Geeks Who Lead Podcast

Working nonstop without delegating is not a sustainable way to live or work. Such habits often lead to burnout. CTOs in particular struggle with this problem. Many are young, inexperienced, or desirous of being part of a shippable product to relinquish control. Andy Skipper was once such a CTO himself. Now he coaches and mentors other CTOs with his company, CTO Craft.Andy joined Peter for this week’s episode of CTO Connection to discuss what burnout is, how to identify it, and what tools you can use to turn things around. Listen to this important conversation for tips and advice on beating burnout.[01:26] - The early days of Andy's career[06:19] - The vision behind founding CTO Craft[07:56] - Patterns of burnout[11:29] - Heuristics for prevention[15:46] - Walking away from the golden handcuffs[19:36] - Mismatched expectations & resources[20:08] - Communication, helping others, and polyphasic sleeping[25:55] - Couples therapy for founders and lead technologists[28:50] - Cutting losses[30:42] - Finding a sustainable pace[33:54] - Step out of the situationSpecial thanks to our global partner – Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS offers a broad set of global cloud-based products to equip technology leaders to build better and more powerful solutions, reach out to aws-cto-program@amazon.com if you’re interested to learn more about their offerings.CTO Connection is where you can learn from the experiences of successful engineering leaders at fast-growth tech startups. Whether you want to learn more about hiring, motivating or managing an engineering team, if you're technical and manage engineers, the CTO Connection podcast is a great resource for learning from your peers!If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to CTO Connection in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

According to James Smith, CEO of Bugsnag, caring about customer experience is what makes for a better software developer. This is especially important when managing technical debt. Today on CTO Connection, James shares his experience and discusses his approach toward technical debt from both the developer and client perspectives.James shares why he believes overcommunication is key and how carving out time can help your team achieve a manageable sprint cadence. Listen for more.[01:26] - Becoming CTO in hard mode[05:43] - Learning to let go[10:17] - Hiring management[13:11] - Process maturation[15:34] - Overcommunication[19:12] - Managing technical debt[26:08] - Carving out time[31:23] - Bug triage[37:23] - Delivering a good experienceSpecial thanks to our global partner – Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS offers a broad set of global cloud-based products to equip technology leaders to build better and more powerful solutions, reach out to aws-cto-program@amazon.com if you’re interested to learn more about their offerings.CTO Connection is where you can learn from the experiences of successful engineering leaders at fast-growth tech startups. Whether you want to learn more about hiring, motivating or managing an engineering team, if you're technical and manage engineers, the CTO Connection podcast is a great resource for learning from your peers!If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to CTO Connection in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

Let’s say you join a new organization. How would you spend your first hundred days if you were to figure out how to enact change and implement your own priorities? Our guest this week on CTO Connection is Andrew Fawcett, CTO of Avantica. Andrew has worked with companies of all sizes and has seen some truly amazing changes made, but also has run into those that lacked vision.Andrew sat down with Peter to discuss some of the reasons why companies have such a hard time with change as well as best practices for setting up a culture that embraces change. He explains why he is a big believer in winning over the hearts and minds of employees. Check out the episode for more.[01:28] - Managing change in an organization[06:08] - Influencing cultural change[07:47] - Dealing with multiple platforms[13:02] - Three factors that inform how we view change[18:07] - Identifying a unifying vision[22:09] - Rolling out a large cultural change[25:17] - Running technology at a new organization[28:15] - Broadening the power base[30:21] - The other side of changeSpecial thanks to our global partner – Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS offers a broad set of global cloud-based products to equip technology leaders to build better and more powerful solutions, reach out to aws-cto-program@amazon.com if you’re interested to learn more about their offerings.CTO Connection is where you can learn from the experiences of successful engineering leaders at fast-growth tech startups. Whether you want to learn more about hiring, motivating or managing an engineering team, if you're technical and manage engineers, the CTO Connection podcast is a great resource for learning from your peers!If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to CTO Connection in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

We all want our companies to succeed so it’s easy to get fixated on numbers that we believe will help us judge our efforts. However, according to Dalia Havens of Netlify, metrics need to be optimized to give you a full picture of company or project health.Today, Dalia talks to Peter about using metrics in a healthy way that can empower and help solve problems. She also discusses why a consistent delivery pattern will give you the most insight into your operation. Listen to her thoughts. [01:26] - How Dalia ended up at IBM[04:03] - Engineering management at SailPoint Technologies[06:39] - Moving into the director role[07:54] - Engineering metrics[12:46] - Looking for a more consistent delivery pattern[14:50] - Understanding cycle time[18:37] - Defining the smallest unit of work[20:41] - Incentivizing teams[23:20] - Gauging quality[24:53] - Layering categorization on top of throughput[27:18] - Breaking down pull requests[28:40] - Educating business stakeholders[30:36] - Having foundational metrics in placeSpecial thanks to our global partner – Amazon Web Services(AWS). AWS offers a broad set of global cloud-based products to equip technology leaders to build better and more powerful solutions, reach out to aws-cto-program@amazon.com if you’re interested to learn more about their offerings.CTO Connection is where you can learn from the experiences of successful engineering leaders at fast-growth tech startups. Whether you want to learn more about hiring, motivating or managing an engineering team, if you're technical and manage engineers, the CTO Connection podcast is a great resource for learning from your peers!If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to CTO Connection in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

When we think of startups we think of charismatic entrepreneurs plugging away on their passions. But what does it really take to form a startup? Our guest this week on CTO Connection is Bob Friday, CTO of Mist, a Juniper Company.Bob is a veteran who has been through the startup process many times. He talked to Peter about the thought processes that go into crafting both teams and entire organizations. Bob also talks about the formula behind the process new ventures will go through and which positions are the most important to fill. Listen in for his strategy tips.[01:28] - The beginnings of Bob's technology career[04:16] - The ultimate team sport[05:30] - The blank sheet of paper[07:52] - CEO checkbox[09:00] - Market timing[10:20] - Bob's first big company adventure[16:05] - Mist Systems[20:10] - Returning to the startup world[21:43] - Taking on the incumbents[26:13] - Jumping off the cliff[28:40] - Getting the team together[30:47] - Going all-in on an enterprise AI play[33:57] - Creating an environment where data scientists enjoy beingSpecial thanks to our global partner – Amazon Web Services(AWS). AWS offers a broad set of global cloud-based products to equip technology leaders to build better and more powerful solutions, reach out to aws-cto-program@amazon.com if you’re interested to learn more about their offerings.CTO Connection is where you can learn from the experiences of successful engineering leaders at fast-growth tech startups. Whether you want to learn more about hiring, motivating or managing an engineering team, if you're technical and manage engineers, the CTO Connection podcast is a great resource for learning from your peers!If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to CTO Connection in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

When companies transition from private to IPO, there are bound to be challenges and learning curves. Rachana Kumar has worked in five countries, two of her positions were in the non-profit sector. These experiences helped her roll with the punches as her current employer, Etsy, has undergone a massive change over the last few years.Rachana is preparing for a talk on helping leaders navigate large organizational changes. In this week’s episode, she explains to Peter the three foundational tools that can help any leader work through changes and challenges.[01:34] - Rachana's transition to management[03:47] - Co-founding Shaadi Karma[06:37] - Changes at Etsy[11:57] - Leading through rapid change and transformation in tech[13:09] - Compliance in a public company[22:27] - Feature flagging[24:38] - Three tools to lead teams through external changes[25:38] - Focus & resiliency[30:43] - Communication & transparency[35:09] - Managing up & downSpecial thanks to our global partner – Amazon Web Services(AWS). AWS offers a broad set of global cloud-based products to equip technology leaders to build better and more powerful solutions, reach out to aws-cto-program@amazon.com if you’re interested to learn more about their offerings.CTO Connection is where you can learn from the experiences of successful engineering leaders at fast-growth tech startups. Whether you want to learn more about hiring, motivating, or managing an engineering team, if you're technical and manage engineers, the CTO Connection podcast is a great resource for learning from your peers!If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to CTO Connection in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

Learning doesn’t end once you’ve earned your degree. Developers and engineers must stay up to date with their skills and emerging technologies. But most of the time, employees are expected to take on this additional learning on their own.Our guest this week on CTO Connection is Kwame Thomison, a consultant and leadership coach formerly of Meebo, Facebook, and Asana. Kwame discusses different learning models that can be integrated into workplaces to create a strong culture of learning and collaboration. He talks to Peter about the difference between high learners and light learners, and a framework for value creation.[01:27] - Becoming a force multiplier[05:11] - Differences in culture & experience[08:13] - Facebook in the early days[10:00] - Finding balance at Asana[11:54] - The rewarding demands of consulting[13:40] - Heavy vs. light learners[15:01] - Communities of practice[22:04] - Learning guilds[25:40] - Project guilds[28:18] - Tips for growing a learning cultureSpecial thanks to our global partner – Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS offers a broad set of global cloud-based products to equip technology leaders to build better and more powerful solutions, reach out to aws-cto-program@amazon.com if you’re interested to learn more about their offerings.CTO Connection is where you can learn from the experiences of successful engineering leaders at fast-growth tech startups. Whether you want to learn more about hiring, motivating or managing an engineering team, if you're technical and manage engineers, the CTO Connection podcast is a great resource for learning from your peers!If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to CTO Connection in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

When COVID-19 hit, UserTesting was already at a unique advantage: the team was already mostly working remotely. However, as the stay at home orders have increased, UserTesting’s CTO Kaj van de Loo has seen some unforeseen issues pop up.This week on CTO Connection, we’re discussing how the pandemic has not only changed the structure of work, but also the expectations people have of working in an office. Kaj discusses why everything (no matter how small) must be documented, why managers need to proactively talk to employees to see if there are any mental health issues coming up with the changed working environments, and the considerations that will need to be made to safely reopen. [01:26] - Kaj's management journey[03:23] - Increased specialization[04:56] - Programming in a pandemic[08:18] - Dealing with different time zones[12:35] - Introvert empowerment[15:59] - Flexibility for individuals[21:30] - Managing remote and distributed teams[25:34] - Improved metrics[28:39] - Online social activities[32:17] - Back into the officeSpecial thanks to our global partner – Amazon Web Services(AWS). AWS offers a broad set of global cloud-based products to equip technology leaders to build better and more powerful solutions, reach out to aws-cto-program@amazon.com if you’re interested to learn more about their offerings.CTO Connection is where you can learn from the experiences of successful engineering leaders at fast-growth tech startups. Whether you want to learn more about hiring, motivating or managing an engineering team, if you're technical and manage engineers, the CTO Connection podcast is a great resource for learning from your peers!If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to CTO Connection in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

Kunal Anand has an interesting background for a CTO. Despite majoring in business, Kunal got his start at JPL (an offshoot of NASA). From there he worked at Myspace and the BBC. His experiences at each of these companies taught him invaluable lessons that led to him founding his own company which was acquired by Imperva where he currently serves as CTO.Peter talked to Kunal about his diverse resume and then pivoted to an insightful conversation on the future of work. Kunal offers invaluable tips on how he is currently setting the tone for his employees by scheduling in mental health breaks and prioritizing flexibility. Check out the episode to get a clearer picture on what work will look like in the next ten years.[01:30] - Kunal's journey to NASA[05:21] - Unique workloads at MySpace[11:29] - The front row experience at Gravity[12:55] - Building microservices at BBC Worldwide[20:10] - ColdFusion[26:25] - Founding Prevoty[30:13] - The future of work[42:38] - "The Friendship That Made Google Huge"Special thanks to our global partner – Amazon Web Services(AWS). AWS offers a broad set of global cloud-based products to equip technology leaders to build better and more powerful solutions, reach out to aws-cto-program@amazon.com if you’re interested to learn more about their offerings.CTO Connection is where you can learn from the experiences of successful engineering leaders at fast-growth tech startups. Whether you want to learn more about hiring, motivating or managing an engineering team, if you're technical and manage engineers, the CTO Connection podcast is a great resource for learning from your peers!If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to CTO Connection in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

Hypergrowth is what every startup dreams of, but actually filling the seemingly unlimited positions available is incredibly taxing on employees. Cat Miller is the Vice President at Flatiron Health. At one point, she took on the enormous burden of interviewing at least four people a week. Recognizing the strain on resources, she and her team set out to streamline their hiring process.Today, Cat is sharing what she’s learned from her year of panic in which she hired 100 engineers, as well as how Flatiron is structuring their current hiring process. She also discusses the training each interviewer must undergo before their first interview. Listen in for her hiring insights.[01:25] - Cat's early career[05:11] - Managing humans at Flatiron Health[08:25] - Product and platform team alignment[13:57] - Scaling hiring during hypergrowth[22:29] - The one-fourth rule[23:39] - Helping engineers become good interviewers[24:46] - Question maestros[26:27] - Hiring to match values and culture[28:41] - Rubric for humility[29:51] - Compensation strategySpecial thanks to our global partner – Amazon Web Services(AWS). AWS offers a broad set of global cloud-based products to equip technology leaders to build better and more powerful solutions, reach out to aws-cto-program@amazon.com if you’re interested to learn more about their offerings.CTO Connection is where you can learn from the experiences of successful engineering leaders at fast-growth tech startups. Whether you want to learn more about hiring, motivating, or managing an engineering team, if you're technical and manage engineers, the CTO Connection podcast is a great resource for learning from your peers!If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to CTO Connection in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.