Leadership

Congratulations! You’ve successfully navigated interviews, completed team matching, and finally landed your first tech job. Starting fresh in a professional environment can feel overwhelming—I certainly felt that way when I began my journey as a hardware engineer at Motorola in 2007. Remember, everyone starts somewhere. Whether you’re fresh out of school or transitioning from another field, your first year sets the foundation for your career. This guide shares practical insights from my experiences, intended to help you confidently navigate your first steps in tech. ...

I’ve been in this game for almost two decades — from debugging pre-silicon firmware with an oscilloscope in hand, to leading 40+ engineers across organizations to deliver production silicon. I’ve shipped chips, built secure boot flows, led zero-to-one projects, and steered open-source hardware like OpenTitan into Google’s data center infrastructure. But if I’m being honest, leadership can feel like a climb to a ledge — and some days, it feels like the only way down is to jump. ...