Darin Swanson has been a technical advisor to founders and CEOs for the last 7 years at companies like Pipefy, Outreach, Kite, Edify, and Gatsby. Prior to that he was the VP of Engineering for New Relic and led engineering teams there for 6+ years. In many ways, Darin is a glimpse into the future for a lot of listeners to this show. He is a father of two kids (now adults) and a loving husband to his wife. In our conversation today we discussed: Darin's transition into advisory work after a long, full-time career His childhood growing up in Northern Canada Your spouse as a barometer for your balance and decisions What it's like having adult-aged kids who no longer have to listen to you Watching your adult children make their own decisions How his relationship with work changed at the different stages of his kids' lives The worst piece of parenting advice he's ever received — Where to find Darin Swanson - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darinswanson/   Where to find Adam Fishman - Newsletter: https://startupdadpod.substack.com/ - Newsletter: https://www.fishmanafnewsletter.com - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/ - Twitter / X: https://twitter.com/fishmanaf - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startupdadpod/ — In this episode, we cover: [1:26] Welcome to the show[2:06] Darin's professional background[3:28] Was it hard to figure out next steps after New Relic[4:57] Darin's Childhood[5:53] What did his parents do for work?[7:44] The makeup of his family[9:36] Marriage[14:09] Their decision to have kids[15:21] Your spouse as barometer for balance and decisions[19:57] Having adult kids who don't have to listen to you[22:44] Biggest mistake you've made as a parent[24:32] Being infallible[27:33] Watching adult kids make their own decisions[31:40] Earliest memories of being a dad[34:20] Most surprising thing about being a dad[35:41] Frameworks for parenthood[38:29] Where he and his spouse don't see eye to eye[41:34] Biggest mistake as a dad?[44:21] His relationship with work at different stages of his kids' lives[49:17] Worst parenting advice ever received?[50:34] Where you can follow along with Darin's journey[52:48] Rapid fire— Show references: New Relic - https://newrelic.com/IBM - https://www.ibm.com/Nintendo - https://www.nintendo.com/Blue’s Clues - https://www.nickjr.com/shows/blues-clues-and-you — For sponsorship inquiries email [email protected]. Production support for Startup Dad is provided by Tommy Harron at http://www.armaziproductions.com/