This has been heavily influenced by Ben Horowitz’s Good PM / Bad PM guide.

Good engineers make history. Bad engineers destroy companies. This document aims to articulate what separates the good from the bad.

A good engineer cares about doing good work for the sake of doing good work. Bad engineers put in the minimum that’s expected of them and count the minutes till quitting time.

A good engineer takes initiative, a bad engineer waits for instruction.

Good engineers understand the products they’re building. They take the time to understand the business and the users’ experience. They have a vested interest in the success of the businesses they’re helping develop. Bad engineers care more about building or using the latest technology than they do about achieving the business goals of our customers.

Good engineers care about the customers and think about what they want and need. They can also clearly distinguish between want and need and build to solve those needs. It may not necessarily be what the customer asks for. Bad engineers build whatever is asked of them without considering purpose.

Good engineers care about user experience. They understand that it’s their job to make products that are easy to understand and use. They know that great products are made by taking feedback from users. Bad engineers complain about users ‘not getting it’ or ‘being stupid’.  Beyond that, they understand the value of backward compatibility. They know that not everyone is going to have the latest version of applications and that they need to account the experience of existing users.

Good engineers care about the business and understand that without happy customers they, and Byldd, would not exist.

We’re hiring good engineers at Byldd. Reach out to us at hiring@byldd.com.

Do you want good engineers working on your vision? Reach out to us here.