I'm Kevin, a Staff Engineer at Snap who got here by way of film school and a post-production startup. I write about engineering craft, career growth, and learning to get out of my own way.

Recent Posts

• Parachuting In

  Published:Apr 28, 2026 |  at 08:00 AM

  I don't hand-write code anymore. The hard parts didn't go away.

• Two tables

  Published:Apr 8, 2026 |  at 07:30 AM

  You don't start with parallelism.

• You can't borrow muscle memory

  Published:Apr 2, 2026 |  at 08:22 AM

  I copied 27 Claude commands and realized it wasn't doing me any favors.

• Temporary is Permanent

  Published:Mar 24, 2026 |  at 09:30 AM

  Light Iron announced it was winding down. Some memories from my first job, my first family in LA, and where I accidentally started writing software.

• You can use AI every day and still not get better

  Published:Mar 12, 2026 |  at 02:48 PM

  Working with AI isn't a binary skill. It's an instrument that requires deliberate practice.

• Ideas Die in Drafts

  Published:Mar 4, 2026 |  at 08:00 PM

  Some of my best ideas used to die before anyone saw them. That's changing.

• Wider, Not Faster

  Published:Feb 15, 2026 |  at 08:20 PM

  Working with AI changed what I'm willing to attempt. It also changed me.

• The Rock Tumbler

  Published:Jan 31, 2026 |  at 07:24 PM

  Some feedback is easy to act on. Other feedback takes work to process. That work might be the point.

• High-Bandwidth Communication

  Published:Oct 20, 2025 |  at 09:25 PM

  Why do some conversations click while others fall flat? Using the language of networking to understand human connection, trust, and saying what you mean.

• Getting out of my own way: Lessons from becoming a Staff Engineer

  Published:Oct 6, 2025 |  at 07:26 PM

  Lessons from my journey to Staff Engineer at Snap. A personal look at imposter syndrome, becoming a force multiplier, and the strategic shifts to succeed at the next level.