The Peterman Pod

This is Michael Bolin, the tech lead for the open source Codex repository and a former distinguished engineer at Meta. We talked about his career path, how OpenAI engineers use Codex and the difference between research-led vs engineering-led company cultures.

🔸 My keyboard project: https://read.compose.llc/p/our-keyboard-design-reveal

𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:

• YouTube: https://youtu.be/hN5ZFzWFhhg

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835

• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/openai-codex-tech-lead-on-how-his

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:56 - Chickenfoot

00:02:45 - Working at Google

00:06:34 - Overhauling Facebook's build system

00:16:36 - Rewriting Facebook's IDE

00:26:01 - Struggles after Principal Eng (E8) promo

00:28:39 - Building a virtual filesystem for Facebook

00:35:47 - Delayed Distinguished promo (E9) and learnings

00:39:56 - Joining OpenAI

00:43:05 - Research-led vs engineering-led cultures

00:44:53 - The story behind Codex

00:51:00 - How he uses Codex

00:57:00 - Why Codex's harness is open source

00:59:50 - Top technical book recommendations

01:05:02 - Why deep technical skills are still valuable (for now)

01:11:07 - How to start projects well

01:14:27 - Advice on writing better and career planning

01:17:06 - Advice for his younger self

01:19:10 - Outro

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗹:

• His personal blog - https://blog.bolinfest.com/

• Twitter/X - https://x.com/bolinfest

• Threads - https://www.threads.com/@bolinfest

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-bolin-7632712

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

Bryan Cantrill was a distinguished engineer at Sun Microsystems and has now founded his own company called Oxide Computer Company. We discussed his career experiences through boom/busts, what competing with Bezos was like, and career regrets.

𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:

• YouTube: https://youtu.be/qhSL-5GtmQM

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835

• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/distinguished-eng-on-stack-ranking

𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:

• Link to the part in the talk on Oracle/Sun we discussed - https://youtu.be/-zRN7XLCRhc?si=eExjIMZROGjJcDsw&t=1977

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:42 - Working at Sun Microsystems

00:10:17 - His growth to distinguished eng

00:19:14 - Why goaling on promotion is bad

00:29:34 - Stack ranking and layoffs

00:36:00 - Why he hated the Oracle acquisition

00:44:19 - Why Bezos is the apex predator of capitalism

00:48:04 - Differences between CTO and VP

00:49:58 - Starting his own company

01:02:37 - Grilling him on his past

01:11:57 - AI boom and bust advice

01:14:41 - When he was happiest in his career

01:17:22 - Top career regret

01:19:21 - Advice for younger self

01:20:57 - Outro

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗿𝘆𝗮𝗻:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-cantrill-b6a1/

• Twitter/X - https://x.com/bcantrill

• Personal Website - https://bcantrill.dtrace.org/

• His company - https://oxide.computer/

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

I interviewed Leslie Lamport, a Turing Award winner known for his contributions to distributed systems and the inventor of the Paxos algorithm. We walked through the major contributions of his career for the stories behind them and what he learned along the way.

🔸 My keyboard project: https://read.compose.llc/p/our-keyboard-design-reveal

𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:

• YouTube: https://youtu.be/U719vQz-WFs

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835

• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/turing-award-winner-on-working-with

𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:

• Bakery Problem Paper: https://lamport.azurewebsites.net/pubs/bakery.pdf

• Time Clocks Paper (most cited): https://lamport.azurewebsites.net/pubs/time-clocks.pdf

• The Byzantine Generals Problem Paper: https://lamport.azurewebsites.net/pubs/byz.pdf

• The Paxos Algorithm Paper: https://lamport.azurewebsites.net/pubs/lamport-paxos.pdf

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:25 - The Bakery Algorithm

00:08:28 - Experiences with Dijkstra

00:14:44 - His most cited paper

00:23:26 - The "Byzantine Generals" problem

00:38:05 - The Paxos Algorithm

00:46:57 - Paxos vs Raft Algorithm

00:51:26 - Building LaTeX

00:54:45 - Why writing improves your thinking

01:00:21 - Why he wasn't an academic

01:02:08 - Grand theory of concurrency

01:07:25 - Why he doesn't think he's smart

01:09:07 - Advice for his younger self

01:09:44 - Outro

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗲:

• His works: https://lamport.azurewebsites.net/pubs/pubs.html

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

David Ronca joined Netflix in 2007 and grew to an engineering director there. Later he joined Meta as a Director and transitioned to a Principal engineer working on video technologies. Now he's retired and was graciously willing to share his career story with us. I asked him for everything he learned in his 36 year career.

𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:

• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/retired-netflix-engineering-director

• YouTube: https://youtu.be/ApG9vjbHDCk

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835

𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:

• Netflix culture memo (2009) - https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/culture-1798664/1798664

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:40 - How Netflix was different

00:08:01 - The legendary Netflix culture memo

00:18:54 - How to hire engineers well

00:30:52 - The strongest engineer he's ever met

00:33:02 - Joining Meta

00:50:52 - Near death experience

00:59:04 - Where he learned the most

01:04:09 - Book that impacted his career most

01:11:33 - Advice for his younger self

01:18:32 - Outro

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidronca/

• Personal Website: https://www.roncatech.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/@ryanlpeterman

This is Adam Ernst, a Distinguished Engineer at Meta (IC9) who’s built iOS infrastructure that has impacted the entire company. We talked about how his career grew, a major failed project of his, and everything he learned growing to that level.

🔸 My keyboard project link: https://read.compose.llc/p/our-keyboard-design-reveal

𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:

• YouTube: https://youtu.be/YA_OYJF3Mmw

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835

• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/meta-distinguished-eng-ic9-on-influencing

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:47 - His middle school company

00:03:50 - His first project and promo at Meta

00:10:03 - Why code review is undervalued

00:12:42 - Senior Staff (IC7) promo story and project

00:19:26 - His major failed project

00:26:35 - How to handle a failed project

00:29:04 - Thoughts on management

00:31:35 - Technical depth vs breadth

00:33:32 - IC9 expectations

00:34:46 - Senior engineers he admires

00:37:39 - Advice for his younger self

00:39:52 - Outro

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗺:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjernst/

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

Ryan Olson grew from mid-level engineer (IC4) to a principal engineer (IC8) at Instagram through a series of famous projects. The most notable was when he was the lead iOS developer that built Instagram Stories. We discuss his career journey and learnings.

𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:

• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/instagram-principal-eng-ic8-on-building

• Spotify: Episode link from Spotify after scheduling

• YouTube: https://youtu.be/gpVETZnY9Y0

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835

• Zuckerberg emails I mentioned:

Twitter link: https://x.com/TechEmails/status/1944451283236303184

Threads link: https://www.threads.com/@techemails/post/DMDi5IWpPyC

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:31 - Failing his FB interview

00:03:27 - Interning /w future billionaires

00:14:08 - Interview nerves tip

00:16:37 - Early Instagram experiences

00:34:08 - Building Instagram Stories

00:45:03 - 1 promo per half to Staff (IC6)

00:49:51 - Senior staff promo project (IC7)

00:57:37 - IG labs & his principal promo (IC8)

01:08:19 - Starting Retro and leaving big tech

01:21:33 - Small teams hypothetical

01:25:17 - Examples of talented individuals

01:31:16 - Advice to his younger self

01:34:45 - Outro

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:

• Retro (his company): https://retro.app/

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanolsonk/

• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanolsonk

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanolsonk/

• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanolsonk

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

In this episode, I talked to "Asian Dad Energy" an anonymous big techie who was laid off after 25 years in the industry. We discussed his layoffs experience, his early career in engineering consulting, and the realities of big tech compensation.

🔸 My keyboard project link: https://read.compose.llc/p/our-keyboard-design-reveal

𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:

• YouTube: https://youtu.be/8bs6KmJX4_g

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ApCuf04MXv0nBRqKNLyiQ?si=bko-M46xQM2FHhTG6Vcy6Q

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835

• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/laid-off-from-big-tech-after-25-years

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:41 - His layoff story

00:07:02 - Why he expects more layoffs

00:09:42 - Tech consulting before big tech

00:19:25 - Consultants shipping bad code?

00:26:57 - Why do people dislike consultants?

00:30:55 - Big tech compensation

00:40:27 - When age impacted his flexibility

00:42:04 - Why YouTube

00:46:46 - Speaking advice for engineers

00:49:09 - Advice for younger self

00:49:35 - Outro

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗺:

• https://www.youtube.com/@AsianDadEnergy

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

In this episode, I talked to Nimit Sohoni, a Stanford PhD and AI Researcher at Cartesia who previously worked as a quant at Citadel. We discussed the differences between AI research and quant careers, including work-life balance and the value of a PhD in these fields. Nimit also shared what he's currently working on and offered advice for those looking to transition into AI research.

𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:

• YouTube: https://youtu.be/_jECS37M3dQ

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835

• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/stanford-phd-ai-researcher-and-quant

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:45 - Do you need a PhD?

00:06:25 - Research taste and finding problems

00:09:04 - Why become a quant

00:12:01 - What quants do

00:14:53 - How quants and SWEs collaborate

00:16:29 - Quant vs tech culture

00:26:39 - Quant firm tier list

00:27:56 - Quant insider trading and perf culture

00:30:53 - Going back to AI research

00:35:08 - Who the top competitors are in voice AI

00:39:22 - AI startups vs big labs

00:42:08 - State space models vs transformers

00:49:33 - AI labs: research or product?

00:52:38 - Advice for SWEs who want to try AI research

00:56:48 - Advice for younger self

00:57:49 - Outro

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁:

• Twitter/X: https://x.com/nimit_sohoni

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nimit-sohoni-68998854/

• Cartesia: https://cartesia.ai/sonic

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

In this episode, I talked to Igor, a senior staff engineer who has worked at Meta, Google, and Cruise. We discussed his experience of wanting a demotion at Meta and the challenges he faced in that process.

𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:

• YouTube: https://youtu.be/i1iBweuOQI4

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835

• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/meta-senior-staff-ic7-engs-honest

𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:

• Igor's post: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7401415295409700864/

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:37 - Why he wanted a demotion

00:07:32 - Why Senior Staff at Meta was different

00:16:01 - Meta vs Google culture

00:19:09 - Downleveling at Google

00:23:17 - Why he's willing to be transparent

00:25:11 - Best quality of life eng level

00:30:42 - Senior Staff promo at Google

00:42:27 - Mentorship stories

00:43:11 - Biggest career regret

00:46:46 - Advice for younger self

00:49:06 - Outro

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗴𝗼𝗿:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/igorts/

• ML basics youtube videos he made: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVcptlT8D7DgN5FtLMFUdHb5pJXW1g0YL

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

Laurent Charignon was a Staff engineer at Stripe, Airbnb, and Instagram with some experience in management as well. We discussed the unspoken rules you learn as a manager, how he transitioned, what good mentorship looks like, and advice for senior engineers who are stuck looking to grow to Staff.

𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:

• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/airbnb-staff-eng-on-how-to-not-get

• YouTube: https://youtu.be/cgQY_1Uz2b8

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:44 - Joining Airbnb and transitioning to EM

00:18:29 - Untold rules of calibrations

00:23:50 - How to dispute bureaucracy

00:29:54 - Airbnb culture

00:31:36 - Leaving Airbnb for Meta

00:35:56 - Uber TL at Stripe

00:42:52 - How to scale yourself

00:45:22 - What people get wrong in coaching

00:52:58 - Why people get stuck at Senior eng

00:57:24 - Most career impacting book

00:58:39 - Advice for younger self

01:00:27 - Outro

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurentcharignon/

• Personal Website: https://blog.laurentcharignon.com/

• Twitter/X: https://x.com/lc2817

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