Want more from Dave? Join his newsletter: https://www.scarletink.com/
π Big Announcement: Linear is now the presenting sponsor of A Life Engineered! We're thrilled to partner with Linear for the entire next year. Linear is the purpose-built tool for planning and building products - trusted by companies like OpenAI, Cursor, and Perplexity. Exclusive launch offer for our listeners: Get 6 months free of Linear Business (3 seats) to celebrate our partnership.
π Redeem at: https://linear.app/ale
Dave Anderson went from getting a D in high school theater (which derailed his medical career dreams) to becoming a director at Amazon, where he helped change the company's transfer policy that affects hundreds of thousands of employees. In this candid conversation, Dave reveals how a recruiter told him his resume was "terrible," why he believes managers don't need to be great coders, and how he saved 85% of his income to retire in his 40s. He shares unfiltered insights about Amazon's culture, including why he thinks the company started declining before Jeff Bezos even left, and offers a surprising take on why Facebook's chaotic promotion process might actually be better than Amazon's rigorous documentation requirements.
The conversation takes unexpected turns as Dave explains why he tests his team by proposing "absurd" ideas, admits he was never actually a senior engineer despite writing guides about it, and reveals what number would bring him back to corporate life (spoiler: it's in the millions). He challenges conventional wisdom about AI replacing engineers, arguing that current layoffs are finance-driven rather than efficiency-driven, while also warning that we're essentially using capitalism to destroy capitalism itself. Whether discussing his move from the Midwest where he could "spend weeks doing almost nothing" to Amazon's pressure-cooker environment, or predicting a future where AI makes most human jobs obsolete, Dave brings a refreshingly honest perspective to career growth, money, and what's really happening in big tech.
