Shayan Ali
Bio
Stories (22)
Filter by community
Lessons from Vine: What I Learned Leading a 50-Person Startup Inside Twitter
For the past two years I worked at Vine, first as Head of Product, then as General Manager, overseeing the ~50-person NY-based company within Twitter. During the course of my time there, I learned a lot. On the advice of my former colleague, Adam Feldman, I've written up some of the lessons I've learned to be true:
By Shayan Ali5 months ago in Journal
"The Habits That Slowly Break You Without You Noticing". Content Warning.
We like to think we're doing okay. We're not in crisis. We pay our bills, go to work, text people back. From the outside, it all looks great. But some of the most damaging habits don't look dangerous at all. They're normal. Everyone does them, so we don't question them.
By Shayan Ali5 months ago in Motivation
"Facing the Future: How to Survive and Thrive in an Age of Collapse"
These are dangerously uncertain times. You're not paranoid. You're paying attention. Politics is getting in the way of progress. Unpredictability is at an all-time high. It's a shame ideological divide is turning the world upside down again. The fear for our futures is real.
By Shayan Ali5 months ago in Motivation
3 Warning Signs I Ignored Before Realizing It Was Time to Quit My Job. Content Warning. AI-Generated.
From the time I began working after college, I aspired to be a woman in leadership and "have it all": marriage, kids, career. But when I reached my goal, I didn't feel the way I imagined I would. Becoming a parent reshaped my priorities gradually, yet profoundly, and at the end of March, I stepped away from a career I had spent over a decade building.
By Shayan Ali6 months ago in Families
We Turned a Devastating School Closure Into an Empowering Celebration. Content Warning. AI-Generated.
When my oldest child crossed the finish line at her school's 35th annual Wildcat holiday race, she and everyone else running down the track or cheering on the field had no idea she would be the last girl to bring home that First Place Trophy. Next winter, her schoolmates will no longer race each other in this beloved holiday tradition because their school, by then, will cease to exist.
By Shayan Ali6 months ago in Education
“The Echo in the Kitchen Doorway”. Content Warning. AI-Generated.
The clock glowed 3:01 a.m. again. I hadn’t meant to be awake. I never do. But something — maybe the quiet hum of the fridge, or the way the wind scratched at the siding — always dragged me back into consciousness around this hour. And each time, I hoped that I would stop waiting for a voice that I swore I had lost faith in.
By Shayan Ali6 months ago in Families
"Hope Is the Thing with Feathers". Content Warning. AI-Generated.
Some birds never arrive. That's what Miriam used to say when asked why she fed the sparrows outside her bookstore. The truth was, she didn’t just feed them. She spoke with them. Named them. Awaited them each morning as if they were old friends returning from faraway lands.
By Shayan Ali6 months ago in Fiction
