I would imagine having experience at both ends of the spectrum has helped you come up with some sort of ideal balance between the two?
Like maybe being flexible on deadlines but strict on overall process, to-dos, and separation of work?
Like maybe being flexible on deadlines but strict on overall process, to-dos, and separation of work?
Basically a mix of people with different attitudes, different seniority levels, working great together, being curious, exploratory, but also responsible and keeping deadlines when pushed. I worked on some teams like this - like Marc Levoy's HDR+ team at Google, it was amazing. We had unlimited freedom to explore, but the team had very senior, responsible, and accountable people and when a deadline was approaching (sometimes self-imposed) were becoming very disciplined.
But one thing I am sure - if your goal is something creative and delightful - never let the business side, VCs and other "money squeezers" decide your process, features, goals.