Send us a text In the first Serverless Craic episode of 2026, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly reflect on a five-year journey that began in early 2021 with the idea for The Value Flywheel Effect. This episode closes out the book series by looking back—warts and all—at what it really took to write, publish, promote, and apply the ideas in practice. The conversation spans writing fatigue, editing realities, imposter syndrome, enterprise adoption, and why the flywheel is arguably more relevant than ever in an AI-first world. If you care about modern software delivery, cloud strategy, serverless-first thinking, and leading technology change, this one is for you. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 – Welcome & context Episode 79, first show of 2026, and closing out the book series 01:20 – How the book started (2021 → 2026) From an idea to a five-year journey 01:35 – Did we enjoy writing the book? Ideation, Guinness-fuelled drafts, and the reality of writing 02:30 – Shaping the narrative Why writing is harder than it looks, and why shared context doesn’t scale 04:10 – Atomic essays & capturing thinking early GitHub, short-form writing, and building habits 05:00 – Would this book have helped us 15 years ago? Modernisation gaps, agile limits, and why the flywheel mattered 06:00 – The editing process (and thick skin) What professional editors really do to your manuscript 07:40 – Feedback, criticism, and author psychology Why the one negative comment sticks 09:15 – Has the book made an impact? Enterprises, conferences, and unexpected adoption stories 12:40 – Applying the flywheel in real organisations North Stars, Team Topologies, serverless-first in practice 14:30 – The hardest part of the whole journey Finishing, introductions, and the truth about selling a book 17:30 – Promotion, modesty, and imposter syndrome Why marketing a book is a full-time job 19:00 – Influences & supporters Kent Beck, Adrian Cockcroft, Simon Wardley, and standing on shoulders 21:45 – Is the book still relevant in the age of GenAI? Why the flywheel + AI is a force multiplier 23:00 – AI, context engineering, and agentic systems Using codified principles to guide AI effectively 25:30 – Lowering the barrier to good practice How AI helps teams apply architecture, security, and governance 29:00 – Business strategy vs technical strategy Is the divide finally disappearing? 31:45 – The emerging “builder” persona Shifting left, shifting right, and new SDLC realities 34:50 – Closing thoughts & what’s next AISDLCs, Brownfield challenges, and future episodes 📚 Resources & Links 📘 The Value Flywheel Effect — principles for modern cloud and serverless transformation 🌐 The Serverless Edge: https://theserverlessedge.com 🎥 Subscribe on YouTube for weekly Serverless Crack episodes 💬 Follow the conversation on LinkedIn 💡 Key Takeaways Writing a book is much harder than most engineers expect The flywheel was never about tech or business—it’s about both AI makes codified principles (North Stars, well-architected practices) more valuable, not less Serverless Craic from The Serverless Edge Check out our book The Value Flywheel Effect Follow us on X @ServerlessEdge Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe on YouTube
