Transforming teams doesn’t go without its challenges. Let’s look at Tinder’s example. In this episode, Chris O'Brien , Director of Engineering at Tinder , shares his insights on building and leading engineering teams, particularly focusing on turning around existing teams. He discusses transforming teams, transitioning into a leadership role, Tinder’s culture and hiring process and a lot more. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Building a new ...
Oct 16, 2024•55 min•Ep 94•Transcript available on Metacast Scaling engineering teams can happen in a lot of different ways. Let’s take a look at a real-life example, how Fleetio scaled their product and team over the years. Their Principal Software Engineer, Richard Young shares what challenges they faced, the strategies they implemented and gives valuable tips to those who consider joining or scaling a startup. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Fleetio’s approach to scaling Fleetio’s approach to hir...
Sep 18, 2024•44 min•Ep 93•Transcript available on Metacast Liam Martin, Co-Founder of Time Doctor, debunks myths around remote work and shares valuable tips on managing remote engineering teams so they remain well-aligned in an asynchronous environment. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Finding unbiased information Social implications State of remote working Asynchronous team management Remote work is here to stay Excerpt from the interview: "If you try to force employees back to the office, you'll likely ...
May 15, 2024•48 min•Ep 92•Transcript available on Metacast Ian Tien, CEO and Co-Founder of Mattermost, talks about these core principles and their impact on his company. He highlights the importance of customer obsession, self-awareness, transparency and earning trust, just to name a few. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Customer-centric approach and its impact Engineering principles Following the engineering principles in day-to-day processes Stories of the engineering principles in real life The r...
Apr 17, 2024•51 min•Ep 91•Transcript available on Metacast Gil Broza, Value Delivery & Agile Leadership Expert, gives actionable advice for leaders who want truly great product development. He emphasizes the importance of putting people first, creating a culture of continuous improvement and a lot more. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Why isn’t product development great yet? Improving your software delivery system step by step Putting people first in practice The right mindset for better product deli...
Mar 13, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Ep 90•Transcript available on Metacast Magda Miu, Senior Engineering Manager at Adobe, discusses the importance of mentoring and shares her experiences as both a mentor and mentee. She highlights the benefits of mentoring, explains how she created a program at Adobe, and offers tips for others looking to organize something similar in their organization. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Magda’s personal experience with mentoring How to seek mentors Magda’s mentoring program at Adobe Key...
Feb 07, 2024•58 min•Ep 89•Transcript available on Metacast Dave Yeager, Director of Data Infrastructure at Recurve, shares aspects of healthy organizations, lists some signs of unhealthy ones and gives you actionable tips that you can implement today to make your company a better place to work at. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Creating healthy work environments in bigger vs. smaller organizations Some aspects of a healthy culture Spotting an unhealthy culture The impact of managers Advice for managers ...
Jan 24, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep 88•Transcript available on Metacast Mayakrishnan Chakkarapani, Senior Director of Software Engineering at Salesforce, shares interesting insights on how his organization uses Agile to meet business goals and empower developers while doing so. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Agile in Salesforce Some benefits of implementing Agile What to keep in mind when implementing Agile How to empower developers when following Agile Setting up and managing virtual teams Excerpt from the in...
Jan 10, 2024•58 min•Ep 87•Transcript available on Metacast Robert Hodges, CEO of Altinity, discusses various important aspects of open source software development. He talks about the decisions every company should make before embarking on an open source journey, the unresolved issues within the community, some interesting predictions about the future of OSS, and a lot more. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Robert’s open source journey Early vs. current principles The benefits of open source Current ...
Dec 13, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep 86•Transcript available on Metacast Peter Anderton, Founder of Internal Alignment, shares actionable tips to become a better leader by creating alignment, fighting your own ego, improving your listening skills and appreciating the differences within your team. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Strategies for leaders Creating true diversity comes down to truly appreciating differences Presenting constructive criticism More tips for leaders Common mistakes Excerpt from the ...
Nov 29, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep 85•Transcript available on Metacast Level-up your software engineer career development through other professionals’ stories: meet Max Rudman, CEO of Prodly, who went from IC to CEO over the years and has even founded a startup of his own. He shares interesting details about his career development and gives valuable advice to people interested in a similar path. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Max’s career development Skills for software engineering career development Choosing betwe...
Nov 15, 2023•46 min•Ep 84•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with Varun Mohan, CEO & Co-Founder of Exafunction and Codeium. He gives valuable insights on the considerations of AI deployment in the enterprise and shares his own thoughts and predictions on what the future holds for these models. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Considerations of AI deployment Benefits of deploying AI in the enterprise Concerns regarding AI deployment Typical mistakes when deploying AI Excerpt from the interview:...
Nov 01, 2023•37 min•Ep 83•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with Dan Lines, CPO and Co-Founder of LinearB. He talks about the importance of representing engineering teams and gives valuable advice on how to start communicating your team’s impact. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: The importance of communicating your engineering team’s impact Tips to get started on representing your engineers Communication channels to use Typical mistakes Storytime: Founding LinearB to track KPIs Excerpt from the i...
Oct 18, 2023•33 min•Ep 82•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with Joey Wilhelm, Security Engineer at Pinwheel. He talks about the benefits of open source software and gives great advice for companies who want to join the open source community. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Getting to know open source Benefits of open source software Open source vs. proprietary software from a security perspective Common mistakes of releasing open source software Storytime: Becoming an open source advocate Open ...
Oct 11, 2023•40 min•Ep 81•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with Yaron Perlman, author of the book DevStreams: Scaling Software Delivery. Naturally. He talks about the main ideas of DevStreams - a new paradigm for scaling software delivery. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Defining DevStreams Main ideas of the book DevStreams DevStream’s impact What type of companies benefit most from DevStreams Implementing DevStreams Common objections regarding DevStreams Excerpt from the interview: " Aft...
Sep 27, 2023•56 min•Ep 80•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with Alan Watkins, CEO and Founder of Complete. He talks about managing workplace stress through breathing techniques and overcoming our animal instincts. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter!
Apr 12, 2023•52 min•Ep 79•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with Morgan Teachworth, VP of Engineering at Cisco Meraki. He shares valuable insights on building and managing innovation-oriented teams. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Defining innovation Encouraging innovation at work Building teams that prioritize innovation Common pitfalls when focusing on innovation...
Mar 08, 2023•39 min•Ep 78•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with Gopal Erinjippurath, CTO and Head of Product at Sust Global. He shares valuable insights on how to build and manage analytics engineering teams. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Analytics engineering 101 Success metrics Assembling analytics engineering teams Processes Tools Common pitfalls Excerpt from the interview: "We’re a mission-driven team that wants to serve the environment and businesses as well. We’re looking at business im...
Feb 15, 2023•27 min•Ep 77•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with Sophie Wade, Founder of Flexcel Network. She talks about quiet quitting and how empathy can help employees and leaders deal with difficult workplace situations. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Defining quiet quitting Quiet quitting vs. Acting your wage Quiet quitting nowadays vs. in the past How to prevent quiet quitting as an employee How to prevent quiet quitting as a leader Excerpt from the interview: "If a particular area of yo...
Feb 01, 2023•49 min•Ep 76•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with Hadi Hariri, VP of Developer Advocacy at JetBrains. He talks about the challenge of dealing with the constant influx of information, creating processes to manage information overload, and the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Defining information overload Dealing with information overload Possible drawbacks of poor information management Methods to track relevant information Dealin...
Jan 11, 2023•46 min•Ep 75•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with Rod Garcia, VP of Engineering at Slack. He talks about the importance of understanding the big picture before implementing processes, shares the steps he uses to determine if a process needs improvement, and tells stories of process management from previous projects and from his current workplace. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Process management 101 Creating engaging processes Making sure your processes work Common mistakes in pr...
Nov 30, 2022•33 min•Ep 74•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with James Stanier, Director of Engineering at Shopify. He talks about setting yourself up for success by planning for the unexpected, goal- and achievement tracking and keeping your calendar under control. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Reasons to manage your energy, not your time Tips to manage your energy Aspects of managing your energy, not your time Energy management for senior leaders vs. ICs Communication with colleagues w...
Nov 09, 2022•56 min•Ep 73•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with Steven Lopez, VP of Engineering, Technology and Operations at Deem. We go through real life examples and take a deep dive into choosing the right tech stack for your business and team, especially while leading a digital transformation. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Parts of a tech stack Choosing a tech stack for a project vs. digital transformation Other tools to consider when choosing a tech stack How to choose a tech stack conn...
Oct 26, 2022•53 min•Ep 72•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with Álvaro Moya, Founder of LIDR.co. He shares his approach to building high-performance teams. He talks about the importance of clearly defined values and goals within the company, and shares which areas can be improved to foster high performance. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Defining high performance Measuring high performance in software engineering Building high-performance teams Improving a team's performance Priorities i...
Oct 12, 2022•53 min•Ep 71•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with Sergej Kunz, Co-founder of 1inch Network. He shares valuable advice on how to start a DAO, and talks about his own experience creating such organization in the DeFi space. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: DAO 101 The story of 1inch Network Lessons from starting a DAO Participating in 1inch Network Communication within the network Excerpt from the interview: "We built our project over two nights, and we didn’t sleep at all. We went t...
Sep 29, 2022•35 min•Ep 70•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with Lloyd Moore, VP of Engineering at Blockdaemon. He talks about building and keeping well-aligned teams, planning for success, and reacting to the quick changes of the blockchain field. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Introducing Blockdaemon Preparing for scaling Building successful teams Outsourcing 101 Leadership challenges at Blockdaemon Responding to market changes and competitors Excerpt from the interview: "Having a plan ...
Sep 14, 2022•30 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with Somer Esat, Senior Engineering Manager at Blizzard. He talks about the role of engineering managers in engineer coaching and career development. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Managers in engineer coaching Daily engineer coaching Coaching engineers in their career development Steps in engineers' career development Coaching engineers to be flexible Coaching engineers when choosing tracks Challenges of the leadership track Excerpt f...
Aug 31, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Ep 69•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with Jehanzeb Khan, Senior Software Engineering Manager at Electronic Arts. He shares his tips and experience on implementing OKR performance management. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: OKR performance management 101 OKRs in practice OKR-driven vs. non-OKR-driven organizations Choosing the right goal-setting method Introducing OKRs to your team Common OKR performance management mistakes Excerpt from the interview: "A few years ago, we w...
Aug 17, 2022•37 min•Ep 68•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with Ritendra Datta, Director of Engineering at Meta. He gives valuable advice on improving cross-functional collaboration by holding empathy sessions and scaling cross-functional teams mindfully. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: Different cross-functional roles Cross-functional collaboration in practice Tips to improve cross-functional collaboration Encouraging respect among cross-functional partners Cross-functional empathy sessions Co...
Aug 03, 2022•55 min•Ep 67•Transcript available on Metacast Interview with Tyler Hartley, Director of Software Engineering at Johnson & Johnson. He talks about the philosophies, habits and challenges of truly agile organizations. Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter! In this interview we're covering: The definition of agile Characteristics of agile organizations Truly agile practices Behaviours to encourage When not to choose agile Agile products at J&J Challenges of agile organizations Common mistakes Becoming an agile organization - J...
Jul 20, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep 66•Transcript available on Metacast 
