Peter Kang

We’re gearing up for a team-wide retreat in NYC in mid-October. We’ll have 30+ people from all over the country (and a few from outside the US) coming in for a few days of team bonding and various activities. The planning is both exciting and challenging – we’re trying to balance out having enough planned activities vs. giving people the space and room to hang out with each other. The primary goal of the retreat […]

“What Stoics discover, though, is that willpower is like muscle power: The more they exercise their muscles, the stronger they get, and the more they exercise their will, the stronger it gets. Indeed, by practicing Stoic self-denial techniques over a long period, Stoics can transform themselves into individuals remarkable for their courage and self-control.” (William B. Irvine, A Guide to the Good Life) I came across this highlight the other day and made a mental […]

Reflecting on the past few months, the most important change at Barrel was having our Director of Software Engineering report to our Chief Experience Officer Lucas Ballasy, away from our Chief Technology Officer Wes Turner, consolidating all team production functions under Lucas’s supervision as the Experience team. The level of cohesion has improved greatly, and I feel like the different disciplines are starting to get on the same page with daily stand-ups and increased knowledge […]

Almost 4 years ago, I wrote down some thoughts I had been having about talent and hiring. These were the main points I made: A great hire can instantly bring new energy to the team and elevate the output of the entire company. A jackpot hire–perfect cultural fit and impactful contributor–is incredibly valuable. Investing in recruitment functions (e.g. 3rd party recruiters and in-house recruiting resources) to go beyond inbound applications and to proactively find talent. […]

Incorporating Reading Into Our Planning Meetings At the start of each quarter, the four Barrel partners meet for an all-day planning meeting. The format of this meeting used to focus heavily on identifying various issues in the business and putting our heads together to see if we could resolve them. The goal of each planning meeting was to come away with a solid slate of key initiatives to accomplish over the next 90 days. Five […]

This time last year, we were wrapping up a record-setting quarter at Barrel. We had landed more business and booked more revenue in that quarter than at any point in our 15-year history. We were confident that we had finally cracked the code and would scale up to new levels. Things were looking up, but little did we know that the next 9 months were going to be some of the toughest ever, including a […]

What is Culture? If I’ve learned anything in my 16+ years of running Barrel, it’s that there’s no magic bullet when it comes to creating and sustaining a strong company culture. Culture–and in the context of this post, I’m talking about company/organizational culture–is a slippery concept that can mean different things to different people. In some definitions, it encapsulates the behaviors, values, and attitudes of the people that belong to the company. In others, it […]

The siren call comes several times a week–someone on my team is navigating a challenge, usually having to do with a client or between team members. Whether through email, Slack, or on a Zoom call, the person usually starts by providing me with some context and then highlighting the problem. The person then concludes with a question that immediately sets my mind ablaze: “What should we do?” Having been in hundreds of situations dealing with […]

In our lives, we come across tough times at one point or another. The degree, intensity, and duration of the situation may vary. It could be personal, professional, family-related, financial, health-related, or any combination happening at the same time. For me, one aspect of growing older that I’ve appreciated is the expanding toolbox of concepts, experiences, behaviors, and mantras to meet these tough times. Make no mistake, I still struggle with the stresses of my […]

Inspired by How to Write a Good Advertisement Every now and then, I’ll pick up How to Write a Good Advertisement: A Short Course in Copywriting by Victor O. Schwab and skip around for inspiration. It never fails to get me thinking about marketing and copywriting with a fresh perspective. Drawing on 44 years as a copywriter (from 1917 to 1961), Schwab shares timeless insights about the fundamentals of good copy, the psychology behind great ads, […]