# Carl Tashian

> Carl Tashian is a San Francisco-based software engineer and writer.

Founder, engineering leader, and executive coach. Have worked at Smallstep (Sr. Staff Engineer, Special Projects), Trove (co-founder, VP of Engineering), Zipcar (engineer #1), and OurGoods (co-founder).

I love the moments when simple technology creates a feeling of wonder. I believe programming is a creative and aesthetic process. Technology mirrors its originating culture and environment.

I've been in the startup world for 20 years, as a programmer and ops nerd, a founder, an engineering manager, and an exec coach.

## Articles

- [How we avoid our feelings in conflict](https://tashian.com/articles/how-we-avoid-our-feelings-in-conflict/)
- [Offroad Engineering](https://tashian.com/articles/offroad-engineering/)
- [How I Write Docs as an Engineer](https://tashian.com/articles/how-i-write-docs-as-an-engineer/)
- [Don’s Harman/Kardon 330B](https://tashian.com/articles/dons-330b/)
- [“Happiness is a weird feeling”](https://tashian.com/articles/happiness-is-a-weird-feeling/)
- [The Power of Side Projects](https://tashian.com/articles/side-projects/)
- [At Dynamicland, The Building Is The Computer](https://tashian.com/articles/dynamicland/)
- [What Developers Should Know About Networks](https://tashian.com/articles/what-developers-should-know-about-networks/)
- [What Really Kills Most Startups](https://tashian.com/articles/what-really-kills-most-startups/)
- [Print Out Your Code. On Paper.](https://tashian.com/articles/print-out-your-code/)
- [The Productivity Tip No One Wants to Hear](https://tashian.com/articles/the-productivity-tip-no-one-wants-to-hear/)
- [Fear is a muscle that you can release](https://tashian.com/articles/fear-is-a-muscle-that-you-can-release/)
- [The Hidden Bets of Agile](https://tashian.com/articles/the-hidden-bets-of-agile/)
- [The Complete Guide to Choosing a Programming Language and Buying a Mattress](https://tashian.com/articles/the-complete-guide-to-choosing-a-programming-language-and-buying-a-mattress/)
- [How I Helped My Partner Learn to Code](https://tashian.com/articles/how-i-helped-my-partner-learn-to-code/)
- [Managing Technical Debt](https://tashian.com/articles/managing-technical-debt/)
- [A Brief History of Random Numbers](https://tashian.com/articles/a-brief-history-of-random-numbers/)
- [Programming Is Like Traveling the World](https://tashian.com/articles/programming-is-like-traveling-the-world/)
- [The Moment When You Realize Every Server in the World is Vulnerable](https://tashian.com/articles/hash-table-attack/)
- [The Rocket Doesn’t Come With a Moral Compass](https://tashian.com/articles/the-rocket-doesnt-come-with-a-moral-compass/)
- [How to Pair Program](https://tashian.com/articles/how-to-pair-program/)
- [Death By A Thousand Great Ideas](https://tashian.com/articles/death-by-a-thousand-great-ideas/)
- [How Multi-User Dungeons Taught Me To Code](https://tashian.com/articles/how-i-learned-to-program/)
- [“The Art of Computer Programming” by Donald Knuth](https://tashian.com/articles/the-art-of-computer-programming-by-donald-knuth/)

## Tech Notes

- [Serve Markdown to AI Agents (Hugo + Vercel)](https://tashian.com/tech-notes/serving-markdown-to-ai-agents/)
- [Setup OpenClaw on Fedora 43 with Podman Quadlets + Tailscale](https://tashian.com/tech-notes/setup-openclaw-fedora-workstation-43/)
- [Configure a Stratum 1 NTP time server with Chrony and gpsd on Manjaro](https://tashian.com/tech-notes/gpsd-time-server-manjaro/)
## Side Projects

- [CLI Guidelines](https://clig.dev) — a guide to designing great command line applications
- [Adventure Kid Waveform player](https://waves.tashian.com/) — a simple app for previewing single-cycle waveforms
- [Multiverse](https://github.com/tashian/multiverse) — generative art scripts for Adobe Photoshop
- [Mousetrap](https://github.com/tashian/mousetrap) — master keyboard shortcuts by selectively disabling the mouse in macOS apps
- [heal.lgbt](https://heal.lgbt/) — queer healing resources
- [Mindfulness for Nerds](https://mindfulnessfornerds.email/) — an 8-week course on focus and flow