Podcast
The Peterman Pod
Hosted by Ryan Peterman · EN
Sharing the transparent career stories of technical people. Hosted by an ex-Staff engineer at Instagram
15episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Turing Award Winner: P vs NP, Zero-Knowledge Proofs, Quantum Computation | Avi Wigderson
4d ago02:15:47Tap to summarizeAvi Wigderson is the only person in history to have won both a Turing Award (computer science) and Abel Prize (math). I interviewed him all about his field.• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/Podcast links:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/5GUcvSAJcJw• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/turing-award-winner-p-vs-np-zeroThank you to this episode's sponsor for supporting my work:• WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(01:08) P vs NP(14:51) What if you relaxed correctness(25:38) Why NP complete problems are equivalent(30:33) Space vs time complexity(43:06) Why people use SAT solvers(45:53) Randomness is a resource(55:48) Randomness depends on computational power(01:21:20) Zero knowledge proofs and their significance(01:38:30) Quantum computation and why it matters(01:56:24) Math vs computer science(02:08:16) Major breakthroughs and his experience(02:12:31) Advice for his younger self(02:14:48) OutroWhere to find Avi:• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avi_Wigderson• Personal Website: https://www.math.ias.edu/avi/homeWhere to find Ryan:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpetermanReferenced in this episode:• PCP Theorem paper: https://www.cs.umd.edu/~gasarch/TOPICS/pcp/AS.pdf• Paper on SAT approximation hardness: https://www.cs.umd.edu/~gasarch/BLOGPAPERS/max3satl.pdf• Turing's paper: https://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/Turing_Paper_1936.pdf• Original paper on NP completeness: https://www.cs.toronto.edu/~sacook/homepage/1971.pdf• Ryan William's breakthrough result on space vs time: https://people.csail.mit.edu/rrw/time-vs-space.pdf• Old result on space vs time: https://www-wjp.cs.uni-saarland.de/publikationen/HPV75.pdf• Paper describing constant space majority solution: https://people.cs.umass.edu/~barring/publications/bwbp.pdf• Fast primality test paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0022314X80900840/pdf?md5=6f748cd82fa8efa1a637efab5f632baa&pid=1-s2.0-0022314X80900840-main.pdf• Deterministic primality test paper: https://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/users/manindra/algebra/primality_v6.pdf• Randomness vs observer paper: https://people.csail.mit.edu/silvio/Selected%20Scientific%20Papers/Pseudo%20Randomness/How_To_Generate_Cryptographically_Strong_Sequences_Of_Pseudo-Random_Bits.pdf• Hardness vs randomness paper: https://www.math.ias.edu/~avi/PUBLICATIONS/MYPAPERS/NOAM/HARDNESS/final.pdf• Erdos original sum vs product paper: https://users.renyi.hu/~p_erdos/1983-18.pdf• Terrence Tao sum vs product paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/math/0301343• Seminal interactive proof paper: https://www.cs.miami.edu/home/burt/learning/csc609.221/goldwasser-micali-rackoff-knoweldge-complexity.pdf• Zero knowledge proof paper: https://www.math.ias.edu/~avi/PUBLICATIONS/MYPAPERS/GMW86/GMW86.pdf• Shor's algorithm original paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/quant-ph/9508027• Lattice paper (new hard problems): https://dl.acm.org/doi/epdf/10.1145/258533.258604• MIP* vs RE paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2001.04383• Zero knowledge non-interactive proofs: https://eprint.iacr.org/2025/1296.pdf
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Dropbox’s Former Most Senior Eng: Building Great Systems and Advice for the AI Era | James Cowling
2w ago02:01:53Tap to summarizeJames Cowling is the CTO at Convex and was previously the most senior engineer at Dropbox. We discussed technical details of his past projects, simplicity vs complexity, and career advice given where AI is today.• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/Podcast links:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/3XkmNSuHFmY• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/dropboxs-former-most-senior-eng-buildingThank you to this episode's sponsor for supporting my work:• WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/Timestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:00:53 Systems work during his PhD00:13:05 Dropbox technical deep dive00:21:57 Why Dropbox migrated from AWS00:36:40 How to do massive migrations00:44:31 Simplicity vs complexity in promos00:49:23 What technical teams should be focused on01:00:25 Doing the right thing vs promo hypothetical01:08:13 Why he dipped into management sometimes01:11:36 Why you should not lead by example01:23:23 How to mentor Senior Staff engineers01:27:30 Career advice for the AI era01:37:21 Why he started his own company01:46:05 The most technically challenging work of his career01:48:10 How he got involved in Silicon Valley01:52:16 Career regrets01:55:54 Top technical book recommendation01:56:36 Younger self and permanent underclass adviceWhere to find James:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcowling/• Twitter/X: https://x.com/jamesacowling• His company: https://www.convex.dev/Where to find Ryan:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpetermanReferenced in this episode:• His PhD Thesis: https://www.usenix.org/system/files/conference/atc12/atc12-final118.pdf• Masters paper: https://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/archive/fall19/cos418/papers/vr-revisited.pdf• Papercuts writing he mentioned: https://medium.com/@jamesacowling/embracing-papercuts-e6390055dfc4• "Don't lead by example": https://medium.com/@jamesacowling/dont-lead-by-example-4f86b1174e64• His writing about orienting teams around missions: https://medium.com/@jamesacowling/your-system-is-not-a-sports-team-e17f9eb16b94
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Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup
3w ago01:59:03Tap to summarizeBjarne Stroustrup is the creator of the C++ programming language and a former researcher at Bell Labs. We talked about what Bell Labs was like, programming language design, and interesting anecdotes from his experience.• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/U46fJ2bJ-co• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/creator-of-c-bell-labs-negative-overhead𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲'𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸:• Cursor 3: a unified workspace for building software with agents, check it out at https://cursor.com/• WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:0:00 - Intro0:50 - The origin of C++8:46 - What Bell Labs was like17:24 - Dennis Ritchie24:00 - When to build a programming language31:59 - Bootstrapping a language33:58 - C++ is not object-oriented37:32 - Discussing type systems46:20 - Memory safety49:26 - Standards committee anecdotes1:09:40 - Adding automatic garbage collection to C++1:18:25 - Template instantiation is Turing complete1:21:57 - Abstraction and performance1:28:51 - AI writing code1:35:54 - His motivation1:39:18 - Famous quotes1:46:48 - Reflecting on building C++1:49:12 - Top C++ book recommendation1:50:59 - Advice for his younger self1:58:06 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗷𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲:• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bjarne_Stroustrup• Personal Website: https://www.stroustrup.com/𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲:• "A History of C++": https://www.stroustrup.com/hopl2.pdf• "Evolving a language in and for the real world": https://www.stroustrup.com/hopl-almost-final.pdf• "Thriving in a Crowded and Changing World": https://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2020/p2184r0.pdf• The lecture where he mentioned he lost half his hair: https://youtu.be/69edOm889V4?si=IAZxYNwlUALodEV7&t=474• Quotes I pulled: https://www.stroustrup.com/quotes.html
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Harvard Professor: CS50, What Matters More Than CS, Lecturing Well | David J Malan
4w ago01:03:46Tap to summarizeDavid Malan is a Harvard professor known for turning CS50 into a popular online computer science course. We discussed the story behind CS50, how to lecture well, and how AI is changing CS education including in cheating/academic dishonesty.• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/bB2o81DnKHk• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/harvard-professor-cs50-what-matters𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲'𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸:• Cursor 3: a unified workspace for building software with agents, check it out at https://cursor.com/• WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:0:00 - Intro1:09 - Getting into computer science3:27 - Becoming the professor of CS5011:19 - How to lecture well14:25 - Depth vs engagement in education18:11 - Why don't we consolidate educational resources23:20 - Why start with C31:51 - The ideal use of AI in education34:54 - Cheating and AI38:21 - Should we really learn CS still?45:24 - College vs online education47:06 - The most difficult concept to learn51:00 - Growth vs fixed mindset52:35 - The future of CS5055:56 - Biggest career regret1:00:29 - Top book recommendations1:02:36 - Advice for his younger self1:03:35 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱:• Personal website: https://cs.harvard.edu/malan/• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dmalan• Github: https://github.com/dmalan• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidjmalan/• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malan/• Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/davidjmalan/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/davidjmalan• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@davidjmalan𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲:• His first program for CS50: https://x.com/davidjmalan/status/1432538424590929920• Paper about CS50 improvements: https://cs.harvard.edu/malan/publications/fp310-malan.pdf• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy• How Computers Work book (not affiliate link): https://www.amazon.com/How-Computers-Work-Evolution-Technology/dp/078974984X
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PyTorch Eng Director: Promo Hacking, Industry Shifts, Regrets | John Myles White
May 400:43:39Tap to summarizeJohn Myles White recently left his role as a director of engineering at Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) so we spoke freely about promo culture, how big tech has changed, and how his career grew.𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/aPfnP4iAIH8• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/msl-eng-director-promo-hacking-industry𝗕𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝘆:• Cursor 3: a unified workspace for building software with agents, check it out at https://cursor.com/• My ergonomic keyboard project, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/ 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:0:00 - Intro0:54 - Is he bullish on MSL5:23 - Running promotions at Meta15:15 - Growing at Meta22:22 - Julia core language contributor29:24 - Academics failing into industry31:48 - Stats book recommendations38:02 - Biggest career regret41:05 - Advice for his younger self42:46 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-myles-white-115697180/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/johnmyleswhite• Personal Website: https://www.johnmyleswhite.com/• Github: https://github.com/johnmyleswhite𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲:• Evaluating the design of the R language - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240040602_Evaluating_the_Design_of_the_R_Language• Stats book he mentioned (not affiliate link) - https://www.amazon.com/Foundations-Agnostic-Statistics-Peter-Aronow/dp/1316631141• Stats book he mentioned (not affiliate link) - https://www.amazon.com/All-Statistics-Statistical-Inference-Springer/dp/0387402721
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Turing Award Winner: Data Abstraction, Dijkstra, Distributed Systems | Barbara Liskov
Apr 2700:34:43Tap to summarizeBarbara Liskov is a Turing Award winner known for her work in programming languages and distributed systems. We discussed the major problems she solved in her career, stories about Dijkstra, getting rejected from Princeton because she was a woman and misc topics around her work.🔸 My keyboard Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/T9CGjbPZeaM• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/turing-award-winner-data-abstraction𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• Go To Statement Considered Harmful: https://homepages.cwi.nl/~storm/teaching/reader/Dijkstra68.pdf• Viewstamped Replication: https://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/archive/fall09/cos518/papers/viewstamped.pdf𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:0:00 - Intro1:00 - Getting rejected from Princeton2:53 - The software crisis9:03 - The drawbacks of Python10:17 - Getting into distributed computing13:09 - Paxos vs Viewstamped replication21:44 - The significance of Dijkstras letter25:04 - Why she stayed in academia30:39 - Why her award was questioned33:51 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗮:• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Liskov𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
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Turing Award Winner: Postgres, Disagreeing with Google, Future Problems | Mike Stonebraker
Apr 2000:56:50Tap to summarizeMike Stonebraker is a Turing Award winner famous for his contributions to fundamental database technologies. We discussed the story behind building Postgres, where he disagrees with Google/Amazon on databases, and what he's working on now.🔸 My keyboard Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/YPObBOwIrHk• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/turing-award-winner-postgres-disagreeing𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• Red book of database readings: http://www.redbook.io/• BEAVER: An Enterprise Benchmark for Text-to-SQL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.02038𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:0:00 - Intro1:03 - How he got into databases6:43 - Competing with Oracle9:07 - What made Postgres special15:55 - One size fits none21:37 - Why he disagreed with Google29:14 - Why he chose academia over big tech30:58 - Replacing state in an OS with a DB42:02 - Future problems in databases51:36 - Technical book recommendations to learn databases52:20 - Advice for younger self55:52 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗶𝗸𝗲:• His current company DBOS: https://dbos.dev/ 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
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AWS Distinguished Eng: Learning From 3000 Incidents And How Engineering Is Changing | Marc Brooker
Apr 1301:11:30Tap to summarizeIn this episode, I talked to Marc Brooker, a distinguished engineer at AWS who started there as a new grad and rose through the ranks. We discussed technical learnings from 3,000+ cloud system postmortems, how software engineering is changing with AI, how to find impactful problems and much more.🔶 My keyboard Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/u3GjIXP9N0s• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1qX2GfpbzxzGpGvDZVINdO?si=wsDGZo9PTbCNalKVybFVnA• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/aws-distinguished-eng-learnings-from𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• Post we discussed on hobbies and apparent expertise: https://brooker.co.za/blog/2023/04/20/hobbies.html• Post on software engineering changing: https://brooker.co.za/blog/2026/02/07/you-are-here.html• Post about Senior engineers and AI: https://brooker.co.za/blog/2026/03/20/ic-leadership.html• Post on Junior engineers and AI: https://brooker.co.za/blog/2026/03/25/ic-junior.html𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:0:00 - Intro1:27 - Finding problems that matter11:42 - Learnings from 3000 postmortems23:58 - Why caches are bad29:37 - How AI will change software engineering36:49 - Advice for junior engineers given AI44:02 - Thoughts for senior engineers49:59 - Why engineers should write57:51 - Visibility and apparent expertise1:04:23 - AWS engineers he admires1:06:53 - Technical book recommendations1:09:06 - Advice for his younger self1:10:37 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-brooker-b431772b/• Twitter/X: https://x.com/MarcJBrooker• Personal Blog: https://brooker.co.za/blog/𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
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Ex-Head of Eng at Instagram: Career Regrets and Learnings | James Everingham
Apr 600:58:35Tap to summarizeThis is James Everingham, former head of engineering at Instagram and a veteran of the tech world with experience at Netscape. We talked about his unconventional start in the industry, learnings from every leg of his career, and regrets he has looking back.𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/VIF5Fm8NdE8• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/ex-head-of-eng-at-instagram-career𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:0:00 - Intro0:57 - Kicked out of college5:35 - FBI showed up at his house7:43 - Pre-IPO Netscape experience25:19 - Joining Instagram as head of eng29:12 - Why shrinking teams improves velocity32:59 - Working with Mike Krieger37:16 - Leading Cryptocurrency project at Meta42:30 - What he is working on now54:29 - Career regrets56:27 - Advice for his younger self57:42 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jevering/• Twitter/X: https://x.com/jevering• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@jevering𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
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Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans
Mar 3002:50:44Tap to summarizeEthan Evans is a former VP at Amazon has seen pretty much every possible type of corporate politics. Now that he's retired, he could share everything he'd seen including stories about empire building, hidden politics, reorgs, senior promos and dealing with bad managers.🔸 The keyboard I'm building: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/6WaeGfLnRvc• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/amazon-vp-reveals-everything-hes𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:00:00 - Intro2:33 - Empire Building31:54 - Stealing scope44:03 - Managing out via reorgs51:01 - Bad managers and mutiny01:01:43 - Political messaging01:11:48 - Handling politically skilled operators01:20:01 - Orgs trying to steal scope01:30:26 - Handling difficult people from other orgs01:36:19 - Handling weak managers01:46:30 - Backchanneling01:52:04 - Influence without authority01:58:04 - Sexual harassment 02:00:49 - Skip overruling firing02:05:39 - How to fire managers02:11:31 - Leverage when people are getting fired02:24:01 - How to grow past senior eng02:43:01 - How to avoid politics02:48:15 - Advice for younger self02:49:51 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanevansvp/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/EthanEvansVP• Newsletter: https://levelupwithethanevans.substack.com/• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-BAdkBGjOIlccGLZ3jbLiA𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
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