Have a good employer. This is key. I am really lucky that at Cloudflare self-development is highly valued, and that my manager actively encourages me to pursue self-improvement. A manager who is scared of you "getting good and leaving" is a very bad sign when embarking on personal projects, conference talks or part-time degrees.
Do research in something which genuinely interests you. Find a problem which no one has solved and fascinates you so much that you want to solve it. Being motivated purely for career reasons won't give you the drive you need to get through it.
Have drive and self-motivation to complete the things you start. It's way more rewarding and efficient to have a start-it/finish-it mentality to work (whether professional or personal). Be careful about starting work when you have unfinished business on your plate.
How much of number one were you looking for before you started at Cloudflare? Where did this quality stand relative to other things they, or others, could offer?
I had a number of different offers from some quite notable companies (and I actually turned down some very good opportunities at some successful start-ups at the time), but I really had my eyes set of Cloudflare.
Different things matter to different people, and you need to figure out what you want. First and foremost of the things I value at Cloudflare is the freedom and trust that is put in you. You aren't pigeon holed and you are given the freedom to deliver stuff of value, no matter your rank.
Beyond that; you have the opportunity to make a big impact. The organisational structure is relatively flat, but growing. They were big enough to let me study whilst working. There are a ton of interesting problems that you can help solve here, that you won't see in a standard SaaS company or an agency.
The company is still growing and there's plenty of opportunity to help form that structure. When I started I was the only person in the Community team, in fact, I was the only person in the marketing organisation outside San Francisco. When I moved to Support Operations, my manager let me head up a team which was brand new in the organisation. You will be able to leave your mark quickly.
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Good luck!
Any best-practices on balancing the workload with the rest of what you do?
How much of number one were you looking for before you started at Cloudflare? Where did this quality stand relative to other things they, or others, could offer?
I had a number of different offers from some quite notable companies (and I actually turned down some very good opportunities at some successful start-ups at the time), but I really had my eyes set of Cloudflare.
Different things matter to different people, and you need to figure out what you want. First and foremost of the things I value at Cloudflare is the freedom and trust that is put in you. You aren't pigeon holed and you are given the freedom to deliver stuff of value, no matter your rank.
Beyond that; you have the opportunity to make a big impact. The organisational structure is relatively flat, but growing. They were big enough to let me study whilst working. There are a ton of interesting problems that you can help solve here, that you won't see in a standard SaaS company or an agency.
The company is still growing and there's plenty of opportunity to help form that structure. When I started I was the only person in the Community team, in fact, I was the only person in the marketing organisation outside San Francisco. When I moved to Support Operations, my manager let me head up a team which was brand new in the organisation. You will be able to leave your mark quickly.