The Dark Arts of Software Engineering Team Optimization

Kyle Johnson, Franz Aliquo
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Join hosts Kyle Johnson, the expert in scaling engineering teams with precision, and Franz Aliquo, the cultural architect behind viral campaigns and Fortune 50 strategy, as they reveal the "dark arts" of elite software engineering team optimization. From Holonic, this podcast invites top minds and successful leaders to dissect the science of creating Product-Oriented Development (POD) teams. We dive into the proprietary curriculum - informed by cutting-edge team science - that builds self-contained, high-velocity units designed for resilience. Learn the secrets to achieving unparalleled agility, lowering churn, and integrating cross-functional collaborators who drive business value immediately. Don't just hire talent. Architect success.

  1. 1d ago

    Why the Future of AI Will Run on Your Device Instead of the Cloud with Jeffrey Li

    In this episode of The Dark Arts of Team Optimization, hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo sit down with Jeffrey Li, COO of Liquid AI and Founder of Resa Health. He explains why conviction is the foundation of high-performing teams, how to scale globally distributed engineering organizations, and why the future of AI isn't just bigger models in the cloud but smaller, efficient models running directly on everyday devices. From building research-first cultures to commercializing cutting-edge AI, Jeffrey offers practical lessons on leadership, hiring, product strategy, and organizational design. Jeffrey Li is an MIT spinout developing next-generation foundation models designed to run efficiently on edge devices. Before joining Liquid AI, he was an early team member at Scale AI, helped co-found Gather during the pandemic, and built products focused on human connection and career development. His experience spans AI infrastructure, startups, product commercialization, and building high-performing teams at every stage of growth. Expect to Learn -Why conviction is the most important trait when hiring exceptional talent. -How to scale a remote-first AI company without sacrificing collaboration. -Lessons from hypergrowth at Gather and why processes should evolve constantly. -How Liquid AI balances cutting-edge research with commercial product development. -Why healthy disagreement leads to better decision-making and stronger teams. -The future of on-device AI and why smaller models will power the next generation of intelligent products. -How to build organizations that thrive through constant change instead of resisting it. Timestamps 00:00 – Trailer 01:00 – Introducing Jeffrey Li and Liquid AI’s Vision for the Future of AI 02:56 – The Career Through Line: Building Companies Around Conviction 04:01 – The Story Behind Gather and Lessons From Hypergrowth 09:43 – Scaling Liquid AI: From Research Lab to Commercial AI Company 11:00 – Recruiting Elite AI Talent Through Mission and Autonomy 15:41 – Building a Global Remote-First Engineering Organization 20:03 – Transitioning From Research Culture to Product Execution 23:47 – Creating a Culture Where Disagreement Drives Better Decisions 26:26 – Decision-Making and Collaboration Across Distributed Teams 31:15 – Why the Future of AI Will Run Beyond the Cloud 34:33 – Deploying AI in the Real World and the Future of Liquid AI 40:06 – Where to find Jeffrey Li and Liquid AI Disclosure: Portions of this episode (such as the introduction or promotional segments) use AI-generated voice narration produced under human editorial review. 📱 Follow the Guest Jeffrey Li: 👉LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-li-7aa67712a/ 👉Company LinkedIn: - Liquid Ai: https://www.linkedin.com/company/liquid-ai-inc/ 👉Company Website: - Liquid Ai: https://www.liquid.ai/ - Resa Health: https://resahealth.com/ 📱 Follow the Hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo: 👉 Kyle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleclaytonjohnson/ 👉 Franz’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franz-aliquo/ 📱 Follow Holonic: 👉 Website: https://www.becomeholonic.com/ 👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/becomeholonic/ 👉 Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@holonic 👉 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomeholonic 📱 Follow The Podcast: 👉 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg1W9it4iJByADOiZTet0RA 👉Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3wHRfjI84ZxPRcENynJmyK?si=101cc3baf20d4b1c 👉 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dark-arts-of-the-team-optimization/id1

    Why the Future of AI Will Run on Your Device Instead of the Cloud with Jeffrey Li

  2. Oct 2

    AI Turning Product Managers Into Bottlenecks for PMs to Adapt and Scale Faster with Chris Geoghegan

    In this episode of The Dark Arts of Team Optimization, hosts Franz Aliquo and Kyle Johnson speak with Chris Geoghegan, Magician at Magic by Geo and Former VP of Product at Zapier, about how AI is changing engineering velocity, product management, incident response, and team learning. Listeners will learn how Zapier identifies shifting bottlenecks, builds shared AI context, and manages accountability as more people and agents contribute to software delivery. Chris brings the perspective of Zapier’s first product manager and a product leader who has worked through the company’s evolution from workflow automation to agentic workflows. His background across coding, business, and product helps frame why AI adoption is not just a tooling change, but a redesign of how teams learn, coordinate, govern agents, and decide what to build next. Expect to Learn How to identify the single constraint that most limits engineering velocity as AI changes the software delivery process.Why working software in customers’ hands gives product teams a stronger signal than research or prototypes alone.How product managers can use shared AI context, automated feedback loops, and agents to keep pace with high-velocity engineering teams.The reason immersion with AI-forward teams can spread new ways of working more effectively than training programs alone.How teams can balance empowerment and accountability when designers, PMs, and other non-engineers ship code into production.The governance questions leaders need to answer when employees delegate Slack, email, tool access, and compute spend to AI agents. Timestamps 00:00 – Trailer 01:00 – Introduction to Chris Geoghegan 02:05 – Chris’s Journey From Zapier’s First Product Manager to Former VP of Product 04:21 – Customer-Led Product Development and the “Paving the Cow Paths” Philosophy 05:28 – Why Great Product Managers Need Engineering, Business, and Design Thinking 07:37 – Redesigning the Factory: How AI Is Moving Organisational Bottlenecks 10:29 – The New Incident Management Challenge in an AI-Accelerated Engineering World 13:01 – How AI Changes Work: Moving People From Operators to Engineers and Architects 15:14 – When Product Managers Become the Bottleneck: Adapting to AI-Native Engineering Teams 18:17 – Why AI Transformation Requires Immersion and Experience, Not Just Training 21:42 – The Difference Between AI-Enabled Individuals and AI-Enabled Teams 23:57 – Building Zapier’s Shared Company Brain and Agent-Friendly Context Layer 28:55 – Accountability, Governance, and Managing a Growing Fleet of AI Agents 34:00 – The Future of Zapier: Building Agent Infrastructure for the Next Generation of Work 36:32 – Closing Conversation: The Future of AI, Product Teams, and Where to Follow Chris and Zapier Disclosure: “Portions of this episode (such as the introduction or promotional segments) use AI-generated voice narration produced under human editorial review.” 📱 Follow the Guest Chris Geoghegan: 👉LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgeoghegan/ 👉Company LinkedIn: Zapier:https://www.linkedin.com/company/zapier/ 👉Company Website: Zapier: https://zapier.com 📱 Follow the Hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo: 👉 Kyle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleclaytonjohnson/ 👉 Franz’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franz-aliquo/ 📱 Follow The Podcast: 👉 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg1W9it4iJByADOiZTet0RA 👉Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3wHRfjI84ZxPRcENynJmyK?si=101cc3baf20d4b1c 👉 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dark-arts-of-the-team-optimization/id1

    AI Turning Product Managers Into Bottlenecks for PMs to Adapt and Scale Faster with Chris Geoghegan

  3. Sep 18

    Why Does Startup Growth Become the Biggest Problem for Founders with Kyle Cartmell

    In this episode of The Dark Arts of Team Optimization, hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo sit down with Kyle Cartmell,Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Snout, about scaling an engineering team after a startup moves beyond the earliest zero-to-one stage. The conversation covers operational simplification, customer support constraints, hiring for humility, LLM adoption, and culture under growth pressure, giving listeners practical ways to protect team performance as complexity increases. Kyle brings the perspective of a builder who moved from enterprise Java development into startups, led engineering teams as CTO and VP of Engineering, ran Special Chicken Labs as a freelance engineering shop, and spent four years helping Snout grow from an early idea. His experience across recovering troubled products, building teams, and adopting AI tools shapes his view that scaling depends as much on people, communication, and resilient systems as it does on code. Expect to Learn How startup leaders can decide which ideas deserve long-term commitment by prioritizing the team and product discovery over intuition alone.Why scaling from zero-to-one into growth forces engineering leaders to simplify operations, define playbooks, and stop relying on heroic manual work.The hiring signals Kyle Cartmell values when a startup moves from full-stack generalists toward specialists, including humility and customer-facing judgment.How engineering teams can use LLMs more effectively by treating them as tools that require clear communication, critical thinking, and process.Why sustainable startup culture depends on taking care of people’s basic needs before asking them to bring their smartest hours to hard problems. Timestamps [00:00:00] - Trailer [00:02:55] - Kyle Cartmell’s Journey From Enterprise Engineering to Startups [00:04:52] - Choosing the Right Ideas: Why Teams Matter More Than Concepts [00:06:45] - The Challenge of Scaling: Moving From Zero-to-One to One-to-Many [00:10:21] - Building Processes That Scale Without Losing Customer Focus [00:15:11] - Hiring Engineers for Growth: Humility, Communication, and Emotional Capacity [00:20:04] - Why Purpose Matters: Building Technology Around Pet Healthcare [00:23:54] - AI, LLMs, and the Future of Software Engineering [00:31:27] - Communication as the Key Skill for Working With AI [00:41:23] - Humility, Leadership, and Building Human-Centered Teams [00:50:42] - What’s Next for Snout and the Future of Veterinary Care 📱 Follow Kyle Cartmell: 👉LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylecartmell/ 👉Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/snoutplans/ 👉Company Website: https://www.snout.com/ 👉Company Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/snoutinc 📱 Follow the Hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo: 👉 Kyle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleclaytonjohnson/ 👉 Franz’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franz-aliquo/ 📱 Follow Holonic: 👉 Website: https://www.becomeholonic.com/ 👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/becomeholonic/ 👉 Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@holonic 👉 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomeholonic 📱 Follow The Podcast: 👉Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg1W9it4iJByADOiZTet0RA 👉Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3wHRfjI84ZxPRcENynJmyK?si=101cc3baf20d4b1c 👉 Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dark-arts-of-the-team-optimization/id1

    Why Does Startup Growth Become the Biggest Problem for Founders with Kyle Cartmell

  4. Sep 11

    DevOps Strategies for Teams to Ship Faster by Balancing Cost Quality and Speed with Jason Furgal

    In this episode of The Dark Arts of Team Optimization, hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo sit down with Jason Furgal, Quality Leader, DevOps at Bose Corporation and share how his journey from Lockheed Martin to leading Embedded DevOps at Bose Corporation shaped his philosophy on engineering, leadership, hiring, and quality. From signing off on spacecraft flight readiness to scaling DevOps teams, Jason explains how balancing speed with reliability, building strong engineering cultures, and preparing for the future of software compliance requires far more than technical expertise. This conversation dives into hiring for attitude, creating autonomous teams, scaling embedded DevOps, and making quality effortless for engineers. Jason Furgal he leads the infrastructure, automation, and quality practices behind software powering consumer audio products. Before Bose Corporation, Jason spent nearly a decade at Lockheed Martin developing embedded software for spacecraft, where he held signature authority for flight readiness. His career spans aerospace, automotive, and consumer electronics, giving him a unique perspective on quality engineering, DevOps, leadership, and scaling high-performing technical teams. Expect to Learn Why aerospace principles still matter in modern software development.How to balance product quality with business speed and delivery.The secrets behind hiring engineers for attitude over technical perfection.How Jason scaled an Embedded DevOps organization while protecting culture.Why autonomy creates stronger engineering teams and how leaders should develop it.How Europe's Cyber Resilience Act will reshape software development and DevOps.What it really means to make quality "easy" for developers Timestamps 00:00 – Teaser 01:15 – Introduction to Jason Furgal 02:23 – Bringing Aerospace Quality to Consumer Electronics 07:32 – Leading Without Authority 13:40 – Building Teams Around Shared Purpose 16:29 – Scaling Embedded DevOps Without Losing Culture 22:38 – Hiring for Curiosity, Ownership, and Energy 25:39 – Preparing DevOps for the Cyber Resilience Act 35:14 – Creating Engineers Who Thrive with Autonomy 41:29 – Making Quality Invisible Through Great Developer Experience 48:16 – Closing Thoughts Disclosure: “Portions of this episode (such as the introduction or promotional segments) use AI-generated voice narration produced under human editorial review.” 📱 Follow the Guest Jason Furgal: 👉LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonfurgal/ 👉Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bose-corporation/ 👉Company Website: https://www.bose.com/ 👉Company Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bose/ 📱 Follow the Hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo: 👉 Kyle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleclaytonjohnson/ 👉 Franz’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franz-aliquo/ 📱 Follow Holonic: 👉 Website: https://www.becomeholonic.com/ 👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/becomeholonic/ 👉 Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@holonic 👉 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomeholonic 📱 Follow The Podcast: 👉Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg1W9it4iJByADOiZTet0RA 👉Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3wHRfjI84ZxPRcENynJmyK?si=101cc3baf20d4b1c 👉 Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dark-arts-of-the-team-optimization/id1

    DevOps Strategies for Teams to Ship Faster by Balancing Cost Quality and Speed with Jason Furgal

  5. Aug 28

    The Hiring Strategy That Builds Better Teams without Senior Engineers with Nilanjan Bhattacharya

    In this episode of The Dark Arts of Team Optimization, hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo sit down with Nilanjan Bhattacharya, Co-founder and CTO of APX Labs. The conversation focuses on how he built and scaled engineering teams by prioritizing culture fit, working agreements, and junior-first hiring, even in high-pressure environments. Listeners will learn how those choices affect team cohesion, hiring outcomes, and long-term execution. Nilanjan brings 21 years in software engineering, including 13 and a half years at a large financial institution where he progressed from senior developer to leading a 52-person engineering organization across regions. He also shares direct experience building a Dallas team from scratch during COVID, which shaped his approach to talent, coaching, and scaling. That background gives him a practical perspective on how to assemble teams that can work quickly, learn fast, and fit the operating culture. Expect to Learn: How culture debt can slow a team down more than technical debt when people are imported without a shared way of working.Why junior hires can outperform expected senior inputs when they have coaching, review discipline, and clear working agreements.The value of hiring for tech aptitude and learning speed instead of only optimizing for years of experience.How a written working agreement can help new hires understand expectations and self-select out when the fit is wrong.Why senior talent from large organizations may struggle in smaller teams when their operating habits do not match the context.How AI is changing team composition and delivery speed without eliminating the need for engineers. Timestamps:00:00 – Teaser 01:14 – Introduction to Nilanjan Bhattacharya 02:46 – Lessons from 13.5 Years in a Large Organization 08:01 – Building a New Team from Scratch During COVID 12:46 – Why Junior Teams Outperform Senior Imports 13:50 – Scaling the Team with Working Agreements 16:01 – Working Agreements as a Hiring Filter 19:03 – Coaching Is the Trade-Off When Hiring Junior Talent 23:25 – Why Other Leaders Didn't Copy the Hiring Strategy 29:07 – Building APX Labs and AI-Powered Penetration Testing 30:45 – How AI Changes Team Composition, Not Headcount 32:59 – Preparing for Black Hat and DEF CON 35:09 – Where to Learn More & Closing Remarks Disclosure: “Portions of this episode (such as the introduction or promotional segments) use AI-generated voice narration produced under human editorial review.” 📱 Follow the Guest Nilanjan Bhattacharya: 👉LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nilb/ 👉Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/werobyoufirst/ 👉Company Website: https://apxlabs.ai/ 📱 Follow the Hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo: 👉 Kyle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleclaytonjohnson/ 👉 Franz’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franz-aliquo/ 📱 Follow Holonic: 👉 Website: https://www.becomeholonic.com/ 👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/becomeholonic/ 👉 Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@holonic 👉 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomeholonic 📱 Follow The Podcast: 👉 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg1W9it4iJByADOiZTet0RA 👉Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3wHRfjI84ZxPRcENynJmyK?si=101cc3baf20d4b1c 👉 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dark-arts-of-the-team-optimization/id1858255862

    The Hiring Strategy That Builds Better Teams without Senior Engineers with Nilanjan Bhattacharya

  6. Aug 21

    The Loneliness Crisis for Young Adults to Build Friendships Through Offline Events with Gabor Kadas

    In this episode of The Dark Arts of Team Optimization, hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo sit down with Gabor Kadas, Chief Executive Officer at Friending Inc, President & CEO at Human Soft Inc and Member of Casino and Gambling Advisory Board at Game Connection. They explore the growing loneliness epidemic and the role technology plays in both causing and solving it. After decades building games and digital experiences, Gabor is now building a platform designed to do the opposite of most social apps: get people off their phones and into real-world interactions. The conversation covers verified identities, accountability in social platforms, remote team management, the future impact of AI on human relationships, and why meaningful connection requires more than digital engagement. Gabor Kadas is a software entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience in game and software development, Gabor has contributed to projects including Tomb Raider, Pac-Man, SpongeBob, and multiple Disney titles. Today, he is focused on combating social isolation through Friending, a platform that prioritizes real-world connections, identity verification, and community-building over screen time and engagement metrics. Expect to Learn: Why Gabor shifted from building games to tackling loneliness through technologyHow Friending is designed to move users from online interactions to real-world meetingsThe importance of identity verification in creating safer online communitiesWhy accountability and confirmed in-person interactions matter for social platformsLessons from managing distributed software teams for nearly three decadesHow AI and emerging technologies may accelerate social isolationWhy meaningful human connection cannot be fully replicated through digital experiences Timestamps 00:00 - Teaser 01:09 - Introduction to Gabor Kadas 02:21 - From Building Games to Building Human Connections 04:39 - Designing a Social App That Encourages Less Screen Time 06:26 - How Friending Moves Users from Online to Offline 08:51 - Creating Sustainable Value Beyond App Engagement 10:40 - Why Universal Identity Verification Matters 12:30 - Building Accountability Through Real-World Interactions 14:11 - Designing for Safety and Trust 20:30 - Lessons from 30 Years of Remote Software Development 22:48 - Is Technology Responsible for the Loneliness Epidemic? 24:11 - AI, Virtual Companions, and the Future of Human Connection 26:27 - The Rise of Digital Detox and Offline Communities 28:32 - Why Online Connections Aren't the Same as Real Relationships 31:32 - Raising Capital for a Mission-Driven Social Platform 35:08 - Closing Thoughts Disclosure: “Portions of this episode (such as the introduction or promotional segments) use AI-generated voice narration produced under human editorial review.” 📱 Follow the Guest Gabor Kadas: 👉LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaborkadas/ 👉Company LinkedIn: - Friending Inc: https://www.linkedin.com/company/friending/ - Human Soft Inc: https://www.linkedin.com/company/human-soft-inc/about/ - Game Connection: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/game-connection/ 👉Company Website: - Friending Inc: https://friending.com/ - Human Soft Inc: https://www.humansoft.com/ - Game Connection: https://www.game-connection.com/ 👉Company Instagram: - Game Connection: https://www.instagram.com/the_gameco/ 📱 Follow the Hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo: 👉 Kyle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleclaytonjohnson/ 👉 Franz’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franz-aliquo/ 📱 Follow Holonic: 👉 Website: https://www.becomeholonic.com/ 👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/becomeholonic/ 👉 Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@holonic 👉 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomeholonic 📱 Follow The Podcast: 👉Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg1W9it4iJByADOiZTet0RA 👉Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3wHRfjI84ZxPRcENynJmyK?si=101cc3baf20d4b1c 👉 Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dark-arts-of-the-team-optimization/id1858255862

    The Loneliness Crisis for Young Adults to Build Friendships Through Offline Events with Gabor Kadas

  7. Aug 14

    How Bootstrapped Startup Pain for Designers to Build & Sell a SaaS without Funding - Fiona Sanipelli

    In this episode of The Dark Arts of Team Optimization, hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo sit down with Fiona Sanipelli, Co-founder & Head of Community of DesignSpec & Head of Community for Design Manager shares the unlikely journey from hospitality designer to tech founder. Fiona co-founded Design Spec after discovering that world-class design firms were still managing multimillion-dollar projects with spreadsheets and outdated software. Together with her brother Graham, she bootstrapped a niche SaaS platform, grew it into an industry standard, and successfully exited the business. Fiona also discusses the importance of empathy in leadership, cross-functional communication, customer support, and how AI is beginning to transform the design industry. With a background in hospitality design, Fiona spent years working at prominent design studios before identifying a major gap in how designers managed project specifications. Having worn nearly every hat in the business from product strategy and customer support to sales, marketing, and partnerships. Fiona brings a unique perspective on entrepreneurship, leadership, and building products for specialized industries. Expect to Learn: How Fiona identified a major software opportunity hidden inside the design industryWhy domain expertise is critical when building industry-specific softwareLessons from bootstrapping a SaaS company without outside fundingHow founders can bridge communication gaps between customers and engineersThe value of empathy and cross-functional understanding in leadershipWhat it feels like to transition from founder to employee after an acquisitionHow AI is changing the future of design, visualization, and specification workflows Timestamps 00:00 – Teaser 01:27 – Introduction to Fiona Sanipelli 02:52 – From Hospitality Designer to SaaS Founder 06:15 – Teaching an Engineer an Entire Industry 09:26 – Building a Business With Family 12:28 – Wearing Every Hat in a Startup 13:52 – Balancing Two Companies and Avoiding Burnout 16:30 – The Lowest Points of the Startup Journey 20:01 – Leadership Lessons From Every Department 24:15 – Returning to Customer Support as a Founder 30:09 – Giving Teams a Voice and Building Better Culture 31:43 – Knowing When It Was Time to Sell 37:51 – What Great CEOs Actually Do 41:08 – Why Designers Resist New Technology 44:20 – How AI Is Transforming Design Workflows 50:10 – Finding Balance Between Work, Family, and Creativity 51:45 – What She Would Tell Her Younger Founder Self 52:12 – Closing Thoughts Disclosure: “Portions of this episode (such as the introduction or promotional segments) use AI-generated voice narration produced under human editorial review.” 📱 Follow the Guest Fiona Sanipelli: 👉LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fiona-sanipelli-a09602116/ 👉Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/silovagabond? 👉Company LinkedIn: - Design Manager: https://www.linkedin.com/company/designmanager/ - DesignSpec: https://www.linkedin.com/company/designspec/ 👉Company Website: - Design Manager: https://www.designmanager.com/ - DesignSpec: https://designspec.com/ 👉Company Instagram: - Design Manager: https://www.instagram.com/designmanager/ - DesignSpec: https://www.instagram.com/designspec.com_ 📱 Follow the Hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo: 👉 Kyle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleclaytonjohnson/ 👉 Franz’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franz-aliquo/ 📱 Follow Holonic: 👉 Website: https://www.becomeholonic.com/ 👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/becomeholonic/ 👉 Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@holonic 👉 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomeholonic 📱 Follow The Podcast: 👉 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg1W9it4iJByADOiZTet0RA 👉Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3wHRfjI84ZxPRcENynJmyK?si=101cc3baf20d4b1c 👉 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dark-arts-of-the-team-optimization/id1858255862

    How Bootstrapped Startup Pain for Designers to Build & Sell a SaaS without Funding - Fiona Sanipelli

  8. Jul 17

    How to Build a High-Performance Engineering Team Using Culture and AI with Dominque Terry

    In this episode of The Dark Arts of Team Optimization, hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo sit down with Dominque Terry, Director of Software Engineering at V1 Sports and Owner & Software Engineer at Appaveli, LLC. Dominque shares his journey from contract Android developer to engineering leader, revealing how he helped transform a revolving door of contractors into a cohesive, high-performing team.The conversation explores leadership, engineering culture, hiring philosophy, AI-assisted development, technical decision-making, and the realities of managing legacy systems. Dominque also discusses his side projects as an independent software builder and why he believes the future of software engineering is shifting back toward systems thinking and architecture. He worked his way into leadership and now oversees the engineering organization. He has spent more than a decade building sports playbook applications and experimenting with AI-powered development tools. His leadership philosophy centers on culture, servant leadership, and hiring for personality while teaching technical skills. Expect to Learn - Why hiring for attitude and adaptability often beats hiring for specific technical skills - The challenges of maintaining legacy software without letting it destroy team morale - How to build a strong engineering culture when transitioning away from contractors - Why AI isn't replacing developers but changing how they create value - The importance of empowering engineers to make decisions and own outcomes - How engineering leaders can effectively manage priorities, trade-offs, and stakeholder expectations - Why the future software engineer may look more like a systems architect than a coder Timestamps 00:00 – Teaser 01:11 – Introduction of Dominque Terry 02:35 – Joining V1 Sports and the Opportunity to Build From Scratch 04:23 – Surviving Legacy Code and Maintaining Team Morale 06:14 – Building an Engineering Team and Creating a Lasting Culture 07:15 – Why Dominque Hires for Personality Instead of Technical Skills 10:01 – Can You Build Strong Culture With Contractors? 12:24 – Leading a Small Team When Everything Feels Urgent 13:05 – AI, Productivity, and Why Smaller Teams Can Achieve More 15:16 – The Power of One-on-Ones and Servant Leadership 20:40 – The Flutter Decision: Lessons From a Major Technology Bet 27:27 – Bottom-Up Innovation: Letting Developers Drive Tool Adoption 29:06 – Creating AI Policies Without Slowing Down Development 32:32 – Building Side Projects for Over a Decade: The Ave Tech Story 35:36 – Where to Find Dominque and Follow His Work 37:03 – Final Thoughts and Closing Remarks 📱 Follow the Guest Dominque Terry: 👉LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominque-terry-a56697121/ 👉Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/v1-sports/ 👉Company Website: https://v1sports.com/ 👉Company Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/v1sports/? 📱 Follow the Hosts Kyle Johnson and Franz Aliquo: 👉 Kyle’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleclaytonjohnson/ 👉 Franz’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franz-aliquo/ 📱 Follow Holonic: 👉 Website: https://www.becomeholonic.com/ 👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/becomeholonic/ 👉 Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@holonic 👉 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomeholonic/ 📱 Follow The Podcast: 👉Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg1W9it4iJByADOiZTet0RA 👉Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3wHRfjI84ZxPRcENynJmyK?si=101cc3baf20d4b1c 👉 Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dark-arts-of-the-team-optimization/id1858255862

    How to Build a High-Performance Engineering Team Using Culture and AI with Dominque Terry
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Join hosts Kyle Johnson, the expert in scaling engineering teams with precision, and Franz Aliquo, the cultural architect behind viral campaigns and Fortune 50 strategy, as they reveal the "dark arts" of elite software engineering team optimization. From Holonic, this podcast invites top minds and successful leaders to dissect the science of creating Product-Oriented Development (POD) teams. We dive into the proprietary curriculum - informed by cutting-edge team science - that builds self-contained, high-velocity units designed for resilience. Learn the secrets to achieving unparalleled agility, lowering churn, and integrating cross-functional collaborators who drive business value immediately. Don't just hire talent. Architect success.

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