Today's episode is with Yan Cui, Principle consultant at TheBurningMonk Limited. We have covered several topics related to serverless in terms of adoption, architecture, security, tooling and frameworks, testing and monitoring, and much more

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction and Background

02:54 Running a Consultancy Company

07:59 Self-Publishing vs. Working with a Publishing Company

11:25 The Value of Workshops and Courses

22:02 Working in different settings

25:43 Adopting serverless

39:13 Typical Serverless Architecture

44:37 Serverless Frameworks

57:28 Security Considerations in Serverless Architectures

01:00:28 Challenges and Limitations of Serverless Computing

01:03:52 Serverless as the right choice for a project

01:10:06 Ditching Serverless for monolithic applications

01:16:00 Ditching the cloud towards hosting on dedicated servers

01:21:22 Testing Serverless applications

01:31:33 Monitoring Serverless applications

01:36:41 Yan's podcast: Real World Serverless

01:37:37 Most rewarding aspect of Yan's work

01:38:31 Mental Health question

Links about topics mentioned in the episode:

Prime video shift towards monolithic: https://www.primevideotech.com/video-streaming/scaling-up-the-prime-video-audio-video-monitoring-service-and-reducing-costs-by-90

Spotify Test Honeycomb https://engineering.atspotify.com/2018/01/testing-of-microservices/

Yan doesn't just share insights; he also offer transformative courses and workshops designed to elevate your skills and knowledge in serverless. Whether you're looking to gain a competitive edge or deepen your understanding, Yan's unique blend of practical wisdom and innovative strategies is something you won't want to miss

Yan's course offering: https://theburningmonk.com/courses/

Yan's consultancy offering: https://theburningmonk.com/hire-me/

Production Ready Serverless workshop: https://productionreadyserverless.com/

AppSync Masterclass course: https://appsyncmasterclass.com/

Testing Serverless course: https://testserverlessapps.com/

AWS Step Functions course: https://school.theburningmonk.com/courses/complete-guide-to-aws-step-functions

AWS Lambda Best Practices course: https://school.theburningmonk.com/courses/learn-you-some-lambda

Serverless Architecture book: https://www.manning.com/books/serverless-architectures-on-aws-second-edition?a_aid=aws-lambda-in-motion&a_bid=9318fc6f

Yan's podcast: https://realworldserverless.com/

(P.S. The links shared here do not contain any affiliate codes, and Reconfigured is not affiliated with Yan to promote his offerings. I have personally invested in his courses and have benefited tremendously in my professional life)

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Today's episode is with Patrick Samy. Patrick is currently working on Peak (https://www.joinpeak.co/), co-founder and CEO of Span (acquired by Eight Sleep). We have talked about several topics from working in big corps, starting your own company, providing market fit, and much more

Today's episode is with Shane Afsar, Senior Engineering Manager at Algolia. We have talked about several topics including engineering management, remote team management, dealing with legacy systems, getting involved in the business of things, how to know if someone fits your team, and much more

00:00 Intro

00:41 Shane's intro

01:05 Shane's role at Algolia

02:55 Developer experience, how does it work?

04:42 Algolia's crawler and how it functions

05:44 Shane's experience working at LinkedIn for 8 years

20:15 Dealing with legacy systems

21:47 Shifting from writing code to getting involved into the business aspect

23:26 Shane's experience at Twitter before and after Elon's acquisition

30:30 Twitter's Community Notes feature

31:55 The work environment difference between a big corp and a small corp

35:31 Switching teams in large corps and small corps

36: 53 The journey from software developer to engineering manager

41:07 Pitfalls during transition and what to take into consideration when starting out as an engineering manager

57:57 How to grow a team of 5 developers to a team of 12 cross functioning developers

01:05:34 How to manage remote teams efficiently

01:13:29 Fostering a culture of growth and skills within a team

01:16:32 How to know if someone is fit for your team

01:18:43 Evaluating employees who use AI extensively for work

01:27:01 Does academia prepare you to enter the market

01:37:09 Mental Health question

01:45:49 Outro

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Today's episode is with Fadi Boulous, founder and CEO of Supportful. We have discussed several topics from supporting local talent, decreasing the brain drain, supporting companies efficiently, dealing with remote teams, hiring the right talent, and much more

00:00 Intro

00:44 Fadi's intro

01:13 Fadi's journey switching from academia to entrepreneurship

03:15 Lebanon's 2019 crisis

04:11 Key takeaway from entrepreneurship

04:38 Formal education is no longer critical

06:38 How Supportful started as a side hustle

09: 11 Creating connections with people

11:38 Supportful's mission

13:47 Maintaining strong remote teams

15:46 Criteria to prioritize when hiring new talent + company culture

17:15 Community influence on direction and growth

20:20 Key strategies for visibility, sales, and customer base

22:16 Personal accounts vs company accounts for authenticity

26:05 Balancing technical skills with sales

28:51 Strategies and practices in building a talent pool + keeping the team up to date

35:54 Culture difference between France and Lebanon

37:54 Customer feedback's influence on service development

39:13 Fadi's leadership philosophy

40:59 Where the tech industry heading towards in the next 5 years

47: 42 Advice for people to become founders

49:48 Work life balance for founders and CEOs

53:36 Mental health question

01:02:14 Outro

If you wish to learn more about Supportful then feel free to check out their official website https://www.supportful.world

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Today's episode is with Jonathan Gottfried, co-founder of Major League Hacking (MLH). We have discussed several topics from organizing hackathons to fostering diverse events and building the next generation

00:00 Intro

00:41 Jon's intro

00:51 Rewarding aspect of building and growing MLH over the years

02:19 MLH's role of documenting stories of student hackers

05:34 MLH's impact on participants career

08:58 MLH's contribution to foster a sense of inclusivity and diversity

12:32 Organizing events of people from different skill levels

14:50 First time hackathon experience

16:26 Challenges that aspiring software developers face when transitioning to a technical founder

19:01 Developers preferring to create B2B services than B2C

21:55 MLH collaborating with Fortune 500, FANG, Big Four companies and the impact it has on people's careers

23:58 Key attributes essential for individuals to become successful technical founders

26:11 Finding a good co-founder

27:28 MLH shifting from LLC to C-corp then B-corp

30:02 Transitioning to B-corp inspiration for other companies who might want to consider

32:06 Translating hackathon collaboration skills to the software industry

34:49 MLH initiatives reaching global reach, how MLH addresses cultural and societal nuance

37: 38 MLH activities affects on becoming a developer evangelist

40:21 Difference between evangelist and developer relations

41:05 MLH mentorship from alumni/experienced hackers

43:18 MLH challenges and obstacles when starting and running it for the past 10 years

45:41 What sparked Jon's interest into the world of hacking and technology

52:08 What developer evangelism means to Jon

53:53 Jon's experience as a developer evangelist at Twilio

55:24 The State of Developer Education podcast

57:12 Consideration of the idea of pursuing something new in the future

59:30 Going outside the comfort zone to starting something new like a startup

01:02:31 Mental health question

01:07:03 Outro

If you are interested to stay up to date with upcoming podcast episodes then consider subscribing to our newsletter! We release every Wednesday interesting articles and podcast episodes releases, available at https://www.reconfigured.co/newsletter

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Today's episode is with Karl Swanepoel, CEO of Revolancer. We have discussed multiple topics ranging from how freelancer websites are doing things wrong, how Revolancer empowers freelancers, starting your own business, connecting with the right people, and much more!

00:00 Intro

00:42 Karl's introduction

01:00 What is Revolancer and what they offer?

01:43 What is the role of a CEO?

02:47 Cultural difference between a startup and a company

03:46 Finding the right people to work at your startup

07:10 Advice on starting your own startup for someone entering the field of entrepreneurship

15:14 Advice on finding the right people to ask for advice/mentoring

18:04 Revolancer's seed round + procedure of getting a seed round and investment advice

27:32 Why would someone aim to secure funds from an investor?

30:49 Karl's adventures starting BuySellJobs at age 15

33:07 Karl's adventures being the youngest-ever brand ambassador for Britain’s largest business conference, The Business Show

34:40 Founding RocketBlast Digital and how agencies should be fair with their clients

38:51 The role of a CMO (chief marketing officer) and steps to help a startup get noticed in the public

42:42 Karl co-founding Leapinto (non profit organization) with Kevin Mansell-Abell where they helped students with their career concerns by connecting them to industry professionals and opening their eyes to the real work world.

47:34 Karl's adventure managing The Watch Face, a watch oriented magazine which he managed from age 16 till 18

49:51 Karl's advice on how can someone market themselves online

52:47 Did growing up in different countries affects Karl's view on doing business?

55:23 Studying artificial intelligence + consideration of leaping into AI

56:59 Mental health question

01:01:38 Outro

I really enjoyed recording this episode with Karl! If you are interested to connect with Karl then please consider following him on LinkedIn!

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlswa/  

Karl's Website - https://karlswanepoel.com/about/

Video: https://youtu.be/FJ_aiSMxWPg

Audio: https://podcast.reconfigured.co

If you are interested to stay up to date with upcoming podcast episodes then consider subscribing to our newsletter! We release every Wednesday interesting articles and podcast episodes releases, available at https://www.reconfigured.co/newsletter

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Today's episode is with Jillian Funes, Technical product manager at Canopy Servicings. We have discussed several topics from how to get into product management, transitioning from software development to product management, difference between project management and product management, and much more!

00:00 Intro

00:42 Jillian Intro

00:55 What is Canopy and what they offer

02:13 What is the role of a technical product manager

03:13 What is the flow to take a product from planning to development

10:27 Utilizing developer advocates for product ideas + Jillian's experience working with the development team

12:18 Difference between project management and product management

16:16 Estimating technical task issues with non technical product managers

19:06 Consulting the tech lead or CTO for task management for non technical product managers

21:43 Does it make sense to shift from software development to product after working in the industry for 7 years?

29:08 After 9 years of software develop then to product, did it change Jillian's perspective of the software industry?

31:38 Jillian's experience at ArcelorMittal (a Fortune500 company)34:15 Consideration of entering a corporate job

39:21 Jillian's experience at Payroc, a fintech company

44:00 Should companies hire people who are generalists or specialists?

49:42 Jillian's love for product showed at Payroc, what would happen if she didn't join Payroc? would she transition to product management?

51:39 Bootcamp graduates effect on a product in the perspective of a technical product manager

57:03 Consideration of starting your own startup or playing it safe in the future

01:10:12 Mental health question

01:21:29 Outro

If you are interested to stay up to date with upcoming podcast episodes then consider subscribing to our newsletter! We release every Wednesday interesting articles and podcast episodes releases, available at https://www.reconfigured.co/newsletter

Video: https://youtu.be/QoKPuA71tFI

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Today's episode is with Liz Acosta, Developer Advocate at Skyflow. We have discussed several topics from how to get into developer advocacy, getting into a bootcamp from a non-tech background, and much more.

00:00 Intro

00:42 Liz's introduction

01:49 Liz's current position at Skyflow

03:50 What Skyflow offers

05:44 Use case of handling something on your own versus using a managed service

10:54 Role of a developer advocate

16:07 Advocating a product based on needs

21:28 Authenticity when advocating for a product and knowing your audience

28:01 Liz tells Mohamad that he would be a great developer advocate

29:11 How to get into developer advocacy when not being comfortable around people

34:07 Using developer advocacy as a way to get a job while writing code as a hobby

39:52 Her experience at Twilio working as a software developer after joining a coding bootcamp + Twilio's apprenticeship program called "Hatch"

44:44 Current employment conditions for people starting out

48:25 Coding bootcamps taking advantage of non technical people who are trying to get a tech job

57:18 Companies hiring bootcamp grades but on lower conditions to fit their needs

01:03:27 Personal Experience with coding bootcamps

01:08:57 Shifting from Software development towards Developer Advocacy

01:15:48 Neo-divergence and ADHD affects on learning

01:22:14 Possibility of a career change in the future where Liz considered the idea of becoming a snowboard instructor

01:25:25 Sean's introduction of Liz from her being a dog-walker towards becoming a developer advocate + not working in the film industry

01:31:39 Liz's experience being a cancer survivor

01:40:09 General mental health question

01:44:15 Outro

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Today's episode is with Wesley Faulkner, Senior Community Manager at AWS. We have discussed several topics ranging from community management, community ops, becoming a devrel, and much more!  

(0:00) Podcast intro 

(0:41) Wesley's intro 

(1:19) Being a 1st generation American 

(3:33) Role of a Community Manager at AWS 

(7:36) Being a board member at The Experience Firm 

(11:01) Head of Community at SingleStore 

(13:06) Fostering internal communities within a company 

(19:44) Developer advocacy in a startup and corporate (IBM and Dailyco) 

(23:47) MongoDB Community Management 

(26:12) CommunityOps: operations for maintaining a community 

(30:32) Instructions to adopt CommunityOps in your company 

(37:29) Does having marketing and social media skills help in devrel? 

(40:26) The rise of Slack over Atlassian HipChat while Wesley was working at Atlassian  

(46:07) Managing different roles at AMD 

(49:51) Discovering what you love and finding your outlet of joy 

(51:53) Interesting references and ChatGPT 

(57:07) Using ChatGPT for DevRel 

(1:02:54) Running for 2016 City Council in Austin Texas 

(1:08:35) What to recommend for DevRel based on Wesley's 20 years experience in tech 

(1:13:38) Shifting careers 

(1:17:53) Certifications for DevRel 

(1:15:39) Mental health question  

(1:23:35) Outro   

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