Books and Essays that Shape Learning Journey

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In this chapter, the speakers discuss the books and essays that have had a significant impact on their learning journey, including 'Thinking Fast and Slow' for understanding how the brain works, computer science books for visualizing abstract concepts, and books like 'Thanks for the Feedback' and 'Difficult Conversations' for developing skills and contextual knowledge. They also highlight the importance of understanding the ecosystem they are in with a book on the history of venture capital.

For our first episode of 2023, our guest is Mike Boufford, CTO of Greenhouse, an applicant tracking system and recruiting platform.

Mike has a unique career as an engineering leader. He wrote the first line of code at Greenhouse in May 2012, and he’s still there — over a decade later. This isn’t the typical path of non-co-founding engineers, who usually get layered or leave to start their own ventures.

In our conversation today, we focus on how founders build an environment that makes early employees want to stay, and importantly, how leaders can build the career skills and self-awareness they need to succeed at a startup long-term. Mike shares more on:

How his own motivation changed over time and how he managed his relationship with the company’s co-founders.
The techniques he used to prepare himself for every next phase of growth and how his role would have to change in 18-24 months.
Why he read two books on every other executive’s area of the business when he joined the leadership team.

Mike also refers to his First Round Review article in the interview, which we definitely recommend reading: Why This Engineering Leader Thinks You Shouldn’t Aim for Zero Regrettable Attrition.

You can follow Mike on Twitter at @mboufford. You can email us questions directly at review@firstround.com or follow us on Twitter @firstround and @brettberson.