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In this episode, host Kovid Batra welcomes Lubo Drobny, Senior Leader & Software Engineering Coach at Cisco. With an impressive professional background at Seimens & SAP Labs, Lubo also actively contributes to the tech community through blogging, hosting podcasts, and organizing meetups centered around product and software engineering topics.
Today, you can find Lubo talking about building teams from scratch vs branching, engineering metrics, team excellence, & much more.
💡 Highlights

a) Getting Candid
🍃 Lubo’s love for programming, hiking & gardening.
👨‍🏫 A life-defining moment in Lubo’s career shaping his current coaching style.

b) Professional Journey
🚀 The story of leadership at Slido to its acquisition by Cisco.
💼 Working at Slido vs Cisco.

c) Key Takeaways
⚖️ How to balance hiring, training & delivery while scaling up?
📝 Crucial engineering metrics for assessing team excellence.
✅ The impact of metrics on delivery and quality.
🔍 Finding the root cause of inefficiency in teams.

Welcome to groCTO! Every week we publish a curated selection of articles, and podcasts to accelerate the growth of passionate engineering leaders 🚀
By subscribing, you empower us to deliver to you insights most valued by fellow CTOs and industry experts.

🎧 Full Episode
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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit grocto.substack.com

In this episode, host Kovid Batra welcomes Jörg Godau, Chief Digital Officer at Doctorly and one of the founding members of The EL Club in Berlin, Germany. His vast experience includes valuable contributions to renowned companies such as VRR Consulting UG, Nortal, and IBM. The discussion revolves around ‘Leading with Empathy & Compassion’.
The episode kicks off with Jörg discussing his hobbies and life-defining events before delving into his role and daily challenges at Doctorly. He emphasizes leveraging user insights and business understanding for software development and aligning individual career aspirations with organizational needs during team scaling.
Furthermore, Jörg explores measuring engineering team success both qualitatively and quantitatively. Wrapping up, he shares his final thoughts on remote work.

Welcome to groCTO. Every week we publish a curated selection of articles, and podcasts to accelerate growth for passionate engineering leaders
By subscribing, you empower us to deliver to you insights that have already shown value to fellow CTOs and technology readers.

You can find us here too!
LinkedIn || YouTube


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit grocto.substack.com

In this episode, host Kovid Batra welcomes Ricardo Castro, Platform Engineer/SRE at FanDuel.

The episode kicks off with Ricardo shedding light on his personal interests and transformative life experiences. He imparts valuable wisdom on differentiating between DevOps, SRE, and Platform Engineers. He also advises adopting best practices for implementing CI/CD pipelines in startups, medium-sized enterprises, and large corporations and presenting a robust framework for cultivating effective DevOps teams.

Lastly, Ricardo provokes thoughtful reflection on whether deployment frequency truly encapsulates DevOps efficiency, or if the focus should shift towards the value delivered.

Ricardo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mccricardo/

groCTO is an exclusive series of podcasts with tech leaders across the globe, sharing learnings about dev processes, growth, culture, and well-being.

Connect with us!
LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/typoapp/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/typo_app/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Typoapp_⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088731559819⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Try typo for free: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://typoapp.io/⁠⁠


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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit grocto.substack.com

This episode features Claus Höfele, Head of Engineering at On and the author of the newsletter ‘Drawn to Leadership’. He has a rich technical background at the Doctari Group, eBay Classifieds, Sony Ericsson, and more.

The episode begins with Claus sharing the core function of his company ‘On’ and the inspiration behind his newsletter. Following that, he explores his definition of ‘Leadership’ and describes his journey from a software engineer to a leader. He also offers insights into his role as a Director of Engineering, managing multiple teams, context switching, and escalations, particularly in lean structures or during hiring phases.

Lastly, Claus delves into defining success for engineering teams and discusses his significant success as an Engineering Director and the contributing factors.

Claus on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claushoefele/

groCTO is an exclusive series of podcasts with tech leaders across the globe, sharing learnings about dev processes, growth, culture, and well-being.

Connect with us!
LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/typoapp/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/typo_app/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Typoapp_⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088731559819⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Try typo for free: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://typoapp.io/⁠⁠


---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beyondthecodebytypo/message

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit grocto.substack.com

In this episode, we welcome Ariel Pérez, VP of Engineering at Strip. He has also previously contributed his expertise to JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Berchbox.

The episode begins with a quick fireside chat, where Ariel reveals his love for Latin dance, especially Salsa, and recounts a life-defining moment. Moving further into the main section, he shares details of his day-to-day responsibilities as a VP of Engineering at Split, which includes creating an environment for success and enabling his cross-functional teams to establish the right context.

Addressing the communication gap challenge, he advocates for two-way communication built on trust and transparency, emphasizing the importance of free-flowing knowledge transfer among teams. Later, he discusses methods to gauge engineering success, not solely relying on DORA metrics but also addressing the age-old question, "Are we building the right things?".

Lastly, Ariel delivers his parting advice for engineering leaders, urging them to recognize environment-building as their primary responsibility.

Ariel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arielxperez/

groCTO is an exclusive series of podcasts with tech leaders across the globe, sharing learnings about dev processes, growth, culture, and well-being.

Connect with us!
LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/typoapp/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/typo_app/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Typoapp_⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088731559819⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Try typo for free: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://typoapp.io/⁠⁠


---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beyondthecodebytypo/message

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit grocto.substack.com

In this episode, join Sebastian Heide-Meyer zu Erpen, VP of Technology at Tonies, and a professional mentor at the Mentoring Club.

Sebastian delves into the transition from an IC to a managerial role at Tonies, elucidating his day-to-day responsibilities and the challenges he faces. He emphasizes the strategic move towards insourcing development, illustrating the process of building and scaling a robust tech team through meticulous hiring practices and adept incident management.

Additionally, Sebastian elaborates on the four crucial dimensions for defining and measuring engineering success: outcome, output, tech health, and team health. He passionately advocates for the self-determination theory, an outcome-oriented approach, and the value-driven delivery model as essential frameworks within Tonies.

Finally, Sebastian underscores the significance of involving developers in the customer discovery phase, highlighting the pivotal role it plays in shaping product development and enhancing customer satisfaction.

Sebastian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastian-heide-meyer-zu-erpen/

Beyond the Code is an exclusive series of podcasts with tech leaders across the globe, sharing learnings about dev processes, growth, culture, and well-being.

Connect with us!
LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/typoapp/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/typo_app/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Typoapp_⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088731559819⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Try typo for free: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://typoapp.io/⁠⁠


---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beyondthecodebytypo/message

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit grocto.substack.com