Twilio interviewed engineers about projects they’ve built with Twilio, and the theme for their 2019 Keynote, which was “Why I Build”. It was exciting to share the story of Emissary, the last company I co-founded: a medical tourism marketplace so polished, you’d trust your own parents on it.

We found people had trouble figuring out international calling, so we built a Twilio app that knew your loved ones, and could connect you with one tap, anywhere in the world, no local SIM or country codes needed.

It was exciting enough to be a part of their keynote video, but then they surprised me with a spin-out of just my interview! Here’s the video they put together:

In it, I talk about how what drives me is seeing my impact on others - helping other people build, and by association, amplifying my own impact through their success. They also asked me what the “trick” is to being an engineer or a maker, and my response was that there really isn’t a trick. While there’s a ton of specific tactical advice, it all flows out of caring deeply for the problem you’re solving and the people you’re solving it for.