant to be a source of help for leaders, individuals, and teams. I've called out some key areas below - but feel free to explore the rest. If you'd like to talk about any of it, reach out to me on LinkedIn - I respond to every message I get.

- Mark

P.S. Building software is magical (hence the wizard and magic theme). It's not about me, that would be presumptuous. I'm no wizard, as anybody who has seen my code can attest. The wizard and magic theme is about the inspiration all of us in this crazy craft feel as we practice it. Let's go cast some spells!