Stay on top of your professional development with these learning and productivity tips from Luca Rossi, whose refactoring.club newsletter 🌀 is read by 50k subscribers every week. After scaling Wanderio to 25M users 🚀 as founding CTO, Luca sat down to distill his experiences and in the process created the tech leadership content 📰 he so badly needed. With diagrams. 🖼️ In this alphalist CTO podcast, Luca shares what he has learned about leadership - including the self-leadership needed to stru...
Nov 02, 2023•52 min•Ep 88•Transcript available on Metacast Reimagine version control systems with Scott Chacon, Co-founder of GitHub and GitButler. Because, even Scott, a Git Veteran, will admit it: ``` Git is a pain sometimes. 🫣 ``` There is a serious Merge Conflict ⚔️ between how modern developers code and the workflow ordained by Git in the Linux mailing list days. Version Control Systems need to be taken apart by First Principles 🧩 so they can be better adapted to the needs of modern software teams. And this is the branch he is busy with at GitBut...
Oct 19, 2023•52 min•Ep 87•Transcript available on Metacast Is there a nice way to downsize? Mike Fisher, former CTO of Etsy, shares what he learned when the company downscaled by 27% in 2 rounds of layoffs right before he joined. Find out how you can help your team navigate this sensitive period - both pre- and post-layoff. - How much time⏳ you lose in a layoff (the productivity cost of layoff) - Why you can’t expect to cut costs ✂️ AND grow - Why Availability 🟢 needs to be prioritised as you downsize - Layoffing off Generalists vs. Specialists 🧑🔬 -...
Oct 05, 2023•44 min•Ep 86•Transcript available on Metacast git checkout the future of software development with Thomas Dohmke, CEO of GitHub. In this broad podcast, we discuss everything from refactoring and scaling to the CTO/CEO role, from open source to AI as a Dev Tool. Every day Thomas delves into the development of software development - so his 🧠 was a great brain to pick. Listen to find out: - Why refactoring 🧩 will always be a part of growth. - What was it like being integrated ☂️ into Microsoft post-M&A - What are GitHub’s current challenges ...
Sep 21, 2023•54 min•Ep 85•Transcript available on Metacast Find out the best way to measure Developer Experience 🧑💻in a way that truly enables ⚡ your developers (i.e. Developer Productivity) in this CTO podcast with Abi Noda - co-creator of the DevEx Framework and founder of Pull Panda. For years Abi has been on a quest to discover what developer metrics are the key to happier and more productive developers. He tried PR Analytics (he created Pull Panda🐼 - acquired by GitHub) and DORA, before teaming up with other Developer Productivity researchers �...
Sep 07, 2023•52 min•Ep 84•Transcript available on Metacast Get inspired about architecture - that of computers and teams - in this CTO podcast with Aviran Mordo, VP Engineering at Wix. I really enjoyed talking with Aviran about both the technical nitty gritty of powering millions of websites as well as the Wix model which - unlike the Spotify model - is still in use at its flagship company over a decade later Listen to find out: - How the Wix model works 🪗(+ hiring, personal development and communication across guilds and companies) - What is Platform-...
Aug 25, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep 83•Transcript available on Metacast Find out how to restructure your org using a matrix structure with Gertrud Kolb, CTO of eyeo (the company behind common adblockers). You will find out how Gertrud implemented changes across an already large organisation - from the team typologies to team communications. Listen to find out: - How to restructure using team topology 🧩best practices in a large organisation. - How to improve requirements engineering ✅ - How to gradually consolidate team communications 💬 - How ad-blockers are workin...
Aug 10, 2023•58 min•Ep 82•Transcript available on Metacast Find out how to do continuous product discovery with Teresa Torres who has taught over 12,000 people how to sustainably infuse their daily product decisions with customer input. You will find out why product should not be just a job title, but a mindset that the entire C-suite needs to share. Listen to find out: - What is an outcome-orientated mindset? Do we need OKRs?✅ - How to build a continuous feedback loop with customers 🪢 - Business success 👔 vs product discovery success 🫶 - What mistak...
Jul 27, 2023•47 min•Ep 81•Transcript available on Metacast Find out how to use platform engineering to scale your DevOps 🚀with this hands-on podcast with Sarah Polan, Field CTO at HashiCorp. Sarah is passionate about 2 things: DevSecOps 🔏 and automating everything 🔁 (she even automates aspects of her childcare :)). Which is why this podcast episode is all about scalability 📈 - from attrition-proof DevOps to automated audits. This is a must-listen podcast for both CTOs who are new to Platform Engineering as well as those who are troubleshooting from ...
Jul 13, 2023•44 min•Ep 80•Transcript available on Metacast Did you know that effective 1:1s will 3X your employee engagement? 🤩 Maximise your 1:1 meetings 🤝 by leveraging the meeting science discovered by Steven Rogelberg (Chancellor's Professor at UNC Charlotte and author of 2 top-ranked books about meeting science: “The Surprising Science of Meetings” and “Glad We Met: The Art and Science of 1:1 Meetings”). As an organisational psychologist 🧑🔬who has advised US Congress 🏛️and Fortune100 companies on workplace matters, Steven is here to share wit...
Jun 29, 2023•31 min•Ep 79•Transcript available on Metacast It is time to stop learning the computer’s programming language, and get computers to learn our language. Prepare think different - or should we say alien 👾 - in this CTO podcast with Stephen Wolfram (Founder & CEO of Wolfram Research). Find out why we need to use computational thinking to create code in a way humans can both write ✍️ and read 📖. Listen to find out: >> What is the programming workflow of the future? 🔮 (SPOILER: Think NLU + LLM + computational layer) >> What is a LUI (Linguist...
Jun 15, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep 78•Transcript available on Metacast Find out how to use tech to deliver (not distract from) business value in this CTO podcast featuring Vikas Gupta, CTO at Choco (a digital platform connecting suppliers to their restaurants), who previously held senior engineering roles at Uber and Dropbox. Listen find out : - ⚖️ How to balance product and platform initiatives - 🔍What the 5 dimensions are for evaluating a language - 🎩 CTPO vs 👷CTO + 🤠CPO - How to determine ROI when migrating from legacy - + Why he chose his tech stack Listen ...
Jun 01, 2023•52 min•Ep 77•Transcript available on Metacast Get a handle on the latest developments in AI 🤩 in this CTO Podcast featuring Richard Socher, CEO of You.com (the world’s first AI-centric chat-based 💬 search engine). This is your opportunity to learn from the AI professor 🎓who co-authored the paper that introduced the term ‘prompt engineering’, created MetaMind 🧠(now powering Einstein at Salesforce) and pioneered many of the technologies everyone is hyping about today. But for Richard, its not hype. Its just the fusion of technology and bu...
May 22, 2023•58 min•Ep 76•Transcript available on Metacast Buckle up for a journey through the evolution of DevOps with John Engates, the Field CTO at Cloudflare, who has been leading the charge since his days as CTO of Rackspace (2002-2018). Get ready for a fascinating ride as we explore the role of AI in DevOps and gain insights from a true industry veteran. Listen to discover: - How to handle incident response the Cloudflare way🚨: mission rooms, communication strategies, and best practices - Why we can't just turn off the internet? 🌐 The ethical co...
Apr 27, 2023•47 min•Ep 75•Transcript available on Metacast Dig deep into how to use generative AI as developer tool 🧑💻in this CTO podcast featuring Shawn ‘Swyx’ Wang. Shawn has not only headed Developer Experience at 3 Unicorns 🦄, but he is also the editor of the Latent Space AI/ML newsletter. Tune in to discover how generative AI will change programming and how to start exploring the world of LLMs. Learn: - How our infrastructure 🏗️ needs will evolve with the explosion of the AI frontier - How much time a CTO should spend trying out new technology...
Apr 14, 2023•49 min•Ep 74•Transcript available on Metacast Focus on your CTO career in this podcast with Will Larson about leaving a CTO role, finding a new CTO role, and negotiating your compensation. Will is the thought leader behind the popular blog "Irrational Exuberance" and the book "An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management" and "Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track". Additionally, he is the former CTO of Calm who has also led teams at Uber, Digg, and Yahoo. Listen to find out: - How to find 🔍 the ideal CTO Role in 2...
Mar 30, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep 73•Transcript available on Metacast Like the UX of a SPA but developing it is a nightmare🤔? Then you should listen to this podcast about PESPA (Progressively Enhanced Single Page apps.🤩. You will learn from Kent C. Dodds, 💁♂️co-founder of Remix about this latest web architecture which combines the UX of a SPA (no full-page refreshes 🔄 with a better DX👨💻 (no code duplication and less mess🫣). With companies like Microsoft, Netflix, and LinkedIn incorporating it into their stack - it's the web’s next transition which you don...
Mar 17, 2023•58 min•Ep 72•Transcript available on Metacast Learn about the future of front-end with Malte Ubl (CTO at Vercel). Malte is the creator of JSConf.eu and has extensive experience in engineering teams on projects like Wiz (the front-end framework Google still uses in most of their consumer apps) and Google Search (Desktop). Now he is at Vercel - mainstreaming the tools and techniques common in BigTech - to other tech companies. Listen to find out: >> The CTO Role: how he balances ⚖️ Product 💡 and Engineering 🔧 >> How to decide on a front-end...
Mar 02, 2023•51 min•Ep 71•Transcript available on Metacast Learn out to run your remote 🌎 company effectively with tips from Dominik Angerer, co-founder, and CEO of Storyblok. He shares tips and insights on everything from remote recruiting to onboarding and engagement. Plus, he shares the story behind the Storyblok tech stack, and why, after years of being bootstrapped, they decided to seek funding. Listen to find out: - Remote Compensation 💸: How he uses data to adjust salaries - How to handle IT procurement 🖥️ and device management for a global te...
Feb 16, 2023•51 min•Ep 70•Transcript available on Metacast Find out how to optimize your cloud ☁️costs in this CTO podcast featuring David Linthicum (Chief Cloud Strategy Officer at Deloitte, Author of Insider’s Guide to Cloud Computing, and #1 Cloud Influencer). This is your opportunity to hear about the efficient use of cloud computing from someone whose 35-year 🫡 career includes serving as CTO at five companies, writing 15 books, publishing 7000 articles, presenting at 1000 conferences and 2000 webinars, and teaching popular courses on computing at ...
Feb 02, 2023•56 min•Ep 69•Transcript available on Metacast Find out how to price your SaaS product effectively 💸 in this podcast featuring Patrick Campbell of ProfitWell (a SaaS for subscription analytics, retention, and pricing solutions). He shares pricing insights he has learned by looking over 🧐 the data of 73 000 SaaS companies over the past decade! Listen to find out: You - How to get the right 🎯price for your SaaS Product - Freemium 🆓 or free trial? -Should you have a legacy 👴🏻 tier? - Usage-based 📈 or tier-based 📊 pricing? 🤔 - Why and h...
Jan 19, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep 68•Transcript available on Metacast Find out how to bootstrap and scale fast in this CTO podcast featuring Renaud Visage - Co-Founder & ex-CTO at Eventbrite🎟. He shares what he would do differently if he would bootstrap Eventbrite again, his approach to the evolving role of the founding CTO, and climate-friendly tech. Listen to find out: - Bootstrapping: Why you should hire senior devs 👨💻 as soon as possible - Cloud☁️ vs. On-Prem⚙️ - How recession📉 will change the start-up ecosystem - Climate + Tech: How to factor in climate♻...
Jan 05, 2023•54 min•Ep 67•Transcript available on Metacast Get insight into product analytics from Dr. Thanasis Noulas, VP Engineering at TradeRepublic - whose 15+ year data career has spanned industries as diverse as trading, accommodation (Booking.com & AirBnB), Mobility (Uber) and Content (Netflix). Listen to find out: - How to be data-informed when you can’t be data-driven (e.g. in a regulated industry ⚠️) - How to A/B test correctly (sample size, old users/new users, tools) - Build vs.Buy 🛒 and the data tech stack. - Why you should spend more ti...
Dec 22, 2022•52 min•Ep 66•Transcript available on Metacast Find out how to ship meaningful products 👍 on time ⌛ with proper product shaping in this CTO podcast with Ryan Singer, the creator of the Shape Up Method 💪. The Shape Up Method aims to better define and prioritise 🤔 projects before they are sent to be built and shipped. Listen to find out: - How to timebox effectively 📅 (SPOILER: Its not 2 or 6 weeks) - Why tickets don’t work 🎫 - What is the ideal team composition 🎨 for each phase of the project. + Why he doesn’t give specific instructions...
Dec 08, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep 65•Transcript available on Metacast Find out how to build a profitable mobile app or game 📱in this CTO podcast featuring Carlo Szelinsky, Co-CEO & Founder @ applike group. The applike group brings in $100M+ ARR through their apps and games and now also offers tech solutions for app creators. Listen to this podcast for a step by-step-guide to mobile apps: from performance marketing attribution to in-app analytics technology and everything you need to know about monetizing your app. Listen to find out: - How to do attribution 🧐 we...
Nov 25, 2022•53 min•Ep 64•Transcript available on Metacast Discover the technology behind a service that delivers groceries within two hours ⏳ in this CTO podcast featuring Aron Spohr, CTO @ Flaschenpost - a grocery delivery service. 🍏🍞🥚🥫 Listen to find out: - Why boring 🥱 is good in a tech stack (SPOILER: They run their ecommerce 🛒 site in .NET and C# ) - Why they went with a hybrid approach (web container + native SPA) to apps - Why they now buy before they build 🛠️ + How he hacked Deutsche Telekom 📶 at age 16
Nov 10, 2022•54 min•Ep 63•Transcript available on Metacast Get insight into the world of reinforcement learning in this CTO podcast with Maria Meier CTO @ Phantasma Labs (a Simulation-a-a-Service). Maria shares with us how the simulation industry🔮 is developing - particularly in the autonomous vehicle context. Listen to find out: - Why reinforcement learning 🍭 is about to catch up to the other 2 ML paradigms - Why we need to model diversity in AI 👩🦽👴🧒🌍 - especially when simulating urban pedestrian traffic. - How much progress the autonomous vehi...
Oct 27, 2022•45 min•Ep 62•Transcript available on Metacast Come to a new appreciation of the code that powers most of the hardware you interact with in this CTO podcast featuring Bjarne Stroustrup - Creator of C++. Join us as we discuss the past, present, and future of C++ - a language used in everything from ATMs 🏧 to rocketships 🚀. Listen to find out: - Why we need to differentiate between coding 👨💻 and programming ⚒️ - Why he doesn’t want to start C++ from scratch ❇️ - The challenges of maintaining 🏗️ a language used by millions of people - How...
Oct 13, 2022•59 min•Ep 61•Transcript available on Metacast Discover new ways to think about ethical engineering 😇 and technical architecture 🏗️in this CTO podcast featuring Yonatan Zunger, Creator of WXZ Layers of System Approach and Distinguished Engineer at Twitter. This is your opportunity to hear from someone whose architectural philosophy is inspiring companies like Github. Listen to find out: >> How to build a multi-layer 🍰 architecture (WXZ) that gives a reliable way to test ideas out. >> Why we need to consider ethics and privacy in everythin...
Sep 29, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep 60•Transcript available on Metacast Find out how to be more efficient by using a mix of no-code, low-code and hard-code in your tech stack in this practical CTO podcast episode featuring Andreas Wixler, the CTO of FINN 🚙. Listen to find out: >> When, why and how to migrate ➡️ your core business code from no-code to hard-code >> How to test and document an API-first set up >> How to get the entire company automating ⚙️ processes in no-code >> How to navigate no-code and low-code limits ⚠️ Listen here: https://alphalist.com/podcast...
Sep 15, 2022•44 min•Ep 59•Transcript available on Metacast 
