“Dong is brilliant—he provided me with invaluable career advice in the software industry. I attended three sessions with him to learn more about the Senior/Staff track, and I gained a wealth of knowledge from his lessons.”

Lam Pham

“It was great getting a chance to chat with Dong and receive his advice regarding professional objectives and career development. We talked about decision making frameworks (1-way vs. 2-way doors), gaining confidence through running mini-experiments and iterating, journaling, and considering the people management path. It was very useful getting his feedback and developing a strategy for achieving my goals

Dong was an attentive and active listener. I really enjoyed hearing about his own experiences and drawing connections from there to my own journey. I feel fortunate to have been able to spend this time with him and fully support his endeavors in developing his career coaching/mentorship service!”

Qianshu Wang

“Dong opened his calendar for folks to connect around professional objectives. I took the opportunity to connect with Dong and we covered some of my career objectives and plans for how to achieve those alongside my personal objectives in life.

Dong took the time to really understand my aspirations and current challenges and provided great advice towards my professional and personal goals. I also really enjoyed learning about Dong's experiences and career decisions that have lead him to where he is today and drawing those tangents to my own experiences. Dong is working on building up his coaching/support gig and I wholeheartedly support it based on the time I spent with him.”

Rachel Yu

“Dong joined our team at a time where we needed strong leadership and a vision, and that is exactly what he brought. I've worked on countless projects for him where some unexpected customer need would come up, and he was always the first one ready to step in and help drive any issues to a successful outcome.

Dong is also a great mentor and someone who takes the professional development of his direct reports to heart. He was my manager for over four years and he propelled me and others to be the best engineers and team members we could be while cultivating collaboration, learning, and having a strong customer focus by keeping the end goal in mind.

Wherever Dong ends up next he is sure to make great impact, and I look forward to seeing whats next for him.”

Addison Schiller

“Dong knows how to easily connect with others to understand where he can make the most impact. I admire that he truly tries to get to know someone, making it feel like I'm not just another engineer in the hive. His ability to switch and translate between technical, business, and casual language made seamless communication across teams and projects. When my manager left, he stepped in and lead my team while continuing his duties as a Director (my manager's manager!) Dong is sure to make huge strides wherever ends up next!”

Benny Nguyen

“Dong is a highly skilled manager and mentor. Working as a part of his team was a pleasure. He helps everyone achieve their full potential by providing helpful support and respectful guidance. He is dedicated and knowledgable and would make a addition to any team. ”

Whitney Souders

“Dong was my manager, leader and mentor at Thunder for close to three years. Throughout that time, Dong was regarded as a problem solver at the company, he's always hands on and involved in many projects. In addition, he always made himself available to give advice and direction whenever needed. He listened to what I would like to achieve career wise, and made sure I had the opportunities I needed to grow. And when he left the company, he had handed off his responsibilities, and had provided his team the knowledge and experience to take on at least part of them, so there were no holes left due to his departure. I'm sure Dong will be able to help lead and improve any organization he decides to join next.”

Hari Prabowo

“Dong is an exceptional team lead and mentor and was a joy to work with during my time at PaperG. He confidently lead the test team by creating opportunities for us to grow, and encouraging us down paths where we could push the company forward. I was most impressed by his transparency and passion, not only to challenge himself and the company's technology, but to grow everyone around him by taking a genuine interest in others and helping them push further or learn from them. He oversaw our tech decisions, lead the way for technology growth by taking action, motivated others around cultural changes, and was always a friend I could talk to about anything. I would happily work with him again and I highly recommend him to any team looking for a strong leader, innovator, and talented programmer.”

Adam Estela

“Dong was my mentor during my summer internship at Microsoft, and I believe a large portion of my success at said internship was due to his assistance and availability throughout the course of my project. Dong is extremely helpful and outgoing, both traits that I observed during the last three months, and despite having a lot of work on his plate, he stepped up to take on the challenge of mentoring an intern during one of the busiest times for the team.

Overall I would say that Dong was an excellent representative of his team and I would be very excited for an opportunity to work with him again in the future.”

Eric Yurko