How should Selbi do continuous delivery for our React Native app?

Background

Jordan and I have been working on Selbi for a couple months and just pushed a beta release (🎉🎉…🔥😮…🎉).

Prior to Selbi I was at Palantir and one of the things I miss most is the large number of smart and helpful people within shouting distance. This article is my attempt to crowdsource an engineering review for Selbi’s release process.

Let’s see how it goes!

Overview

This review is broken into several sections.

• The problem statement including constraints created by our architecture.
• The proposed solution.
• A brief description of other considered solutions. …

I applied late to the YCombinator S16 batch and was invited to a 10 minute chat by Dalton Caldwell.

It is broken into 3 parts written at different times: a few minutes before, a few minutes after the conversation and a few hours later, after digesting the results.

Here are some the interesting bits from my application posted separately if you’re interested.

A Few Minutes Before — 10:02 am

The call is at 10:15. I’m at an Airbnb in Seattle but as soon as this call ends I’ll grab my suitcase and head to the airport to return to SF.

I don’t know what to expect from the call. Google turned up the fact the YC interviews are 10 minutes long but the invitation to chat doesn’t use the word interview which seems deliberate. …

Below are the more interesting parts of my late application to YC16 directly copy-pasted (and slightly reformatted) below. The idea has evolved since this original submission but please feel free to comment.

Please enter the url of a 1 minute unlisted (not private) YouTube video introducing the founders. (Follow the Video Guidelines.)

Please tell us about an interesting project, preferably outside of class or work, that two or more of you created together. Include urls if possible.

I built a smart android notification filter which helps differentiate different streams of notification. For example, urgent notifications you should respond to versus ones that can wait. It effectively provides the ability to use @username (like slack or hipchat) to get someones attention in any app (eg Fb messenger, Whatsapp). …

I highly recommend this book for any engineer but particularly for a software engineer transitioning to a management role. I heard about it from a coworker when he organized a reading group.

Unfortunately, I my calendar conflicted with the reading group but I’m very glad I read the book anyways.

Reinertsen discusses a number of theories in product development and compares them to classical manufacturing. If you’re already familiar with the general concept of lean manufacturing and the value of small batches then some of the book will be a bit of review.

However, PPDF radically changed how I think about product development. …

If you are a millennial it’s likely that this story is familiar: you are in at least one group chat (maybe several depending on how cool you are). The group chat represents a social clique you belong to and you identify with deeply.

This is how you organize but also how you socialize. Ridiculous Uber pool story? Straight to the group chat. Planning a large, multi-hour bottomless brunch the day of while still hungover? Group chat to the rescue. Complaining about crappy coworkers or sharing the deets on office incest? Once again the group chat provides.

The thing is, you also have a job. At times you even need to focus and the constant stream of direct updates from your various circles of BFFs can get in the way. …