This article discusses the problem of a successful B2B product becoming stuck in a cycle of customers asking for more features that can be one-off and hard to reuse. To address this, the organization had to change the narrative of how they worked with customers, gain direct access to users, and run continuous customer research. They also had to educate people in engineering, product, and UX on how to approach customers and build successful customer research programs. Additionally, they had to update the architecture of the software and build proper extension points. The key lesson learned was that success should be measured by customer satisfaction, not timely delivery of features.

Plato

Melby Mathew

Sr. Engineering Manager at Stitch Fix

Handling Strong Personalities on the Team

A manager encountered a domineering engineer on their team who was overly concerned with tech debt and proposed a number of changes, but due to his domineering personality, everyone else on the team was taking his opinion for granted and avoiding confronting him. The manager had to confront the engineer and ask for a foolproof strategy for tech debt before moving forward, as well as repeatedly talk to other people on the team and encourage them to voice their opinions. The manager learned that they had to confront domineering engineers and make them accountable, do due diligence, and demonstrate the exact value of a project before moving forward.

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Wissam Abirached

Senior Engineering Manager at Stripe

Introducing Engineering Design

The team was struggling to meet goals due to feedback coming too late in the development cycle. To address this, the manager introduced a new step in the process - engineering design - to provide feedback before any code was written. This was met with skepticism, but ultimately resulted in increased velocity, better code quality, improved morale, and better collaboration. The manager learned to be attentive to the team's complaints and to approach problems creatively.

Plato

Janssen Choong

VP Engineering at Generation Esports

What You Need To Know When Scaling Rapidly

Rapid scaling of a startup requires a lot of effort, strong cash flow, and knowledge. Knowing who and when to hire and how to structure the organization is a challenge. Securing funding is the first step, and then building a pipeline of potential hires. As the company grows, the engineering team must be structured properly to ensure success. Expectations must be clear and transparent, and the engineering leader must maintain touchpoints with the team.

Plato

Otavio Santana

Software Engineer, Architect, and Open Source Committer at Eclipse Foundation

The Power of influence inside software engineering

This post discusses the importance of influence in a software engineering career. It is not to undervalue the technical perspective, but to emphasize the need for visibility inside and outside the organization. It outlines several ways to increase visibility, such as company posts, personal posts, conferences, and open-source. The post emphasizes that investing time in being visible is essential for career growth.

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Sagar Patel

Vice President, Software Developer at BlackRock

Bridging the Gaps in Your Knowledge Base

This article is about the experience of transitioning from a lawyer to an engineering leader. The author faced many hurdles due to their lack of a computer science background. To bridge the gaps in their knowledge, they wrote down their gaps, compared them to people who had done this before, networked with engineers and technical product managers, and took classes offered by third-party organizations. The author learned that networking is difficult, taking classes is important to show initiative, and staying on top of learning is vital to progress.

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Steffen Wachenfeld

Chief Product Officer at Hypoport SE

The Importance of Empowering Data Engineers to See a Company’s Bigger Priorities

Data scientists and students often get excited to apply advanced tools to AI projects, without considering the company's problem that the product is meant to solve. This leads to inefficiencies and a lack of progress. To address this, an exercise is used to teach students, product managers, and ML engineers to think of a basic solution and measure its quality before applying complex tools. This helps them focus on the bigger picture and create a usable solution quickly.

Plato

Bhavini Soneji

CTO/VP of Engineering at

Leading an Organization Through a Colossal Change

As a tech leader, the author has taken a variety of actions to mature the team and processes to meet the next phase of the company's growth and needs. This includes restructuring the organization, assessing and putting the right people in the right roles, introducing performance assessment and a 9-box matrix, organizing show-and-tells, tech reviews, tech talks, and roundtable discussions, and introducing external trainers and post-mortems. The outcomes of these actions have been increased engagement, attendance, and frequency of forums/meetings, influencing outside of engineering, and improved engagement scores. The author has also learned the importance of having patience and giving time for the process to mature, holding cross-groups accountable, and training as early as possible.

Plato

Who to follow

Mario Hebert

Growth Engineering Leader | Advisor | Mentor | Board Member

Hendra Wong

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Stu Cavill

Senior Engineering Leader | Startups | Enterprise | 15+ Years in Tech

Leonardo Andreucci

Experienced Startup VP with 20yrs in Apontador & Creditas. Expertise in people management, mentoring, leadership development

Jeffrey Wescott

Technologist, Founder, Dad

Nimrod Vered

Engineering executive - Ex-Microsoft, Ex-Twilio, Ex-Cisco, Ex-Checkpoint with experience in pre-seed to round E companies.

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Latest Stories

Bertrand Deriot

ex VP of Engineering & VP Products at Veepee

Building High-Performing Engineering Teams: Lessons from a Manager

This article discusses the insights and lessons learned from a top-tier engineer on building and leading successful engineering teams. It emphasizes the importance of team dynamics, workload management, performance evaluation, minimizing context switching, and leveraging diverse expertise. By prioritizing these factors, managers can create an environment that fosters collaboration, productivity, and success, ultimately leading to exceptional results.

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David García

Head of Engineering at Cense AG

Challenges Faced by Engineering Leaders in Scaling Teams

Engineering leaders face several challenges when scaling their teams. One key area of focus is providing effective feedback and recognition to team members, which fosters growth and improvement. Building strong relationships and collaboration between engineering and product teams is also crucial. Remote work presents unique challenges, such as lack of trust and engagement, which can be addressed through proactive communication and trust-building. Hiring qualified senior engineers is another challenge, but implementing a rigorous hiring process can help overcome this. By addressing these challenges, engineering leaders can create successful and high-performing teams and a positive work environment.

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Vitor O.

Talent Success Manager at Gun.io

Why Heads of Engineering Should Master Storytelling

Storytelling is an essential skill for engineering leaders as it helps them communicate ideas, align teams, and convey values in a memorable way. In the current digital transformation era and remote work environment, storytelling becomes even more important. It enables leaders to express how their organization will adapt and innovate, establish connections between teams and clients, foster trust, and alleviate anxiety. A good story needs to be intriguing, authentic, involve the team, have a specific goal, and recognize the team's higher purpose. Storytelling can be applied in team meetings, onboarding new members, and providing feedback. Overall, storytelling is a powerful tool for effective engineering leadership that inspires action and facilitates behavioral change.

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Deekshita Amaravadi

Engineering Leader at Justworks

Transitioning from Technical Roles to Leadership

Transitioning from a technical role to a leadership position requires embracing change, seeking mentorship, and taking initiative. Engineers must let go of old identities and adapt to new opportunities. Overcoming fear and communicating openly with managers about career goals and aspirations is crucial. By doing so, engineers can navigate this transition successfully and continue to grow in their careers.

Plato

Deekshita Amaravadi

Engineering Leader at Justworks

Navigating Ambiguity in Engineering Leadership

The text discusses strategies for effectively managing ambiguity and uncertainty as an engineering leader. It emphasizes the importance of embracing change and seeking growth opportunities, nurturing mentorship, overcoming fear and seeking feedback, and the role of open communication. The conversation highlights the need for engineers to be open to new challenges and opportunities, take on the role of a mentor, have direct conversations with managers about career goals, and regularly communicate with managers about career growth and challenges. The text concludes by mentioning plans to delve deeper into the topic of mentorship in future sessions. Overall, the conversation emphasizes the importance of embracing change, seeking growth opportunities, and fostering open communication in engineering leadership roles to navigate ambiguity and uncertainty successfully.

Plato

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