David Burrowes, who goes by “Deej” earned a bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Science from Brown University. He also studied Chinese at National Taiwan University and Tzu Chi University. He has held various engineering roles in Silicon Valley over the last 30+ years, including Senior UI Engineer at Sun Microsystems, Staff Engineer at Box, Principal Engineer at Split Software, and Engineering Architect at Harness.
The conversation with Deej begins in the small Ohio town where he grew up, reflecting on why it was, in hindsight, an ideal place. Deej shares his experiences at Brown University, where the freedom to design his own curriculum drew him in. This flexibility allowed him to take a class on Islam, which later helped him process the events of 9/11 and its aftermath. Deej also talks about his move to Silicon Valley in 1990 and how he was laid off six months into his first job. We discuss his time at Sun Microsystems and the final days of the once-great company. Deej explains what sparked his interest in learning Chinese and how he realized that immersing himself—studying the language in Taiwan for over a year—was the only way he could truly learn. We delve into company culture, its significance, and why Slack is a powerful but costly tool for fostering it.
Book recommendation: Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency
