LeadDev's PriorityZero

Allison Malloy, Director of Engineering at Shopify, joins the show to chat about her journey from aspiring astronaut to a successful career in software engineering. We talked about her unintentional path to management, the challenges of running a remote team, and her Priority Zero of unifying services across Shopify. 08:40 Transitioning to management: The unintentional leader 14:00 Managing managers and the importance of letting go 17:30 What makes a great technical manager 19:50 Working fully remote from Canada 24:00 Unification of teams and features at Shopify and expanding future capabilities 33:00 Setting the right goals for major projects and launches Allison's recommendation: The Acquired podcast and The Art of Storytelling by John D. Walsh.

Author of The Manager's Path, Camille Fournier, joins the podcast to talk about her varied career in software engineering, the evolution of management practices in tech, Founder mode vs Manager mode, and her recent interest in platform engineering. 02:00 Doing it for the money vs the passion 07:00 Management in startups vs. big companies 14:45 The qualities of good managers 23:00 The legacy of The Manager's Path 7 years on 31:00 Camille's current focus on platform engineering 39:00 Priority Zero: effectively offboarding as an executive Camille's recommendation: Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner Camille will also be speaking on stage LDX3 London on June 15-16, 2025. ⁠Tickets are available now.

Anil Dash, VP of developer experience at Fastly, joins the show to talk about the decline of community in software circles, the value of following your passions as a developer, what he learned working with Joel Spolsky on Stack Overflow and Glitch, and the evolution of developer tools. 6:00 Going from hobbyist to professional developer 11:00 The decline of software communities 18:00 The importance of following your passion as a developer 29:00 Working with Joel Spolsky 47:00 Adapting to a more corporate role and the pitfalls of 'founder mode' 53:00 Anil's Priority Zero: Making Fastly tools more accessible to developers by focusing on the experience Anil's recommendation: Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin by David Ritz

Melissa DePuydt, Director of Engineering at Medium, joins the show to talk about making the switch from journalism to software engineering, her experiences with imposter syndrome, and a Scrappy vs. Scale framework for adapting your management approach to different contexts. 06:00 Transitioning from journalism to engineering 13:00 Learning to live with imposter syndrome 21:00 The Scrappy vs. Scale framework (Check out Melissa's LeadDev New York talk on the Scrappy/Scale Mindset) 31:20 Establishing stability at Medium Melissa's recommendation: Horseback riding (yes, horseback riding)

Matt Boyle, an engineering manager at Cloudflare, joins the show to talk about joining the tech giant during the pandemic, how that influences his management style, and the vital importance of regular retrospectives. 06:00 The difference between working at big and small companies 09:00 The terrifying transition from IC to manager 15:00 The vital importance of retrospectives 18:00 Managing distributed teams and the importance of asynchronous work 21:00 Matt's Priority Zero: Ensuring high availability 24:00 The importance of continuous improvement after incidents Matt's recommendation: Acquired podcast

Dan Blundell, Engineering Director at Gymshark, joins the show to talk about his journey from an aspiring musician to self-taught developer. He reflects on his experiences in the public sector, including working on the UK's Covid-19 test and trace application, and his transition to the fast-growing retailer Gymshark, where he has learned the importance of understanding business needs, hiring for culture, and the significance of maintaining leadership capacity during periods of rapid change. 00:00 The MySpace years and discovering the spark 09:00 Becoming an accidental manager 12:00 Lessons learned from the public sector 15:00 The fear of joining Gymshark and navigating leadership challenges 21:00 The importance of understanding business needs 24:00 Dan's Priority Zero: Scaling at Gymshark 27:00 Hiring for culture and values Dan's recommendation: The Engineering Leader by Cate Huston

Director of Engineering at Trainline, Gary Stevens, joins the show to talk about the role of machine learning in the travel booking experience, the importance of engagement as an engineering leader, and mentoring vs coaching. 00:00 Gary's journey to director of engineering and learning from great managers 09:00 Coaching vs. mentoring 13:00 The importance of engagement in engineering and the importance of celebrating good work 21:00 Machine learning and the future of travel user experiences Gary's recommendation: The Hard Fork podcast

Alicia Collymore, a Senior Engineering Manager at Incident.io joins the show to chat about entering the industry without a formal computer science degree, transitioning from tech lead to management, setting goals for people who don't want them, and her priority zero of a big Microsoft Teams integration. 03:10 From self-learning to getting her big break 06:00 Transitioning from Tech Lead to Engineering Manager 12:00 The key to good hiring 15:00 Setting goals for engineers 17:30 Delivering a big MS Teams integration project Alicia's recommendation: Medusa by Rosie Hewlett

Rafe Colburn, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Depop joins the show to talk about his journey from a computer-loving kid to a seasoned engineering leader. We talked about the biggest lessons he learned from his time at Etsy, management by instinct, the dynamics between product and engineering teams, and his biggest priorities right now at Depop. 09:00 The evolution of engineering management and lessons from Etsy's engineering culture 15:00 Navigating product and engineering dynamics Rafe's recommendation: beliapp.com The James Stanier blog post we talked about: https://theengineeringmanager.substack.com/p/the-disappointment-frontier

Rob Zuber, CTO of CircleCI, joins the show to talk about his unique leadership journey, going from solving real manufacturing problems, to building software for other developers. 00:00 Rob's unconventional path to CTO 13:30 The importance of being scrappy 22:40 The Future of CircleCI 23:33 From analysis to execution: The shift in leadership roles 26:00 Running an Engineering Organization: Learning, reading, and seeking feedback 31:30 Improving developer experience iteratively Rob's recommended: 'Greatness' by David Marquet