Why I’m Becoming An Engineering Manager @ Teespring

I love writing software because I truly believe in the cliché that software can change the world. In the last 30 years, technology (especially the Internet) has given people equal opportunity to better their lives. From free online college courses to staying connected with friends and family across far distances to enabling new life-changing businesses, technology has revolutionized the way we live our lives and view the world.

Over the years of my professional career, I’ve come to realize that in order for software companies to achieve anything of significance, they need to meld great technology with great people. For every technical marvel (Google’s Search, Facebook, AWS), there are huge teams of incredible engineers backing them. Building amazing software is extremely complex and very much a team sport.

I believe that having the right team is just as important — if not more — than the technology itself.

The one absolutely critical piece in having the right team is culture. Culture makes up the team’s foundation and adds a multiplier to a team’s success, as it can a) inspire and motivate individuals to go beyond what’s expected, b) spark moments of brilliant creativity, c) improve collective decision-making, and d) become the guiding light when things aren’t going well. It’s important to highlight the last point, because growing companies are guaranteed to face hardship and failures, and culture is one of the few things that determines how quickly companies bounce back.

As companies quickly grow, they run the risk of taking shortcuts and incur cultural attribution. Every new hire is an opportunity to potentially introduce a bad apple, and even if you make the right hire, messing up the onboarding process can be just as detrimental. Communication overhead grows exponentially, leaving engineers sometimes in the dark about a new project’s purpose. If not quickly handled, all these small “broken windows” can lead to long term ramifications.

This is why I decided to step away from individual contribution and become an Engineering Manager here @ Teespring. We as a company have decided where this ship should go, and my job is to simply to help steer just enough so we don’t hit the rocks. By empowering people to achieve their individual and team goals, by opening up communication and learning, and by promoting transparency and togetherness, I hope I can help preserve, protect, and build upon the culture so that Teespring can be even more awesome in the future than it is today.

Here @ Teespring, our core mission is to enable and empower anyone to bring their great ideas to reality. There are countless stories of people reaching their dreams of buying their first homes, paying for their children’s college tuitions, and quitting their unsatisfying day jobs to start their own (sometimes very lucrative) businesses. As I said earlier, technology has given people equal opportunity to better their lives, and I’m truly grateful and humbled to be a part of that.

If you want to be a part of this awesome journey, we’re hiring at Teespring so check out our job posts and DM me @johnkchow for more details!