- Sales and Marketing go together, but the paths diverge once you know the importance of each function. It is good to get a broad idea of both. You can do some courses on coursera/MooCs, and try to get hands-on with running some marketing campaigns.
- "The Challenger Sale" is a fairly easy and good book to read in general.
- Have a look at SaaStr channel, there are some nuggets there https://www.youtube.com/c/Saastr/videos
All the best. Try out a lot with short feedback loops so that you can course correct suitably. Always respect the customer and their needs.
'more' in terms of value? Then, take a break and roam the world. You can sustain for 2-3 years and do a RTW at a slow-n-steady pace and also make some money in the interim :)
With experience, I have seen that people get the knack for reading what they are interested in and know to understand & appreciate the content on the Web. One need not be easily influenced the thoughts being shared, but form their own opinions after careful examination of the facts.
Skimming content is a desirable skillset to have, especially in the era of information overload. HN is a sinkhole and one can spend hours on it, or selectively chose the topics/comments(to know whats-where) and move on.
Do writers 'actually' follow this kind of a structured process? I thought the ink just flows when in the mood!...atleast that's what happens with me, when I want to write. Else, I need to learn this process.
one piece of advice that stuck onto me till date: "Always code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live."
Architecting applications for the cloud is a non-trivial problem. Lot of forethought needs to go in place while choosing a particular infrastructure component. And the ideas of resiliency, robustness (what can be bucketed into 'graceful-degradation') etc along with the most important Monitoring needs to be put in place right from the initial days of the app, so that rearchitecting is does NOT end up being a costly affair.
Management is not easy as it sounds. Leading people and setting strategy needs a lot of experience. The culture of the company to take calculated risks should gel with your thought process when you are higher-up. You are also responsible for the people who report into you and need to make sure that all are 'taken care of'.
Being in Management has nothing to do with Coding; you should be a good manager of time/tasks, so that you can afford to code atleast a few hours every week, if you dig such.
I have moved from being a Principal Engineer, to Product Management and now am leading Engineering. Must say that I have enjoyed the journey so far, and the learning has been exponential. I was hands-on when I was a PM, and am still. As a PM, quick PoCs helped me get across my idea quicker and when you lead Engineering, complete understanding of the details is the most important so that course corrections and strategy can be defined well.
Being hands-on keeps me sane.
Did a 1-year part-time Management course in one of the top BSchools, at the end of my tenure as a PM - wasn't of great benefit, as I think that the idea of a MBA is becoming largely irrelevant. I think a good selection of courses in MooC helps; in fact, for me, I was so much fascinated by courses in Coursera that led me to do the part-time Exec Mgmt course. But I must say that the experience of the Professors and getting back to school after almost a decade was enjoyable. Just listening to the lectures of the Profs was much needed.
During the whole journey, I cultivated the habit of reading and writing(a lot!) and I can personally see my thought process mature. But I know it's just tip of the iceberg.
I think the most important trait is not to stop learning whatever you do. I know it sounds cliched, but it is what it is.
Am always on the lookout for smart people with whom I can work with and learn.
All the best. Try out a lot with short feedback loops so that you can course correct suitably. Always respect the customer and their needs.