LeadDev's PriorityZero - podcast cover

LeadDev's PriorityZero

LeadDevleaddev.com
Hear from the best software engineering leaders in the world as they share their leadership journey and how they are solving their Priority Zero with our host, LeadDev editor in chief, Scott Carey.

Episodes

S1E13 Learning to let go when managing managers with Shopify's Allison Malloy

Allison Malloy, Director of Engineering at Shopify, joins the show to chat about her journey from aspiring astronaut to a successful career in software engineering. We talked about her unintentional path to management, the challenges of running a remote team, and her Priority Zero of unifying services across Shopify. 08:40 Transitioning to management: The unintentional leader 14:00 Managing managers and the importance of letting go 17:30 What makes a great technical manager 19:50 Working fully r...

Jan 13, 202545 minEp 13Transcript available on Metacast

S1 E12 Founder mode vs manager mode with Camille Fournier

Author of The Manager's Path, Camille Fournier, joins the podcast to talk about her varied career in software engineering, the evolution of management practices in tech, Founder mode vs Manager mode, and her recent interest in platform engineering. 02:00 Doing it for the money vs the passion 07:00 Management in startups vs. big companies 14:45 The qualities of good managers 23:00 The legacy of The Manager's Path 7 years on 31:00 Camille's current focus on platform engineering 39:00 Priority Zero...

Dec 23, 202445 minEp 12Transcript available on Metacast

S1E11 Have developers lost their sense of community? with Anil Dash

Anil Dash, VP of developer experience at Fastly, joins the show to talk about the decline of community in software circles, the value of following your passions as a developer, what he learned working with Joel Spolsky on Stack Overflow and Glitch, and the evolution of developer tools. 6:00 Going from hobbyist to professional developer 11:00 The decline of software communities 18:00 The importance of following your passion as a developer 29:00 Working with Joel Spolsky 47:00 Adapting to a more c...

Dec 09, 202457 minEp 11Transcript available on Metacast

S1E10 Taming your imposter syndrome with Medium's Melissa DePuydt

Melissa DePuydt, Director of Engineering at Medium, joins the show to talk about making the switch from journalism to software engineering, her experiences with imposter syndrome, and a Scrappy vs. Scale framework for adapting your management approach to different contexts. 06:00 Transitioning from journalism to engineering 13:00 Learning to live with imposter syndrome 21:00 The Scrappy vs. Scale framework ( Check out Melissa's LeadDev New York talk on the Scrappy/Scale Mindset ) 31:20 Establish...

Nov 25, 202447 minEp 10Transcript available on Metacast

S1E9: Making the "scary" jump to management with Cloudflare's Matt Boyle

Matt Boyle, an engineering manager at Cloudflare, joins the show to talk about joining the tech giant during the pandemic, how that influences his management style, and the vital importance of regular retrospectives. 06:00 The difference between working at big and small companies 09:00 The terrifying transition from IC to manager 15:00 The vital importance of retrospectives 18:00 Managing distributed teams and the importance of asynchronous work 21:00 Matt's Priority Zero: Ensuring high availabi...

Nov 11, 202429 minEp 9Transcript available on Metacast

S1E8 Navigating the scaling journey with Gymshark's Engineering Director, Dan Blundell

Dan Blundell, Engineering Director at Gymshark, joins the show to talk about his journey from an aspiring musician to self-taught developer. He reflects on his experiences in the public sector, including working on the UK's Covid-19 test and trace application, and his transition to the fast-growing retailer Gymshark, where he has learned the importance of understanding business needs, hiring for culture, and the significance of maintaining leadership capacity during periods of rapid change. 00:0...

Oct 28, 202441 minEp 8Transcript available on Metacast

S1E7 How AI will change travel booking with Trainline's Gary Stevens

Director of Engineering at Trainline, Gary Stevens, joins the show to talk about the role of machine learning in the travel booking experience, the importance of engagement as an engineering leader, and mentoring vs coaching. 00:00 Gary's journey to director of engineering and learning from great managers 09:00 Coaching vs. mentoring 13:00 The importance of engagement in engineering and the importance of celebrating good work 21:00 Machine learning and the future of travel user experiences Gary'...

Oct 14, 202430 minEp 7Transcript available on Metacast

S1E6 From self-taught developer to engineering manager with Incident's Alicia Collymore

Alicia Collymore, a Senior Engineering Manager at Incident.io joins the show to chat about entering the industry without a formal computer science degree, transitioning from tech lead to management, setting goals for people who don't want them, and her priority zero of a big Microsoft Teams integration. 03:10 From self-learning to getting her big break 06:00 Transitioning from Tech Lead to Engineering Manager 12:00 The key to good hiring 15:00 Setting goals for engineers 17:30 Delivering a big M...

Oct 07, 202426 minEp 6Transcript available on Metacast

S1E5 Rafe Colburn on the unique engineering culture at Etsy and building bridges with product

Rafe Colburn, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Depop joins the show to talk about his journey from a computer-loving kid to a seasoned engineering leader. We talked about the biggest lessons he learned from his time at Etsy, management by instinct, the dynamics between product and engineering teams, and his biggest priorities right now at Depop. 09:00 The evolution of engineering management and lessons from Etsy's engineering culture 15:00 Navigating product and engineering dynamics R...

Sep 23, 202445 minEp 5Transcript available on Metacast

S1E4 CircleCI CTO Rob Zuber on the value of scrappiness and constantly adapting your leadership

Rob Zuber, CTO of CircleCI, joins the show to talk about his unique leadership journey, going from solving real manufacturing problems, to building software for other developers. 00:00 Rob's unconventional path to CTO 13:30 The importance of being scrappy 22:40 The Future of CircleCI 23:33 From analysis to execution: The shift in leadership roles 26:00 Running an Engineering Organization: Learning, reading, and seeking feedback 31:30 Improving developer experience iteratively Rob's recom...

Sep 09, 202447 minEp 4Transcript available on Metacast

S1E3 Distinguished Engineer Annie Vella's wild career journey and finding joy as a reluctant manager

Annie Vella, a distinguished engineer at Westpac New Zealand, joins the podcast to talk about her incredibly varied career journey, repeatedly ending up working alongside her husband, and riding the manager to individual contributor pendulum. 08:00 Working in Different Domains and Embracing Change 20:00 Transitioning into Management Roles 25:00 The Value of Embracing Change and New Opportunities 35:30 Transitioning to Engineering Manager Roles 46:00 The Impact of AI Tools on Software Engineers...

Aug 27, 202452 minEp 3Transcript available on Metacast

S1E2: "Software engineering is like a character-building video game" with Nick Means

In this episode, Scott Carey sat down with Nick Means, VP of Engineering at MedScout, ahead of his ⁠talk at LeadDev London 2024 about the history of the Barbican estate⁠. We talked about the value of 1:1 meetings, storytelling as a leadership tool, spotting people's superpowers, struggling with bureaucracy, and how to build an AI team. "Software engineering is sort of like a character-building video game. You've got all of these people on your group that's traversing through thi...

Aug 12, 202430 minEp 2Transcript available on Metacast

S1E1: Meta's senior machine learning engineer Katerina Iliakoupoulou on leaving your dream job and the future of ML

Katerina Iliakopoulou, a senior machine learning engineer at Meta, joins the show to talk about leaving her dream job at the New York Times, the importance of deep domain knowledge as an engineer, and what’s around the corner in machine learning. 02:10 Why domain knowledge is vital for engineers 04:45 Leaving the New York Times for Meta 08:45 Choosing the IC track and what makes a great manager 14:44 The art of prioritization and building impactful solutions 18:00 PriorityZero: Scaling ML models...

Jul 29, 202438 minEp 1Transcript available on Metacast

PriorityZero: EpisodeZero

Welcome to PriorityZero, an engineering leadership podcast from LeadDev . I'm your host, Scott Carey, the editor in chief at LeadDev. I've been covering the software business for the best part of a decade, and I love to hear how engineering leaders are solving big people and technical problems. Subscribe to this podcast to hear how the best software engineering leaders in the business made their start in the industry, how they think about leadership, and their biggest priority right now....

Jul 23, 202433 secTranscript available on Metacast