Alex Ponomarev (Page 6)

13 Oct 2023 · 3 min read

All Hands on Deck: Rapidly Scaling Engineering to Stay Afloat

Scaling an engineering team in as requirements pile up is a challenging feat. With a hockey-stick user growth, engineering managers feel like drowning trying to balance non-stop requests for new

12 Oct 2023 · 4 min read

The Dark Side of the Hero Engineer

I was reading the book “An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management” by Will Larson today and stumbled upon a definition of the “hero engineer” problem in software development. It’

11 Oct 2023 · 3 min read

Turning Around a Troubled Talent

We’ve all encountered the “Jeff” in our careers — the talented engineer who creates as many problems as he solves. I recently came across an interesting Reddit post describing a

10 Oct 2023 · 5 min read

When Good Enough is Good Enough: Avoid Getting Stuck as an Software Engineer

As software engineers, we all want to write the best code possible. Along the way, it’s easy to get carried away in search of perfection and lose sight of

9 Oct 2023 · 4 min read

Control Freak's Guide to Empowering Your Team

During my first years as a CTO, I was a control freak. I wanted to be involved in every engineering decision — from reviewing pull requests to picking out frameworks. I

8 Oct 2023 · 5 min read

The Stressful Leap from Engineer to CTO

You know who the best managers are? They’re the great individual contributors who never, ever want to be a manager, but decide they want to be a manager, because

7 Oct 2023 · 5 min read

Connecting the Dots: Why You Need One-on-Ones

When managers invest in quality one-on-one time, projects run better, developers feel supported, and people stick around longer. Regularly connecting with the team is extremely important for the success of

6 Oct 2023 · 4 min read

Using Analytics to Build a Better Product

Analytics. I used to think they were just nice-to-have stats for big tech companies. Turned out I was wrong. When I launched my first e-commerce site about 15 years ago,

5 Oct 2023 · 5 min read

Automated Testing: Your Team’s Safety Net

Jim’s heart raced as he watched the CEO’s eyes flare with frustration. Their mobile app had just frozen mid-demo in front of investors. As sweat beaded on his

4 Oct 2023 · 3 min read

Coding Rockstars vs. Team Values: Bridging the Technical Divide

I recently came across an interesting story on the web highlighting some of the common challenges teams face when bringing on new senior developers. In this case, a senior dev

3 Oct 2023 · 5 min read

From Engineer to CTO: Navigating the Rocky Road

Sam Carow’s path to becoming a CTO was anything but straightforward, according to her post on Reddit I stumbled upon. In fact, her story is marked by plenty of

2 Oct 2023 · 4 min read

Quiet Quitting: No One Wants to Work Hard for Nothing

Ben, a friend of mine, has been ‘quiet quitting’ his job for the past few months. It means he does what is required in the job description and nothing more.

1 Oct 2023 · 4 min read

Why Crunching Doesn’t Work: A CTO’s View

Years ago, when I was still new to the role of a CTO, I interviewed Sam, an experienced project manager with an impressive resume. He had overseen major initiatives at

30 Sep 2023 · 4 min read

From Scrappy to Stable: Navigating Startup Growing Pains

Many startups follow a similar narrative arc. A few friends working after hours start a company to build their app. Fueled by ramen, energy drinks, and enthusiasm, they scrape together

29 Sep 2023 · 4 min read

Curing the Disease of Underperformance in Engineering Teams

According to recent surveys, 26% of employees are considered underperformers, costing companies up to $3.4M in lost productivity per 1,000 workers. Engineering teams are not immune to this

28 Sep 2023 · 4 min read

Boost Engineering Velocity: How to Get Unstuck and Ship Faster

In the fast-paced world of software development, engineering teams face immense pressure to deliver value quickly. However, bottlenecks like misalignment, lack of visibility, and constant context switching can grind productivity

27 Sep 2023 · 5 min read

Overscheduled and Overwhelmed: My Battle Against Meeting-Mania

Meetings, meetings, meetings. As a CTO, my calendar gets jam-packed with what feels like back-to-back meetings from dawn to dusk if I’m not vigilant. Don’t get me wrong

26 Sep 2023 · 4 min read

Why Your Roadmap is Worthless Without Rigor

As CTO, I’m constantly seeking ways to improve how we build and deliver software. After a few painful release rollouts riddled with delays, defects, and cost overruns, someone suggested