Life as a Distinguished Engineer | Joakim Recht (Uber) [Video]

Out of thousands of engineers at Uber, only a handful hold the title of Distinguished Engineers, and Joakim is one of them. In this conversation, we discuss:

– The comparison of software engineering to a sausage factory,
– Factors to consider when leaving big tech for a startup,
– Strategies for “beating the promotional committee”,
– How to effectively shape an engineering culture,
– The notion that “mentoring two people on the same team is a waste”,
– And much more.

Program Segments:

– [0:01:52] The “reverse sausage” architecture,
– [0:07:36] Strategies to get people on board with the new deployment system,
– [0:13:55] What it means to be a distinguished engineer,
– [0:17:47] Under-appreciated soft skills,
– [0:21:28] Techniques to improve technical writing,
– [0:24:16] Do all senior engineers need to write and review code every day?
– [0:30:19] How to find where to contribute when time is constrained,
– [0:43:10] Strategies to maximize your impact as a mentor,
– [0:48:52] Advice on “how to beat the promotional committee”,
– [0:52:56] Effective ways to influence engineering culture,
– [0:57:09] The reasoning behind capping the company at 150 employees,
– [1:03:33] Considerations on joining a startup versus another big tech company,
– [1:11:14] Updates on what Joakim is currently working on at Beyond Work.

Show Notes:

– Joakim on leaving Uber to start Beyond Work: [View Article](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-i-left-uber-start-beyond-work-joakim-recht-o63of?trk=public_post_feed-article-content)
– Read Joakim’s other excellent posts here: [View Posts](https://www.linkedin.com/in/recht/recent-activity/all/)

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