How to hire normal engineers and help them do great work with Charity Majors from Honeycomb
In this episode of Engineering Unblocked, Rebecca talks with Charity Majors, CTO of Honeycomb, to explore the myths of engineering productivity and the importance of building systems that enable “normal” engineers to succeed.Charity Majors tears down the myths of engineering exceptionalism — challenging the tech industry's worship of “10x developers” and advocating for systems that empower everyday engineers. She reveals how true organizational effectiveness emerges from resilient teams and a genuine connection between technical work and business strategy.Find the transcript at: https://www.swarmia.com/podcast/charity-majors-honeycomb/Timestamps(0:00) Introductions(1:26) Hiring normal engineers over the '10x developer'(4:40) The fundamental attribution error: looking at individuals over the system(6:24) What non-engineering leadership need to know about engineering(7:28) The ingredients of a normal-engineer optimized system(8:40) Why diverse teams are resilient teams(9:26) What creates 10x leverage?(11:42) Developer productivity metrics and what actually matters(14:20) Charity's take on the 'sh*t umbrella' school of management(16:30) How Honeycomb creates space for productivity to happen(19:28) The IC to manager journey(21:44) Why becoming a manager out of reaction can harm your team(23:19) Is the engineering manager level being eliminated?(25:23) Going back to being an IC isn't career limiting(30:45) Why Charity chooses to speak up and out(32:00) Charity's current hot-not-hot-take on the software industryFollow Charity on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charity-majors/Follow Rebecca on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmurphey/
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36:03
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36:03
Growing engineering headcount in the world of AI with Allan Leinwand, CTO of Webflow
In this episode of Engineering Unblocked, Rebecca sits down with Allan Leinwand, Chief Technology Officer at Webflow and serial engineering leader who has scaled teams at Slack, ServiceNow, and Shopify. Allan shares his unique perspective on what it takes to be a successful “scaling CTO” — the type of leader who comes in at inflection points to help companies hockey-stick their growth.Allan also offers insights on navigating the AI revolution in engineering — from how it’s changing the hiring process and accelerating junior developer growth, to using it for everything from code completion to writing performance reviews. With his background spanning from early Cisco networking to modern SaaS platforms, Allan brings a unique long-term perspective on technology evolution and what it means to build engineering organizations that can scale to serve millions of users worldwide.Find the transcript at: https://www.swarmia.com/podcast/allan-leinwand-webflow/Timestamps(0:00) Introductions(1:37) Allan's role as CTO(6:04) Staying in touch with the reality of software engineers(8:40) Similarities between leadership roles(11:09) Encountering founder mentality(13:00) The key to success as a CTO(16:23) How Webflow uses AI(19:37) How AI is affecting the hiring process(21:44) Hiring juniors(25:35) How AI is changing other roles(27:22) Webflow's approach to performance management(32:32) Mitigation strategies to maintain productivity(36:27) How Allan approaches reorgs(39:46) Who Allan feels accountable to(42:58) Creating a culture of accountabilityFollow Allan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleinwand/Follow Rebecca on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmurphey/
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45:34
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45:34
Navigating developer productivity at Netflix with Kathryn Koehler
In this episode of Engineering Unblocked, Rebecca sits down with Kathryn Koehler, Director of Developer Productivity at Netflix, to explore the unique challenges of scaling engineering at a 20-year-old company.The conversation dives deep into the complexities of building versus buying solutions, managing migrations across a multi-repo environment, and maintaining Netflix’s culture of freedom and responsibility, while providing the standardization that enables productivity at scale. Kathryn offers practical insights on everything from measuring productivity (hint: it’s not about lines of code) to navigating the current AI hype cycle with a level head.Find the transcript at: https://www.swarmia.com/podcast/kathryn-koehler-netflix/Timestamps(0:00) Introductions(1:14) Kathryn's background and journey to Netflix(5:27) Solving problems at a 20-year-old company(9:01) Defining productivity and platform(13:05) Kathryn's approach to standardization(16:50) How Netflix handles migrations(20:36) Deciding what to work on(23:26) Maintaining utility per engineer(27:36) The importance of mindset(31:25) Metrics of productivity(36:25) What Kathryn is accountable for(37:50) Kathryn's thoughts on AIFollow Kathryn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kakoehler/Follow Rebecca on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmurphey/
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42:41
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42:41
Preserving culture and delivery speed through growth with Julianna Lamb from Stytch
In this episode of Engineering Unblocked, Rebecca sits down with Julianna Lamb, co-founder and CTO of Stytch, to explore the challenges of building and scaling engineering culture at a fast-growing startup.Julianna shares her journey from Plaid to founding an authentication and fraud prevention platform, and dives deep into the cultural decisions that shaped Stytch's 30-person engineering team. From establishing quality practices and developer experience from day one to navigating the balance between speed and reliability, Julianna offers practical insights on maintaining culture through growth. They also discuss how AI is reshaping engineering interviews and the evolving role of junior developers in 2025. Find the transcript at: https://www.swarmia.com/podcast/julianna-lamb-stytch/Timestamps(0:00) Introductions(0:32) Julianna's background and path to Stytch(3:08) About the structure of Stytch(5:30) Julianna's approach to team growth(9:30) Early investments as a start-up(12:36) About Stytch's culture(17:10) Ensuring quality through testing(19:58) Ownership of internal tooling(22:24) Maintaining a culture of speed(25:09) Managing quality through growth(28:23) The importance of culture fit(31:53) AI's impact on junior engineers(35:00) How Stytch interviews in 2025(40:32) Julianna's ambitions for the futureFollow Julianna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliannaelamb/Follow Rebecca on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmurphey/
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42:42
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42:42
Developer productivity drivers and detractors with Max Kanat-Alexander from Capital One
In this episode, Rebecca sits down with Max Kanat-Alexander, Executive Distinguished Engineer for Developer Experience at Capital One, to explore the nuances of developer productivity and experience. The conversation dives deep into what actually drives — and what kills — productivity in engineering organizations. Max shares hard-won insights about why most developer experience initiatives fail (hint: it’s about not understanding your users), the critical difference between being productive as individuals versus as teams and organizations, and why treating engineers as “ticket takers” destroys software quality.Find the transcript at: https://www.swarmia.com/podcast/max-kanat-alexander-capital-one/Timestamps(0:00) Introductions(0:48) Max’s journey to Capital One(2:58) Unsuccessful developer productivity(5:37) Doing the ‘right’ work(11:01) Ticket-taker culture(15:25) Drivers of productivity(20:32) Performing KTLO work(25:40) Drivers and detractors of effective software delivery(33:16) Setting goals(40:42) The future of coding with AI(46:36) Max’s advice to junior engineersFollow Max on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkanat/Follow Rebecca on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmurphey/
Keeping software engineers in flow and unblocked is one of the key responsibilities of software development leaders. In each episode of the Engineering Unblocked podcast, Rebecca Murphey interviews leaders who have navigated challenges of scale, complexity, and growth. You’ll hear from people with lived experience across the software development ecosystem, from CTOs and VPEs to directors and line managers to product managers, program managers, tech leads, and more.
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