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 nested 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 ~thirty years of building software and products, debugging broken architectures and teams, and creating healthy and urgent technology organizations across startups, SMBs, and enterprises.

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 Tech (product, engineering, design) is fundamentally less effective because we don't have enough diversity of background, viewpoint, and working styles. To that end, I believe that we need more women in tech - we've done a crappy job for 75+ years in accomplishing that. 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. In any group where we have diversity of opinion, better decisions are made and people are kinder to each other. But getting more women into the Tech population (currently around 25%) is not enough. Once they are there, we need to sponsor them (and other underrepresented groups of course) - mentorship is not enough. My very narrow area of focus is that I'm commited to helping a handful of dedicated and high potential women achieve their full potential.

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 integrtity, and pride of craft.

As we enter a new time, there is even more magic in products, companies, and people that we can create. 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 presumptious. I'm no wizard, as anybody who has seen my code can attest. The wizard and magical theme is about the inspiration all of us in this crazy craft feel as we practice it. Let's go cast some spells! .