Why “The Delivery Man” Substack?
For the same reason I wrote a book. I had plenty of ideas and years of observing successful people by standing beside or behind them. And I realized a lot of these ideas could not “fit” into a conventional book format. Hence the random musing in the title. And having a curious mind means I never run out of new things to try and to learn about but more importantly, to never shy away to ask weird questions to influential people. And guess what? If you can do in with style, grace, wonkiness and humor, they will answer them.
More importantly, I have reached a point in my life and career that I want to share. Share the stories of people who shaped me but also share the stories of people who are changing the world. And sometimes you may recognize the name and sometimes you may not. But their work is a game changer for industries and people. I know it.
But if you want to know the reason why I wrote that book, keep on reading.
Review
"A readable and relatable guide to being the one who makes tech dreams come true. Taveau fills his book with energetic prose even as he tells readers the unpleasant truth: A great many people want to be innovators, but few set out to be the person who makes the innovator's ideas work in practice. In straightforward, congenial prose, he advises his readers to stick up for themselves even while facilitating the dreams of others." Kirkus Review
From the Author
The Delivery Man looks like a great book. Can you tell us a little about it?
ST: It is a recollection of experiences I had along my career. I didn't want it to be a memoir but more a tool to help people figure out what they are good at and/or to become good at achieving "reasonable" goals. Technology can be seen as a lot of pattern repetitions, but the hardest part is to figure out the patterns of success in the person. How can you constantly delivery something? What do you do for it to work? For me, it was the muscle memory from the SSOCCADD methodology added on top of common best practices. But all these experiences supporting the overall message from the book are grounded in my personal experience. So, the first person conversational tone was very important so everyone can relate to one part or the other.
How long did it take you to write The Delivery Man?
ST: The idea for the book only came a couple of years ago. Before, I was just putting my thoughts on blogposts or speaking at conferences. It is during one of these conferences that the core idea for the book came. So, for 8 years, some pieces were popping in my mind, but the cohesiveness came together in the past year or so.
What inspired you when writing The Delivery Man?
ST: A convergence of many elements helped me go through the writing. First, one of my former colleague lose his life because of the rat race that is Silicon Valley. Then, despite what people were telling me about my stellar career, I had the impostor syndrome on the back of my head, so I needed to straight the record for them and for me. Lastly, the book chapters all start with a song reference. This is also how I write. Blasting some music aligned with the mood of the chapter. So, some are lifting, others a bit doomy. But music is a great companion to words and was an important source of inspiration.
How did you come up with the title for your book?
ST: Few years back, I was attending a Venture Capitalist / Start-ups event with my brother-in-law Noah. As he was introducing me to few people and mentioning what I did, one of them said "Wow, you have delivered some great stuffs". That's when the delivery part was ingrained in my brain. And of course, when you are not the big shot visionary, the next best thing is to be their delivery man.
What will readers get out of your book?
ST: Hopefully, they will be able to take away the human experience, the re-calibration of life's ambitions into an acceptable achievement. The norm in the US is to aim to be #1, to be the next great innovator. Unfortunately, it is not a healthy pursuit for most. And people lose their authentic self and cannot live up to their own fantasy expectations. I have seen it with people burnt out or depressed going to irreversible extremes. If I can help one person being happy by finding a true self contempt, then the purpose of the book is done.
What part of the book was the most fun to write?
ST: This is a tough question. The one that was definitely not fun was the one where I had to talk about negativity and failures. Re-visiting unpleasant moments was well...unpleasant. For the rest, it was very interesting to read or listen again to old posts and conferences to extract some materials. It allowed me to see the growth of character which happened over time and helped focus on core strengths. I guess that was the delivery man in me pushing forward. The ultimate high was when the book was almost complete and being able to see the overall content lining up nicely. It was a big step from the white board covered of notes and post-it. The selection of the reference songs was also great. It is a small peek into my musical taste.
Did anything stick out as particularly challenging when writing The Delivery Man?
ST: Everyone who writes can relate, the challenge was to put these words on paper. I had been thinking about the book itself for two years writing a line there, a paragraph over there but it was really 8 years in the making. There was a point where I had to figure out what was my mood of the day so I could write the content for the chapter the most aligned with it. Talking about being in tune with a self-mental state. The other challenging or humbling part was the editing process. The first couple of rounds were brutal. You think you have written something acceptable, and it comes back with 20 or 30 edits per page. You must recognize it makes the book much better, but it was humbling.
Can you tell us a little about your background?
ST: I am a first-generation immigrant to the US. When I landed in 1996 as an intern, I had all these big dreams around technology, fantasies about Silicon Valley, etc.
My childhood was spent in the early days of computing. My family doesn't come from a tech background, so I learnt a lot by trials and errors. It helped me by having a "hacker's" mindset in approaching technology vs the structured way of an engineering school. My studies were in international business at the Sorbonne University in Paris and economics and math in Tours. So, nothing in tech or engineering but definitely some sciences and numbers interest.
Writing came up much later. My older brother, a teacher, is the literary type. Because of my accent when I moved to the US, I discovered that it was easier for me to clearly express ideas and comments in written vs verbally (I solved the latter issue with public speaking coaching)
In part, I had to live my American Dream. I have achieved more than most of my friends who stayed in Europe. More responsibilities, more money, more everything.
Where can readers find out more about your work?
ST: It is now available in all formats on Amazon or you can also visit the author website which is the title of the book dot info.
From the Back Cover
"Thanks heavens, for visionaries and their amazing inventions...But give us more Delivery Men, more of the people who make the indispensable connection between dreams and market reality. With an illustrious career as a Delivery Man, Sébastien Taveau writes a much-needed ode to his beloved professions". - Jean-Louis Gassée
About the Author
Sebastien Taveau is a puzzle solver and beyond-the-horizon watcher. Seb's technical and professional experience spans over 25 years in various industries. He has shaped ecosystems and products around FinTech, mobile payment, mobile security, mobile identity and consumer solutions even when he was told it was impossible.
He has provided expert opinions for and has been quoted in the WSJ, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Reuters, Mashable, USA Today, CNN, CBC, Forbes, Dark Reading, Digital Transactions, Newsweek, etc. on topics ranging from mobile payments to mobile identity, and consumer biometrics and security.
He is a keynote speaker and panelist to many industry events and guest lecturer at universities worldwide. Most recent projects include Zelle (the real-time P2P) as Chief Technologist, Mastercard Masters of Code (one of the most successful developer engagements in the world of payment) as Chief Developer Evangelist, Envestnet | Yodlee as Head of Developer Experience delivering top APIs, developer portals and other engagements with coders around Wealthtech, Human Interface technology for Android devices (via Validity) as Chief Technology Officer, PayPal Mobile among others where Sebastien led or was part of the core execution/strategy/executive teams.
Seb is also an inventor with more than 25 patents granted and was a member of the exclusive eBay Inventors. Seb lives in the Bay Area at the heart of Silicon Valley where he spend most of his time with his wife and his two children. For mental resourcing, you will find Seb roaming in the French/Swiss Alps.
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