Jeff Ferber

00.tl;dr summary

2x VC-funded startup founder

Experienced full-stack programmer

Baseline management style: collaborative

01.current

Wranggle Studio

As time permits, I'm building an app that lets non-programmers automate the browser:

{
  "overview": "Tool to create partial, human-attended browser automations",
  "description": "One person creates a Robotic Process Automation (RPA) script and other people in their department use it to zip through repetitive tasks",
  "tech": "Electron; browser extension APIs; TypeScript & JavaScript; Node.js; React; Blueprint.js; many others"
}

See videos on wranggle.com

02.founder

ProxV, Inc.

Built and released WhatWeOrder, a modern purchasing/requisition system, processing over $100k/month during its beta.

Hires started as gems-in-the-rough, people almost completely ignored by recruiters, and are now at prestigious companies like Dropbox, Tinder, and Twitter.

Wrote the Ruby on Rails backend: customizable forms, workflows, permission systems, reports, ERP/accounting integrations, others.

Managed and contributed to marketing, sales, etc.

Plurchase, Inc.

Built and released Plurchase, a co-browsing startup for housing search and shopping.

Funded by Y Combinator in 2009, Plurchase was considered one of the more technically impressive by an already technically elite group.

Java, Ruby on Rails, JavaScript; heavy on concurrency and server-push/comet (before good libs existed); UI challenges with little precedent to follow for inspiration.

03.manager

Deep thoughts on hiring

People tend to look for the qualities they value in themselves when hiring. Sometimes that works but it can also lead to unfortunate misses, and can easily fail when hiring for other functional roles. I try to fight this "hire myself" instinct by attempting to mentally match the candidate with competent people I've worked with in the past instead, even ones very different from me.

Deep thoughts on junior coders

Before giving up on staffing inexperienced programmers on your team (as so many software companies seem to be doing these days), consider trying extra layers of specialization and junior-to-junior code reviews.

Experienced

Most of my management experience has been with small product teams, usually 6 or fewer people. I've done so at my own startups and frequently in consulting engagements, working with teams of various experience levels, with on-site and virtual/remote teams, and with off-shore contractors.

Hands-on

I'm drawn to the high impact of management and its coaching aspects, but I also love building things hands-on and worry about losing coding skills that go unused for too long. My sweet spot is something that combines engineering and management: as team lead or as time-partitioned engineering manager.

04.recent code sample

@wranggle/rpc

{
  "overview": "Help various JavaScript windows and processes interact with each other seamlessly",
  "purpose": "When authoring an automation in Wranggle Studio, up to six different types of windows / processes need to interact with each other, usually over multi-hop relays. @wranggle/rpc makes it easy to keep such code clean and graceful"
}

github.com/wranggle/rpc

05.consulting

Between times of funding for my startups, I've done consulting work:

Interviewed and selected Leap Motion's initial programmers;
Coded on urgent and at-risk projects in the company's early years (NW.js desktop app and Rails back-end projects)

Provided engineering management for multiple Abbott Laboratories intranet web projects.

Completed engineering management, coding, and product planning projects for a variety of software companies.

06.early career highlights

★ Initiative ★

On my own initiative at EDS, I integrated my division's core electric utility modeling software with Office, permitting a breakout of task automation.

★ Product Planning ★

Gained a reputation for excellence at software product planning during my 4 years at Apple. Was assigned key greenfield features that successfully transitioned .Mac to a subscription service.

★ Communication ★

After successfully leading large launch teams as a Product Manager, I was frequently asked to help on product launches for other groups (iPhoto, iTunes, OSX.)

★ Communication ★

When I assisted Sales with large accounts at Adept Technology, I had the highest sales-to-demo ratio of any engineer in the division.

★ Communication ★

Presented my streaming reverse web proxy on the main stage of the 2012 Node.js Summit.

★ Initiative ★

On my own time and initiative, I wrote an algorithm for Adept's Silma-division flagship product that became a key product feature and a centerpiece in all subsequent product demos.

★ Education ★

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor: B.S.E. (cum laude) and M.B.A. (with Honors)

07.in closing

My location and email:

{
  "current location": "San Francisco, but thinking to move",
  "remote": "50% very nice; 100% ok"
}

jeff.ferber@gmail.com