At Stripe, we encourage employees to take on challenges that may not be typical for their roles, such as managing teams. This approach allows individuals to grow and find their strengths, even if they initially struggle with leadership.

I transitioned from being an individual contributor to a manager because I wanted to utilize my full skill set and help others grow, inspired by a great manager I had at Yelp.

The role of the engineering manager at Stripe involves significant responsibilities beyond just product decisions, including staffing, execution, and operations.

Learning to hire and manage effectively became crucial as I transitioned from building a product to building a company that creates products.

At Stripe, we don't have a separate product organization, which allows for closer involvement in product decisions by both the engineering manager and myself.

When you reach product-market fit, your role will shift from coding to managing a team and making strategic decisions about scaling and engineering culture.

Engineers at Stripe have strong instincts for building the right products, especially since we primarily build for other engineers.

Stripe's success in hiring good developers may be attributed to our focus on building tools for developers, creating a natural affinity for our company. I learned to be okay with taking a really long time to hire people, which means being painfully persistent in the process.

At Stripe, the design process is collaborative, with designers, engineers, and product managers working closely together to ensure a coherent user experience.