Lew Cirne instead of going to a lot of meetings, he spent a lot of time in his Lake Tahoe cabin working on our latest software analytics product, code-named Project Rubicon. The goal? To be totally isolated from the day to day, to get to that “a-ha” moment when the idea clicks and you can’t think about anything else. To experience the “pure coding joy” of diving into the guts of building software.
- Surround yourself with amazing people. “I thought deeply about what I wanted to do and what roles others on my team should do,” Lew said. “The key is to find people who are great at what they do, and then trust them and empower them to do their jobs so you can do yours.”
- Carve out specific times for development work. Rather than try to squeeze in development work whenever he has a chance, Lew schedules two full weeks per quarter — that’s 8 weeks a year — to be isolated writing software. Outside of the coding period, he recommends that the coding CEO focus on their business role.
- Focus on high-value projects. Lew spent last year’s coding break on developing Rubicon, which was introduced at our FutureStack conference last year. While he built the main concept, he wisely handed it off to other members of the New Relic team. “Now we have many engineers working on the project,” Lew said, “so I’m doing less hands-on work.” His next two-week coding break will be devoted to New Relic’s next big idea, which he hopes to bring out the following year.
- Make it clear why a coding CEO is good for the company. “It’s obviously good for me that I get to do the fun coding stuff,” Lew said, “but how does the board feel?” The answer is that “we’re a product-first company, and that starts with the CEO.” Aside from the actual coding work that gets done, Lew said, “being a coding CEO helps me stay more connected on the latest technology trends, and return more energized and more sharp on the business discussions.”
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