Scaler - The Software Engineers' Podcast: Recent Episodes
Scaler Academy
Episodes every weekend by Scaler Academy, talking about software engineering - design, architecture, work, life, work-life-balance, careers, and everything in between. Are you a software engineer? (Especially in India?) - get subscribed immediately :)
In this ScalerPod episode, Vishwastam Shukla, CTO of HackerEarth, shared insights from his Amazon internship and the hands-on engineering experience it provided, including building projects and learning about coding languages like Ruby, PHP, and JAVA. He discussed Amazon's backend, its growth, and the role of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) in developing its e-commerce platform. Vishwastam also elaborated on the scaling challenges at HackerEarth, including managing 40 languages, the compilers, and the complexities of autocomplete and Language Server Protocols (LSPs).
He also covered the technical aspects of plagiarism detection for large user bases, concurrency management, and infrastructure scaling. Additionally, he highlighted the tech stack used to address engineering challenges and the role of AI in code complexity analysis and quality checks. He also compared Devin AI with ChatGPT for code writing.
He emphasized the importance of data structures, algorithms, and various skills sought by recruiters for young engineers. Viewers and aspiring software engineers might be interested in knowing how such organizations hire and the skills they focus on while reflecting HackerEarth's commitment to innovation and software development for engineers.
In this ScalerPod episode, Sidhant Rastogi, President of Tech and Business Strategy at Zinnov, shared valuable experiences and insights on work ethics, automotive testing, experience with PLM software and Machine Design that he gained from working with Toyota and Tata Motors. He also discussed his journey and transition from a Mechanical Engineer to Management Tech Consulting. These experiences highlighted the importance of customer satisfaction and led him to realise the value of consulting at Zinnov. He dived deeper into how Zinnov focuses on growing the engineering community, promoting the India Engineering Ecosystem, and prioritizing "Grey Hair Consulting", which leverages extensive subject matter experience. They provide insights for product establishment, set up engineering centres in India, and offer investment advice.Sidhanth also discussed post-COVID tech trends, including cloud data resilience and digital adoption, emphasizing the need for engineers to upskill. He also addressed India's potential in manufacturing, challenges in semiconductor production, and the coalition of manufacturing and services over decades. Additionally, he explored the adoption of GenAI tools like CoPilot, amongst many others, in Software Engineering, the skills needed for Engineers amidst such technologically disruptive waves, the scope for Startups, differentiating between LLM and SLM in AI for business problem-solving, etc.Viewers and aspiring Software Engineers might be interested in knowing how such organizations hire and the skills they focus on while reflecting Zinnov's commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction. Here is the detailed list of topics they all had a discussion about in this new Scaler Pod podcast:-0:00 - Trailer1:16 - Introduction3:06 - Experience of Working at Toyota12:09 - Shift from Automotives to Software Engineering17:17 - The MBA Journey20:50 - How did Zinnov happen for Sidhant26:26 - Role of Consulting for Tech Companies33:40 - Setting up Engineering Centres in India46:38 - India's position in Machinery and Technology space54:50 - Adoption of GenAI in Software Engineering1:05:54 - The Gaps and Opportunities for Startups1:16:25 - What do large companies look for while acquiring startups1:19:44 - Conclusion
In this Scaler Pod episode, Santhosh Kumar discusses the evolution of Cult and how it built upon health and fitness as an industry. Amidst challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, digital transformation became pivotal. Cult adopted React Native for cross-platform efficiency between Android and IOS and underwent a design overhaul named Arora. He dived deep into how they integrated Flutter for an enhanced user experience and were transitioning to Java as their primary coding language. He also shared more on how the teams navigated backend and frontend scalability issues transitioning to Java. Lastly, he has emphasised the synergy between operations & technology, creating customer-centric products through predictive analytics. Viewers and aspiring Software Engineers might be interested in knowing how such organisations hire and the skills they focus on while reflecting Cult's commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction.Here is the detailed list of topics they all had a discussion about in this new Scaler Pod podcast:-0:00 - Trailer1:27 - Introduction3:45 - Beginning of the journey with Cult9:43 - Tech Evolution of Cult13:57 - Transition from being an Engineer to a Product Manager15:37 - How did Cult go Digital during the Pandemic23:43 - Challenges while transitioning from Tech to Product career29:44 - Factors that accelerated Cult's growth rate38:35 - Managing departments in a Startup43:30 - Tech decisions at Cult50:48 - Advantages of Flutter over React Native56:04 - Managing peak users overflow on the app1:01:02 - What are the tech needs of an Ops-Heavy Business1:08:41 - Strategies for Predictive Analytics1:17:44 - Tech Hiring at Cult1:22:18 - Cult's Organisational Structure & Culture1:41:05 - Managining Information and People at an Organisation1:46:44 - How do you keep the Company Culture intact?1:49:26 - The three phases of Cult's Journey1:53:20 - What is the future of fitness industry?2:02:25 - Enhancing efficiency and experience using AI and Conclusion
In this episode of Scaler Pod, the CXO and Sr. VP of Technology at Simpl delve deeper into how checkout solutions like Simpl offer postpaid services, improving consumer experience and building trust through distributed internet-based ledgers. They discuss how advanced Data Science Models and heuristic-based Analytics are employed to assess and manage risks and identify fraudulent transactions. Arnav and the guests discuss how the tech stack for Simpl includes deep machine-learning models and real-time processing, facilitating smooth software touchpoints. They also discussed the tech behind how Simpl is a “Khata facility” on the internet, in collaboration with other e-commerce platforms like Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, Zepto, MakeMyTrip, Myntra, JioMart, etc. With their vast experience in engineering and core tech over the years, the guests also shed light on the importance of deep tech knowledge, Large Language Models (LLMs), problem-solving skills and an engineering mindset to thrive. This podcast will be very insightful for anyone enthusiastic about Data Science, Cloud Computing, the Fintech industry, and much more. Here is the detailed list of topics they all had a discussion about in this new Scaler Pod podcast:-0:00 - Trailer1:27 - Introduction2:29 - Personal and professional journey of the guests8:35 - Technology Development Now Vs Before14:45 - Approach towards India-specific Problems20:30 - Fraud control measures at Simpl25:33 - The credit purchase mindset of users34:32 - Data Science models for assessing risk45:15 - Building the tech team at Simpl55:55 - How does working in the US tech market add to skills 1:06:14 - Culture at Simpl1:10:22 - Advice for engineers to move to product management1:23:29 - The importance of staying close to practical application1:31:00 - How MBA helped Vivek in his journey1:38:20 - Managing and investing in startups
In this Scaler Pod episode, we have Muthumari S, Global Head of Data & AI at Brillio. Muthumari S and Arnav talk about how data science and artificial intelligence have changed the current tech world.
They discuss the uses of generative AI, prompt engineering, and RAGs in Natural Language Processing, how to approach a problem, and much more. They also discuss whether AI can replace human intelligence. Muthumari talks about her role at Brillio and her journey so far, including her experiences working at different organizations like Mu Sigma and Accenture. This podcast will be very insightful for anyone enthusiastic about data science, generative AI, statistics, machine learning models, and much more.In this video we talk about: 0:00 - Trailer1:28 - Introduction2:00- A day in her life4:02- Landscape of her career in the field of technology10:35 - Advice for freshers in the tech field15:32 - Changes in the world of Data Science25:45 - Humans' in the world of AI30:30 - Increased risks with generative models33:35- Human's productivity and usage of AI38:27 - Importance of technology adaptation and skills47:33 - Usage of AI and problem solving55:04 - Solving problems w/o Gen AI1:07:00 - Advice for future Data Science learners and Conclusion
In this episode of Scaler Pod, we dive into the world of data-driven innovation with Ram Bhavaraju, VP of Software and Web Technologies at Ather Energy. Ram sheds light on the intricate process of leveraging data to refine electric scooters, crafting personalised metrics that enhance the Ather experience. Arnav and Ram discuss how real-time processing is used in Ather’s interface, which helps provide information about the EV and helps an Ather rider get a smooth riding experience. From Managed Services to Kafka and Cloud Storage, he talks about the array of technologies working behind the scenes to elevate Ather's performance.This podcast will be very insightful for anyone enthusiastic about Data Science, Cloud Computing, IoT and much more. Here are the detailed list of topics they all had a discussion about in this new Scaler Pod podcast:-00:00 - Trailer00:40 - Introduction 01:58 - Work week of a VP Software & Web Tech at Ather Energy07:20 - How has been the tech journey so far?13:45 - How do you see your career transitions? 19:58 - What is the Landscape of Software at Ather? 24:13 - What makes the Software of Ather not a friction to it's customers? 31:59 - How did you crack the navigation through the software? 40:19 - How data from the EV devices is helping Ather? 44:45 - How the data architecture looks like? 47:57 - What does it cost Ather to run the whole setup? 55:06 - How to Ather address the data security concerns? 57:17 - How does the mobile app to device ecosystem works? 01:02:20 - How do your ensure that the software update deliver customer satisfaction? 01:07:39 - How do control systems work in Ather Vehicles? 01:10:01 - What is the secruity aspect from the hacking point of view? 01:13:40 - How does the user relation and community works at Ather? 01:21:38 - How the future of EV scooters look like? 01:30:22 - What is the scope of AI in improving these systems?
In this episode of ScalerPod, Ramkumar Venkatesan, the CTO of @Cashfree Payments. From his days at Oracle and Yahoo to revolutionizing transactions at Cashfree, Ramkumar shares insights on auto-scaling, managing Kubernetes clusters, resource handling using Docker, and tackling latency issues in the Cashfree app. Discover how Cashfree handles billions of transactions flawlessly while exploring their range of products and the tech behind this fintech app. Get valuable advice for young engineers navigating today's tech landscape. To know more about the Scaler. Check out our free masterclasses by industry-leading experts here: https://www.scaler.com/events?utm_source=Youtube&utm_medium=osocial&utm_campaign=brand_scaler_events_osocial_youtube_ramkumar-venkatesan-scalerpod-episode23&utm_content=YTDescription Here are the detailed list of topics they all had a discussion about in this new Scaler Pod podcast:-00:00 - Trailer00:57 - Introduction 01:35 - Work week of a CTO of Cashfree 05:53 - How often do you review the system architecture design?09:00 - How has been the tech journey so far?16:37 - What all does Cashfree do? 20:31 - What all payment gateways are doing? 28:34 - What are the challenges with identity verfication?35:44 - How is the testing landscape of Cashfree look like?43:50 - How do we get to the actual production level testing? 48:38 - What happens at the War Room in Cashfree?52:10 - What are the extra challenges in developing things? 01:03:49 - What will be your general advice to the people who are the learning phase? 01:12:10 - What are some of the things that a software engineer should do? 01:21:05 - How AI is affecting the Fintech?
In this episode of Scaler Pod, we have Joydeep Sen Sarma, Co-founder & CEO of ClearFeed. From achieving an exceptional all-India rank of 18 in the rigorous IIT-JEE exams to reshaping the tech landscape with his pioneering work on consistent database systems, Joydeep's journey showcases his strong determination. As a Data Infrastructure Lead at Facebook, he collaborated with colleague Ashish Thusoo to develop the groundbreaking Hive data warehouse software which is now also called Apache Hive. Their joint success propelled them to co-found Qubole, a state-of-the-art platform in data analytics. Later Joydeep started ClearFeed in the year 2021.ClearFeed is a software program that helps businesses manage customer support requests on Slack. It uses AI to track inquiries, identify urgent issues, and measure how the queries are getting resolved internally. ClearFeed helps businesses provide better customer support by streamlining communication and offering valuable data on Slack.In this episode of Scaler Pod, Arnav Gupta, Anshuman Singh and ClearFeed CoFounderJoydeep Sen Sharma discuss their Facebook days where Joydeep talks about his #createimpact journey when Facebook was relatively immature and was one of the first engineers on the data team. Arnav also discusses about how database sharding works for managing database infrastructure. Joydeep also discusses about working with major taxi companies like Grab, Lyft, and Ola as customers for Qubole. Here are the detailed list of topics they all had a discussion about in this new Scaler Pod podcast:-00:00 - Trailer02:00 - Introduction 02:33 - Joydeep's Journey07:42 - Facebook Days of Anshuman Singh09:35 - Story behind how Facebook Messenger was Built?21:45 - How Qubole was started?24:42 - Cloud computing and Big Data weren't taken seriously initially.29:00 - Data Analytics & Cloud Computing: What's the correlation?31:35 - What went wrong with Qubole?34:09 - Challenges working with Open Source softwares.39:24 - How large tech companies are created?45:46 - What worked for Facebook?46:56 - How Qubole team was built?01:02:06 - Should you study abroad (USA) for tech education?01:13:30 - Clearfeed's AI Integration & Working Principle01:19:56 - Thoughts on AI Replacing Engineer's Work01:31:22 - Thoughts on AI Replacing Jobs01:34:23 - Need for Quality Engineers for the upcoming years in the tech industry01:44:49 - Conclusion
In this episode of Scaler Pod, we have Jyotiswarup Pai Raiturkar, Chief Architect & CTO of Angel One @angelone Jyotiswarup Pai Raiturkar has more than 20 years of experience building high-scale mission-critical systems. In his current role as Chief Architect and Chief Technical Officer at Angel One, his day-to-day job is to manage scale, do Root Cause Analysis, craft new features with the product and engineering team, and much more. In this insightful podcast, Jyotiswarup discusses the tech stack behind Angel One broking and what goes on behind the scenes in handling 20 Million + Users. He also discusses choices for the backend and frontend systems - including Golang, which fuel this robust platform's ability to handle multiple operations concurrently. Timestamps 00:00 - Introduction01:53 - How does the work week of Angel one CTO, looks like ?03:42 - How's the Tech Journey so far ? 09:40 - Finance product from the lens of commerce19:20 - What Tech goes behind Angel one? 44:44 - Talking more about Golang51:34 - Experience of building a tech team 55:38 - What does the infrastructure model work in Angel one? 01:01:47 - What are the Playbooks that are used to handle failures? 01:08:01 - What do you look for in the right candidate? 01:23:25 - How the tech market looks now?
In this episode of Scaler Pod, we have Amit Sharma, CTO, Dream Sports & @Dream11 .With over a decade’s experience across tech giants like Netflix and Yahoo!, Amit is an expert in building complex large-scale resilient distributed systems. In his current role as the CTO at Dream Sports he is responsible for steering India’s largest scalable sports platform that supports peak concurrency of 11.52 M+ for a user base of 200 million+ and growing. In this insightful podcast, he shares the unique challenges behind Dream11’s development, the company’s transition from monolith to 100+ micro-services, and the game-changing migration of the front-end app from Native to React Native, directly impacting productivity and business metrics. Amit also walks us through his early days at Netflix, where as a part of the core-engineering team, he witnessed the transition from DVD by mail to streaming. Amit also emphasises the importance of planning dedicated work days to make individual contributions while managing business responsibilities.Timestamps 00:00 - Introduction02:00 - Day in the life of Dream11 CTO 05:00 - Amit's tech journey and past lives 06:00 - Netflix, DVD renting and digital transformation10:00 - Key to Netflix's culture, success and tech innovations 13:00 - Joining Dream11, Scaling up for IPLs18:00 - What happens when millions of users open the app? 21:30 - Culture of building the team at Dream11 25:30 - Challenges of Infra scaling 35:00 - Moving to "just in time" team creation - concurrency challenges43:00 - Mobile Engineering - Native to React Native migration 57:00 - Do Dream11 engineers need deep context of sports ?01:00:00 - Multiple Dream Sports platforms coming up 01:03:00 - GenAI, Transformers and LLMs being used anytime soon?01:06:00 - Using Data-Platform knowledge and experience in building Dream1101:15:00 - Advice to new software engineers in the industry01:17:00 How Dream11 hires engineers
In this episode of Scaler Pod, we have Shiva Chinnasamy, Vice President of Engineering at Rippling. He unravels his illustrious career and gains valuable insights from his experiences at major tech giants such as Amazon, Google, Target, and more.
Also, he explains about Rippling, a workplace management SaaS company and explains how their team is organised, the challenges they have while hiring and the importance of being adaptive in times when AI tools like ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot are gaining popularity.
Shiva takes us on a deep dive into his leadership roles in diverse domains like eCommerce, Retail, Search, and Performance Advertisements. He shares intriguing stories and pivotal moments that shaped his journey, providing a unique perspective on the challenges and triumphs he encountered along the way.
As the conversation unfolds, Shiva enlightens us about Rippling, a prominent workforce management SaaS company. He delves into the company's origins, shedding light on what intrigued him about the founder's vision and the pivotal reasons that led him to join Rippling. He also touches upon the B2B hurdles for engineers and also about their Billboard Advertisement campaign 'Engineers Run Rippling' that helped them get visibility and brand recognition.
Through his firsthand experiences, Shiva offers valuable insights into the tech culture and organizational structure at Rippling, highlighting the company's commitment to maintaining a high hiring bar and the diamond shape structure that they have internally. He explains why Rippling primarily seeks out principal or staff engineers, emphasizing the value of exceptional talent in driving innovation and maintaining industry leadership.
Furthermore, Shiva touches upon the ever-growing AI boom and its impact on the tech industry. He shares his perspectives on how individuals can prepare themselves for this transformative wave of technology, emphasizing the importance of adaptability and a growth mindset.
Also, check out other Scaler Pod Episodes: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLhBy6YSIT0DjPC-a9j-Alz21GHOjzrVe
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:20 Day in His Life at Work
03:45 His Journey and Tech Career (Amazon, Google, Target and more)
08:30 Becoming Manager, Building team and analysing Maxima - Minima
13:30 His Experiences at Amazon and AWS
18:27 Setting up Ads for Amazon, Problem Statement and advice from Jeff Bezos
21:56 Moving back to India and joining Amazon India Team
26:01 Working at Target, Massive Spends and Scale
32:58 Being Technology Director at Tesco
34:26 His Attempt to do a Startup
35:56 His learnings from Google & leading engineering for Gpay
40:14 Why he joined Rippling and Rippling's Idea?
44:54 SaaS, HRIS Systems and Issues
47:54 Rillping Architecture, Product Offerings and Flow
52:39 Tackling Regulations, Payroll and Client Centricity
57:14 Aligning Engineers with Business Logic and Regulatory Complexations
01:01:26 Engineering Challenges at Rippling and Managing Scale
01:05:30 Optimising for Cost and Managing Bandwidth for Engineers
01:10:46 B2B Challenges for Engineers and How rippling deals with it
01:14:56 How to adapt as a Builder & Amozon's Research Case Study
01:20:00 Different Management Styles and Managers
01:24:59 Advise for Team Leaders
01:26:58 Tech Culture at Rippling, Org Complexity and growth opportunities
01:31:02 Onboarding/ Hiring at Rippling and Employee Cycle
01:34:14 Hiring Challenges, Staff Engineers and Effect of Rippling's Billboard Campaign
01:37:05 Being Adaptive and on AI Boom ( ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot)
01:41:55 Outro
Amazon #Google #Scalerpod #rippling #scaler #podcast #scaleracademy
In this episode of Scaler Pod, we have Siddharth Sharma, former CTO of Shaadi.com, he delves into the critical topics of burnout, the significance of taking breaks, the ever-evolving world of engineering management and much more. With his extensive experience in building and managing teams, as well as overseeing systems at various scales, Siddharth provides valuable insights and practical advice for professionals seeking balance, growth, and success in their careers.
Siddharth shares his personal journey and explores the importance of preventing burnout and the detrimental impact it can have on individuals and organizations. He discusses the signs and symptoms of burnout, identifies the underlying causes, and offers effective strategies for coping and recovering from this pervasive issue. Also, offering guidance on building resilience, setting boundaries, and cultivating a healthy work-life integration.
As an accomplished engineering leader, Siddharth also sheds light on the role of managers in organizations. He demystifies the complexities of engineering management, emphasizing the crucial skills needed to effectively lead and motivate teams. Siddharth shares valuable tips on navigating office politics, negotiating effectively, and fostering a collaborative work environment. Through engaging anecdotes and storytelling techniques, he demonstrates how communication and empathy can help individuals thrive amidst organizational challenges.
Whether you're an aspiring professional, a seasoned manager, or intrigued by the intersection of technology and human experiences, this episode of Scaler Pod provides a wealth of knowledge and inspiration. Tune in to gain a fresh perspective on burnout, breaks, tech leadership, and more.
Also, check out other Scaler Pod Episodes: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL...
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:32 Day in his Life during Sabbatical and His Newsletter
03:25 His Tech Journey and Early Career as Investment Banker
08:43 Building Smartbus Startup rBus and Learnings
13:43 His Role at Shaadi.com as CTO & interaction with Anupam Mittal
17:24 Emotional Connect of Shaadi.com among Indians
19:46 Experiences at InVideo and Browser-based Apps
25:12 How to know you are Burnt out and its possible effects?
31:51 When to get back from a Sabbatical / Break?
35:48 How to Prevent Getting Burnt Out?
39:57 Company Culture and Core of Tech Leadership
45:05 Flexible Work Environment and Pleasure-Driven Development
47:12 Role of Managers and Essence of Engineering Management
52:33 Transition from IC to EM
57:24 Becoming an Engineer Manager and Understanding the Career Ladder
1:02:03 Scaler's Impact and Traditional Indian Mindset
1:05:33 Politics at Workplace and Dealing with it
1:10:15 Negotiating, Storytelling and Building Narratives
1:14:50 Hiring Process and Finding the Right Fit
1:18:05 Importance of QA, Presentation and Attention
1:23:30 Shaadi.com Android App Revamp Story
1:27:20 Organization Physiology and Building Quality Muscle
1:32:23 Becoming Better Managers and Executing Seamlessly
1:37:29 Generative AI, ChatGPT and Does this Affect Engineers?
1:41:50 Outro
Burnout #Startups #workplaceploitics #scaler #edtech #tecnology #shaadicom #podcast #enginnering
In this episode of Scaler Pod, we have Ranjan Sakalley, who takes us on a captivating journey through the world of tech leadership and team management. With over two decades of industry experience, including stints at esteemed tech giants like ThoughtWorks, Gojek, and as the former CTO of Vedantu, Ranjan brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to this insightful podcast.
He delves into various facets of tech leadership, sharing invaluable insights gained from his extensive career. Drawing from real-world examples, he offers practical strategies and actionable advice to help CTOs and tech teams scale and grow effectively. Also, he discusses the art of scaling, revealing the key factors that contribute to successful growth and expansion. From hiring strategies to fostering a positive work culture, he dives deep into the intricacies of building high-performing teams.
With his experience at ThoughtWorks, Ranjan sheds light on the benefits and best practices of pair programming, an approach that fosters collaboration and knowledge sharing among developers. Additionally, he provides guidance on onboarding new team members smoothly, enabling them to quickly contribute and thrive within the organization.
Cost management is another crucial aspect that Ranjan explores, offering insights into effective budgeting and resource allocation. He demystifies the role of a CTO or manager, shedding light on their responsibilities and how they can drive productivity and increase efficiency within their teams.
Ranjan shares his perspectives on organizational structures and how they impact team dynamics and success. He offers valuable advice on navigating challenges associated with growth, addressing common pitfalls, and fostering an environment that promotes continuous learning and adaptability.
Also, check out other Scaler Pod Episodes: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLhBy6YSIT0DjPC-a9j-Alz21GHOjzrVe
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:25 Day in his Life during Sabbatical
01:48 His Journey - ThoughtWorks, Gojek and more
05:56 ThoughtWorks Culture, Tech Team and Scientific Temper
12:17 Explaining Benefits of ThoughtWork's Pair Programming
16:17 Long Term vs Short Term View
19:07 Arnav's Insights from Zomato, Reviews and Managing Effectively
23:41 Breaking Down Scaling and Team Growth
28:53 Best Practices for Onboarding New People in Team
33:57 Building Trust with New Joiners
36:29 Micro Management and Handling Fires
41:50 Role of CTO/ Top Leadership in a Company
49:15 Failure Rate, Team Structure and PODs
54:52 Organization Design and Defining Objectives
01:01:47 Constructive Mentoring and Managing
01:05:54 Emphasising over Security and its Importance
01:08:38 Product Engineering, Managing Cost and Team Productivity
01:15:38 Decision-Making Framework and Risk Analysis
01:19:07 Observability Measures and Preventing Productivity Falls
01:23:07 Individual Growth, Setting Goals and Managing Time
01:28:50 Measuring Productivity/ Efficiency and Advise for Managers
01:33:12 Journey from Individual Contributor(IC) to Manager
01:37:11 Cross-Organization Culture
01:42:00 Issues with Middle Management and Functional Setup
01:43:48 Parting Note
ScalerPod #RanjanSakalley #Tech #Management #Leadership #timemanagement #Scaler #ArnavGupta
In this episode of Scaler Pod, we have Hardik Shah, VP, Engineering, CleverTap and Darshan Pania, Associate Director, SDK Engineering, CleverTap. They delve into the fascinating world of handling millions of users and take us behind the scenes of managing scale during events like the IPL (Indian Premier League), catering to leading platforms such as Dream11, MPL, Jio, and many more by delivering real-time omnichannel experiences. Darshan and Hardik explore the core aspects of CleverTap's capabilities, focusing on their proprietary database, TesseractDB™. They explain how TesseractDB™ plays a pivotal role in efficiently managing vast amounts of data, enabling CleverTap to deliver personalized and contextual user experiences in real time across multiple channels.They explore the significance of hyper-personalization, behavioural analytics, and AI-driven automation in enhancing user engagement and maximizing ROI. Also, discussing the challenges faced and the cutting-edge solutions deployed to ensure seamless user experiences during high-traffic events like the IPL.Darshan deep dive into the SDK, discussing how it acts as the bridge between CleverTap's platform and mobile applications, enabling the collection of valuable user data and facilitating real-time interactions. They explain the intricacies of integrating the SDK into various mobile platforms, discussing best practices and tips for optimizing performance and data accuracy.They discuss the architecture and technologies employed to handle millions of concurrent users, ensuring high availability, low latency, and efficient data processing. Hardik touches upon topics from load balancing to horizontal scalability, providing insights about the backend systems that make real-time omnichannel experiences possible.ScalerPod by Scaler is a one-of-a-kind podcast for engineers and tech enthusiasts. Our host Arnav Gupta talks to the leaders of the biggest tech companies from India and around the globe about the software engineering challenges they are solving and the products they are building for scale! Also, check out other Scaler Pod Episodes: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLhBy6YSIT0DjPC-a9j-Alz21GHOjzrVe Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:29 Day in their Life
02:12 How Darshan got into CleverTap and SDK Engineering
06:12 Hardik's Tech Journey
08:19 CleverTap's Processing Bandwidth and IPL Season
09:57 Handling Millions of Users during IPL and Challenges
14:38 Preparing and Testing for Massive Scale
18:32 Managing Realtime Data at CleverTap
22:52 User Profile Customizations, Omnichannel Experience and Retention
25:37 Storing Data at Scale, Analysis and CleverTap's Optimisations
30:09 Bridging between SDK and Backend
34:37 Handling Delay and Processing Realtime Data
35:38 Insuring Data Uptimes during events like IPL
37:52 Building their own Proprietary Database - TesseractDB™
42:52 Migrations and Downtimes
46:22 SDK Migrations, Updates and Challenges
48:16 Android X and Scheduling for Scale
54:09 Hiring at CleverTap and Onboarding Journey
1:01:23 Workflows for SDK Development
1:02:54 CleverTap's Plans around AI and ChatGPT
1:03:44 Outro
IPL #Dream11 #IPL2023 #CleverTap #Scaler
In this episode of Scaler Pod, we have Rajiv Srivatsa, Partner/Investor, Antler. He walks us through the world of venture capital, building successful startups, funding and more.
Check all other episodes: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLhBy6YSIT0DjPC-a9j-Alz21GHOjzrVeRajiv Srivatsa has around 20 years of experience in the technology industry, creating scalable businesses and products in the B2C tech, mobile, supply chain, and retail sectors. Currently, he is leading the deployment and operations of the global early-stage VC firm Antler in India. Prior to this, he co-founded Urban Ladder, India's top omnichannel brand for furniture. He starts off by explaining what exactly Venture Capital (VC) is and the important role they play in the startup ecosystem. He talks about the different types of VC funding and what startups should consider when seeking investment. Also, telling about his journey from founder to VC as well as the processes he goes through each day.
👉🏽If you are a tech leader, engineer or coder looking to become a founder, check out the Antler Residency: antler.co/india-residency👉🏽Learn more about Antler: antler.co/indiaRajiv also discusses the key factors that entrepreneurs should consider when starting a company, including when to start, how to get started, and how to choose the right co-founder. He shares some valuable tips and strategies for building a successful startup, including the importance of product-market fit, customer acquisition, and scalability.In addition, he offers advice for those who are considering making the shift from a traditional job to starting their own company. He shares his thoughts on the challenges and rewards of being a tech founder, and how to navigate the unique opportunities and obstacles that come with building a technology-driven startup. Lastly, he also touches upon the future of startups in India and how they can help boost the economy. Whether you are an aspiring entrepreneur, a seasoned startup founder, or just interested in the world of venture capital and entrepreneurship, this episode is packed with valuable insights and practical advice that you won't want to miss. Timestamps:00:00 Introduction - Rajiv Srivatsa, Partner, Antler 01:04 A Day in the Life of a Venture Capitalist(VC)04:51 His Journey from Job - Founder - VC13:38 Who is a Venture Capitalist (VC) and what does a VC do?16:41 How do VC and firms like Antler, Y Combinator Operate?25:07 Importance of VC and Startups in India28:02 When you should Startup and how to raise Funding?32:40 Is a co-founder needed to Startup?34:48 Converting an Idea into a Startup38:19 How can one make Shift from a Job to becoming a Founder?45:12 Engineers, finding a problem and building products47:03 Different Programs that Antler Offers(Fellowship, Residency, etc) and Choosing a VC56:50 How to Choose the Best Investor for a Startup?1:02:00 Choosing an Idea for a Startup and Advice for Tech Co-founders1:07:29 Importance of Credibility and moving from IC, EM to Founder roles1:12:59 Thoughts on common risks associated with doing Startup (Career Map explained)1:23:23 Future Scope of Startups in India
Startups #VentureCapital #ScalerPod #Antler
In this episode of Scaler Pod, we have Rahul Chari, Founder and CTO, PhonePe. We explore the driving forces behind PhonePe's success and its pivotal role in shaping UPI's growth and adoption. Also, unveiling the origins of UPI, the challenges faced during its implementation, and how PhonePe has played a significant role in India's Digital Payments Revolution.Rahul has over two decades of experience in embedded systems, enterprise software development, e-commerce platforms, and mobile applications. Prior to PhonePe, he was the VP of Engineering at Flipkart, where he was in charge of developing the best-in-class e-commerce logistics supply chain system. He talks about his entrepreneurial journey, learnings from Flipkart days and the idea behind PhonePe. He deep down on being mobile native and what challenges they face in managing scale, millions of transitions and regulations that arise for fintech platforms. Great watch for everyone who wanted to understand the UPI ecosystem and PhonePe's case study. Rahul also shares about the work culture at PhonePe, expanding in new markets, innovations that they plan and the qualities of a great software engineer. He also talks about the user life cycle, design principles and other verticals like insurance, investment, bill payments etc in which PhonePe is expanding to create the impact in driving UPI's popularity by offering a user-friendly and intuitive platform that integrates seamlessly with the UPI ecosystem for digital payments. ScalerPod by Scaler is a one-of-a-kind podcast for engineers and tech enthusiasts. Our host Arnav Gupta talks to the leaders of the biggest tech companies from India and around the globe about the software engineering challenges they are solving and the products they are building for scale!
Timestamps:00:00 Introduction00:27 A Day in His Life 04:20 His Journey - College Days to PhonePe11:09 Music Streaming, Flipkart's Flyte and Retro Talks17:23 Being VP of Engineering at Flipkart(Ekart), Logistics and his Learnings 20:01 Idea Behind PhonePe and How PhonePe Started?23:33 On Phonepe's acquisition by Flipkart 26:38 Early Days of UPI and Digital Payments in India32:38 PhonePe's Tech Stack and Choices 38:54 On being Mobile Native and Managing User Interactions 41:35 Decoding Digital Payments, UPI and Future Ahead47:56 Understanding PhonePe Wallet 51:33 Handling Scale, Mobile App and Innovations58:23 Thoughts on Cross-Platform Integrations 1:00:36 Organisation Structure, Pods and Qualities of Great Engineers1:06:33 Regulatory Issues and How PhonePe tackle these Challenges 1:14:18 Onboarding Rituals at PhonePe and PhonePe University 1:17:38 Will PhonePe become a Bank?1:21:58 Opportunities for Digital Payment Platforms1:25:21 AI in Fintech and Thoughts on ChatGPT1:28:09 Outro
PhonePe #UPI #Fintech #Scaler #ScalerPod
Welcome to ScalerPod by Scaler where our host Arnav talks to the leaders of the biggest tech companies from India about software engineering challenges they are solving! In this episode, we have Vikram Verma, Senior Vice President(SVP) Engineering, Yubi(formerly CredAvenue). He shares about his journey from working with tech giants like Oracle, Yahoo! and then shifting to startups and fintech. At Yubi - India's Fastest Growing Fintech Unicorn, Vikram is helping to redefine the Indian finance markets by building a Unified Debt Marketplace, which is aimed at freeing the flow of finance between borrowers, lenders, and investors. He also talks about the challenges associated with SME lending, loans, and the technology required to manage scale, security, and efficiency while working with multiple banks and partners.He shares valuable insights into the fintech industry, startups, and the importance of soft skills like documentation, purpose, and communication. Furthermore, Vikram shares his views on the banking and lending market in India and what the future holds with more innovations happening in these sectors. This episode, SCALER POD 13 is a must-watch for anyone looking to understand more about fintech, startups, and the importance of soft skills for engineers in the ever-evolving world of technology and finance.
Timestamps:00:00 Introduction
00:26 A Day in His Life
04:12 Journey and Early Days
10:25 Working at Oracle and His Learnings
14:50 Being with Yahoo! Search Team and Managing Scale
23:25 Introduction to Fintech, Startups and CredAvenue
39:32 About Yubi - India's Fastest-Growing Fintech Unicorn
50:38 Tech Challenges, Efficiency and Prioritising Security
57:21 Working with Banks and How the Indian Finance Sector is Evolving
01:06:23 How to choose Tech as an early-stage startup
01:11:37 Yubi's Tech Choices and Stack
01:17:01 Managing Teams Internally and the Importance of Common Purpose
01:24:55 Learning Opportunities, Culture and Growing Alongside
01:29:49 Understanding Soft Skills - Communication, Documentation, etc
01:38:41 Future of Fintech
01:46:32 Outro
Fintech #Scaler #Startups #Yubi
In this episode of Scaler Pod, we have Sanjeev Barnwal, the Founder and CTO of Meesho - India’s largest social commerce platform. An Electrical Engineering graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) Delhi, Sanjeev worked as a software engineer with Sony, contributing to the camera technology for DSLRs and Sony Mobile.He takes us through his journey as an entrepreneur and the challenges he faced in building Meesho from scratch. Under Sanjeev’s leadership, they have created a simple yet robust tech stack to handle scale and give users a seamless shopping experience across the country.Sanjeev shares his thoughts on the importance of user empathy and how Meesho is using the social commerce boom to target the right set of audiences for delivering millions of requests per day. Also, he highlights the mega sales and what preparation it takes to get the platform ready for handling scale and maintain a loyal customer base by prioritizing customer satisfaction.ScalerPod by Scaler is a one-of-a-kind podcast for engineers and tech enthusiasts. Our host Arnav Gupta talks to the leaders of the biggest tech companies from India and around the globe about the software engineering challenges they are solving and the products they are building for scale! #meesho #socialcommerce #ScalerPod #Podcast #Scaler #ArnavGupta #meeshoshopping #ecommerce Timestamps:00:00 Introduction
00:23 Day in his life as Meesho's CTO and Founder
04:10 Connecting with Team and Involvement in Core Tech
06:57 His Journey from IIT to Japan
12:43 Arnav's thoughts on taking Electrical Engineering
15:48 Decoding Software vs Hardware and his learnings from Sony
21:00 Starting Fashnear and Meesho's early days
24:32 The Social Commerce Trend
26:43 Integrating with platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook etc and challenges
29:15 User Empathy and Meesho's Listen or Die(LoD) Ritual
32:25 Meesho's tech stack to handle scale and diversification
38:11 Various Tech Challenges while scaling
41:22 Importance of keeping things simple
43:33 Perf Testing, Sales and Distributed ownership
46:32 Preparing for Mega Sales and handling Traffic
53:47 Data Engineering and its Uses at Meesho
58:04 organising teams and understanding the Pods structure
1:02:09 Future Plans for Meesho and the Use of AI for better predictions
1:04:45 Advice for Young Engineers
1:07:01 Outro
In this episode, our host Arnav Gupta is in talks with Srikanth Varma Chekuri who is the co-founder of Applied AI and Applied Roots. He is a highly accomplished professional with over 13 years of experience in the field of AI and Machine Learning. Currently, he leads the DS/ML vertical at Scaler and is dedicated to empowering every student with the best results. Srikanth has also worked as a Senior Machine Learning Scientist at Amazon in both Palo Alto and Bangalore, where he played a key role in developing cutting-edge AI technologies. In addition, he is a Co-Founder of Matherix Labs, where he works to advance the field of AI and Machine Learning through innovative research and development. Srikanth began his career as a Research Engineer at Yahoo Labs, where he gained valuable experience working with some of the brightest minds in the industry. He holds a Masters from IISc Bangalore and achieved an impressive GATE AIR 2 ranking in 2007. Timestamps:00:00 Introduction
0:30 Day in the life of Srikanth
03:55 His journey, college and Gate AIR 2
08:37 Getting into Yahoo and his early startup
11:52 Experiences and learnings at Amazon as a Machine learning Scientist
17:07 Starting ed-tech startup Applied Roots
22:45 What is the daily job of a Data Scientist?
28:49 Understanding the need for Data and Problem-Solving Approach
31:21 Arnav's story about a Data Scientist
37:01 Case studies and practical-based learning
40:47 Possible roles in the Data Science field explained
48:39 Different domains of work in DS/ML
51:37 Interview Process for DS, ML jobs
55:21 Tools required for getting started in DSML
58:57 Understanding the Math part of Data Science
1:07:18 Can someone from Non-tech transition and scope ahead in DS, ML
1:08:50 Advice for upcoming Data Science Startups
1:15:07 His take on the future of AI, ChatGPT, and ML
1:22:36 Outro
In this episode of Scaler Pod, we have Arpit Bhayani #AsliEngineering who is currently working at Google as a Staff Software Engineer and previously was Director of Engineering at Unacademy. He is making his own programming language for kids named Revine and also a database called DiceDB. Apart from this, he has a cohort-based course on System Design and has taught 1000+ engineers, also, his newsletters and youtube channel are popular among enthusiasts as he pours out deep knowledge about various topics and sparks curiosity.
We discuss with him his journey, his experiences while working in big tech companies alongside managing different roles and teams. He also shares his thoughts on the ongoing trends in tech space like ChatGPT, AI/ AR and elaborates upon the need to actually understand core engineering and develop that mindset to be curious about everything!
ScalerPod by Scaler is a one-of-a-kind podcast for engineers and tech enthusiasts, where our host Arnav talks to the leaders of the biggest tech companies from India and around the globe about the software engineering challenges they are solving and the products they are building for scale!
Timestamps:
00:00 Teaser
02:21 Introduction
02:50 Arpit's day at Unacademy and Google
06:02 His Journey and Learnings
08:55 Shifting from IC to People Management Role
13:48 Managing Stakeholders, Teams, and Creating value
18:35 Engineers Mindset, working over Platform Side vs Product
25:50 Building a Team and his ways of Managing Works
29:15 Why make Data lakes and structure data in different organizations
37:36 Setting Goals, Newsletter and Asli Engennring
48:34 Building his own Programming Language for Kids - Revine
57:29 His Database DiceDB - Golang-based KV store that speaks the Redis dialect
1:10:20 His System Design Course and creating better engineers
1:18:40 Microservices and understanding cost
1:22:47 Breaking the Myth - Coding gets boring and no more to learn(becoming curious)
1:29:05 ChatGPT, Augmented Reality and Future Ahead
1:33:05 On New Programming Languages and his love for Research Papers
1:39:02 Outro
ScalerPod #ArpitBhayani #Podcast #Scaler #ArnavGupta #softwareengineering #engineering #scaleracademy #techpodcast
In this episode of Scaler Pod, we have Nirdosh Chouhan SVP of Engineering at OYO, Chouhan is an aspiring leader in software engineering with over 20 years of strategic growth experience in managing teams, and distributed enterprise products and applications, and previously worked in companies like Apple, Oracle, and NetApp.
An alumnus of IIM Bangalore, he's leading OYO's Platform and Revenue Technology with a team of 150+ engineers and had worked on building products for OYO to support Pricing, Invoicing, Availability, Booking, Payments, Communication, and Identity.
In this Podcast, he shares his experiences in silicon valley and working at Apple, about the hospitality industry and new innovations happening, and the Indian Jugaad culture/ mindset.
Timeline:
00:00 Teaser
02:34 Introduction
03:02 Day in the life of Nirdosh
05:44 His journey in the tech industry and early days
17:00 Engineering in OYO and tech challenges in the hospitality industry
21:25 Arnav's experiences while working in Zomato
22:45 OYO's diversified market
26:30 Custom filters and challenges with large data
30:09 Changes in hospitality and product functioning
34:20 His learnings while working at Apple
38:10 Global business spread and customer satisfaction
40:50 Work culture, hiring, and feedback
45:00 Challenges for engineer's growth in India
48:02 Thoughts on the Indian tech ecosystem
50:10 Future of the Hospitality industry and catering experiences
54:09 New changes and possible technological ways for engineers
59:39 The India Jugaad mindest, Ipad launch, and the difference between India and the silicon valley
01:11:00 Advice for young engineers/ freshers
01:14:28 Outro
Scaler #OYO #Podcast #Technology #Hospitality #Engineering #ScalerPod
In this episode, we have Prasanna Sankar the CTO and Co-founder of Rippling.com, which is currently valued at $10B. Prasanna had also co-founded companies like LikeaLittle, a campus social network that grew from 0 to 20M page views in 6 weeks.
He is a two-time world finalist at Google Code Jam and ACM ICPC and held the rank one position at TopCoder while in college. After moving to the US he worked with companies like Microsoft and Zenefits but was always curious about real-world problem-solving and building startups.
Listen to this Podcast where he shares his encounters with 6 sigma events, startup experiences, raising funding from major VC firms like Ycombinator and a16z, stories with Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, and his belief in blockchain technology for a better-decentralized future.
Timeline:
00:00 Introduction
00:43 Understanding 6 sigma events
02:21 How he started with TopCoder
06:50 Microsoft, Interactions with Paul Graham(Y Combinator) and his first Startup
19:30 About Like a Little and hyper-growth
23:47 On turning down offers from Google and Facebook, investment with a16z
29:04 Failures and Downfalls while building startups
34:46 Zenefits story
42:35 How rippling started and engineering culture
47:42 Managing large tech teams and his learnings
59:40 His first principles
1:03:25 6 sigma events in current times and Blockchain Technology(Crypto)
1:12:35 On Decentralization, cryptocurrencies, and Uniswap
1:17:53 His Optimism, beliefs, and life experiences
1:22:19 OpenAI and the Elon Musk story
1:27:47 Outro
PrasannaSankar #ScalerPod #Podcast #Scaler #Blockchain #Ycobinator #Startups #Rippling #Crypto
In this episode of Scaler Pod, we have Akash Saxena who is the CTO at Hotstar and previously has been with OpenTable for about 12 years. Currently, he focuses on building & scaling Disney+ Hotstar to reach millions of users across the globe and to provide entertainment through digital content and live sports streaming.
As the ICC T20 World Cup is on the line, let's talk with him about Cricket, Ind vs Pak games, Handling Live Streaming for Scale, and the Future of OTT Platforms in India.
Hotstar #ScalerPod #Podcast #Scaler
Timeline:
00:00 Introduction
00:52 A day in the life of Akash Saxena
04:33 On his journey before Hotstar
15:57 Getting started with Hotstar, Initial days, and Ind vs Pak
20:55 Making an Inhouse streaming platform and overcoming challenges
25:50 Preparing for massive scale and his F1 racing approach
36:23 Handling live buffer and delay latency
42:45 Concurring distribution and video quality
48:17 Optimizing user data and team culture
56:50 Building Watch and Play on Hotstar, Microservices
1:05:13 Scaling tech teams in Hotstar
1:15:55 Hiring requirements for the tech team
1:19:55 Advice for young people building their own Startups
1:26:06 Leadership approach, crisis management, and being customer first
1:35:41 Arnav tells about challenges he faced while his early startup days
1:37:49 Importance of modeled testing
1:40:58 Thinking for the engineering team and planning for their growth
1:47:31 Advice for freshers and about personal growth
1:56:23 Use of AI, Machine Learning in Hotstar, and the future ahead
2:02:49 Vastness of content and geographical diversification
2:06:18 Hotstar Multiplex and how watching movies is changing
2:09:35 Future of media and OTT content domain
2:12:27 Outro
At FamPay, Shobhit is helping build infrastructure to handle millions of transactions and delight the young generation with new experiences. He talks about his journey starting from being an Engineer at Goldman Sachs, working through big tech companies like Microsoft and Amazon, trying hands at a startup to working at Whatsapp. He also discusses some of the challenges they are solving.
Timeline:
00:00 Introduction
00:25 A day in the life of Shobhit Gupta
02:46 On Work-life Balance
04:13 His journey and coming back to India
12:25 Culture in Big Tech Companies(FAANG)
16:57 Designing systems for scale
20:05 Difference in Big Companies vs Startups
28:44 Why did he choose Fintech Industry and his thoughts on UPI
34:54 Challenges when handling Millions of users
40:52 Experience in building for the Young teenage audience
46:55 Product launch checks, security, and testing
49:58 Work structure within the company
54:57 Overcoming referral reward issue at Fampay
01:00:55 Hiring at Fampay and challenges
01:05:56 Fampay Interview and Hiring process
01:11:15 How to design systems in a better?
01:15:55 Dealing with Rules and Regulations in Fintech
01:22:15 Future of Fintech in India
Fanpay #Scaler #Podcast
Dr. Kailash Nadh, Zerodha's CTO is famous for his countless side projects on his GitHub, his blog that thousands of software engineers follow, and for building the tech infra at Zerodha that is run by only 35 engineers but supports over 1 crore traders! Let's talk with him about hacker culture, working on open source projects, and how to scale up tech and tech teams with common sense.
Zerodha #Scaler #podcast #Entrepreneur #Tech
Timeline:
00:00 Introduction
00:40 A day in the life of Kailash Nadh
02:55 Writing code as a CTO
04:25 How to react to regulation as a Fintech team
07:35 Maintenance windows and reconciliation/settlement time for trading apps
11:15 How Zerodha manages with such a small team of 30 people in tech?
19:55 Tech Culture at Zerodha's Tech Team
22:55 How engineers can grow more to learn product/business domain
30:55 Why all companies must focus on better tech culture 35:00 Team dynamics that make tech teams grow better
37:35 Learn technology by building projects
43:55 Kailash's dns.toys side project and why he made it
48:25 Arnav's share time side project
52:40 Open source is important for engineers as well as orgs
1:01:55 Getting started with open source for those new to it
1:04:55 Hacker culture among Indian engineers
1:14:55 Open-source is, in a way, altruism
1:18:55 Future of tech in fintech domain
1:26:25 Why Zerodha picked Flutter for mobile?
1:33:55 (Arnav ranting about hyped up tech stacks 😅)
1:35:55 Zerodha's backend tech stack
1:43:55 When Zerodha first started using Go lang
1:46:55 Database choices, and Clickhouse and Postgres
1:49:55 Managed services vs doing things in-house
1:56:55 CI/CD setup at Zerodha
2:01:55 How to take good tech-stack choices early on?
At Dukaan, Subhash and his cofounder Suumit are building the e-commerce infrastructure on the edge of the cloud for the next billion! Dukaan lets anyone build their online store in minutes, and Subhash talks about their journey from SEO optimization to building a Shopify challenger over the last decade and how their team is surmounting challenges of extremely low latency page loads of shops on slow mobile internet connections across the globe!
scalerpod #dukaan #podcast
TimeStamps
00:00 Teaser
01:50 Introduction
02:50 Day in the life of Subhash
15:00 Young software engineers today
21:30 Making software reliable, and improve UX for users
24:30 How engineers work and work-life balance
27:00 How do you hire people ?
31:00 Subhash's early career experience
36:30 Job security, hiring and firing
42:00 Early SEO optimisation as freelancer
52:00 Meeting cofounder Suumit Shah
01:00:00 Building the first product company
01:04:00 Early idea of Dukaan from whatsapp-commerce
01:16:00 Expanding on SaaS offerings
01:20:00 Mindset of SaaS in India
01:24:30 Better CDN and Edge-level low latency content
01:32:00 Building an edge-computing stack
01:52:00 Edge level SSL, domain handling over BGP and anycast
02:00:00 Maggi Delivery Network (don't miss this!)
02:15:00 Competing with Shopify
02:19:00 Mobile-first D2C commerce shop pages
02:26:00 Innovating hiring strategy at Dukaan
02:36:00 Work Environment at Dukaan
02:39:30 Stress Free Zone at Dukaan office
02:43:20 Conclusion
Jacob is a seasoned tech leader in the startup world, having been CTO of Grofers (now Blinkit) and has also spent a stint at Sequoia as CTO-in-residence. He now works with CTOs, CPOs and their teams to be a sounding board for their ideas, and help grow the cultures and systems they dream of.
Contents:
00:00 Teaser
01:42 Introduction
02:05 Life in a day of a CTO
05:00 Peacetime vs Wartime CTO
06:50 Challenges for a CTO at different startup stages
10:00 Tech vs Business
14:30 What motivates engineers?
19:00 How EMs can keep their teams engaged ?
24:30 Why Engineers should focus on writing?
30:00 Importance of conferences, blogs and open source participation
35:00 Developing the art of communication and documentation
38:30 Personal Branding for Software Engineers
43:00 Open Source contributions and hiring via open source
45:00 Role of Public Speaking in Jacob's career
49:00 Importance of Developer Advocacy
52:00 Engineers can smell bullshit
54:30 How can one move into Developer Relations?
58:30 How is the 2022 downturn/recession playing out?
1:00:30 Things that will still grow despite the downturn
1:03:00 Advice to budding tech entrepreneurs
1:06:00 Emergence of Vertical SaaS
1:08:00 ML/AI and generative tool applications
1:10:00 Pains of Mobile Developer experience
1:13:00 What's next for Jacob in life?
1:14:25 Jacob's passion for early child education
Welcome to the SCALER Pod series! In this first episode, we have Arnav Gupta (Product & Strategy, SCALER) in conversation with Jitendra Agrawal, Global CTO, CARS24. They discuss about engineering management, scaling up of engineering teams and importance of mobile development.
About Jitendra Agrawal Jitendra is currently the Global CTO of CARS24 expanding the tech team that works on CARS24's international products. He has spent a significant about of time in engineering leadership roles previously too, including being CTO of SpringBoard and LendingKart as well has being VP of Engineering at HotStar.
Timelines
00:00 Teaser
01:30 Introduction
02:00 Day in the life of a CTO
05:30 Tech Team Structure of different sized companies
08:00 Working on B2B vs B2C tech
11:00 Tech Teams communicating with Business/Products
12:30 Jiten's career story so far
17:00 Key ingredients to hire and retain a great tech team
23:00 Career choices for mid-senior engineers
28:00 Being 'language-specific' in hiring
35:00 Importance of Mobile Engineering
About Amod Malviya:
Best known in the startup ecosystem for building Flipkart’s technology backbone, Amod Malviya is the renowned co-founder of Udaan, a B2B marketplace that notably raced to unicorn status in less than 26 months. Amod is a highly skilled technologist whose experience and interests are commendable in his great contribution to the tech industry. Graduated from IIT Kharagpur, Amod’s consistency and dedication leave an inspiring mark on every detail of his developments. His skills and expertise have been consistently demonstrated in the technical mastery of programming languages, building strong scalable infrastructure as well as network architecture.
0:00:00 Teaser
0:02:00 Intro
0:02:26 Why do you still continue to code ?
0:07:50 You were making weekend dev challenges on Twitter. Why did you stop?
0:14:25 What motivates engineers go deep into systems and languages?
0:18:00 What is your advice for engineers who are overwhelmed with multiple languages, tech stacks and frameworks to learn?
0:24:40 How to transcend from thinking in a framework to thinking in a concept?
0:30:20 What is your advice for mid-senior engineers to grow in their career?
0:41:00 How to take time out for learning when working at startups?
0:47:00 Why is it important to keep learning throughout the career ?
0:52:50 Should we learn Computer Science fundamentals? Or we can just start building projects?
1:05:00 Learning for short-terma vs long-term goals?
1:12:00 Importance of skills vs degrees
1:25:00 How to create a peer group that helps you to learn?
1:27:00 Should engineers think of going into Product Management?
1:35:00 How to judge what is hype and what is subsstance when picking a new domain?
1:55:00 How to discover, and get involved in good open source projects?
2:00:00 Words of advice for engineers beginning their careers in tech
Employees are offered compensation packages that include other components apart from basic such as ESOP, RSU, and ESPP. As an employee, are you aware of all these different terms and how these are calculated in your CTC?
In this live session, Abhimanyu Saxena (Co-founder: Scaler Academy) and Arnav Gupta(ex-Engineering Head of Zomato Android App), break down the CTC packages for techies.
Here are the topics covered in this video:
0:00 - Introduction
0:46 - Current situation of jobs and CTC due to pandemic
3:14 - Company CTC and package distribution
7:23 - What is joining Bonus
11:22 - What is a retention bonus
14:55 - Is there Tax cut on joining bonus
16:29 - What is a performance bonus
19:51 - What are stock price-based incentives?
21:24 - Non cash components of the Package
26:59 - What are RSUs
29:25 What is a Stock option
34:10 Cliff and vesting
39:18 - What happens when you leave in 2 years if the company vesting period is 4 years?
46:54 - Why is the whole stock amount calculated in annual CTC?
51:11 - How important are other benefits like Health care etc?
58:35 - What happens to ESOPs if the company is acquired by another MNC?
1:02:31 - Is taking a hit on Salary in return for ESOPs normal?
1:07:23 Gratuity component of CTC?
After you complete your under-graduation, you face the difficult decision of whether to head straight into the workforce or continue studying. How do you decide if doing master's is the right call for you? If the only reason to do post-graduation is to work in a foreign country, is there a way to work outside India without having to do master's?
In this live session, Mohit Yadav (Ex-Senior Engineer, Hotstar and Nutanix) and Anshuman Singh (co-founder: Scaler Academy) discuss if master's degree is worth the investment for your career.
Here are the topics covered in this video:
0:00 - Introduction
1:20 - Thoughts about doing masters
7:37 - Ivy league colleges vs non-Ivy League colleges
9:10 - Going to the US on scholarship
11:30 - Types of visa for working in the US
17:00 - Options other than the US where one can directly apply for a job
22:00 - How to apply for companies outside India?
30:10 - Expert experience about working in different regions
36:23 - Student Loan for studies abroad
39:23 - Do companies prefer experience over degree?
44:21 - Is doing MS worth it?
46:18 - Which countries compare in opportunities with the US?
49:48 - Should a person risk moving abroad if he already has a good career in India?
53:12 - Does Competitive programming website rating matter in applying for jobs in the US?
56:40 - Is moving abroad just for the sake of it a good decision?
58:04 - Asian countries to do masters from?
59:44 - Competitive programming Vs Interview: Which is tougher?
1:02:00 - Indian headquarters Vs US Headquarters: Quality of work
1:04:15 - AI or ML companies that are doing good in India
Tech stack varies between different types of apps, industries, and project scales.
Some tech solutions mature faster than others. Some gain popularity and stay trending for years. Some become obsolete and get abandoned. With the growing number of choices, it becomes harder to decide what technology stack will better meet the requirements of your project.
It’s especially difficult as no person has tried everything and could share an unbiased opinion.
In this live session, Abhimanyu Saxena (Co-founder: Scaler Academy) and Arnav Gupta(ex-Engineering Head of Zomato Android App), share some insights on how you can pick the right tech stack for your new company.
Have you ever had a situation where the work load was so immense that you ended up forgetting what to do?
Have you been frustrated because you couldn't give your best on a project just because you lacked the time?
Instances like these are a regular occurrence in the life of any engineer or working professional , but what makes the real difference between an "A" grade job and an "OK" job is how effectively one is able to manage his/her time and do the job effectively within deadlines. Time management is the key to solving all such problems once and for all.
Now time management being such a vague term, one may wonder what are some of the top tips and tricks to a good and effective time management system which not only helps you in your engineering career but in your professional life as well.
In this episode, Yash Mimani, Bhavik Rasyara (Business Heads at Scaler Academy) and Arnav Gupta (ex Android lead at Zomato and Target) discuss some tips from their personal and professional lives on how they manage time better.
In this live session on 'Ed-tech and Software Engineering - Past, Present and Future', Abhimanyu Saxena (Co-founder- Scaler Academy) and Arnav Gupta (ex-Engineering Head of Zomato Android App) discuss about the impact of ed-tech industry and it's role in shaping future Engineers. They shall discuss on the innovations/disruptions they are expecting in content, pedagogy, mode of delivery and distribution in the next 5-10 years.