Who I like to work with
A plain guide to the people I work best with, so you can tell quickly whether we'd click.
Why this page exists
I run my work on one thesis: when values are aligned, coordination costs are lower. People who want the same things from work need fewer check-ins and fewer long explanations, so we move faster together.
This page is one-sided on purpose. It describes the people I work best with and makes no attempt to be fair or complete. Plenty of great people work differently. We just won’t be fast together, and it’s kinder to say so up front.
Use it as a quick filter before we start anything together.
Quick check
| Trait | You’ll fit if you | It’ll be hard if you |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership | Take a whole thing end to end and start before anyone asks | Wait to be told, or need the task explained step by step |
| Hunger | Want to build something big and keep pushing when it gets hard | Want a stable job and a comfortable pace above all |
| Directness | Tell me to my face when I’m wrong and argue for what you believe | Agree to keep the peace, or save disagreements for DMs |
| Conviction | Take a stand and put your name on a call | Hedge, wait for consensus, or hide behind a deck |
| Results | Judge yourself by what shipped and what it moved | Judge yourself by hours, emails, or how busy you look |
| Skin in the game | Have built something, failed, raised, or put your own money in | Have only ever advised from the side |
| Owning misses | Say what went wrong and what you’ll change | Blame the market, the chain, or the timing |
| Loyalty | Believe in what we’re building and stay when it’s hard | Are already halfway out the door |
Ownership matters most. If you only read one row, read that one.
How we’d work together
| Rule | What it means |
|---|---|
| Pull, don’t push | You check in with me. I won’t chase you. |
| Bring the answer | Come with a solution and run it yourself. |
| Say it to my face | Disagree on a call or in a public thread. Skip the side DMs. |
| Argue, then go all in | Debate freely. Once we decide, we move at full speed. |
| Results first | Show results before asking for more people, budget, or scope. |
| Finish first | Close what you started before picking up something new. |
| Keep it short | Explain any update in four lines. |
| Rest | Take your weekends. Tired people make bad calls. |
In return, once you’ve earned trust you get full autonomy, and I’ll back your calls when others question them.
Expect blunt feedback, often. I’ll keep telling you there’s more to do. If that sounds bad, we probably won’t work well together.
Where I get it wrong
So you know what you’re signing up for:
- I commit to things out loud and then under-communicate. Hold me to it.
- I talk more than I listen. Interrupt me.
- I follow up better with people outside my team than inside it.
- My filter rewards loud conviction. Quiet, diligent people can look like pushovers to me early on, and I’ve been wrong about that.
If this sounds like you
Message me on X at @pareen. Tell me what you’ve built and what you want to own.