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📬Do we need a VP of Engineering… or a CTO?
𝘖𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 & 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 The answer? 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺...

Kjell Moens
3 days ago1 min read


📬How do we add AI to our product?
𝘌𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 & 𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 That’s the wrong starting point. Most AI initiatives...

Kjell Moens
6 days ago1 min read


📬𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲?
𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯-𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 & 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝘀:...

Kjell Moens
Aug 71 min read


📬𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝟱𝟬 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀?
𝘚𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦-𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 At 20 people, everything just worked. 𝗡𝗼𝘄? • Deployments break • Features crawl •...

Kjell Moens
Aug 51 min read


📬 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗽?
𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵-𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. A founder asked me this last month. Engineering was building...

Kjell Moens
Jul 312 min read


📬 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗵?
𝘚𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 & 𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 The architecture team asked me this during a...

Kjell Moens
Jul 292 min read


𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴?
𝘖𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 This question came from a founder-CTO last week...

Kjell Moens
Jul 241 min read


Coaching Engineers Is Not the Same as Managing Them
Managing is about accountability. Coaching is about growth. Too many leaders think they’re being “supportive” when they avoid holding...

Kjell Moens
Jul 221 min read


𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹.
As teams scale, underperformance gets harder to diagnose. Some people need coaching. Some need clarity. Some are simply in the wrong...

Kjell Moens
Jul 101 min read


When the CEO Picks the Stack : What Happens When Technical Decisions Get Personal
I joined a startup where engineering velocity was crawling—and no one could quite explain why. - Features took weeks instead of days -...

Kjell Moens
Jul 82 min read


How I Promoted the Wrong Person to Manager And Almost Lost Half the Team
He was the most senior. He knew the code inside out. He had some lead experience at a previous job. So when we needed a manager - I...

Kjell Moens
Jul 31 min read


𝗔𝘁 𝟭𝟱 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗢𝗿𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽𝘀 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁
A founder once asked: “Why are we moving slower now than when we were half the size?” At 15 engineers, systems that used to “just work”...

Kjell Moens
Jun 201 min read


Should You implement the Spotify Model ?
I got this question a lot from founders and engineering leaders trying to scale. The Spotify model—tribes, squads, chapters,...

Kjell Moens
Jun 171 min read


Leadership is Service, Not Status
I’ve worked with teams where the manager was the biggest blocker—not because they lacked skills, but because they believed the title did...

Kjell Moens
Jun 121 min read


The "Not Built Here" Syndrome
Early engineers love to build. It’s why they joined a startup: to create, invent, solve from scratch. But there’s a trap founders rarely...

Kjell Moens
Jun 101 min read


When to Buy vs. When to Build
I’ve seen both sides go sideways: Teams sink 18 months into building “table stakes” tools SaaS solutions that looked fast… until...

Kjell Moens
Jun 51 min read


The Architectures You Need Depends on the Questions You Can't Afford to Get Wrong
A founder once asked me, “What’s the best architecture for a fast-scaling SaaS company?” My answer? It depends. (Not because I'm being...

Kjell Moens
Jun 31 min read


When to Rewrite versus When to Refactor
A founder once asked me: "Should we rewrite the whole thing, or just refactor it piece by piece?" My answer? Depends on what you're...

Kjell Moens
May 292 min read


Every Stage of Growth Breaks Something
The way you ship. The way you communicate. The way you hire, plan, lead. If your startup feels messy, it’s not a failure — it’s a sign...

Kjell Moens
May 261 min read


Why Good Engineers Quietly Quit
It’s not always burnout. It’s not always compensation. It's not always micro management. Sometimes, it’s something quieter: No clear...

Kjell Moens
May 221 min read
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