Refactoring Podcast

Scaling Teams at Sanity, Github, and Google 🏢 — with Rachel Potvin

Jun 7, 2024

Rachel Potvin, SVP of Engineering at Sanity, shares insights on scaling teams, healthy engineering culture, startup planning, and the differences between big tech and startups. She discusses her experiences at Google, GitHub, and Sanity, highlighting the challenges and lessons learned throughout her career journey.

57:42

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Episode guests

Rachel Potvin

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Sanity's agile culture promotes quick changes, enhancing competitiveness.

Rachel's career transition reflects varied company experiences and challenges faced.

Rachel's move to GitHub for broader scope led to innovation and growth.

Deep dives

Fast Iterations for End User Experiences

Sanity's live content API allows quick changes to end user experiences, demonstrating the team's agility and flexibility. Unlike the bureaucratic layers in many tech firms, Sanity fosters a culture of quick approval and implementation, enhancing their competitive edge.

Intro

2min

Experiences at Google, Transition to GitHub, and Challenges at GitHub

17min

Navigating Growth, Transition, and Decision-Making in Tech Companies

22min

Building High-Performing Engineering Teams and Overcoming Value Articulation Challenges

6min

Contrast Between Startup and Big Tech Dynamics

6min

Exploring the Elevator Pitch for a SaaS Company and Hiring Insights

4min

Discussion on Hiring, Remote Work, and Communicating Value of a Tool

2min

Today's guest is Rachel Potvin. Rachel is SVP of Engineering at Sanity, ex-VP of Engineering at Github, and previously worked at Google and Ubisoft. She has had an incredible career journey and is a world renowned speaker. With Rachel we talked about her journey across what feels like different generations of companies. We talked about scaling teams, challenges, lessons learned and the great work she's doing at Sanity right now. Here is what we talked about: (01:37) Introduction (02:39) Rachel's journey at Google (08:06) From Google to GitHub (14:29) Building healthy engineering culture (18:56) GitHub growth & hiring (21:44) Rachel's career at Sanity (26:21) Being a VP in Big tech (29:36) The road to "Sanity" (28:17) Startup planning (39:22) The fun factor (40:51) Adapting your experience to a new journey (47:13) Startup focus vs Big tech focus (49:13) Top-down strategy is good — For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, or appearing as a guest, email: luca@refactoring.club

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Refactoring Podcast

Scaling Teams at Sanity, Github, and Google 🏢 — with Rachel Potvin

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Fast Iterations for End User Experiences

Journey Across Tech Companies

Transitioning From Google to GitHub

Highlights from Rachel's Time at GitHub

Leaving GitHub for New Challenges at Sanity

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts