Winston Zhu — Personal README

👋 Who I am

• I lead the Platform Engineering group at StackAdapt, working across ads, cloud infrastructure, data, and the systems that help customers run effective campaigns.
• My work spans product, engineering, strategy, and team-building. I like connecting technical systems to business outcomes and customer impact.
• Before StackAdapt, I managed teams at Amazon across Last Mile Delivery and Seller Experience.
• I studied Computer Science at the University of Waterloo, completed a Master’s degree at UIUC, and am currently pursuing an Evening & Weekend MBA at UC Berkeley Haas.
• I’m a generalist at heart: I like learning quickly, connecting dots across domains, and turning ambiguous problems into forward motion.

What I care about

• High ownership. I care about teams where people take responsibility for outcomes, not just tasks.
• Clear thinking. Good execution starts with understanding the problem, the constraints, and the tradeoffs.
• Speed with judgment. I value momentum, but not reckless motion. The goal is to make smart, reversible decisions and learn quickly.
• Customer and business impact. Technical quality matters most when it translates into real value for customers and the company.
• Growth mindset. I enjoy working with people who are curious, low-ego, dependable, ambitious, and hungry to improve.

🧭 How I lead

• High autonomy, high context. I try to give people the context they need, then create room for them to own the path forward.
• High expectations, high support. I want people to grow quickly and take on meaningful ownership. I try to pair ambitious goals with visibility, coaching, and support.
• Bias for action. I prefer moving, learning, and adjusting over waiting for perfect information. Iteration is usually better than analysis paralysis.
• Lean teams with force multipliers. I believe small teams of capable, versatile people can do outsized work, especially when they use AI and modern tooling well.
• Talent density matters. Strong people raise the bar for everyone. I value teams that combine technical depth, product sense, customer empathy, and operational discipline.

🤝 How to work well with me

• Lead with the recommendation. Start with what you think we should do, then explain the reasoning, tradeoffs, and risks.
• Write things down. For important decisions, a crisp doc, summary, or decision log helps us move faster and reduce ambiguity.
• Surface risks early. I would rather hear about a concern while it is still fixable than discover it after we are already committed.
• Push back thoughtfully. I respect people who challenge ideas with evidence, good judgment, and a better path forward.
• Bring ideas, not just problems. I value people who see ambiguity as an opportunity to create clarity and momentum.

⚠️ My gotchas

• I move fast. I often explore many ideas at once. If I am moving too quickly, ask me to slow down or clarify the rationale.
• I jump across domains. I like connecting systems, strategy, and execution, which means I may switch contexts quickly. If an important detail is being missed, tell me.
• I like experimentation. I am excited by new technology, especially AI-driven workflows. If a tool, idea, or direction does not make sense, I want to hear why.
• I can be direct. My intent is usually to get to clarity quickly. If something lands differently than intended, it is okay to call that out.

What I value in teammates

• People who are dependable and follow through.
• People who communicate clearly and avoid unnecessary complexity.
• People who are comfortable with ambiguity and willing to create structure.
• People who combine strong opinions with openness to new evidence.
• People who care about the team’s success, not just their individual scope.

In one sentence

• I am at my best when I am working with ambitious, thoughtful people on meaningful problems, moving quickly, learning constantly, and building teams where high ownership creates high impact.