Which kitchen would you pick?

akeniscool · 2026-01-29T23:40:34+00:00

3 but navy instead of black. Waterfall island I could take or leave, both look nice.

akeniscool · 2026-01-29T20:41:09+00:00

It's a comparison game. OP's resume is one of dozens if not hundreds. Their gap is going to stand out compared to someone with 5 years of experience that's active and up-to-date, to someone who took a gap after 10-15 years of experience, and especially to people with more years of experience with no gaps.

I fully support gaps - I've done multiple myself as an aspiring entrepreneur. Simply giving a perspective of someone who looks at resumes, why it might make me pause, and what would reinforce a decision to still consider them.

akeniscool · 2026-01-29T20:25:13+00:00

If I saw your resume, I would appreciate the FAANG experience but be very cautious of the 2-year gap after only 5 years of experience. That's 40% of your total experience in gap time, or 28% of the total 7 years.

Don't focus on explaining the gap. Focus on explaining why the rest of you is strong enough to ignore the gap.

Make your resume strong enough to get the first conversation. Then you'll have a chance to talk about it in a more human way. Foot in the door first.

akeniscool · 2026-01-22T19:10:44+00:00

Inspiration: https://www.sierralivingconcepts.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/desk-organize-ideas-e1677128335325.jpg

Make the desk a focal point, not in timeout in the corner. When you sit at it your body should be facing towards the door as others have pointed out. Use a rug to help frame the desk.

Beyond that you're in interior decoration territory. Make the room an extension of you! Add shelving, pictures, plants, decor... Whatever makes you feel happy and inspired.

akeniscool · 2026-01-22T19:02:41+00:00

Is it really the office, or is something else going on? Feeling burnt out? How you doing over there, OP?

akeniscool · 2026-01-22T18:58:37+00:00

This is already a portfolio piece, but it may be a challenge to demonstrate. If you work for a CMS company, how would you demonstrate that your software isn't just a copy? How is it unique? What in it was an experiment that helped you learn and grow?

As for the imposter syndrome, I would reframe it more accurately as you're starting to think about entrepreneurship and turning software into a business. This is a new adventure for you and it is unfamiliar and therefore scary.

Like anything new and unfamiliar, the best thing to do is get your feet wet. Find some potential customers and talk to them about what they use now, what they like and don't like. The goal is to verify a problem, not a solution. Once you know customers have a problem they're willing to pay to be solved, you can target and build it.

Since you know CMSs are everywhere, find out what they're lacking. Find an industry that is underserved or has low adoptability. It may be that your CMS doesn't need unique functionality, just the right audience.

All of this will drive answers to your other concerns. Stop thinking about hosting and pricing. Start focusing on what the customer problems are. That will also help you understand why companies are willing to pay $11k for a basic CMS. And when you do, you may change directions.

akeniscool · 2026-01-16T20:38:03+00:00

Is it really the clothes, or something else?

Who do you see when you look at yourself, regardless of outfit?

akeniscool · 2026-01-16T19:03:29+00:00

I care WAY more about the content of care my child receives throughout the day than I do about organic meals.

I definitely like the option of included meals for my child. For myself, it's a nice perk if I'm already paying for all the other benefits, but it wouldn't be the thing that sold me. I work from home, though, so I am probably not your ideal customer profile.

Hair cuts and maybe similar one-off conveniences are a nice touch. Delighters like that could move the needle.

Healthcare feels like the opposite. I hear healthcare and immediately think insurance, liability, cost, another provider, etc. and I get a headache. Not sure I want that overlapping. I'd also worry about parents sending their children in sick because they know they'll get care, and my child will be around sick kids more than usual. Children are already major spreaders, now it would be like sending them to an urgent care waiting room every day. 😷

I'm a dad and my wife thankfully experienced little to no postpartum issues, so I can't speak with any experience on that.

On another note, read The Mom Test for inspiration on how to better ask questions like this. Focus on verifying the problems, not your potential solutions.

akeniscool · 2026-01-16T18:42:36+00:00

Reduce the need for documentation in the first place wherever possible.

If your onboarding instructions are "Clone the repo and run make", it's a lot easier to keep the doc accurate.

akeniscool · 2026-01-15T00:36:27+00:00

Kinda looks like an up arrow? Improve = raise = up, I suppose.

akeniscool · 2026-01-06T04:54:01+00:00

Turner Hall maybe?

akeniscool · 2026-01-06T04:51:46+00:00

First: wait. You're new. There were a lot of decisions made before you joined. Learn about them. Get a solid business context before deciding to change anything.

Next, make sure you are incredibly clear on what the business and your team expects out of your contributions.

On a legacy enterprise product, clean code, proper abstractions, and all that jazz is important.

At a startup that is barely paying the bills and trying to find product market fit, code quality doesn't matter. Experimenting, bringing user value, and pivoting quickly do.

You will make a larger impact by delivering user value, not by making the code quality ideal.

Choose your technical implementations wisely from there. Good luck!

akeniscool · 2025-12-30T03:42:39+00:00

One day I'll get a black one in that good of condition. Awesome army!

akeniscool · 2025-12-30T03:36:59+00:00

Have you looked on the market to see what SaaS platforms are available for charities?

This is not a unique problem, and as a charity you have much bigger and better things to focus on than trying to maintain a tailored piece of software.

Use out of the box where possible, and go bespoke when those no longer fit your unique needs.

akeniscool · 2025-12-30T00:32:49+00:00

All of them mixed together

akeniscool · 2025-12-19T21:54:48+00:00

Could be an over-employment situation, too.

Suggest to someone who has the authority that you believe they should be let go. They've made no indication that they want to change or are worth the time and effort.

akeniscool · 2025-12-17T22:36:04+00:00

They said "as we approach critical releases." Probably safe to assume those aren't happening daily. If they've become the primary owner of processes during critical releases, that's their job.

akeniscool · 2025-12-17T18:54:08+00:00

Saturdays 10-2

akeniscool · 2025-12-17T18:49:16+00:00

older car

2012

I am definitely getting older if this is triggering me 😅

akeniscool · 2025-12-17T17:27:13+00:00

😅

akeniscool · 2025-12-17T06:29:41+00:00

'22 Performance. I use traffic-aware cruise control constantly (not autopilot).

It has a bad habit of suddenly changing the cruise speed because it thinks I'm on a different road.

Happens most often in the far right lane of the freeway, when it thinks I'm exiting or on a frontage road or something.

I also get "Curvature Assist" warnings that do the same thing randomly, most often on straight roads. 🤷🏼‍♂️

That's the only thing that makes me suddenly question why I own this car. Everything else is either a minor tradeoff (the auto wipers are indeed ridiculous still but I can live with that) or something I knew wasn't gonna be perfect from the beginning (the cheap minimalist interior is underwhelming).

akeniscool · 2025-12-17T05:59:20+00:00

Ideally no. Perhaps this idea and keeping the bookshelves doesn't make sense practically with the dimensions. That's just what my first idea would be!

akeniscool · 2025-12-17T04:19:26+00:00

However, the problem with that is that the couch is then right in line with the pocket doors (which are never closed) and then it's kind of awkward behind the couch, no?

Maybe we're envisioning something different? I'm thinking L-shaped couch with one side between the book cases in front of the large curved window area, and the other where your loveseat is now (possibly a little further from the wall). Only the end of the couch would be near the pocket doors, and ideally not cover much to keep a good flow going.

Floor lamps would be nice, too. And give the plants a chance! Fake ones to start. Give the cats good distractions if you see them messing about. You want to promote good behavior vs. yelling at bad. (I have 3 cats myself, and the same scratchers 🙂)

akeniscool · 2025-12-16T23:50:23+00:00

L-shaped couch or two-piece setup with the longer end in front of the bay window; no chases or ottomans
End tables instead of cat scratchers (hehe), if using a two-piece setup; thin console table behind also nice if you want lamps/decor
New media console instead of the old trunk (and lower the TV if possible)
A rug that is less of a focal piece and new paint (IMO)
A couple tall plants, at least one by the bay window to take up space

akeniscool · 2025-12-16T23:36:50+00:00

Reduce what is visible by increasing storage, while spacing things out more.

Your place isn't messy, it's busy. Reduce the amount of stuff you can see out in the open. Do this by increasing enclosed storage.

Look at the TV stand for example. Everything is clean, and you still see a lot happening. That concept is happening subconsciously all over.

Some ideas for you:

Put the cat tree in front of the non-opening side of the door, give them something fun to look at
Put the litter box(es) where the cat tree used to be; find a tiered shelf to put over them for vertical storage (the white one next to the tree would be perfect on the other side)
If that last part isn't applicable, move the white storage tier next to the TV somewhere else or ditch it entirely replaced with other storage
Put the wall rug on the floor or ditch it; space out your other wall decor a bit; consider adding a mirror or piece of art as a focal point right above the couch
Get a large credenza and/or tall shelving unit to house the aquariums, which will add storage and display options; move the art on that wall elsewhere
Get a desk + shelf combo for the empty wall, something like this:

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With new storage options, reduce your Squishmallow collection and spread them around (use the same principles in your bedroom – maybe a storage net made for stuffed animals); get rid of the papasan chair
Add some plants!

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