broom's blog

I just had my two-year anniversary in Flux. Time really flies by so fast. I do find myself using the phrase “I’m doing a startup” more than “I started a company” a bit more these days.

Looking back, one biggest feeling is how we have been accelerating. My first few months in Flux was to set up some foundation work and recruit the initial team members. By Oct 2018, we had the initial two engineers Rachel and JB onboard, and the production actually started. I think we had our first version prototype website by Jan 2019 and shipped our 1.0 version by Apr, and the first client started using our product by Jun. That’s almost my first anniversary. There were just a lot of things to do at the beginning, between setting up a company, recruiting, and building the product.

Then things moved a lot faster. In the 2nd year, we’ve shipped so many more features, done a redesign of the website, built out new components like reporting and matching engine. It feels kind of like a rollercoaster, the first year was to slowly crawl to a high point, then we gain speed and rush! A lot of early time investment has paid off and helped us keep momentum when we shift to the product-building phase: development workflow and standards, code conventions, CI/CD pipelines, infra as codes, familiarity with our tech stack, team member collaboration styles, etc. These things need leadership to define and calibrate, and more importantly, they need time to grow and ingrain in the team. It is what defines a team.

With the COVID situation, we swiftly changed the work style. It was tough to make sales when the whole system was in shock, but it looks like people are adapting and companies are recovering. This period also allows us to further solidify our product and adjust our market strategy. We’re putting our name out there on the market and seeing more opportunities. I’m very confident about our product. Now we need more eyes on it, need some people who can appreciate our idea and product, and maybe a little luck.

Onwards and upwards, Flux!

Trump表示要ban TikTok。字节试图把TikTok美国运营部分卖给微软来丢车保帅。Trump仍然表示要ban，这样还ban的话估计微软也不会买了。不知道会怎么发展。Trump政府的行为难以预测。但态度和趋势是一定的了。

我对这个新闻没有任何愤愤不平的感觉。中国GFW的一套现在被建墙爱好者Trump拿来用了，继续鼓吹民族主义情绪，拉拉选票。远有10年Google撤出；近有AWS，iCloud的中国区。两个大国之间你来我往，谁也别说谁不够fairplay。只是时间上相差了十几年。

我更多的是对美国政府已经要用到这种下三路的手段来对抗竞争感到忧伤。美国IT业的领导地位已经不稳到这个程度了，需要靠政策来抵御中国吗？还是只是Trump的政治日程驱动？换个角度想，如果现在美国总统不是Trump而是Obama/Biden，美国政府会不会做出这样的动作？我希望不会。

从另一个角度讲，这是中国IT产品达到世界领先的标志事件。值得庆祝。

最近这次打卡科罗拉多的三个国家公园之后，我去过的国家公园总数到了29个，感觉也可以做个tier list了。我的评价标准基本上是从一个softcore dayhiker的角度来看的，也会兼顾一些拍照/交通/食宿之类的因素。

S级

• Yosemite: 我的National Park启蒙。灰色花岗岩，大瀑布，Half Dome，无数漂亮的徒步路线。
• Glacier: 顶级雪山冰川景色，很多山羊很多熊，有公园bus适合hiking。
• Grand Canyon: 大峡谷的壮阔程度无可比拟，rim2rim hike是once-in-a-lifetime的体验。
• Zion: 奇峰怪石，蜿蜒秀美。交通便利。也很适合hiking。
• Arches: 地形最奇特，小而精。有很赞的hiking trail。门口的Moab小镇给便利度加分。
• Yellowstone: 大而全，地热，动物，各种地形风光。

A级

• Rocky Mountain: 大气磅礴的山景，高海拔，大陆分水岭trail很赞，很多麋鹿。
• Great Sand Dunes: 宿营观星看日出日落是独一无二的体验。
• Canyonlands: 一边有顶级的dayhike trail，另一边有令人惊叹的峡谷景色，人烟稀少。
• Death Valley: 独特景致，可以宿营观星，可以体验没有飞鸟鱼虫的极度安静。
• Mount Rainier: 一流雪山景色，云雾缭绕时仙气盎然。dayhike trail略逊Glacier一筹。
• Hawaii Volcanoes: 穿过旧火山口的hike很独特。
• Crater Lake: 看过这个湖才知道什么是真的蓝。
• Olympics: 一个公园里有山有雨林有海滩，很多样。也很大需要安排两三天才能转完。
• Petrified Forest: 主体其实只能评到B级，但如果去Devil’s Playground就绝对是A级，有无人区的感觉。
• Bryce Canyon: 可能是最适合车览的国家公园。

B级

• Shenandoah: 贯通公园的skyline drive是主要观景方式。Old Rag Mountain是我唯一一次hiking遇到traffic jam… 美东最crowded trail名副其实。
• North Cascades: Hidden Lake trail是很棒很棒的trail，Diablo Lake也很漂亮。但公园maintain不力，开到trailhead的路上都是大坑要减分。。
• Black Canyon of The Gunnison: 袖珍版Grand Canyon，地处偏远，顺道去一下还不错。
• Acadia: 海景还不错，hiking option有限。
• Everglades: not a hiking park.
• Virgin Islands: 海景很棒，很多海滩可以浮潜，hiking一般。
• Carlsbad Caverns: 重点是参加tour探洞。
• Mesa Verde: 重点是参加tour看遗迹。
• White Sands: 看看白沙丘，随便走走。
• Saguaro: 看看大仙人掌，hiking一般。
• Joshua Tree: 一路开过去随便走走。圆石头堆叠起来的山爬一爬还挺好玩。
• Lassen Volcanic: 分成n个小区域，访问不便。主要的Lassen Peak trail爬一个死火山锥视野还不错，略单调。
• Pinnacles: 离湾区近是主要的优势。景致及格水平。

C级

迄今还没有遇到哪个国家公园让我想放到C级的。