Beyond Coding

Alex Freberg comes on and shares his experience of pursuing content creation and consultancy full-time, along with the thought process behind his decision. Additionally, he gives us a little sneak peek into the product he's building with his startup. We also discuss the various analyst roles you might come across and what the differences are between them. Finally, we touch on big data challenges and the best practices for companies to collect and store data effectively. Enjoy 🎙 Connect with Alex Freberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-freberg https://www.youtube.com/@alextheanalyst https://twitter.com/Alex_TheAnalyst Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/y6EDBUNS_UI New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:32 - Alex is a dad and husband first 00:01:11 - Quitting a stable job 00:03:10 - Hyperbolic concerns 00:04:15 - Alex had a YT channel reviewing watches 00:05:09 - Where did Alex the analyst come from? 00:06:43 - Data analyst vs. Business analyst 00:08:39 - Every company is different 00:09:40 - Generalist vs. Specialist 00:12:34 - Alex's passion for education 00:13:59 - 1-1 sessions vs. YouTube 00:15:08 - Re-evaluating priorities 00:18:05 - Saying no 00:18:49 - Alex's startup 00:21:00 - The best client to work with 00:23:27 - Things don't go perfectly 00:24:39 - Feeling part of the team 00:25:27 - Learning collaboratively 00:26:17 - What happens post go-live? 00:27:37 - An authentic feeling 00:29:57 - Saying NO to sponsorships 00:31:06 - Sponsorships gone bad 00:33:27 - Great sponsorships and collaborations 00:34:44 - Patrick's take on Udemy 00:35:48 - What data to collect and store 00:37:54 - Issues with storing data you don't use 00:39:55 - No company has perfect data 00:41:13 - YOU CAN DO IT!

Probably the most fun conversation I’ve had while having the most connectivity issues 😂 Hopefully nothing noticeable :) Bart Farrell comes on and shares his non-linear journey to the tech industry. I love how he leverages his previous experience in what he does now and isn’t afraid to jump into the unknown. Next to that, we discuss our learnings from having had many conversations with different. Listening is one of the key takeaways there. Enjoy 🎙 Connect with Bart Farrell: https://twitter.com/birthmarkbart https://www.linkedin.com/in/bart-farrell Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/qAvZ1gBg3eU New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:28 - Bart's non-linear path to the tech industry 00:02:15 - Bart's YouTube channel 00:04:06 - Teaching and organising events 00:06:25 - Changing careers in Bart's environment 00:09:09 - Leveraging previous experience 00:11:00 - Baby steps 00:11:55 - Breaking things down into small pieces 00:15:16 - Patrick's podcasting journey 00:17:02 - Starting vs. Finishing 00:19:38 - Grinding it out 00:20:37 - Self reflection 00:22:48 - What Patrick has learned through talking to people 00:24:24 - Creating great environments 00:26:31 - Training for listening 00:29:02 - Listening as conference topic 00:30:38 - The feeling of being heard 00:32:25 - Powerful silences 00:34:50 - Podcasts we've listened to 00:37:04 - Why are people listening? 00:38:30 - Bart loves Ear Hustle 00:40:02 - Making notes while listening 00:41:38 - Facing imposter syndrome 00:44:28 - Suffering from not knowing 00:46:16 - Mentoring & Feedback 00:48:46 - Bouncing perceptions 00:51:10 - Bart has his calendly link open 00:53:44 - Truly helping people

What is Platform Engineering, why does it exist and why should you care? Those are the main questions we discuss in this episode and who better to do that with than Luca Galante 🙌 He shares his journey with platform engineering, the different flavours he's seen in organisations and how the DevOps is dead controversy developed. Enjoy! 🎙 Connect with Luca Galante:   https://twitter.com/luca_cloud https://linkedin.com/in/luca-galante More on Platform Engineering:   https://platformengineering.org Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/x8kDNO1Pjc0 New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:26 - How Luca got into Platform Engineering 00:04:01 - Shared identity 00:07:00 - What is platform engineering? 00:08:35 - Platform as a product 00:11:34 - Platform team structures 00:14:42 - The right level of abstraction 00:17:02 - Frustration in complex landscapes 00:18:46 - Ideal starting point for platform teams 00:21:23 - Platform teams competing 00:24:32 - Falling in love with your platform 00:26:09 - Managed solutions 00:28:31 - Blueprints and reference architectures 00:31:22 - Being sustainable 00:33:19 - Zero to one and one+ people 00:35:45 - No platform team yet? 00:38:14 - Tragedy of the commons 00:40:05 - Why platform initiatives fail 00:42:13 - Technical product owners 00:45:05 - Feedback & solving real problems 00:47:02 - The DevOps is dead controversy 00:50:32 - DevOps is dead booth on KubeCon 00:53:26 - Having a healthy conversation

Luca Rossi, founder of refactoring.club and a writing expert, shares his journey from developer to full-time writer. He discusses the challenges of transforming a side project into a successful newsletter with over 25,000 subscribers. The conversation dives into the importance of feedback, community engagement, and finding one’s niche when writing. Luca also emphasizes the transformative power of consistent writing for personal growth and the skills it develops, making a compelling case for why engineers should embrace writing.

Can companies afford ethics in bad times? Looking at the recent mass layoffs in big tech, it looks like they couldn't. Dorothea Baur shares how she combines ethics and strategy to bring value to organisations. Next to that, we discuss the relationship between ethics, purpose and company values. Through this lens, we discuss the reputational damage of the big tech layoffs. Enjoy! 🎙 Connect with Dorothea Baur: https://baurconsulting.ch https://twitter.com/DorotheaBaur https://linkedin.com/in/dorotheabaur Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/KxS2THT7rM4 New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 0:00:00 - Intro 00:00:25 - The sea of fog in Switzerland 00:03:12 - Dorothea's day to day 00:04:06 - Synthetic media and plagiarism 00:06:24 - The EU AI Act 00:07:52 - Dorothea is an Ethics Strategy Consultant 00:09:07 - Combining Ethics and Strategy 00:10:45 - Company Values and Ethics 00:13:13 - Ethics and Core Business 00:16:02 - Interpretation of Ethics 00:18:08 - What is fair? 00:19:55 - Making money from ethical actions 00:21:57 - Ethics help create a strong culture 00:23:21 - Purpose 00:25:14 - Younger generations care about purpose 00:27:56 - Awareness of world impact 00:29:42 - Patrick lives under a rock 00:30:29 - Ethically sound and integrity 00:33:49 - Incentives and Ethics 00:34:58 - Layoffs in Big Tech 00:37:09 - Using the law to your advantage in firing people 00:39:00 - Can companies afford ethics? 00:41:25 - Reputational damage 00:42:43 - Employee protection & gaps in regulations 00:45:22 - The impact of ChatGPT 00:48:47 - Rounding off

What stuck with me from this chat with Nana is that curiosity and hunger for learning & sharing will bring you further than anything else. In her case, learning Kubernetes and AWS and sharing that knowledge eventually lead to becoming Docker Captain, AWS Hero & CNCF Ambassador. Those were never goals, but always a result of focussing on efforts. In doing so she managed to grow a YouTube community of 700k subs. Enjoy! 🎙 Connect with Nana Janashia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nana-janashia https://twitter.com/Njuchi_ https://www.techworld-with-nana.com https://www.youtube.com/c/techworldwithnana Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/KFZjl1gofXs New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:31 - Who does what on the YouTube channel 00:00:59 - How Nana started on YouTube 00:03:15 - Split responsibilities 00:04:34 - How Nana got into DevOps technologies 00:08:19 - Nana's first Kubernetes experience 00:13:47 - Accommodating for requirements 00:14:30 - Trial and error with Kubernetes early on 00:16:10 - How to make it run & how to make it right 00:20:46 - How Nana stays on top of production level knowledge 00:25:56 - Nana's love for teaching and simplifying 00:29:20 - The difference between DevOps and SRE 00:33:07 - SRE and DevOps engineers in teams 00:36:55 - Cloud Engineers in a seperate team 00:38:44 - Different solutions 00:39:31 - the DevOps is dead controversy 00:42:00 - Docker Captain, AWS hero and CNCF ambassador 00:43:21 - Nana's YouTube channel goals 00:44:56 - Focussing on efforts 00:46:03 - Nana's early in career advice 00:48:04 - You take learnings with you 00:51:29 - Curiosity and learning new things

We're back with another Q&A episode! 🙌 Had a blast answering your questions 😁 Let me know if I should do more of these 💬 Xebia Essentials: Resource about Software Development Done Right (not for sale): https://essentials.xebia.com/cards Books & Resources by Pat Kua: https://www.patkua.com/blog/book-recommendations-by-engineering-leaders Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/IqcFUeOJ3qE New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Getting ready 00:00:39 - What was your first software development job experience? 00:04:22 - Do you have any tips or advice for new engineers entering the field? 00:07:39 - Is a degree actually required, or are skills enough? 00:09:50 - Drink water advice 00:09:59 - How does a junior developer get their first job? 00:13:39 - What books / resources would you recommend to improve problem solving? 00:17:13 - What resources and practises did you use to improve your problem solving skills? 00:20:42 - What motivates you in your career? 00:24:14 - What is some of the best advice you’ve ever gotten on the podcast? 00:28:38 - What is your new year's resolution for the podcast? 00:30:49 - How do you stay motivated in doing the podcast? 00:32:21 - Do you think you will ever run out of topics for the podcast? 00:34:30 - What is your advice for those that are thinking of starting a podcast? 00:36:19 - Who is your main inspiration in life? 00:38:06 - Mic drop

“If people see you as a leader in a good way, then you’re doing a good job as a manager” Having been a manager at Oracle for 20+ years, Wim shares his unique experience on leadership, how to inspire and how to add value as a manager. Enjoy! 🎙 Connect with Wim den Besten: https://www.wimdenbesten.nl https://www.linkedin.com/in/wim-den-besten-9635b4 https://twitter.com/wimdenbesten Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/hXvytR0UuiA New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:30 - Investing in people 00:01:35 - Early learnings as manager 00:03:59 - Wim's advice to managers & leaders 00:06:16 - Situational Coaching 00:08:08 - Hiring for diversity 00:13:03 - The next step for someone 00:17:33 - How to inspire people 00:19:44 - Dealing with people 00:22:26 - Wim's drive as manager 00:25:49 - Not being able to add value 00:27:48 - Hard times and pressure 00:29:30 - Transparency and honesty 00:32:47 - Delegating 00:34:35 - Decision making 00:36:54 - Micromanagement 00:39:11 - Getting feedback as manager 00:42:33 - Salary conversations

Sabine shares how to give presentations people will remember. How to leverage storytelling, stay authentic and create your content in a goal-oriented way. On top of that we discuss the importance of personal branding and being more visible. Both for employees and organisations. Enjoy! 🎙 Connect with Sabine Wojcieszak: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabineberneckerbendixen https://twitter.com/SabineBendixen Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/SV6tneTIdSE New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:32 - Personal branding becoming more important 00:04:10 - A company can have multiple faces 00:05:30 - Bad preparation 00:07:49 - 2 perspectives on a presentation 00:09:29 - The presentation is for the audience 00:10:47 - Finding a sparring partner 00:12:28 - How important is the storyline? 00:13:51 - Visuals are what we remember 00:15:51 - 2 usecases for slides 00:17:50 - What people struggle with in public speaking 00:19:45 - Human beings on stage 00:20:49 - Nervousness 00:22:24 - Being authentic on stage 00:24:42 - Looking outside in 00:25:41 - Should everyone be more visible? 00:26:37 - Sabine's love for presentations 00:28:16 - Sabine's first conference talk 00:29:29 - Getting feedback 00:30:55 - What feedback has stuck with Sabine 00:34:06 - Team goals vs. personal goals 00:36:46 - Transparency 00:37:32 - How can organisations facilitate more w.r.t. personal branding? 00:40:58 - Just try it

James shares how developer advocacy experience and content creation has helped him throughout his career, especially early on. Next to that, we discuss the difference between a job and a career, motivation and passion. Enjoy! 🎙 Connect with James Q Quick: https://www.jamesqquick.com https://twitter.com/jamesqquick https://www.learnbuildteach.com https://www.youtube.com/@JamesQQuick Full episode on YouTube ▶️ https://youtu.be/tdvuAbc7P7U New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!   Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible! OUTLINE: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:25 - Finding your voice 00:01:41 - James's experience as evangelist 00:03:05 - Content strategies 00:04:57 - Consistency vs. Quality 00:07:08 - Listening to feedback 00:10:56 - Feedback that has stuck with James 00:15:44 - James's early in career experience 00:19:29 - Job vs. Career 00:20:42 - Comparing yourself to others 00:26:35 - From evangelist to full-time programming 00:29:51 - Stepping away from the developer role 00:32:07 - Content creators are at the forefront 00:36:56 - Advocating for yourself 00:37:44 - Work ethic 00:40:20 - Work life balance 00:44:10 - Flexibility and overworking 00:48:02 - Advice for early in career in tech 00:50:37 - Changing teams and companies 00:53:40 - Make sure you're happy 00:56:16 - Last thoughts