Quick update: I’m now a partner at Google Ventures! I’m still doing engineering (although I would love to hear about it if you know about any cool startups I should check out) and I’m really enjoying being back at Google.
Author Archives: kchodorow
Staying out of trouble on Elastic Beanstalk
Editor’s note: devops always makes me cranky and Domino is in the doggy hospital (he’s okay), so have a rant about Elastic Beanstalk. This is my life: If you’re unfamiliar with Elastic Beanstalk: healthy is green, unhealthy is red, and grey is unreachable. Grey is the worst, because it’s inescapable: you can’t change the configurationContinue reading “Staying out of trouble on Elastic Beanstalk”
The thing about renting an apartment in NYC
There’s a lot of weird stuff about NYC real estate and this post attempts to cover some of the things that I’ve experienced. I’ve spent years renting apartments in NYC, mostly from rather small-time landlords with pre-war, rent stabilized buildings. If you’re looking for luxury rentals in new construction, a lot of this advice probablyContinue reading “The thing about renting an apartment in NYC”
A self-indulgent post for a self-indulgent day
I think how I feel around holidays is a good barometer for how my life is going. For example, last year over the winter vacation, I just wanted to stay there forever and dreaded returning to “real life.” By contrast, year’s winter vacation I had a lot of fun, but I was looking forward toContinue reading “A self-indulgent post for a self-indulgent day”
Goals for 2018
A list of things that I think are doable that I’d like to accomplish over the next year: Become as good at Node.js as I am at other languages. I’ve been very impressed by the community so far and EcmaScript 6 is very interesting. I think I’m on track for good work/life balance, but makeContinue reading “Goals for 2018”
IPOs, 101
When a friend IM’d me and told me she saw an article saying that MongoDB had filed for IPO, I embarked on a months-long journey of discovering that I knew nothing about IPOs. I found it a bit difficult to get information about them, so I figured I’d write up what I learned. This isContinue reading “IPOs, 101”
A magic trick
I was standing on the street corner with Domino and a group of schoolkids came up. “Hey, can I show you a magic trick?” one of them asked. “Uh…” “Think of a number,” he said. “Ok.” “Now add 4 to it.” “Ok.” “Now add 5 to it.” “Ok.” “Now add 1 to it.” “Ok.” “NowContinue reading “A magic trick”
R&R
Andrew and I just took a month off to relax in a cabin in the woods. We are extremely fortunate to have jobs and lives that allow us to take off this kind of time, because boy did I need it. At the beginning of our trip, I was hoping to get so much done:Continue reading “R&R”
P.T. Barnum on salary vs. equity
I’ve been reading P.T. Barnum’s autobiography and came across an interesting passage about when he was employed at Mr. Taylor’s (maybe of Lord & Taylor’s? Not sure) shop: My employer manifested great interest in me, and treated me with the upmost kindness, but the situation did not suit me. The fact is, there are someContinue reading “P.T. Barnum on salary vs. equity”
My favorite benefits that more companies should offer
Google is famous for its perks, but the ones that ended up being my favorite were not the free food: Peer bonuses Anyone at Google can nominate a coworker for a peer bonus. They write a couple sentences about what the person did and send it to their manager for approval. It’s a really niceContinue reading “My favorite benefits that more companies should offer”
