About this blog

Why is it called “Slope Over Intercept”?

The blog is titled “Slope Over Intercept,” inspired by Stanford Professor John Ousterhout’s Thoughts for the Weekend (link). His core message is simple yet profound: how fast you learn matters far more than how much you know at the start.

This mindset is the essence of what I aim to embody in this blog. By sharing lessons I’ve learned along the way, I hope to inspire others to challenge their own limiting beliefs, step outside their comfort zones, and embrace learning as a means to make the world a better place.

Who Am I?

Hi, my name is Robert Chang. Having lived in the Bay Area for over 20 years, I’ve primarily worked in tech, with experience at companies like The Washington Post, Twitter, and Airbnb.

At Airbnb, where I’ve been for nearly a decade, I’ve held diverse roles spanning data science, product management, and engineering. One of my key contributions has been leading the Minerva project, Airbnb’s central metrics platform. This platform plays a pivotal role in ensuring trustworthy datasets and enabling data-driven decision-making across the company. You can learn more about my professional work below:

• How Airbnb Achieved Metric Consistency at Scale
• How Airbnb Standardized Metric Computation at Scale
• How Airbnb Enables Consistent Data Consumption at Scale
• Data Quality at Airbnb - Part I & Part II
• Using Machine Learning to Predict Value of Homes On Airbnb
• Power, minimal detectable effect, and bucket size estimation in A/B tests