About

Welcome to my newsletter, Tech Dad

Welcome to my newsletter. My goal is to help 1 million people break into tech because tech change my life for the better. Btw:

• No you don't need to be a Dad to gain value from this letter.
• You don't need to be a parent.
• You don't need multiple years of experience
• You don't even need to work in tech (it would be helpful and more relevant 😅).

The title "Tech Dad" matches who I am and what I do.

Disclaimer, 😄 We support all mom's and women in tech btw 🤝

Who is the newsletter for?

Tech Dad is a valuable resource for anyone interested in engineering leadership or just starting out in the field.

"Engineering leader" in my opinion is anyone who has or wants to lead a group of tech individuals.

If you're just starting out in the tech industry and have dreams of becoming a CEO, CTO, Director, Manager, Tech Lead, or something similar, you'll want to subscribe to this newsletter.

In my line of work, I collaborate and engage with all sorts of individuals in those positions, even if they have different job titles like VP, Architect, or something else.

You might be asking, who am I, what do I know about tech?

What are my credentials? 🤔

I am:

• Engineering Director at Forbes
• Customer Experience Advisory Board for University of California Irvine
• Hold my Masters in Cybersecurity  
• Hold my Bachelors in Computer Information System
• Hosted a top tech podcast in 2019 on Anchor.fm
• Content Creator (YouTube 3.4k subscriber, LinkedIn 20K followers)

I enjoy networking and meeting people who either support me on one of the social media platforms. If you ever want to get in touch, send me a message on Twitter or LinkedIn.

I've been lucky to work at some successful organizations including USAA, WebPT, and Ticketmaster. I also tried a few startups, all have failed but I learned a lot from each one. From all those experiences, I learned I really like business, tech and leadership.

What makes this newsletter different?

Unlike other newsletters that get bogged down in technical details, Tech Dad is all about helping you fast track your career growth 🏎️🚀.

With practical advice, inspiring stories, and strategies for success, you'll be well on your way to becoming the next CEO/CTO/VP/Director/Tech Lead/Architect 🤑💰.

Plus, the Tech Dad team knows how to bring the fun, so you won't be bored out of your mind while learning! 😜

I thought the internet had plenty of system design, algorithm and data structure sites.

When I first got started in tech, there was a lot I didn't know. There wasn't really anything I enjoyed looking at for resources. At the time Teamtreehouse was my favorite resource to learn coding, but there wasn't really anything about all the other important stuff.

As a junior dev

• What programming languages should I learn?
• How can I improve my coding skills
• What are best practices?
• How do I prepare for technical interviews?
• How do I stay up to date with trends
• How do I get promoted to senior dev?

As a senior dev

• What are the best practices for leading and managing engineering teams?
• How can I balance technical work with my leadership responsibilities?
• What skills and competencies do I need to develop to advance to higher-level leadership positions?
• What are the most effective strategies for scaling technical systems and infrastructure?
• How do I manage and mitigate technical debt?

As a manager

• How can I build and lead high-performance engineering teams?
• What are the best practices for managing and prioritizing projects and resources?
• How can I balance technical work with my management responsibilities?
• What skills and competencies do I need to develop to be an effective engineering manager?
• How can I measure and improve engineering productivity and efficiency?

I wanted to create a resource that could help people in different parts of their career navigate the tech field. My favorite resources were super formal and I wanted a more "down to earth" vibe. That's how Tech Dad started.

For those who are curious, I use Ghost.org to manage the newsletter and Notion and Google Workspace to provide the resources and templates.

What to expect 👨🏾‍💻

• News and updates about Tech and high-growth startups. Tech is moving at lightning speed, but some companies are moving even faster. We break down what trends are occurring in the industry 🏃‍♂️🔥
• Actionable advice for tech workers! 💡 Get the tools and insights you need to become a more efficient engineering leader with my newsletter. 🙌 Relevant topics for those working in tech - guaranteed to help you level up your skills. 💪 Plus, with just one approach, the newsletter pays for itself by making your projects, teams, or companies more efficient.
• SaaS break downs! We breakdown some of the most popular software used within the industry. Tools like github, gitlab, snowflake, blockchain, chatGPT, microservices, new relic, and much more.
• An independent viewpoint. I write in a conversational manner, aiming to make it easier for those trying to understand complex topics.

🔒 For paying subscribers:

• Long-form educational articles every month. These articles typically go deep into a topic relevant for software engineers or engineering managers, and tend to offer actionable advice.
• 🔒 Resources and templates for engineering managers and engineers.
• Suggest topics

✉️ Expense the newsletter

Many subscribers expense this newsletter to their team’s learning and development budget. Here is an email you can send to your manager.

Usage guidelines & sharing content

One subscription is intended for one individual, and not for groups.

Please try not to share my premium templates. A stretch goal for this newsletter is to make enough to start some a STEM scholarship program to help kids get into tech and provide computers.

Occasional forwarding of newsletter issues internally is completely fine. If you find yourself doing this regularly, please consider getting those people a subscription.

Refunds

I don't really do refunds, because once you get past the gateway, people can easily steal my content. I understand, not everyone is evil. Feel free to reach out to me directly at cking@techdad.pro and I'll work with you.

Ask a question

For topic suggestions, send them to cking@techdad.pro

For anything else, tweet @KingCaleb3 or follow on LinkedIn.