An Interview with Sebastien Taveau: Author of The Delivery Man

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 at many industry events and a 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 lives in the Bay Area at the heart of Silicon Valley where he spends most of his time with his wife and his two children. For mental resourcing, you will find Seb roaming in the French/Swiss Alps.

Tell us about your book.

The Delivery Man: The Art of turning ideas into products in Silicon Valley is a recollection of experiences I had during 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 deliver 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 of 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.

Why did you want to write a book?

A convergence of many elements helped me go through the writing. First, I saw a 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 in the back of my mind, so I needed to straighten the record for them and for me.

What tools or companies did you use, and what experience did you have?

Besides pulling on a close circle of friends and family, another self-published author from Asia shared with me the team he had assembled for his books on Fiverr. You can use any other gig site but Fiverr was quite good. There I was able to find a great designer in Turkey, a social media person in Armenia, and a website designer in the UK. More importantly, the editor and his studio (formatting) were in the US and works for a large publishing company. It helped tremendously as he guided me through the various motions of editing/publishing a book.

What do you think are the main pitfalls for indie writers?

Fear. The “What if.” The thinking the book is never ready to be published (hint: it is never finished, yet, you have to put it out there). Also, you have the freedom to do what you want and how you want it. It has a cost (time, money, stress) but in the end, the reward is great.

For me, I decided I wanted a book with a soundtrack, so the book chapters all start with a song reference. This is also how I wrote. 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.

What tips can you give other authors looking to self-publish?

Finding other self-published authors who went through the process or even a friend in the publishing business to provide guidance and advice. Like a book club, you can create your own self-publishing circle. I had 3 people I really trusted, all authors (2 conventional and 1 self-published). They guided me along the way. And find a great editor. This will be the most important step in making the book ready.

What was your steepest learning curve during the publishing process?

There are so many moving parts that it’s easy to lose track of one of them. The writing part is still the most difficult, but understanding how to market the book is also quite challenging. I thought the tech industry was complicated. Try the publishing world. So it is important to leverage trusted resources with good tutorials (SPR, Booklife, etc.) and then to really focus on specific parts. Not everything needs to be consecutive, you can do a lot in parallel but you need to get help. That’s why I put a Fiverr team together. Find someone who knows part of the business you don’t understand or don’t want to understand. It takes some money but it is also a good way for you to focus on the promotion part of the book.

As a writer, what is your schedule? How do you get the job done?

Everyone who writes can relate, the challenge was to put these words on paper. I had been thinking about the book for two years writing a line there, a paragraph over there. 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.

Tell us about the genre you wrote in, and why you chose to write this sort of book.

The tone needed to be conversational to make it more personable. The book is truly in my voice. I share details that few knew about. It is not a memoir or biography, per se, more like an IRL guide to navigating a career with its ups and downs.

While the topic is centered around technology and Silicon Valley, I hope the readers 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 someone, the GOAT. Unfortunately, it is not a healthy pursuit for most. I have seen it with people burnt out or depressed going to irreversible extremes. If I can help one person to be happy, then the purpose of the book is done.

How do your friends and family get involved with your writing? What do they think of your book?

My wife didn’t know I was writing a book until I put a copy in her hands. She looked at me in disbelief asking when I had the time to do it. She liked it and was worried about some of the stories being too personal, but I wanted the book to be accessible and authentic. Friends, former colleagues, and bosses have read it and the feedback has been extremely positive. The most common feedback I receive is that the book is not your usual Silicon Valley or business book. It covers a very specific aspect of the professional lives of many. Jean-Louis Gassee, a tech luminary and former Apple, really enjoyed it and has been a vocal proponent of the book because of its underdog story.

What are your plans now your book is published?

The promotion of the book has been quite consuming. Taking it to the next level and keeping it “alive” in the algorithm of book placement is not easy. However, I know the motions and have been helping a couple of friends to get their books out of the door. When I created my own “publishing company,” it was more to dissociate the writer and the publisher (even if it is just me). Now, the publisher is helping others. Which doesn’t mean the writer has stopped. I have two other books I am trying to get completed. One also relates to my line of work but the other is purely fiction. So stay tuned and keep an eye on the Tavo Reno Publishing catalog. 🙂