Engineer, geek, dad, husband. Passionate about building high performance teams. CTO at @SpruceTechInc, ex Head of Engr. @nextjump
new york city
Joined March 2009
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albert balcells retweeted
Progress doesn’t come from waiting for our circumstances to change. It comes from changing our circumstances.
We don’t need confidence to take a leap. We gain confidence by taking the leap.
It’s never too soon to start pursuing a dream. The best time is not someday—it’s today.
albert balcells retweeted
Bad partners pursue their interests at your expense. They'll hurt you if it helps them.
Good partners value your interests as much as theirs. They strive for win-win.
Great partners internalize your interests as theirs. They take pride in your success and joy in your happiness.
albert balcells retweeted
Insecure leaders ridicule others. Secure leaders laugh at themselves.
The ability to make fun of yourself opens the door to candor. It’s a mark of humility and a catalyst for learning.
Great leaders take their work seriously, but they don't take themselves too seriously.
albert balcells retweeted
Not all disappointing outcomes are failures. Some lead to improvements in your process.
Success is about more than the results you achieve. It's also about the growth you attain.
Progress is more than how close you come to your goal. It's how far you've come from your start.
albert balcells retweeted
Who remembers this moment in Prince of Persia (1989) where a magic mirror suddenly blocks the hero's path (and what happens afterward)?
This moment was actually never planned to be in the game. My original vision was a game with lots of traps, but NO enemies... (1/10)
albert balcells retweeted
The ideal end of an argument isn't always “I agree.” It’s often “I see where you're coming from."
Healthy disagreement isn't about one person being right. It's about both people feeling understood.
The test of a good fight is whether insight is gained and respect is maintained.
albert balcells retweeted
I’m Marc Randolph, co-founder of Netflix & 6 other companies.
This is my definition of success:
albert balcells retweeted
If you have constructive feedback, it’s not rude to speak up. It's unkind to stay silent.
Honesty is the highest form of flattery. It signals that you respect their ability to handle the truth.
Don't deprive people of the opportunity to learn. Offering ideas is an act of care.
albert balcells retweeted
Suppressing stressful experiences doesn’t build resilience. It drains resolve.
Stifling unpleasant thoughts and emotions saps energy, limits support, and raises the risk of rebound later.
The best way to cope with distress isn't to ignore it. It's to acknowledge it.
albert balcells retweeted
Marissa Mayer raising $20M for her startup, and getting ~1,000 installs with her well-known persona shows how it is REALLY hard to build a “hit app” in 2024. Like 100x as hard as 10 years ago. What worked in 2012 (“just build an app!” clearly doesn’t:
Via @platformer:
albert balcells retweeted
“Coding” was never the source of value, and people shouldn’t get overly attached to it. Problem solving is the core skill. The discipline and precision demanded by traditional programming will remain valuable transferable attributes, but they won’t be a barrier to entry.
Many times over the years I have thought about a great programmer I knew that loved assembly language to the point of not wanting to move to C. I have to fight some similar feelings of my own around using existing massive codebases and inefficient languages, but I push through.
I had somewhat resigned myself to the fact that I might be missing out on the “final abstraction”, where you realize that managing people is more powerful than any personal tool. I just don’t like it, and I can live with the limitations that puts on me.
I suspect that I will enjoy managing AIs more, even if they wind up being better programmers than I am.
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albert balcells retweeted
This is Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s initial reactions to the launch of Apple's iPhone in 2007
albert balcells retweeted
Public service announcement for managers and coaches: you can't judge effort by results.
Inconsistent performance doesn't mean people aren't trying their best. It often means they're doing their best in the face of turbulence.
In humans, variability is a feature, not a bug.
albert balcells retweeted
Spruce's CEO, Srini Penumella, has been honored with the highly acclaimed Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 New Jersey program award.
Please join us in congratulating Srini and the whole Spruce team on this well-deserved honor!
#Spruce #EYEntrepreneurOfTheYear #EOYUS #EOYNJ
albert balcells retweeted
Spruce had the honor of presenting at the NYS Cybersecurity Conference on June 6-7. Being selected as one of the speakers was an absolute pleasure, and we are grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this prestigious event.
#NYSCybersecurityConference #Spruce