Software Huddle Operational Excellence Is the Moat with Sam Lambert
Jul 15, 2025
Sam Lambert from Planetscale, an expert in database technology, returns with captivating insights about their new Postgres offering. He shares the story behind the transition from MySQL to Postgres, revealing surprising demand and the importance of operational excellence. The discussion covers navigating database management in AI environments, strategies for scalability, and the innovative sharded project, Nova. Sam emphasizes the value of community feedback in enhancing features and the challenges faced in balancing security with user flexibility.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Postgres Decision Story
- PlanetScale decided to build PostgreSQL the day of their Metal launch after seeing customer demand.
- They quickly proved operational capability by deploying production-ready Postgres within a week to surprise themselves and the company.
PlanetScale’s Postgres Differentiator
- PlanetScale offers real vanilla Postgres with operational enhancements hiding its deficiencies.
- They deliver unique features like full online major version upgrades and a high availability proxy by default.
Operational Excellence as Moat
- In the database market, sustained advantage comes from operational excellence and availability.
- PlanetScale makes unapologetic trade-offs focusing on uptime instead of chasing every feature others may offer.