Bytes In Balance

Dan and Demian
  • 5.0 (9)
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

Developing software can be total chaos! Dan and Demian, with 35+ years of combined experience, share their journey from junior developers to principals. This isn't just tech talk — it's about people and fighting entropy. Think digital-age group therapy (minus actual therapists). We tackle stress, burnout, and growth pains through war stories, advice, and guest perspectives. Join our virtual seesaw as we navigate the world of software! New episodes monthly(ish). Visit https://bytesinbalance.com to follow, learn more or connect with us as mentors.

  1. 5D AGO

    Ep18 - Dominic Monn: Building MentorCruise and the Value of Mentorship.mp3

    In this episode we chat with Dominic Monn, the founder and CEO of MentorCruise. We discuss his unconventional path into tech, and how his own search for mentorship inspired him to create the platform. Dominic shares his entrepreneurial journey, including the 13 side projects he built while searching for the right signal, and how MentorCruise eventually became the one that grew from a slow-starting side project into his full-time career. The conversation explores what makes effective mentorship work, including the accountability, critical feedback, and outside perspective that human mentors provide that AI cannot replicate. We discuss the challengesand realities of bootstrapping a startup, strategies for knowing when to delegate versus doing things yourself, and how to build sustainable products while maintaining work-life balance. We also reflect on our own experiences asmentors on the platform and the value we've gained from working with mentees from diverse backgrounds and industries. Episode Notes: MentorCruise: https://mentorcruise.com/ Dominic Monn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmonn/ Dominic Monn Website: https://dmonn.com/

    1h 2m

  2. JAN 9

    Ep17 - Robert Harris: An Anthropologist's Journey to Engineering Leadership

    In this episode, we sit down with Robert Harris, VP of Engineering, to explore his fascinating journey as a "self-taught" programmer through psychology, anthropology, archaeology, and back again to software engineering and leadership. Robert shares his unconventional background: starting with a Commodore 64 at age 10, his career in psychology and museum curation, his return to software development, and how all this shaped his approach to leading engineering teams. We discuss topics ranging from the pragmatism of “self-taught” programmers to the critical human side of software engineering (that often gets overlooked), the importance of trust and solidarity, the ledger of trust between leaders and teams, and the power of shared rituals and identity, among others. Robert talks about his "corporate ethnography" approach to understanding teams, explains why micromanagement happens to great individual contributors who become leaders, and shares practical strategies for building healthy engineering cultures. If you want to hear how an anthropologist thinks about engineering culture and leadership, this episode is for you. Learn more about Robert's coaching at http://coded2lead.com/ .

    51 min

  3. 12/10/2025

    Ep16 - Imposter Syndrome: You're Not Alone

    In this episode, we talk about Imposter Syndrome in the tech industry: You are not alone, we have all been there. We share our personal experiences with feeling inadequate despite objective competence, from struggles in early college to post-promotion anxiety at senior levels. The conversation explores what makes imposter syndrome particularly acute in tech, including rapidly changing technologies, ambiguous problems, and interview practices that can amplify self-doubt. We discuss strategies that have helped us, like acknowledging these feelings, allowing yourself to ask "dumb questions" in meetings, reframing accomplishments, and finding supportive management, but most importantly, talking openly about it. And imposter syndrome doesn't disappear with experience: it evolves and sometimes gets worse, which may not be a bad thing after all!

    31 min

  4. 11/03/2025

    Ep15 - The Core Protocols with Eric Mignot

    In this episode, we sit down with Eric Mignot to explore the Core Protocols and how they can help teams build software products (though they apply to products in general) in a sustainable, high-performance way while avoiding burnout. We talk about mindful communication through protocols like check-in, ask for help, and the decider, and how important it is to communicate intent explicitly rather than leave it to another person's interpretation. Eric shares how you can start using these protocols individually even when your team doesn't know them. He also emphasizes that the protocols work better when they are adopted voluntarily, and that they cannot be forced on teams. Eric also talks about his journey from Scrum coach and instructor to discovering these protocols, and how technical excellence and human connection both matter when it comes to preventing burnout. We talk about the challenges of achieving real unanimity, the importance of self-awareness, and that sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is ask for help, without necessarily having all the answers or a well-defined, concrete ask first. The Core Protocols (Summary / Reference) Creating Time, by Vickie Gray

    1h 2m

  5. 09/18/2025

    Ep14 - Gen AI (and why we've been avoiding this topic)

    We have avoided talking about generative AI and LLMs. No more. In this episode we decided to discuss the topic and expose the reasoning why we have been careful and have avoided it so far. We share our perspectives as experienced software engineers (not AI experts) navigating the hype, anxiety, and reality of LLMs. We discuss our approach and experiments with LLMs, from initial hesitation to finding practical use cases that work for us, while exploring the broader implications for software engineering careers. The conversation covers what LLMs actually do versus what people think they do, the risks of losing critical thinking skills, and why we believe the fears about AI replacing software engineers are largely out of place.

    52 min

  6. 08/06/2025

    Ep13 - Burnout (with Nav Rao)

    In this episode we chat about burn out. Yes, again... because this topic deserves an always ongoing conversation.This time Nav Rao, a self-described "floating software engineer" with experience in early-stage startups across New Zealand and Australia, joins us to discuss the topic.Nav shares his candid experiences of burning out multiple times throughout his career, warning signs that indicate you are heading towards burnout, and we discuss how burnout manifests: from overwhelming stress to crushing boredom, feeling lack of purpose, and organizational dysfunction, plus the compounding effects of repeated burnout cycles.The conversation covers strategies for recovery and why traditional advice like "touch grass" goes only so far without addressing systemic workplace issues. We also reflect on how the current state of the tech industry, including AI pressure and current market status is affecting engineers and driving them towards burn out.

    51 min

  7. 07/23/2025

    Ep12 - Leadership Principles

    In this episode, we explore leadership principles as tools to navigate complex situations and daily challenges. We discuss how these short, memorable phrases can serve as practical decision-making tools, become mental triggers to drive positive or desired behavior, and drive culture (both at work and sometimes at home). From overcoming procrastination to dealing with setbacks, we share a few of our personal leadership principles and techniques, like reframing procrastination, avoiding dwelling on mistakes (while still learning from them), and recognizing battles that are not worth fighting. Because we worked at Amazon for a long time, we examine Amazon's leadership principles to show how these frameworks can work as genuine decision-making tools and culture drivers rather than empty corporate statements (well, some of them at least :-) ). We explore specific examples like “Disagree and Commit” and how this could be useful in meetings and decision making, or how the tension between “Bias for Action” and “Dive Deep” is intentional (and even valuable). We also cover how these principles are used in interviewing processes and offer advice for candidates preparing for behavioral interviews at companies that use similar frameworks. Remember, if you use Leadership Principles in your life or work, feel free to share them with us in the comments or in LinkedIn, we would love to hear from you and learn new ones. Episode Notes: "Design Your Life" Book Amazon Leadership Principles STAR Method "Good" from Jocko Willink (Link to the Akira song/version which I like)

    37 min

  8. 06/19/2025

    Ep11 - How do we learn in software engineering?

    In this episode, we discuss an essential question: how do we learn in software engineering? The conversation explores the need (and pressure) of continuous learning in our field and the anxiety of feeling constantly left behind by industry changes, together with strategies that have worked for us. Topics include learning by doing versus passive consumption of information, finding opportunities to grow at work, and why stepping outside your comfort zone is important. Learning evolves throughout our careers: early on there is eagerness to absorb new technologies, while later the focus shifts to recognizing familiar patterns across frameworks as experience grows. Eventually, soft skills and good judgment become as important as technical knowledge. The discussion also touches on the impact of generative AI on learning, balancing staying current with avoiding information overload, and why pursuing interests outside of software engineering matters.

    35 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

Developing software can be total chaos! Dan and Demian, with 35+ years of combined experience, share their journey from junior developers to principals. This isn't just tech talk — it's about people and fighting entropy. Think digital-age group therapy (minus actual therapists). We tackle stress, burnout, and growth pains through war stories, advice, and guest perspectives. Join our virtual seesaw as we navigate the world of software! New episodes monthly(ish). Visit https://bytesinbalance.com to follow, learn more or connect with us as mentors.

Information

  • Creator
    Dan and Demian
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    19
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Dan and Demian
  • Show Website
    Bytes In Balance