I'm a current APM and just went on the trip with Marissa in June. I didn't know her well before the trip. Older APMs spoke highly of her mentorship, but I was expecting her to be less involved with our class simply because she's been doing it for 10 years and things change. Google's a bigger company etc.
But she took time to get to know us, share stories from the Early Days, give advice about the valley, sing karaoke — even with a baby on the way! She seemed genuinely invested in each of us, and it's hard not to reciprocate and respect her for that. I laughed when I read the article because "den mother" is not an unfair characterization :)
But that said, most APMs from my year aren't ready to jump ship to Yahoo!, at least for now.
But she took time to get to know us, share stories from the Early Days, give advice about the valley, sing karaoke — even with a baby on the way! She seemed genuinely invested in each of us, and it's hard not to reciprocate and respect her for that. I laughed when I read the article because "den mother" is not an unfair characterization :)
But that said, most APMs from my year aren't ready to jump ship to Yahoo!, at least for now.