Joining an Org
For a long time, I optimized almost entirely for the manager. As you get more senior, I think that becomes necessary but insufficient.

There are two things I look for when evaluating a team, org, or startup.

1. The manager

A great manager can fundamentally change the trajectory of your career. They coach you, advocate for you, and create opportunities you would never have gotten on your own.

The questions I ask are:

Are they still hungry themselves, or are they comfortable where they are? Ambitious leaders need strong people around them and tend to invest more in building talent.

Are they invested in your growth, and willing to tell you the truth? The best managers give constant feedback, identify gaps, and create opportunities to close them.

I've found that the managers who pushed me the hardest often contributed the most to my growth. There's a difference between being demanding and being invested. The closest analogy is a world-class coach. Their standards are high because they genuinely want you to improve.

2. The leader

The second dimension is often overlooked: is the leader of the organization on a mission that is genuinely inspiring?

Great organizations have leaders with a clear vision, a clear mission, and alignment between the two. People know what the organization stands for and why it exists. A good example is Anthropic's mission around building safe AGI — stated directly by the CEO.

My litmus test is simple: can the leader explain the mission and vision in under 10 words? And does the organization's product decision-making and hiring consistently reinforce that mission?

This was a later realization for me. A team can perform well for a while despite a weak mission. Over time, though, organizations drift. Even exceptional directors and senior leaders struggle to maintain coherence if the person at the top lacks conviction in the mission or fails to consistently reinforce it. For a large corporation at Meta you'd need to assess the PG Lead; at a company with a market cap below $10B, you'd need to assess the CEO.

Of course, a mission can be clear and still not resonate with you. That's the final filter. You have to decide whether it's something you personally want to spend years of your life advancing.