Thuan Pham, former CTO of Uber & Coupang, shares pivotal leadership moments & career advice with Li Fan. Topics include scaling during hypergrowth, keeping teams motivated during crises, qualities of a great engineering leader, and reflections on immigrant upbringing. The podcast explores challenges of scaling technical systems, navigating leadership in a growing company, and evolving leadership qualities like trustworthiness and setting high standards.

Mike Curtis, VP of Engineering at Airbnb, and Li Fan, Head of Engineering at Pinterest, dive into the challenges facing engineering in rapidly growing tech companies. They discuss the delicate balance between innovation and managing technical debt. Curtis shares insights on how startups can creatively approach scaling, while Fan explores how data and machine learning uncover user intent. The conversation further delves into AI's impact on personalization and the importance of aligning individual skills with company vision to maintain forward momentum.