I'm a pragmatic software engineer focused on where systems meet humans, with a love of beautiful design and a drive to do meaningful work.
I'm currently a senior software engineer at Flock Safety, where I act as lead on my team. Flock helps solve 700k+ crimes annually; my team focuses on the accountability layer that helps agencies ensure it's done right. We build transparency portals, granular sharing controls, purpose-based search filters, and audit trails. In my role I have the rare opportunity to ship code that protects life, property, and liberty.
Along the way I helped set up our design system and tried to popularize good patterns. I love working with Product/UX, and writing tickets almost as much as writing code. But building a team that generates good work is my ultimate goal.
Outside of engineering, I have a casual interest in a variety of topics, including: architecture, design, cities, economics, and financial markets. The common thread between these is perhaps this: at their best, they have a capacity for self-improvement. Great design, products, and architecture evolve over time as creative new ideas emerge and only the best ones are kept. And the most successful companies and economies are those with the cultures and markets that embrace this process. Those with dynamism.
Codebases are the same. They evolve over time to find solutions to customer problems. Good ones compress that knowledge into code concisely. They are structured to make it easy to spread good ideas and hard to keep bad ones (it's no coincidence that the idea of a "design pattern" originated with an architect and town planner, Christopher Alexander). And the best companies and teams are those with the culture that encourage this process to take place — they generate good codebases.
I am deeply optimistic about the human capacity for progress. Life will always be full of problems, but, unless they defy the laws of physics, none of them are unsolvable. As the application of knowledge to solving problems, technology is humanity's ultimate superpower. To me, startups are one of the best ways to put this superpower to work. One day, I'd like to start one myself.
I attended college in beautiful South Africa and grad school in the dynamic United States, where I still live. The move reinforced something I'd long suspected: that environments matter enormously, and that moving is one of the highest-leverage decisions you can make.
I call myself a "life-beginner" because I think that's the right orientation. It allows me to stay dynamic. There's always more to understand, more beauty to see, more ways to grow. The alternative — thinking you've figured it all out — seems both false and boring.
To this end, I enjoy traveling with my wife Meg, usually with my 35mm film camera in tow.