Readme

A user manual to operating Eugene Yan. A work in progress, just like me.

A short intro

• I’m from Singapore; spent most of my life and met my wife there. Now in Seattle.
• I’m an introvert by nature and spend my weekends mostly at home. Nonetheless, work and public speaking has trained me to be a pseudo-extrovert.
• Started in investment policy, then transitioned to data science.

My experience so far

• Investment Analysis @ Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore
• Data Science @ IBM (Supply chain, anti-fraud, workforce analytics)
• Data Science @ Lazada, an e-commerce start-up; acquired by Alibaba
• Data Science @ uCare.ai, a healthtech start-up
• Applied Science @ Amazon (current)

What are my super powers?

• Empathy: I care about doing the right thing for customers, the business, and team.
• Extreme ownership: I cannot help but act like an owner; nothing is not my job.
• Bias for action + Delivering results: I iterate & ship fast, and measure results.
• Pragmatism + Simplicity: I design simple solutions to complex problems.
• Communication: I’ve been told that I write & speak better than most tech folks.
• Based on my StandOutAsssessment, I’m a Provider-Teacher. (I’m surprised too.)

What are my quirks?

• Chronic Imposter Syndrome: I’m surrounded by people much better than me; the Internet makes this easy. Thus, I never feel good enough (and value Growth).
• I find faces distracting: When we talk, I’ll often be staring somewhere above your head—this is how I focus. Please don’t be offended.
• I like to joke and kid a lot: If I’m poking fun at you, it means I’m close to you and trust you can take it. But do let me know if I should stop.

What do I value most?

• Learning broadly & deeply: To satisfy my curiosity and self-actualize
• Building quickly & effectively: To solve problems & serve others at scale
• Writing usefully & clearly: To help others and as a conduit for thinking
• Forging strong relationships: For mutual care, inspiration, and growth
• Living virtuously & sustainably: Via my Stoic principles and to stay healthy

What do I enjoy working on?

• Shipping data & ML systems (end-to-end) to serve customers and deliver results.
• Engaging with business to define (the right) problems, deliverables, and outcomes.
• Building high-performing teams & mentoring practitioners to grow the industry.
• Writing & speaking about how to be effective in data science and machine learning.

How do I prefer to work?

• Starting with Intent (What’s the goal?), Deliverable (What should a solution look like?), and Boundaries (What can I not do? Having boundaries provides more freedom than without boundaries).
• My energy and focus is highest early in the morning (8 am), and wanes past 3 - 4 pm. Thus, I prefer Deep Work at this time, and meetings after. Brain-dead at 6 pm.
• I prefer running some analysis or building a prototype before sharing my ideas—they seem so outlandish to me that I rather test them before wasting your time.
• I enjoy working end-to-end: This means everything from “Defining the Problem”, to “Deploying the Solution”, to “Measuring the Results”. This lets me iterate & ship quickly. I’m generally aligned with these approaches by Stitch Fix and Netflix.
• I prefer to Ship Early, Ship Often: One A/B test every 2 weeks = 26 lessons a year. Not shipping after 3 - 6 months is probably too slow for me.
• Definition of Done: The system should be deployed and the impact measurable.

How am I like to work with?

• I’m not always on email or messenger. I usually check once before lunch, and once before end of day. If you need me, don’t hesitate to @eugeneyan or call on the phone.
• I default to openness and complete trust—it’s just easier to work this way.
• A good leader only needs to do 3 things: Provide (training, motivation, resources, opportunities, etc.), remove (blockers, confusion, politics) and get out of the way.
• What makes a good leader? I like a16z’s definition: Vision (Steve Jobs), Caring for people (Bill Campbell), Execution ability (Andy Grove)—at least two out of three.

How do I prefer to communicate and get feedback?

• 2-minutes: I might ask you for 2-minutes to bounce an idea off you, or to rubber duck. 2-minutes is usually 10 - 30 minutes. 15-minutes = “We have a problem.”
• Face-to-face: Writing just doesn’t convey the message well enough, the facial expressions and tone matter.
• Feedback: I enjoy feedback early and often. My default qns - “What should I do more of? What should I do less of/stop doing? What can I improve on?”
• Crocker’s Law: I believe feedback is a gift and will not take offence; I don’t need the shit sandwich around it.
• When giving others feedback, I prefer to give it in a private, casual setting, preferably 1-on-1.

What are my weaknesses? (mirrors my superpowers)

• To iterate fast, I’m okay with lowering standards in the short-term and taking on minor tech debt (which I pay off after shipping).
• My enthusiasm wanes when working on things that aren’t meaningful, or actively harm people; important to start with a meaningful Why? (i.e., Intent)
• I care a lot about my work and outcomes. Sometimes, I push too hard and take failure harder than most. Actively working on this.

What do I not have patience for?

• Politics: Backstabbing, putting people down, stealing credit, malicious gossip, etc.
• Bullshitters that try to fake it till they make it—most never succeed legitimately.

Favourite quotes?

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” - Aristotle (and Will Durant)

“The number one predictor of success for a very young startup: rate of iteration.” - Sam Altman

“Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you’re not innovating.” - Elon Musk

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” - Alvin Toffler

“Simplicity is a great virtue but it requires hard work to achieve it and education to appreciate it. And to make matters worse: complexity sells better.” — Edsger Dijkstra

“The world wants you to be typical - in a thousand ways, it pulls at you. Don’t let it happen. You have to pay a price for your distinctiveness, and it’s worth it. … but don’t expect it to be easy or free. You’ll have to put energy into it continuously.” — Jeff Bezos