The Data Stack Show 232: Building a Business Solo: Streaming Data, Synthetic Testing, and Startup Lessons with Michael Drogalis of ShadowTraffic.io
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Mar 12, 2025 Michael Drogalis, founder of ShadowTraffic.io and an expert in streaming data and synthetic testing, shares his entrepreneurial journey. He discusses the nuances of solopreneurship, revealing the balance between technical work and business strategy. The conversation dives into the challenges of synthetic data generation and the importance of reliable testing methods in the B2B SaaS space. Michael also reflects on lessons learned from past startups and the significance of a customer-centric approach while navigating growth.
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Michael's Journey
- Michael Drogalis's background is in software engineering, focusing on distributed systems and streaming data.
- He built an open-source project, founded Distributed Masonry, sold it to Confluent, and now runs Shadow Traffic.
Synthetic Data Nuances
- Creating realistic synthetic data is more complex than simply using scripts or LLMs.
- Robust solutions require specific abstractions to handle complex production scenarios.
Early Inspiration
- Michael's interest in distributed systems stemmed from an inspiring college professor who taught him about Erlang and message passing.
- This led him to get involved with the early Kafka project and eventually to streaming data.