// devcoachdan ▌
// for solo engineering managers
You're the only technical leader in the room. That's not a personality problem. It's a structural one.
I've spent seventeen years leading engineering teams under non-technical founders. Five different companies, no HR buffer, no peer group down the hall. I know what the job actually feels like at 11pm on a Tuesday. One direct conversation can get you unstuck.
$300 · 60 minutes · one plan you'll actually use
42 yrs building software · 17 yrs leading teams · 5 founder-led orgs · 2 yrs writing for software leaders
// the isolation
The job nobody warned you about.
Solo EM under a founder isn't "management, but smaller." It's a different job, with a few things missing that most management advice assumes you have.
NO PEER GROUP
Nobody else in the building has done your job. Every hard call, you make alone — then explain it to someone who's never made one like it.
NO HR BUFFER
There's no layer between you and the founder's next ask. It lands straight on your desk, and you're expected to just handle it.
NO ROOM TO LEARN BY DOING
In a bigger org, a rough quarter gets absorbed. Here, it's visible immediately — to the person who controls your budget.
None of this means you're bad at the job. It means you're doing a job that was never designed to be done alone.
// how i work
A peer, not a program.
I've spent 42 years building software and 17 of them leading teams — inside five different founder-led companies, always as the only technical leader in the room. I've made most of the mistakes a solo EM can make, more than once.
What I've gotten good at isn't avoiding mistakes. It's recognizing the pattern underneath a problem fast, before it costs you another month — and telling you what standard management advice gets wrong about your situation specifically.
For the last two years I've been writing about this in public, for an audience of software leaders working through the same thing. This isn't theory. It's what actually happened, and what actually worked.
I've done most things wrong at least once.
— Dan, on being an experiential learner
// the session
The Unstuck Session
One peer session to figure out what's not working, why it's happening, and what to do about it.
For solo engineering managers who don't have room for trial and error.
$300
When there's more to handle than there are hours in the day, and you're working hard without getting anywhere. This session cuts through the noise, names the pattern underneath what's happening, and builds a plan you can actually use.
WHAT HAPPENS ON THE CALL
(01) Surface the symptoms
What's actually happening, in your words. No framework first.
(02) Identify the pattern underneath
The symptom usually isn't the problem. We find what's driving it.
(03) Walk through what you've already tried
And what happened when you did. That tells us more than a new idea would.
(04) Find what's likely to work in your environment
Not generic advice. What fits your founder, your team, your constraints.
(05) Build the plan
A specific next move, not a homework list.
(06) I send the written version afterward
So you leave with something you can act on, not just remember.
WHAT YOU LEAVE WITH
→ The problem pattern
→ The likely root cause
→ The next move
WHY THIS IS DIFFERENT
This is not a leadership course. This is not generic advice.
This is one focused peer conversation with someone who has lived the role, seen the patterns before, and knows how to turn failed attempts into a better next move.
The guarantee: if we don't leave the call with a plan you'd use, I'll refund you immediately, and we'll part as peers.
// ongoing support
Need more than one session?
Some solo EMs need a standing peer relationship, not just a single reset. Ongoing 1:1 coaching runs on a bi-weekly call cadence.
// proof
What solo EMs say after talking to Dan.
"One of the most challenging parts of becoming an engineering manager is the isolation. You may have peers, and you may be in a large enough organization that you have lots of peers — but it's not the same as being an individual contributor. Dan is, as they say, good people. Schedule the call. Talk to someone else who knows what you do, without the sociopolitical pressure of being in the same org as you."
– Software Engineering Leader, on LinkedIn
If you're thinking about reaching out, definitely send Dan a message. He's wonderful to chat with and always brings such great energy to the conversation.
– Product Designer, on LinkedIn
One thing I've come to appreciate about your posts, Dan, is how often they invite us to look beyond the immediate problem. That's a perspective that's easy to overlook.
– on LinkedIn
I've seen some of your posts and I can relate to them for sure, in my relatively short and ongoing experience as a people manager.
– Engineering Manager, on LinkedIn
Highly recommend a chat with Dan!
– Lead Software Engineer, on LinkedIn
I've only had the chance to speak 1:1 with him once, but he is always adding engaging and thoughtful comments to my posts.
– Engineering Manager, on LinkedIn
I really appreciate your perspective and the thoughtful guidance you’ve given me throughout our conversation.
– Technical Project Manager, on LinkedIn
// about dan
Dan Abend
42 years building software. 17 of them leading teams inside five different founder-led organizations, always as the only technical leader in the room.
An experiential learner, Dan has done most things wrong at least once, which is exactly why he's fast at spotting the pattern beneath the symptom, and quick to call out the misconceptions that standard management advice keeps repeating.
For the past two years he's written for an audience of software leaders navigating the same terrain.
Stuck is temporary. Alone doesn't have to be permanent.
One conversation. A plan you'll actually use. Or your money back.