First, you have to get clear on what the company is looking to get out of the project .

• The best thing is a track record of having shipped in the past, if you can get it


• Project confidence (if you’re visibly worried, they will be too)


• Project competence. You want to aim for something like a NASA mission control vibe


• Communicate professionally and concisely, and don’t make them chase you for updates: post a daily or weekly thread somewher

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But it’s really important that one person on the project has an end-to-end understanding of the whole thing: how it hangs together technically, and what product or business purpose it serves.

Ideally you should have at least 20% of your time free from implementation in the early stages of the project, scaling up to 90-100% in the final days.

“our options are to delay four days, or ship tomorrow by sacrificing X

Shipping is a social construct within a company. Concretely, that means that a project is shipped when the important people at your company believe it is shipped.

That means they will be trusting you for estimates, to answer technical questions, and to anticipate technical problems. Maintaining that trust should be your top priority .