Make it happen

February 11, 2025

In 2012 I was working at Google on the Chrome team in Munich.

I was writing a lot of JavaScript code and constantly having to wait for code reviews from a team in Los Angeles. On one of my trips to Mountain View, I thought: screw it, I’m going to LA to meet those bastards.

I didn’t ask my manager, didn’t tell the LA team I was coming — just booked a flight, went into the office, and introduced myself.

And you know what? They were incredibly welcoming. They offered me a desk, we had lunch together, and they took me out for drinks that night.

I never had to bug them about code reviews again. One of them (thanks James!) started reviewing my PRs first thing each morning. Not long after that, they added me to the OWNERS file.

While I was booking that flight, I had a thought: Alan Kay lives in LA.

I’d always wanted to meet Alan. I was a big fan of Smalltalk and his more recent work on the STEPS project at VPRI. So I sent him an email:

Hi Dr. Kay,

I’m a software engineer at Google on the Chrome team. I’ve been thinking a lot about tools for web development, specifically dynamic development tools that support exploration, experimentation, and immediate feedback. Your work is a big inspiration in this area, and I think it’s a shame that most environments still can’t do what Smalltalk could 30 years ago.

I’m normally based in Munich, but will be in Google’s Venice Beach office for the next couple of days. I’d love to chat with you about some of my ideas. I’m sure you’re busy, but if you have 30 minutes to spare I’d really appreciate it. I could meet anywhere in the LA area that would be convenient for you.

And you know what? He responded the next day and said he’d be happy to come meet me for lunch. We had a great conversation, and he later introduced me to Alex Warth, one of his “most brilliant grad students ever” who also worked at Google.

Alex and I stayed in touch, and two years later, he asked me to join him at a new research group Alan had started. It was basically a dream job; I spent three years there working with some amazing people¹, many that I’m still friends with today.

Don’t wait. Sometimes you can just make it happen.

💬 Want to leave feedback? Send me an email or respond on Bluesky or Mastodon.