Darin Swanson has been a technical advisor to founders and CEOs for the last 7 years at companies like Pipefy, Outreach, Kite, Edify, and Gatsby. Prior to that he was the VP of Engineering for New Relic and led engineering teams there for 6+ years. In many ways, Darin is a glimpse into the future for a lot of listeners to this show. He is a father of two kids (now adults) and a loving husband to his wife. In our conversation today we discussed:

* Darin's transition into advisory work after a long, full-time career

* His childhood growing up in Northern Canada

* Your spouse as a barometer for your balance and decisions

* What it's like having adult-aged kids who no longer have to listen to you

* Watching your adult children make their own decisions

* How his relationship with work changed at the different stages of his kids' lives

* The worst piece of parenting advice he's ever received

Listen or watch Startup Dad on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and Overcast.

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Where to find Darin Swanson

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darinswanson/

Where to find Adam Fishman

- Newsletter: startupdadpod.substack.com

- Newsletter: www.FishmanAFNewsletter.com

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/

- Twitter / X: https://twitter.com/fishmanaf

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startupdadpod/

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In this episode, we cover:

[1:26] Welcome to the show[2:06] Darin's professional background[3:28] Was it hard to figure out next steps after New Relic[4:57] Darin's Childhood[5:53] What did his parents do for work?[7:44] The makeup of his family[9:36] Marriage[14:09] Their decision to have kids[15:21] Your spouse as barometer for balance and decisions[19:57] Having adult kids who don't have to listen to you[22:44] Biggest mistake you've made as a parent[24:32] Being infallible[27:33] Watching adult kids make their own decisions[31:40] Earliest memories of being a dad[34:20] Most surprising thing about being a dad[35:41] Frameworks for parenthood[38:29] Where he and his spouse don't see eye to eye[41:34] Biggest mistake as a dad?[44:21] His relationship with work at different stages of his kids' lives[49:17] Worst parenting advice ever received?[50:34] Where you can follow along with Darin's journey[52:48] Rapid fire—

Show references:

New Relic - https://newrelic.com/IBM - https://www.ibm.com/Nintendo - https://www.nintendo.com/Blue’s Clues - https://www.nickjr.com/shows/blues-clues-and-you

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For sponsorship inquiries email podcast@fishmana.com.

Editing for Startup Dad provided by Tommy Harron.