Jordan Wilbur

This week I’ve had several of the developers on my team ask me about taking vacation. As a relatively new manager, I hate when my developers ask me if they can take vacation. I’ve got stuff to get done, don’t waste my time asking me to take vacation when PTO is one of your benefits. You don’t ask me to use your insurance or spend your pay check. I’ve told each of them, just let me and your project leads know, as far in advance as possible, that you’re going to be gone. Note: “Waste my time” is not how I feel at all but I am trying to drive the idea that PTO isn’t something they have to earn twice. I don’t ever want one of my developers to feel hesitant letting me know they will be taking time off. #managertalk #benefits #vacation #PTO #leadership #valueemployees

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The best cold email I've ever received, hands down, essentially said this: 1. Saw you went to Utah! Think Cam Rising will be as good as he's being hyped up to be this year? 2. Are MQLs or pipeline generation part of the KPI this year? If so, can we chat about how we can help? 😊 Do you think it worked? Well, I guess I gave you the answer in my first sentence of this post. Yes, it worked! Emmanuel Morgan knew I was a University of Utah alumnus but took a chance that I might also be a Utes Football fan. He sent this email shortly before the 2022 season and was a perfect way to pique my interest. I didn't end up becoming a customer even though I liked the product he was selling. However, two years later Manny and I still exchange messages about college football news. We weren't in a position to purchase that type of software at the time, but had things changed I know who I would have called. Moral of the story: it all begins, and ends, with relationships. That's true in sales and marketing, along with any other role you may occupy, or in your day-to-day. What's the best cold call or cold email you've received?

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My love/hate with Amazon continues. Looking to buy a power strip and half the products have reviews like "Caught fire," "nearly burned down my house," "scorched my outlet," "broke after 2 months"... but next day shipping be like 😍 ^^ Posted by me to Facebook, February 2020 Sometimes all you need to beat your competition is to be faster: faster to get into the hands of consumers, faster to release new features, faster to respond to support tickets. You can have a worse product but win on “SPEED”. * McDonald’s is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise partially because their “fast food” was so much faster (and consistent) compared to the competition. * Amazon shopping is HUGE because of 2-day shipping. * Instant downloads/instant streaming have completely taken over software, video games, and media consumption. If you’re looking for business ideas, take an existing product or business and make it “faster”.

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Here’s a 1-minute comparison between any generic notetaker, and WINN.AI’s real-time sales assistant. Bottom line - None of those standard notetakers will get sales done better. WINN.AI, will. Don’t be a Nate. Be like Lisa. #sales

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Working here is an experience that combines professional growth, collaboration, and a positive work environment. Let me elaborate on why it’s great to be part of this team: Engaging Work: Our projects are intellectually stimulating and impactful. Whether it’s solving complex problems, creating innovative solutions, or contributing to cutting-edge technologies, you’ll find your work both challenging and rewarding. Supportive Colleagues: The people you work with matter. Our team fosters a culture of support, mentorship, and camaraderie. You’ll find colleagues who genuinely care about your success and are willing to collaborate to achieve common goals. Learning Opportunities: Continuous learning is encouraged. From workshops and conferences to internal knowledge-sharing sessions, there are ample opportunities to expand your skill set. Plus, you’ll have access to resources that keep you updated with the latest industry trends. Inclusive Environment: Diversity is celebrated here. We value different perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences. You’ll find an inclusive workplace where everyone’s voice is heard and respected. Work-Life Balance: We understand the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Flexible hours, remote work options, and wellness programs ensure that you can thrive both personally and professionally. Cutting-Edge Technology: If you’re passionate about technology, you’re in the right place. We’re at the forefront of innovation, working on projects that shape the future. Recognition and Rewards: Hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. Our recognition programs celebrate achievements, and competitive compensation packages reflect your contributions. Remember, it’s not just about the job; it’s about the people, the purpose, and the impact. So, if you’re looking for a place where you can grow, learn, and make a difference, you’ve found it!

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I was reading this article and thought to speak my mind on the matter. As a software engineer that has personally dealt with UTC related issues, I have a harder time seeing the value for storing timestamps in the user’s local time zone. This comes from several personal experiences when attempting to reference the data when it is stored in each way. Storing timestamps in UTC can be seen as greatly beneficial. When a timestamp is stored in UTC, that value can be understood as a single reference point that can be applied to any region in the world. The only adjustment you need is to apply the user’s time zone offset. In my own experience, you still must be forward thinking about instances such as states with several time zones and potential adjustments for daylight savings. In very rare cases, the storage of UTC values can come with too much variablility than it’s worth. If a timestamp is being stored for strictly the user, then it might be considered a better practice to store the timestamp locally. This can result in reduce function calls as well as mitigating possible scenarios of displaying the wrong date/time. However, if that timestamp needs to be referenced in a different time zone, then you must adjust for the difference. Achieved by converting it to UTC by stripping the local offset then applying the user’s offset or by comparing the two time zones and adjust it accordingly. In my professional opinion, software engineers should consider the storage of timestamp values in UTC as the gold standard. It gives the engineer more flexibility to utilize the value in different regions by applying a single offset. When attempting to troubleshoot a difference in a date/time, it is easier to identify where the miscalculation occurs.

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I DONT want to close every deal. Early in my sales career I did. I wanted to close any and every deal. I had a quota and I was going to hit it. I didn’t take into account red flags, churn risks, setting my CSM’s up for a nightmare etc…. This is NOT the way. Thankfully I’ve learned and adapted drastically from those early months. Sellers, before you move that deal to CW ask yourself this one question: “Is this really a good deal?” Happy Hunting Y’all ✌🏽 #sdr #ae #salesleader #techsales

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Under the idea that the only dumb question is an unasked question, here's one for the void: When researching a company prior to an application/interview, how exactly does one determine what the company's "needs" are? This is an area that I struggle in. It's not because I'm not innovative or feel I don't have anything to contribute. Even after nearly 20 years, I still struggle with getting away from the military heirarchal mentality. I'm great at giving input on various scenarios I'm actively involved in, but as a junior (or outside) party, giving unsolicited advice to someone higher on the chain seems daunting. To that end, it almost seems arrogant to think I can propose an idea that a C-Suite executive or senior director hasn't already worked through. My abilities know no bounds, but I also try to approach people with a high level of humility. Or am I thinking too deep? A company NEEDS a software dev (which is why they're interviewing me), so I just need to illustrate why I'm the best fit for the job without proposing how to revolutionize the company? Thanks in advance for any input?

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Career changes are tough, but your experience is an asset, not a liability. It’s your X factor to stand out → To optimize your resume and portfolio for a front-end dev role, your goal is to convince hiring managers that you’re: ✅ A Quick learner: Able to navigate through unfamiliar domains. ✅ Versatile: Capable of adapting to challenges. ✅ A V-shaped talent: Bridging gaps within the team. To achieve the goal, follow this simple 2-step guide to transfer your skills: 1. Identify your strengths: Start from your comfort zone and pinpoint your core skills (your X factor). 2. Create a project: Develop a website or app that highlights your X factor. It’s straightforward because there’s always a connection between a front-end project and your domain knowledge. For example: • Data analysts → Showcase your expertise by building interactive dashboards. • UI designers → Demonstrate your skills through meticulously designed components. • Filmmakers → Focus on enhancing video performance on websites. That’s it. Making a career shift is a bold and challenging move. Identify, refine, and transfer your valuable X factor to your new journey in front-end development. Give it a try and let me know if it works for you! Read this post and more on my Typeshare Social Blog: https://lnkd.in/gaz6zzE2

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Lately, I've seen a rise in posts claiming someone will get hired if they receive a certain number of likes, shares, or comments. These are often scams aimed at boosting engagement artificially and can sometimes lead to data harvesting or promote malicious links. No legitimate employer hires based on social media engagement, so be cautious! If you come across such posts, report them to LinkedIn and avoid engaging. Let's keep our professional community safe and focused on genuine connections and opportunities. Comment if you have ever been hired by just commenting "interested"! 😉 Stay smart and vigilant! 💡 #like #comment #hiring #awareness #interested #jobs

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I believe that the end consumers of any Language Java , Js , C ,C++ etc are the developers . They need a better developer experience to make good products as in software. And these principles are what makes the codebase predictable and accessible. So that each time another developer looks into the codebase he can predict what's coming next and can understand the flow. Writing your own crappy code design makes it very less understanding and thus very difficult to interpret and debug by others. These structures , naming patterns , community conventions are what makes life easier. Breaking it , would make you linger in the code trying to figure out where the code has gone buggy.

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Your customer is always going to operate within their timeframe, not conform to yours (even if you have a sweet discount proposed for early signature). Also, no business leader that I've ever met jumps out of bed excited to buy software. Understanding their timeline/buying process 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 means you can make it 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲𝗿 to buy. And people like easy. Which means people are more likely to want to buy from you. Salesloft’s data science team recently gathered insights from over 2,000 meeting recordings and transcripts associated with more than 1,200 deals. What did they discover? The deals that discussed timing early on in a deal cycle tend to accelerate to the next stage faster and are more likely to move to closed won. Sales leaders, your reps can use these timing-related questions and statements in their next discovery: https://lnkd.in/e9G2mumG

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Sometimes you have to be the most junior person on the team. Sometimes you have to sit there and wonder: “how am I even making any contributions.” Sometimes you have to leave a job you were confident and comfortable in because you know there is something bigger and better you were meant to do. By this I don’t mean job. I mean just career path. I had to leave a career path behind that I could’ve stayed in and grown in comfortably. Sometimes you have to take a step back and become “Trainee” before you can become “Junior”. Sometimes you have to just sit there on a call and feel really stupid. Sometimes I am asked to do something and then I realise that I have done it before but then I realise that I have implemented it differently and I need to think about how to try and implement it again. Sometimes I wonder what my skills are and what my contributions to the team are and how I contribute to the team but then I realise that these things take time. And for any engineer in a new role then these are very real feelings Sometimes I think “who am I to be blogging” but then I realise that even in my very earliest blogs I was adopting a critical mindset and thinking very hard and learning very deeply and sometimes I feel like I faked it to be here but then I meet people who are at the highest ranks And then I realise that that they feel the same way too When I’m tempted to shut up then I realise that I would be one less woman talking about coding. And when it was very hard for me to find my role in between redundancy in February I realised that if I didn’t persevere as a software engineer then there would be one less female software engineer in the world And besides it was never really a choice to step back from this beautiful beautiful career path Sometimes I wonder why did I do this. Why did I choose to go down a career path that made me take a step back and makes me forced to question and learn so much every single day. But then I listen to music from the imitation game and it becomes a non-question. I think of Alan Turing and it becomes a non-question. I think of how it feels to learn about an optional parameter that a method takes and it becomes a non question. I think about how I feel when I code and it becomes a non question. I think about the fact that I was born to code, and it becomes a non-question. #softwareengineer #softwareengineering

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Here’s a 1-minute comparison between any generic notetaker, and WINN.AI’s real-time sales assistant. Bottom line - None of those standard notetakers will get sales done better. WINN.AI, will. Don’t be a Nate. Be like Lisa. #sales

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So if there is artificial intelligence, then by corollary, there must also be artificial stupidity. Which is why wisdom and experience are so valuable. The most powerful users of AI are those who can determine weather it's right or wrong.

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In 2001, 17 developers met at a ski resort in Utah and created the biggest revolution in software development: Agile. This is the story: Before Agile, there was Waterfall. Teams had to write a 100-200 page document (Spec) before starting the development work. Launching anything took years. By launch time, the product was already outdated. As a result, developers hated waterfall. So, they began searching for a better way. In 2000, a group of 17 software developers including Martin Fowler, Jim Highsmith, Jon Kern, Jeff Sutherland, Ken Schwaber, and Bob Martin met in Oregon. They called themselves “organizational anarchists”. Their goal? To discuss how they could make software development faster. Now, Agile wasn’t born in this meeting. But two important features of Agile were finalized: - Show users the benefits quickly to confirm the product fits their needs - Collect user feedback early and improve continuously. This was a critical milestone in the history of Agile. Less than a year later, in 2001, these 17 devs met again, at a ski resort in Snowbird, Utah. This time, they were determined to achieve their goal: making software development faster. All of them had their own ideas for achieving the goal: Scrum, Extreme programming (XP), Crystal, Adaptive software development (ASD), Feature-driven development (FDD) and the Dynamic-systems-development method (DSDM). After three days of intense discussions, they finally agreed on one common idea: Agile. They created the "Manifesto for Agile Software Development," outlining 4 core values and 12 principles. This meeting officially launched the Agile movement. To support Agile practices, the Agile Alliance was formed. It has grown to nearly 30,000 members today. By 2015, more than 50% of development teams had adopted Agile. Agile’s flexibility is crucial in today's fast-paced world. I write one post for software engineers everyday at 10. Follow Pratik Daga so that you don't miss them.

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There are 2 major players in the UCaaS space. Forget RingCentral, 8x8, Dialpad, Vonage. Zoom crushes them. I don’t even know why companies think they are a choice. If you do, talk to me. I’ll change your mind. Zoom can extend Microsoft into our platform. Literally no one can do what we do. Even Microsoft in their own ecosystem can’t replicate what Zoom Workplace can do. Challenge me. I’ll show you how and why Zoom beats Microsoft head to head in literally every single category. Invite me to your next meeting. I’ll save you money and time and increase every one of your users effectiveness and productivity. What have you got to lose? Watch the entire video: https://lnkd.in/eqV3wtid

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Please repost to spread the word. IF YOU ARE HIRING A DEVELOPER RELATIONS PERSON TO REPORT TO MARKETING, YOU'RE MAKING A MISTAKE. My name is Scott, I'm a Community Mentor in the worldwide Developer Relations Discord, "Captains of Community". Here's the reality: Sorry about the caps but this is a real pain point and hiring managers need to know. Developer Advocates, Developer Program Engineers, and Developer Relations Engineers should never report to Marketing. This is because Marketing tries to twist DevRel people into salespeople, with KPIs centered on website activity, signups and conversions. This is NOT DevRel, it is Developer Marketing and that's a whole different discipline. DevRel (as opposed to Developer Marketing) has KPIs centering around making the developer happier with the product, and keeping a finger on the pulse of your users. It involves writing tutorials, answering questions in forums or Slack/Discord, giving talks and speaking to people at conferences in order to collect the pain points and wants of developers in relation to the product, and write reports on them. It involves trying to push the engineering team into doing what users want, sometime putting them at odds. It means being the face of the product and the person developers know they can turn to if they have a problem. It does not involve signups, conversions, or any other kind of marketing metric. In fact, all DevRel people need to report to either Engineering at a small/medium size company, or to a dedicated DevRel Director at a larger one. And no, that director should not report to a Marketing VP. Hopefully this will help you not make a bad hire, or waste someone else's time by hiring them for a job that isn't actually same as the job title you advertised. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and best of luck! Scott Stoll

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