Scaling DevTools Matt Klein - cofounder of Bitdrift: meeting developers where they are and early days of AWS
Dec 19, 2025
Matt Klein, a software engineer and entrepreneur known for co-creating the Envoy proxy and founding Bitdrift, shares fascinating insights from his early days at AWS. He discusses Amazon's customer obsession and the rapid iteration culture that led to AWS's success. The conversation dives into the challenges of building Envoy at Lyft, the importance of community in open source adoption, and the complexities of spinning out Bitdrift. Klein emphasizes meeting developers where they are, adapting product strategies, and the unique on-device approach for mobile observability.
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Early Chaos At AWS Shaped His Approach
- Matt Klein describes joining AWS in 2010 when EC2 had ~45–50 people and AWS was chaotic but rapidly growing.
- He recalls wiring racks, cutting corners, and learning to balance speed with customer obsession during explosive growth.
Envoy's Open Source Rise From Lyft
- Matt recounts building Envoy at Lyft and releasing it open source in 2016, where it quickly became massively adopted.
- He emphasizes recruiting users, maintainers, and giving talks as key to Envoy's widespread adoption.
Build For A Dynamic Cloud World
- Envoy succeeded because it was built for dynamic cloud-era systems where services change constantly.
- Matt adds that community building and developer outreach were as crucial as technical design for adoption.