Decisive Moments for Engineering Leaders

Hear a riveting Q&A with Jeremy Rishel, CTO at SoFi, as he delves into "Operational Excellence in a High Trust, High Regulation Environment." Gain insights from Jeremy's diverse background—ranging from a Marine officer to tech leadership roles at Twitter and Splunk—as he shares his strategies for driving excellence at SoFi. Hear first-hand accounts of critical incidents that shaped operational strategies and cemented the importance of reliability. This session is a treasure trove for anyone intrigued by the intersection of technology, finance, and regulation.Support the show

Hear Japjit Tulsi, CTO at Matterport, in an Engineering Q&A titled "Navigating the AI Shift: Essential Adaptations for Modern Engineers." This discussion explores the transformative power of Generative AI and its impact on technology. Discover how AI is changing expectations and why tech teams should embrace it. Japjit, known for his hands-on expertise and deep understanding of use cases, shares insights on AI's positive disruption in engineering and its role in filtering specialized information. Support the show

Hear Shadi Rostami, Senior/Executive VP of Engineering at Amplitude, in an Engineering Q&A session focused on Outcome-Driven Efficiency and its impact on business success. Discover how to set metrics and goals for all teams and how engineers can be crucial in achieving this. Learn how customer-centricity and incentivizing a few bigger customers can impact business success. Support the show

As the former CTO of GitLab and a board member of the Linux Foundation, Eric has a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing software engineers today. In this Engineering Q&A, Eric shares his insights on how to think creatively and "outside the box" to solve common engineering problems in unconventional ways. Support the show

In today's fast-paced and competitive world, engineering teams face immense pressure to deliver high-quality products rapidly. To meet these demands, it's crucial to establish effective rituals and practices that help teams perform at their best. Support the show

Are you looking for ways to build a successful and long-lasting career in the tech industry? Are you uncertain about making a career change in today's uncertain economic climate? Tamar will share her experience of growing alongside Box and the secrets to her success in staying loyal to the company. She also discusses why cultivating a long-term career vision is more important than ever, especially during times of job insecurity. Support the show

Discover how Notion, the all-in-one workspace, leverages collaboration between engineering, product, and design teams to drive innovation and achieve optimal efficiency. Gain insights on improving collaboration in your organization and hear the story of Michael Manapat, a founding engineer in a rapidly scaling organization. Support the show

Learn about the standard industry practices that Figma avoids to ensure the quality of its products and gain insights into how the company approaches quality assurance with Kris Rasmussen, CTO at Figma.Support the show

With over 15 years of experience at Google and now being Chief Development Officer at Okta, Sagnik is a seasoned expert in his field. In light of recent layoffs and budget cuts in the industry, ensuring your engineering team is operating at its full potential is more important than ever. Support the show

After more than ten years at Amazon Web Services and close to four years at Datadog, Ian Nowland, SVP of Core Engineering at Datadog, knows what it takes to establish a platform product, from nascent to established. His secret? Think Big But Not Too Big.Support the show

"Navigating and Building Through Uncertainty," with Robinhood's SVP of EngineeringSupport the show

Why every leader needs a management philosophy feat. Optimizely's CTO, Lawrence Bruhmuller. Thanks to our partner Lohika for co-hosting this podcast episode!Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

"Building high-performing, purpose-driven teams" with Collective Health's VP of Engineering, Stacie Lang-Frederick (co-hosted with Lohika)Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

"Goal setting for engineering teams" with Asana's Head of Engineering, Prashant PandeySupport the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

This episodes features engineering leaders from Brex, Upwork, & Flatiron Health! They'll share advice on building a strong hiring strategy while managing other priorities during these challenging times (co-hosted with Karat)Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

Get tips on how to scale your engineering teams impact in this Q&A chat with PagerDuty's VP of Engineering, Gautam Prabhu. Thanks to our friends at Lohika for hosting this with us!Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

Managing High & Low Performers featuring Salesforce's VP of Engineering, Chris HaagSupport the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

This episodes featured Slack's former Chief Architect (Keith Adams) on The Technical Path to Leadership.Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

"Managing in a Remote World" with Zapier's VP of Engineering, Doug GaffSupport the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

Managing in a Remote World with leaders from Slack, GitHub, and TwilioSupport the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

In this episode, we're joined by several members of GitLab's engineering, product, & design team to better understand how the world's largest remote-first team collaborates.Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

This podcast episode features a webinar we hosted recently called "Managing in a Remote World" with Stitch Fix's VP of Engineering, Pooja Brown!Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

In this episode, we're airing the recording of an Ask-Me-Anything chat that Dana Lawson, GitHub's VP of Engineering, had with our community where she shares tips on managing remote teams!Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

This episode highlights an Ask-Me-Anything featuring InVision's Director of Engineering (Ryan Scheuremann) and Karat's Head of Solutions Engineering (Shannon Hogue) about managing remote teams.Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

We hosted an Ask-Me-Anything webinar on managing remote teams with VP of Engineering, Christian McCarrick, and we turned that into a podcast epsiode.Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

In this episode, InVision's SVP of Engineering (Asanka Jayasuriya) shares his thoughts on how to navigate the coronavirus crisis and offers advice to managers who are leading a remote team for the first time.Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

In this episode, Carta's VP of Engineering and Plato Mentor (Ron Pragides) shares his thoughts on the current COVID-19 crisis and offers advice to engineering managers. Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

In this episode — DocuSign's VP of Engineering (Loïc Houssier) chats about the lessons he learned as a leader while his company underwent a re-organization.1:53 - Reorgs not driven by growth2:43 - Accepting change as a manager3:50 - Product company moving towards portfolio company5:30 - How to organize your company to manage innovation9:04 - How a new idea or project becomes a revenue stream12:09 - The mindset of incremental innovation14:14 - Affects of a GM approach16:43 - Learning from every manager17:24 - Biases aside18:45 - Changing the definition of “done”19:51 - Thinking about the business value22:05 - Managing expectations26:43 - Difference in friction zones29:30 - Empowered or not?31:46: Emotional vs rational33:58 - Providing space and then moving onSupport the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

In this episode, the VP of Engineering at DocuSign (Loïc Houssier) shares what he learned from his early days to his role a a senior leader at a well-known B2B company. Episode highlights:1:15 - Being empathetic to reactions of the Coronavirus3:43 - First managerial mistake8:20 - What he learned during a break from the software industry10:44 - Being humble in a new workplace14:36 - How his youth sparked his curiosity17:14 - Building new relationships, especially outside the Engineering department18:42 - What DocuSign’s CEO taught Loic 19:42 - Why he returned to engineering management22:20 - What makes operational excellence important to eng managers24:45 - CTO versus VP of Engineering26:42 - Being an eng leader during an acquisition31:20 - Going from a unknown company to working at a known brand32:30 - Variations in workplace practices: US and France36:40 - Approaching situations based on cultural knowledgeSupport the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

In this episode, senior engineering leaders from Brex, Twilio, and GitHub shares best practices around managing distributed teams.Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

This episode, Expensify's CEO shares a variety of perspectives and stories — from what makes his company different to losing an engineering team to building an organization of generalists to what it's like being a CEO.Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

In this episode, Expensify's CEO and Founder (David Barrett) shares several stories on how we went from engineering to entrepreneur. Plus, he shares what makes Expensify unique and what compelled him to start the company.Show Notes for David Barrett1:25 — David’s early days as an engineer2:30 — What startups should focus on3:37 — “C++ is a great language, but English is even better”5:44 — How to think about your professional goals6:46 — The 1 question that David asks candidates in interviews8:00 — What he looks for in an employee and a team9:00 — What made him go from engineer to entrepreneur 10:56 — Why being an engineer has helped him as a CEO 12:26 — A story that taught David what makes an effective engineer14:06 — Our podcast host offers a way to develop products better 17:38 — David’s approach to new industries/jobs and our host adds thoughts on experts vs beginners 18:36 — How Expensify went against standard convention 22:15 — David shares a story about what gave him self confidence25:43 — Our host points out how David sounds like an entrepreneur28:16 — What David thinks about leadership books28:43 — How Expensify got startedSupport the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

Hear from PayPal Credit's former CTO, Pete Woodhouse, on how he navigated running teams around the world.Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

In this episode, the former CTO of PayPal Credit (Pete Woodhouse) talks about a situation where one of his engineering managers let a deadline slip, and how Pete had to step in to resolve the situation.Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

In this episode, Gusto's CTO and Co-Founder (Eddie Kim) talks about leading engineering teams at Gusto as they scaled from 50 to 100 engineers. He also shares a story that helped him realize what psychological safety really means.Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

In this episode, Gusto's CTO and Co-Founder (Eddie Kim) talks about what it was like during the company's first few years. He shares some interesting stories about building the engineering team from 0 to 50 engineers and what lessons he learned along the way!Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

In this episode, two engineering leaders who are married discuss the importance of having a strong support system as a leader, featuring Abstract's VP of Eng (Rukmini Reddy) and SurveyMonkey's Sr Director of Eng (Shravan Sogani). The episode starts with a story where one of the parents dropped the ball on a task, and the other parent stepped in, and it was a good lesson on leadership. The episode unfolds to touch on lots of topics including building trust, being vulnerable at the worklplace, and more!Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

In this episode, two engineering leaders who are married to each other discuss how having twins has affected their outlook on leading teams. Abstract's VP of Eng (Rukmini Reddy) and SurveyMonkey's Sr Director of Eng (Shravan Sogani) open up about a harrowing childbirth experience, and they share how parenting shapes their role as engineering leaders. They talk about about the importance of bring your whole self to the workplace and how leaders can foster an environment where employees feel comfortable being their real selves. Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

Hear how Talkdesk's VP of Eng, Jason Fama, dealt with a situation where he had to help two engineering teams maintain a strong sense of motivation and innovatio. Later in the episode, he offers advice to an engineering manager on keeping the morale high for teams that are integrated into a bigger engineering organization.Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

Hear from Talkdesk's VP of Eng, Jason Fama, on how he (and his engineering team from earlier in his career) navigated a patent lawsuit. Jason shares lessons that all eng managers can find useful. Later in the episode, he offers advice to an engineering manager on improving their interview process.Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

Hear from Stripe's Head of Foundation Eng and author of An Elegant Puzzle, Will Larson, on how we handled a situation when upper management wasn't happy with an engineer who messed up (when In fact, there were systematic Issue at play). Later in the episode, Will offers advice to an engineering manager on balancing the pressure to fix technical debt with shipping new features.Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

Stripe's Head of Foundation Engineering and writer of The Elegant Puzzle (Will Larson) shares what he learned as a manager for a company earlier in his career that wasn't doing so well. After that story, Will gives advice to an engineering leader on how to structure team roles and responsibilities as you scale.Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

GitHub's VP of Engineering (Dana Lawson) shares a story from earlier in her career where joined a company as a manager and then found out they got acquired soon after. She discusses how she handled this transitional period and what she learned. After that, she offers live advice to an engineering manager trying to understand how to align on priorities at a startup. Decisive Moments is presented by Plato, a mentorship platform to help engineering managers to become better leaders (https://www.platohq.com/)Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)

GitHub's VP of Engineering (Dana Lawson) share a story of how she tried to institute a culture of accountability, reliability, and shared ownership — and how it went wrong. She explain how she bounced back as a manager to win her team's trust back. Dana also offer her perspective to an engineering leader (Simon Gong, Director of Eng at Box) on how to encourage your team to hit their stretch goals. Decisive Moments is presented by Plato, a mentorship platform to help engineering managers to become better leaders (https://www.platohq.com/).Support the show (https://www.platohq.com/)