I got really good at building bridges. So they made me a baker.

That’s what growing a startup feels like.

When Uscreen started, I was a solo engineer. I wrote code. I shipped features. I built things that worked. Then we grew. And suddenly, my job wasn’t writing code anymore. It was hiring engineers, product managers, designers. Managing them. Aligning them.

I kept trying to push my agenda on what to build next and how to do it. And honestly? We built a great company. Amazing customer base. Solid product. But the whole time, I was fighting a losing battle against the Peter Principle:

People get promoted to their level of incompetence.

I was a good bridge builder. I had no idea how to be a baker.

So I had to re-learn my job. Over and over. Sometimes I was stubborn about it. It took me longer than it should have. It caused pain to me, to people around me. And I’m sorry for that.

I’m grateful to be where I’m. I’m grateful to finally get it. My job isn’t to write every line of code or design every feature. My job is to align talented people around outcomes. And only provide tactical details if they ask me to.

Yes, sometimes they’ll make dumb mistakes. So what? So did I. Still do. No innovation comes without failures.

And another important thing here. AI is making this shift even more critical. Of course this post will get into AI, or else why would you read it, right?

Engineers, designers, PMs - they’re becoming real owners of the product now. Especially in vertical SaaS like ours. Ownership around business outcomes is the top priority.

The perfect trifecta of “engineering, product, design” used to require three people. Now AI expects one person to do it all. To some degree, anyway.

AI didn’t make life easier. It raised expectations. You can patch gaps faster, so people expect you to patch more gaps. The bar keeps moving up.

But I’m here to help you navigate this. Right now, I’m closer to being a good baker than I’ve ever been.

Which means now is the best time ever to come work at Uscreen.

We have engineering, product management, and design positions open. Remote, global. You can find them here: uscreen.tv/careers

If you apply, is to add a cover letter as the first page of your CV. Check out our product first. This will give you a 95% boost versus everyone else in the funnel.

We want you to be a good writer. Ideally better than me. And we want you to care about helping knowledge creators build sustainable businesses.

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P.S. What about bridges?

When I’m 45, I’ll go back to building them. For fun, for nostalgia, for the love of it.

But for now?

Let’s make some tasty croissants.