Allen John

Let’s get real. In the tech world, we love our rockstar engineers and visionary product managers. But what about the unsung heroes who make sure the trains run on time? Enter: Technical Program Managers (TPMs). Here’s the deal—TPMs are the connective tissue in any tech org. Without them, your next big thing is just a pipe dream. Here’s why they matter: 1. Master Planners: TPMs are the strategists who see the big picture. They map out the journey from idea to execution, ensuring every cog in the machine is working towards the endgame. 2. Diplomatic Leaders: These folks are the UN of tech. TPMs navigate cross-functional teams, aligning everyone from engineering to product, and making sure egos don’t derail progress. 3. Execution Powerhouses: Think of them as project ninjas. TPMs oversee the whole process, managing timelines, resources, and risks. They get sh*t done. 4. Tech Savvy: A TPM isn’t just a project manager with a fancy title. They understand the tech stack and can speak geek. This lets them make smart decisions and steer the ship effectively. 5. Communication Gurus: Ever been left in the dark on a project? Not with a good TPM. They keep stakeholders in the loop, ensuring transparency and trust all the way. 6. Risk Avengers: TPMs spot risks from a mile away and crush them before they become a problem. It’s like having a crystal ball and a wrecking ball in one. 7. Efficiency Experts: These pros are all about optimizing. They refine processes and drive continuous improvement, making sure your team isn’t just working hard, but smart. Bottom line: TPMs are the unsung heroes who turn chaos into order and dreams into reality. Next time you see a project succeed, know there’s probably a badass TPM behind the curtain making it all happen. To all the TPMs out there: You’re the backbone of innovation. Keep rocking.

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🌟 November Bay Area CRE Jobs Update 🌟 It's been a big month in the Bay Area. Now tracking 27 CRE roles with phenomenal companies, including Amazon, Electronic Arts (EA), Meta, TikTok, Waymo, Cloudflare, Coinbase, Intuit, Uber and more. 🚀 Let's Connect in DC! I’m currently attending the CoreNet Global Summit in DC. If you’re here, let’s meet up to chat about the latest trends in real estate or just say hello – message me to connect! 💼 Hiring? I’m passionate about connecting top talent with exceptional companies. 💡 Need extra bandwidth? Resource Consulting offers flexible support tailored to CRE needs Know of any other roles? Please share in the comments. Let’s continue building and supporting each other! 🌐 #BayAreaJobs #CREjobs #RealEstateLeadership #CoreNetSummit #Networking

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#SanFrancisco VC Contact Database. Over 275 venture capital firms, more than 2,100 VC professionals (including partners and principals), and 1,600 email addresses available. https://payhip.com/b/idx8b #startup #startups #vc #venturecapital #investmentbanking #privateequity #managementconsulting #b2b #founders #entrepreneurs

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For 5+ years, I (alongside the MQA team) have been dedicated to helping customers build QA programs with QA scores. Now, we're talking about the Death of the QA Score. Why the 180 degree change? It's rooted in the craziness that makes us human. We get so obsessed about numbers, and reporting, and ACCURACY. Then, when it comes to #s about people, we hyper focus on FAIRNESS. Even , if the # wasn't related to performance management, Numbers Judging People drives 7 out of 10 people off the wall. (Hmm maybe it originates from our school system and grades and SATs and GPAs etc.? 🤔 ) Next thing you know - your average QA Score is 97% and deep down, everyone knows that's not the truth. The system is being gamed. Next thing you know - you see a situation that should be dug into but you have to randomly sample to be FAIR. We get wrapped up in a tornado ( 🌪🌪 🌪 ) of conversations about the above...and lose sight of what ACTUALLY MATTERS. Kaizen. Learning. Personal Development. Continuous improvement. Getting 1% better each and every day. Focus on finding insights to improve the business. When you remove the score, you can shift from Random to Targeted Issues. When you remove the score, you can focus on finding problems and opportunities than 'grading the person fairly' Going from 1% QA to 100% QA to get a statistically significant score misses the point and perpetuates the original issues. The the future of QA is Targeted and Non-Scoring. Use AI to find better things to Target.

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Observations on the SF tech community after meeting >100 people the past few days: • Prominent hacker house energy. Met multiple founding teams who live/work/sleep in the same office. Work-life integration to the extreme. You simply don’t see this in NYC. Ppl care too much about things like their living space, social life, personal boundaries, etc. • Obsession trumps all. Talked to a few early-stage startups that had full-time volunteers, often passionate new grads or dropouts who were obsessed with the space and wanted to learn. • The hard pitch. I was pitched >10 times a day at my events. Hard ones too. One lady wouldn’t leave without trying to guarantee a spot on my calendar. I said no. Perhaps founders are taught to be more aggressive and text here? • Dropout culture and early starts. Met a TON of impressive young people (20-24) who had accomplished 10x more than I have, and could speak more eloquently about me on many topics. Fewer “generalists” and more up-and-coming experts who mastered a niche (e.g. Gen Z consumer social, short-form video production, viral social, etc). • Hybrid founder/investor persona. Also encountered a persona that you don’t see often in NYC: the venture-backed founder who is simultaneously running a VC fund, and seeking to succeed at it. • No small talk. Lot of ppl skip the small talk at events and get straight to the point. “How are you?” is met with a 3-min pitch on their AI startup. Can get exhausting but I get why people do it. • Founder communities. I can only name a few established founder communities in NYC. There seems to be one on every corner in SF. Places for founders to learn, gather, and work. Often free—and very accessible. We need more of this. • Building vs selling. Met with many technical builders in SF who convinced me of the opportunity but only after multiple conversations. Great product/vision but poor at communicating it. Call this underselling. The opposite is often true in NYC: I often meet ppl who are incredible salespeople who haven’t built the underlying product yet. Both are required to be successful but perhaps these communities can learn from each other. • Everyone is building AI agents. I was in a room with a half dozen founders who were building AI agents to fix software bugs. The obvious question is how well they can execute and build distribution. • Veteran talent. Many founders and CEOs of the world’s largest companies live here. Google, OpenAI, Airbnb, LinkedIn, etc. They’re accessible and actively involved with speaking, mentoring, and teaching. We even had the co-founder of Lyft speak at our event. Generally less “veteran talent” in NYC, and the folks here are less active in the tech ecosystem. More of them live further away and have chosen to reduce their participation post-exit. Different culture here.

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San Francisco is getting its groove back again...sort of. Like the heyday of the tech boom, the City by the Bay has become the techie bohemian outpost for AI startups who are snatching up San Francisco office space. And, it comes at a time when the city needs it with office vacancies at a mind-boggling 35 percent. Remote work...what's that? With AI companies - big and small - clamoring for office space, that's a sure sign workers will be expected in the confines of the office. Many are requiring workers in the office at least four days. In many ways, it's very reminiscent of the go-go culture when tech was young, snacks a plenty, and ping pong tables ding dong. Given the high cost of living in San Francisco, that in-person, in-office approach can potentially limit the talent pool. It's a new culture based on the old one. Work-life balance is the mantra of today's workforce. Whether that clashes with the resurrection of the 'work hard, play hard' AI culture is definitely something to consider. With AI barely out of diapers, leaders and their workforce are charging ahead, living and breathing and when you can get it, sleeping AI. Combine that with startups vying for funding or justifying their valuations with small, lean teams, it's HP in the garage all over again. For San Francisco, AI and the funky bunch of startups can only bring much needed energy to a city that remains in the pandemic doldrums. With high office vacancies, monthly rents are down. On the bright side, it's provides opportunities for a new wave of innovation. That can only be good for, well, everyone https://cnb.cx/4fZwTHP #sanfrancisco #startup #realestate ##artificialintelligence #talent #workforce #innovation #officespace

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Ever wondered where the perfect balance between tranquility and innovation lies? For me, it’s Seattle. Unlike the Bay, Seattle has a more serene environment that’s perfect for focusing on building products and businesses. The city’s vibe encourages deep work and creative thinking, free from the overwhelming hustle. But let’s be honest, Seattle’s founder and investor communities aren’t as vibrant as those in SF. Yet, this city holds a special place in my heart – a blend of my love for startups and the charm of Seattle. I believe in Seattle’s potential and I’m on a mission to help ignite its startup community. From connecting with fellow founders to engaging investors, let’s come together to build something extraordinary here. Seattle has all the ingredients to be a startup hub – talent, innovation, and a supportive ecosystem. What it needs is a spark. Let’s be that spark.

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Build features based on customer behaviour not on customer complaints ... this is such a profound insight

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🚀 Big & humbling moment for me - I’m launching my SubStack 🎉 I’ll be diving into the ups, downs, and messy middles of Product Management, with a special focus on FinTech. Sharing stories, lessons I’ve learned the hard way, and the common decision-making traps PMs fall into. Honestly, it feels a bit raw putting my thoughts out there, but I’m beyond excited to share my first article, “Stop Searching Where the Light is Bright.” Let me know what resonates, and what you’d like to see next! 🙌 Looking forward to exchanging experiences with you all. https://lnkd.in/gYxUpxZj #ProductManagement #FinTech #Growth #Leadership #Creator #Storytelling

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SPIFFE is to secret managers what FIDO is to password managers.

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3 principles from Tomer Cohen, LinkedIn's Chief Product Officer, for building AI products: 1. Think fast and slow Start fast with your intuition, then slow down by asking, "What could go wrong if I'm successful?" 2. Be patient "The analogy I like to give is that you’re a chef. With a non-AI product, you can dictate exactly how a dish will be made. But with an AI product, you only get to dictate the ingredients. AI decides how the meal will be prepared." 3. Data is paramount "You can create step-function changes in customer value if you train AI with the right data.  I spent months of my life cleaning data, but it was probably one of the most important things I did when I was the feed PM." In my latest episode, Tomer and I also had a great chat about: - Scaling LinkedIn to 1B+ by revamping its feed - r/LinkedInLunatics and the role of humor - Designing orgs to reward impact, not optics - Landing your dream job in tech 📌 Watch now: https://lnkd.in/gbE-5h6S Also available on: Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gRPHuD-Q Apple: https://lnkd.in/gqq6M38r Newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gzcyjUA2

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Last year, I lived in SF and flew to LA weekly to attend MBA classes at UCLA. I flew back and forth at least 20 times. I am not a morning person by any means, but this required me to have a routine of waking up at 5:00AM on Sunday, Ubering to SFO to catch the earliest flight that would get me to LA before my classes started at 8:00. I would attend class all day Sunday, work remotely Mondays, attend more classes Monday night and then fly back Tuesday morning just in time to get to the office before standup. I am proud to say that I did not miss a single flight or a single class during this period. Last month, I officially graduated from UCLA Anderson. I wore my graduation cap and gown and lived through an event I had been dreaming about for the past 3 years. Now the big question: was it worth all the flights, tuition costs, and time spent studying? Yes, it was absolutely worth it. And here’s a story that encapsulates why. On one my MBA trips, we had a few executives from the Executive MBA program join us on the trip. One of the executives had immigrated to the US over 20 years ago and was nearly a billionaire. He snuck a few of us Chinese speaking MBA students out for a dinner and afterwards we all grabbed beers by the beach. Towards the end of the dinner he told us that we were no different than him. He pointed at each one of us and told us that we could all become successful too as long we just went for it. I’ve heard similar words from guest speakers, but the informal setting of having a mentor tell us this to our faces while enjoying beers near the beach in a foreign country really made me believe that I could do it. To sum up my MBA experience, being able to learn valuable life lessons from classmates, professors, and guest speakers made me confident that I could pursue whatever I put my mind towards. This is the true value of the MBA in my opinion. So what’s next? Before entering UCLA, my goal was to start my own startup and be a "real" founder. I can proudly say that my dream is starting to become a reality. I will be posting more news about this in the future, but my cofounders and I just raised an angel round and are now working full time on a new startup with a mission that we all care deeply about. #mba #uclaanderson #startup #graduation

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Which Cities Are Seeing The Most Growth In Tech Headcount?  by  Jack Kelly Forbes Many of the Big Tech firms and startups are located in the San Francisco Bay Area, particularly in Menlo Park and Palo Alto, which are considered the heart of Silicon Valley. However, the shifting tech landscape, particularly the relocation of talent during the pandemic, has presented both challenges and opportunities for founders and startups, according to venture capital firm  SignalFire's State of Talent Report 2024. The tech industry is becoming more decentralized, with new hubs emerging across the United States. The geographical evolution of the tech talent pool is being driven by factors like remote work, cost of living and government initiatives to boost tech growth outside of traditional centers. Austin has seen the most growth in headcount at Big Tech employers, up 44% since 2019. The city has attracted big names like  Meta Google Oracle Tesla Snap Inc. Apple and others, which have relocated or expanded in recent years. While tech workers have migrated from Silicon Valley, it still reigns supreme when it comes to the volume of talent specializing in artificial intelligence and machine learning, with the San Francisco Bay Area topping the list. “San Francisco, by far and away, has the highest volume of tech talent in the country, as a percentage of its whole population. And so it remains not only the highest volume of technical talent, but also AI technical talent, which is critical in these times,” said Heather Doshay, a partner and head of people and talent at SignalFire. “Its dominance is really under no threat. It remains the largest population, in terms of density of tech talent.” https://lnkd.in/e9VZkwYm

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Toughest part is to commit yourself to finding the answers. Do you really need a new chapter/ way of life and why, what would it look like and how you’re going to execute - importantly deciding what you will not do.

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San Francisco tech job layoffs Tech layoffs continued to take a toll on the San Francisco economy in August as the unemployment rate rose. The San Francisco metro area, which includes San Mateo County, lost a net 7,000 jobs in August, according to state data released Friday. The unemployment rate rose in San Francisco from 4% in July to 4.1% in August. Professional and business services lost a net 2,800 jobs entirely from professional, scientific and technical service, which include tech jobs. The tech-focused information sector also lost 1,400 jobs. Companies including Cisco, Udemy, Intel and Lyft all confirmed Bay Area layoffs in the past month, signs of continued weakness in the labor market. — San Francisco Chronicle #sanfrancisco #bayarea #tech #jobs #jobcuts #layoffs #economy

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With the Unstructured Data Meetups, we are trying to inspire developers to help build out the ecosystem to support getting insights from Unstructured Data. The team at Intuit Open Source, Sriharsha Yayi & Derek Wang will be sharing their open source project, Numaflow with us on Tuesday. This project is a native K8s streaming platform that can help with: * Event driven applications: Process events as they happen, e.g., updating inventory and sending customer notifications in e-commerce. * Real time analytics: Analyze data instantly, e.g., social media analytics, observability data processing. * Inference on streaming data: Perform real-time predictions, e.g., anomaly detection. * Workflows running in a streaming manner.

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