Culture of Code Podcast - The Podcast for Indie Hackers

In today's episode we have Vineet Joglekar, Engineering Manager at Google. Prior to joining Google, he worked at Bloomberg and Amazon. At Amazon he managed teams that built and supported tools for creators to create live streams, enhance and enrich Amazon Live's Homepage, interactivity features and Amazon Live app on Fire TV.

In today's episode of Culture of Code, we have Michael Avrukin, Engineering Manager at Google managing Google Sheets Infrastructure and Sheets Mobile team. Gain valuable knowledge about technology trends, full-stack development, and the skills necessary for success in the industry, along with the truth behind misconceptions in tech, the future of tech careers amidst AI and automation, and learn how to future-proof your software engineering career. Follow Culture of Code ➡️ Twitter - https://twitter.com/FelixThea ➡️ Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/culture-of-code-podcast/id1563271780 ➡️ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0fqIsZcqFeB6NTdKaHSJtP TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro 00:42: Michael's his role on the Google Sheets team. 01:46: Managing both an infra team and a product team, and whether this is a unique situation in his career. 03:23: The differences between working on a product team versus an infra team and how it affects career progression. 07:13: How career progression involves overlapping skills and how engineers can work with product managers to craft a business story. 09:14: How the process of developing ideas is iterative and not a one-time pitch. 13:07: Sources of inspiration for engineers who want to expand their scope and present bottom-up ideas. 16:43: The shift towards a more bottoms-up approach in software engineering and the role of proof of concept in getting ideas adopted. 20:12: Using proof of concept as a tool to build evidence for ideas before detailed scoping or planning. 20:57: Michael discusses the importance of staying on top of technologies without getting distracted by chasing the next shiny object. 23:19: Felix and Michael talk about how many ideas in technology get recycled over time, and how to balance experimentation with prototypes versus focusing on customer needs. 24:49: Michael discusses his observations on the evolution of software engineering roles and how there is now less siloing and more emphasis on full-stack development. 30:34: Recommendations for how software engineers can prepare for the evolving skills necessary to thrive in the industry, including borrowing ideas from other industries. 32:22: The misconceptions people may have about managing a complex product like Google Sheets, and the growing distrust of tech and tech workers. 37:30: The fear mongering around AI taking over software engineering jobs and the layoffs in the industry, but also what keeps them hopeful about the future of tech careers. 41:48: Closing #Google #softwareengineer #artificialintelligence #techcareers

In today’s episode, we have Vladimir Sheyda, Director of Engineering at Dropbox. He’s a passionate engineering leader with over 15 years of experience in application security and cloud infrastructure. In this episode you'll learn: ➡️ What are the most important topics to cover in a 1:1 with your manager ➡️ What is the GROW framework nd how it can help your career ➡️ The big myth about who has more control, an engineer or their manager Follow Culture of Code ➡️ Twitter - https://twitter.com/FelixThea ➡️ Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/culture-of-code-podcast/id1563271780 ➡️ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0fqIsZcqFeB6NTdKaHSJtP Timestamps: 00:00 Into 03:01 The challenge of managing a large surface area for an infrastructure team with many internal clients, and how Vladimir stays abreast of everything. 04:25 How Vladimir prioritizes identifying and filling gaps in his team, specifically regarding hiring and training. 06:30 The Ignite program at Dropbox, which brings in people from other industries to provide new perspectives and technical training. 07:12 What makes an individual contributor (IC) coachable and able to upskill, according to Vladimir's experience. 09:05 The willingness to take risks and fail publicly as a necessary attribute for growth 11:41 Dealing with investing time into team members who may eventually leave or transfer teams. 13:36 The importance of taking risks in investing in team members, and that the alternative is much worse. 14:06 The manager's or director's job in identifying what motivates people to stay, and advice for those who are less experienced and don't yet know what motivates them. 17:17 Felix asks about the best way for ICs to get the most value out of one-on-one meetings with their managers. 20:26 How to handle situations where an IC doesn't agree with their manager's assessment of their work, and how to calibrate better in those situations. 24:42 The importance of being on the same page and using a growth framework to establish common goals between managers and ICs. 28:15 The skills needed to manage a growing team, and how to develop them along the way. 31:17 The differences between a top-down and bottom-up culture, and the pros and cons of each. 33:11 How to lead without relying on authority in a bottom-up culture, focusing on establishing common goals and optimizing approaches rather than being married to a particular solution. 35:06 Vladimir dispels the myth that managers have all the power, explaining that ICs actually have more control and power in the relationship dynamic at Dropbox.

In today's episode we have Osman Masood, a software development manager at Amazon. Osman has over a decade of experience in the industry, starting his career at Microsoft before moving on to work at startups, Apple, and Uber before joining Amazon. Follow Culture of Code ➡️ Twitter - https://twitter.com/FelixThea ➡️ Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/culture-of-code-podcast/id1563271780 ➡️ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0fqIsZcqFeB6NTdKaHSJtP Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:46 Osman's journey from playing games as a child to becoming interested in software engineering. 01:53 Osman's motivation for learning software engineering and how he continued to keep going when things got tough. 03:50 They discuss the rewarding feeling of seeing someone use something you've built and how that can be more accessible when working on smaller projects compared to larger companies like Apple, Uber, and Amazon. 05:30 The accessibility of impact for infrastructure engineers versus product engineers and how the end customer isn't always the only customer. 06:39 The big lessons he learned from working at Microsoft, Apple, Uber, and Amazon 09:14 How recognition plays a key role in promotions and career growth 12:13 The challenges of balancing becoming a better engineer with marketing your work and how to reconcile these seemingly different skillsets. 17:51 Is it worth it to join a top tech company like Microsoft or Apple 19:27 What advice he would give to someone who wants to provide upwards feedback to their manager. 21:02 Closing thoughts

In this discussion, John Patton, Senior Director of Solutions Engineering at Salesforce, dives into the world of solutions engineering. He explains the crucial balance between technical expertise and effective communication when engaging clients. John highlights the importance of asking the right questions and how vulnerability can foster authentic connections. He also addresses the need for a 'translation layer' to bridge gaps between technical and non-technical teams, ensuring that customer needs align with technological solutions. Plus, he shares insights on cultivating strong sales partnerships.

In today's episode, we have Julian Dunn, Director of Product Management at GitHub for GitHub Actions. Prior to his role at GitHub, Julian worked as the Director of Product Marketing for incident response at PagerDuty, where he honed his skills in the industry. Julian's extensive experience in the tech industry also includes his work at Chef Software, where he held various engineering and product roles, working on products such as Habitat, Chef Automate, InSpec, and Chef Infra. Julian started his career at Chef as a post-sales field engineer, where he gained valuable experience and knowledge of the industry. Additionally, Julian has worked on cloud infrastructure automation and operations for SecondMarket, a New York-based alternative markets startup that was eventually acquired by NASDAQ Private Market. Before that, he spent nearly a decade at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, where he managed all content delivery, publishing, and streaming media systems for CBC.ca, the largest media website in Canada. Follow Culture of Code ➡️ Twitter - https://twitter.com/FelixThea ➡️ Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/culture-of-code-podcast/id1563271780 ➡️ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0fqIsZcqFeB6NTdKaHSJtP Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:43 What is GitHub Actions 03:22 How GitHub has been integrated with Microsoft after being acquired by the company a few years ago. 05:26 Julian's diverse background in engineering, DevOps, and product management, and when is the right time to shift careers 08:55 Starting a product management department from scratch and how being a generalist led to new opportunities. 11:18 The importance of company size when it comes to career opportunities and how self-awareness is crucial in recognizing when it's time to switch things up. 14:06 Julian gives advice on seeking out opportunities and vouching for oneself in order to get chosen for new roles. 16:41 The differences between product management and product marketing 20:38 The engineering perspective on product management and how he started the product management department at Chef. 23:28 Julian's advice on establishing a product management function within a company and talks about the blurry boundaries of the role.

In today’s episode, we have Michelle Yurovsky, Director of Product at Tanium and previously Principal Product Manager at UiPath. Michelle started her career working as an iOS developer and nutrition consultant at a nutrition startup, where she did a bit of both roles, and eventually moved to UiPath starting as an Engineer - and now Director of Product at Tanium.

In this episode, we have Dylan Drop. Dylan is a seasoned software engineer with over a decade of experience in the tech industry. He started his career as a software engineer doing freelance work for small startups, and then went on to work for Blue Apron and GrubHub, where he eventually transitioned into management. Dylan held a variety of roles at GrubHub, managing teams working on customer-facing features such as ordering, pricing, and enhancements to the diner app. He is currently a senior engineering manager at Meta, where he's working on privacy-related projects. 

In today’s episode, we have Ritendra Datta, Director of Engineering at Meta. Ritendra built his career on applied machine learning back when machine learning wasn’t as popular as it is right now. He realized that machine learning will be huge because of the volume of data produced year over year was growing tremendously.  He worked at Google for 10 years focusing on understanding search queries and built a team of 30 people and eventually move to Meta to work on Reels & video recommendations. Timestamps: 00:00 intro 01:11 What is applied machine learning and its career path for software engineers. 04:14 What courses and skills students should focus on for a career in machine learning. 07:39 Career path and advice he would give to someone interested in transitioning into machine learning engineering. 11:25 Ritendra's experience and belief in learning by doing and discusses some books and resources that helped him in his career growth. 14:42 Ritendra discusses his learning process of managing large teams and scaling his skill set. 19:26 How Ritendra develops self-awareness and recognizes when his focus or skillset needs to change as the organization scales. 24:03 Ritendra talks about his experience of faster launches at Meta compared to Google and the pros and cons of the speed. 27:46 Ritendra's experience with burnout and how he mitigates it. 32:27 His advice on whether bringing in more complexity into projects is helpful for promotion. #softwareengineering #techcareer #softwareengineer

In today’s episode, we have Hunter Meyer. Hunter is an Engineering Manager II at Box, and Founder at Meyer Visions - a venture capital firm that invests early in founders building fast-growing technology companies. Hunter’s career in programming didn’t start immediately. He graduated from a university with a degree in marketing, but he wasn’t happy when he started his career.  He eventually wanted to take computer science and become a programmer but didn’t want to spend money going back to school for another 4 years. So at the age of 22, he quit his job, learned Ruby, and went to a coding bootcamp; which propelled him to where he’s at today.