The Engineering Leadership Podcast

By: The Engineering Leadership Community (ELC)
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  • Summary

  • We share the most critical perspectives, habits & examples of great software engineering leaders to help evolve leadership in the tech industry. Join our community of software engineering leaders @ www.sfelc.com!
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Episodes
  • Upskilling: practices to improve hiring, storytelling & structuring personal/leadership problems with engineering principles #208

    Upskilling: practices to improve hiring, storytelling & structuring personal/leadership problems with engineering principles #208
    Feb 18 2025
    ABOUT COLLEEN TARTOWColleen Tartow, Ph.D. is Field CTO and Head of Strategy at VAST Data and has 20+ years of experience in data, analytics, engineering, and consulting. Adept at assisting organizations in deriving value from a data-driven culture, she has successfully led diverse data, engineering, and analytics teams through the development of complex global data management solutions and architecting enterprise data systems. Her demonstrated excellence in data, engineering, analytics, and diversity leadership makes her a trusted senior advisor among executives. An experienced speaker, author, valued mentor and startup advisor, Colleen holds degrees in astrophysics and lives in Massachusetts.ABOUT JIM LIUJim Liu is an accomplished engineering leader with a track record of driving business outcomes at companies like StockX and Nordstrom. He is also an active community builder with Engineering Leader Community and Angel Investor communities. Jim and his family reside in Seattle, WA.ABOUT DIVYA ALAVARTHIDivya Alavarthi is an experienced engineering and business leader with 14+ years of expertise in architecture, engineering, product delivery, pre-sales, professional services, and organizational leadership. She developed Salesforce Platform architecture standards, best practices, and minimal viable architectures. She supported a talent pool of 5000+ architects and developers resulting in improved strategic agility, speed to market, and business value in large-scale multi-cloud implementations.This episode is brought to you by Clipboard HealthClipboard Health is looking for the next generation of exceptional software engineering leaders, not just managers. They’re a profitable unicorn, backed by top-tier investors, and they take the craft of engineering management seriously.Clipboard Health matches highly qualified healthcare workers with nearby facilities to fulfill millions of shifts a year - revolutionizing healthcare staffing with a fast, flexible, and user-friendly platform.Learn more & browse their open roles at clipboardhealth.com/engineeringSHOW NOTES:The importance of leadership in hiring (1:29)The Tartow Method Explained: Key aspects of a successful hiring practice (3:57)How to build out the interview process & ask the right questions (6:14)Behavioral Interviews and good responses: Tips for gaining clarity from interviewees on abstract skills (7:52)Where eng leaders can start building their hiring skill set (9:16)Colleen’s experience co-leading ELC Boston & advice for 1st time event attendees (10:36)Understanding how to model problems as engineering challenges (14:41)How to use an engineering mindset to tackle personal problems (16:35)Jim’s process for deconstructing problems & solving them like an engineer (18:38)Tips for building / applying your skill set around abstracting problems (21:27)Jim’s perspective on getting involved with a local ELC community (24:36)Ways to help make the most out of your first ELC local experience (27:05)Divya shares about the power of storytelling in engineering leadership (30:07)Build the narrative about your product’s business impact (32:24)An example of bringing different demos & storytelling together (34:09)Frameworks for effective storytelling: build a narrative around a product / demo (36:16)How to start improving your storytelling today (37:35)Divya’s favorite moments with the ELC Seattle chapter & how to get involved (39:42)LINKS AND RESOURCESCheck out all of our local chapters & get involved here: elc.community/home/clubsThis episode wouldn’t have been possible without the help of our incredible production team:Patrick Gallagher - Producer & Co-HostJerry Li - Co-HostNoah Olberding - Associate Producer, Audio & Video Editor https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-olberding/Dan Overheim - Audio Engineer, Dan’s also an avid 3D printer - https://www.bnd3d.com/Ellie Coggins Angus - Copywriter, Check out her other work at https://elliecoggins.com/about/
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    44 mins
  • GTM Insights from Top DevTool companies w/ David Mytton @ Arcjet & Console w/ David Mytton #207

    GTM Insights from Top DevTool companies w/ David Mytton @ Arcjet & Console w/ David Mytton #207
    Feb 11 2025
    ABOUT DAVID MYTTONA dynamic approach to tech innovation, security, sustainability, and developer empowerment can be seen in everything David Mytton touches. As co-founder of Console and host of the Console DevTools Podcast, he delights in keeping developers ahead of the curve with the tools they need the most. As the founder of Server Density (acquired by StackPath), he created a product that helped organizations manage mission-critical IT environments. As a sustainable computing researcher at Oxford and a global green tech speaker, he’s brought much-needed attention to the impact of cloud emissions and the water and energy consumption of the data centers that fuel our online lives. Now, as founder and CEO of Arcjet, he’s helping developers and businesses protect their apps with just a few lines of code. His professional career is a direct reflection of his relentless pursuit of making tech smarter and greener. How he invests his spare time showcases his unwavering commitment to mentoring developers and building the communities they need to succeed.SHOW NOTES:David’s founder journey, starting with Server Density (3:20)Behind the early decision to start a company & start building a product (4:50)Key lessons from bootstrapping, raising funding, and being acquired (8:30)How those early lessons shaped Arcjet & Console (10:30)Why VC money can make finding experienced engineers easier (13:16)Strategies to help early teams build their first product / prototype (14:56)Considering company outcomes: Should you build a company just to sell it? (16:23)Signals that it’s the right time for a sale / acquisition (18:14)The story behind Arcjet (20:30)“What makes a great DevTool company” & strategic insights that shaped Arcjet (23:37)Key practices that helped shape Arcjet’s GTM plan (25:36)David’s approach to experimentation and discovery (27:36)The impact of documentation on dev tool companies (31:35)How discovery pathways for dev tools impact sales (33:28)Making the decision-making process easier for users & buyers (35:01)Translating dev tool benefits for finance teams vs. developers (39:56)The impact of design on dev tool companies (42:37)Rapid fire questions (46:02)LINKS AND RESOURCESDavid’s reading lista16z BlogThe Hard Thing About Hard Things - Ben Horowitz, a leading venture capitalist, modern management expert, and New York Times bestselling author, combines lessons both from history and from modern organizational practice with practical and often surprising advice to help executives build cultures that can weather both good and bad times.The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World - Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls Planet Finance.The Lessons of History - In this illuminating and thoughtful book, Will and Ariel Durant have succeeded in distilling for the reader the accumulated store of knowledge and experience from their four decades of work on the ten monumental volumes of "The Story of Civilization." The result is a survey of human history, full of dazzling insights into the nature of human experience, the evolution of civilization, the culture of man.This episode wouldn’t have been possible without the help of our incredible production team:Patrick Gallagher - Producer & Co-HostJerry Li - Co-HostNoah Olberding - Associate Producer, Audio & Video Editor https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-olberding/Dan Overheim - Audio Engineer, Dan’s also an avid 3D printer - https://www.bnd3d.com/Ellie Coggins Angus - Copywriter, Check out her other work at https://elliecoggins.com/about/
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    51 mins
  • Navigating Rapid Change: Skills to Cultivate Resilience, Adaptability & Creativity in Engineering Teams w/ Melody Meckfessel #206

    Navigating Rapid Change: Skills to Cultivate Resilience, Adaptability & Creativity in Engineering Teams w/ Melody Meckfessel #206
    Feb 4 2025
    ABOUT MELODY MECKFESSEL

    Melody Meckfessel is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Jasper.ai, the world’s leading AI marketing platform. In her role, Melody shapes the technical vision of the company, oversees product delivery, and spearheads AI research to develop new capabilities that accelerate business outcomes for enterprise marketers.

    Before joining Jasper.ai, Melody co-founded and served as CEO of Observable, a data visualization platform that empowers teams to understand their businesses through data. She also spent over a decade at Google as Vice President of Engineering, where she led core infrastructure, Search, and DevOps teams for Google and Google Cloud Platform, impacting millions of users worldwide.

    Melody is recognized for her hands-on approach to engineering leadership and her expertise in building large-scale distributed systems. Her work is crucial in solving complex problems at scale for enterprise companies. She is passionate about defining the future of work with AI, where humans come first.

    This episode is brought to you by Clipboard Health

    Clipboard Health is looking for the next generation of exceptional software engineering leaders, not just managers. They’re a profitable unicorn, backed by top-tier investors, and they take the craft of engineering management seriously.

    Clipboard Health matches highly qualified healthcare workers with nearby facilities to fulfill millions of shifts a year - revolutionizing healthcare staffing with a fast, flexible, and user-friendly platform.

    Learn more & browse their open roles at clipboardhealth.com/engineering

    SHOW NOTES:
    • Melody’s perspective on the tech industry’s rapid rate of change right now (2:53)
    • Critical questions to guide investment decisions on “what to build & how“ in a rapidly evolving market (5:57)
    • Strategies for navigating rapid change internally within eng teams (10:07)
    • What it means to be an AI-first engineering organization (12:30)
    • Changes in goals, metrics, and processes to shape your org and guide you through rapid change (15:33)
    • Developing agile communication processes (18:39)
    • Navigating ambiguity as a learned skill - practical ways to strengthen your ability to navigate uncertainty (20:09)
    • Implementing a framework of curiosity & openness within eng teams (22:40)
    • Why great things can’t be planned (26:21)
    • Becoming dynamic and resilient - how to thrive amid uncertainty and constant industry shifts (28:57)
    • How to shift from prescriptive to inspirational - using illustrated inspiration to empower teams (32:00)
    • Breaking through self-imposed limitations - understanding where eng leaders may limit themselves (33:48)
    • Melody’s perspective on fostering a culture of creativity within eng teams (35:06)
    • Rapid fire questions (37:13)
    LINKS AND RESOURCES
    • The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CRO - John McMahon shares valuable lessons for sales leaders and sales reps selling enterprise software solutions. In a conversational and easy to read narrative style, this must-read book provides learnings on how sales leaders can help their reps sell more for higher average deal sizes to executive level buyers.
    This episode wouldn’t have been possible without the help of our incredible production team:

    Patrick Gallagher - Producer & Co-Host

    Jerry Li - Co-Host

    Noah Olberding - Associate Producer, Audio & Video Editor https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-olberding/

    Dan Overheim - Audio Engineer, Dan’s also an avid 3D printer - https://www.bnd3d.com/

    Ellie Coggins Angus - Copywriter, Check out her other work at https://elliecoggins.com/about/
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    41 mins

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