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The Better Build

The Better Build

Mission

Welcome to The Better Build, a podcast that explores the world of software engineering leadership, and the people who are shaping it. This podcast is presented by Mission, an award-winning network and platform for fully managed teams of senior-level software engineers to find opportunities and continue to level-up. For more information, check out mission.dev
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Top 10 The Better Build Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Better Build episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Better Build for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Better Build episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

The Better Build - AI and Empathy with Gabriel Lespérance
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04/14/23 • 36 min

Mission CEO Stephane Rossi is joined by Gabriel Lespérance (Paltap) to talk hard-learned lessons on entrepreneurship, what we should actually be excited about in regards to AI, and the importance of emotional intelligence in tech leadership.

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Host Gabriel Sundaram of Mission sits with guest Iana Vitkova, Senior Director of Engineering at Wiser Solutions, to discuss her journey from software engineer to leader, highlighting her passion for team development and high performance strategies. They discuss Wiser's innovative approach to leveraging data and analytics for retail optimization, the logistics of managing a global workforce, and the challenges of coordinating teams across different time zones. Iana also emphasizes the importance of early collaboration between engineering, product management, and design to align business objectives with user needs, offering valuable insights for anyone navigating software engineering leadership.

Key topics:

The value of being a product manager (11:27)

The benefits of low cost experimentation (23:39)

Why it's important for engineers to understand the business context (25:11)

Where Iana believes AI will land (28:53)

The leadership enhancing benefits of joining Toastmasters (31:14)

"it's an industry that really forces you to continue to grow and to learn" (36:17)

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The Better Build - From CTO to VC with Raif Barbaros
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02/21/23 • 33 min

The Better Build's debut episode features a stellar conversation between Mission CEO Stephane Rossi and the widely accomplished Raif Barbaros. Currently a seed-stage VC at Mistral Venture Partners in Canada, Raif has a deep CV of startup founder and CTO experience, including at Nuula, Infuitive, and Loblaw Digital. Stephane and Raif cover topics such as how technical expertise can influence VC decision-making, software team leadership skills for companies at different stages, and the importance of making collaborative decisions with your partners.

Subscribe to The Better Build on all your favorite podcast providers, and stay connected to us through LinkedIn and Twitter (@GrowWithMission).

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Mission COO & Co-founder Gabriel Sundaram catches up with his former Bus.com colleague and friend Martin Provencher, Senior Developer Manager at Shopify. Martin shares his experienced perspective on what he looks for when hiring engineers for his teams, as well as the best strategies he's encountered to keep remote teams feeling connected.

Key Moments:

  • The benefits of leading the Ruby on Rails user group (2:09)
  • The difference between managing engineering at early stage vs enterprise (5:07)
  • Hiring engineers for your stage and culture (7:01)
  • The Shopify engineering culture (10:13)
  • Managing remote engineering teams (including one of the best exercises he’s seen for remote teams) (14:39)
  • Using data to manage engineers (17:09)
  • The relationship between product and engineering (24:05)

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In this special episode, the Mission co-founders - COO Gabriel Sundaram, CTO Fred Brunel, and CEO Stephane Rossi - talk about what makes the ideal engineering environment, the true value of data, and how even the best engineers can leverage that data to keep leveling up.

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The Better Build - Paying it Forward with Matthew Chan
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05/05/23 • 30 min

Matthew Chan is the CTO of BlackCart, a company revolutionizing "try before you buy" software for e-commerce. In this episode, Matthew talks with Mission COO and Co-founder Gabriel Sundaram about the tech education program he started for kids, how his engineering background helps in his current leadership positions, and the many ways he's giving back the kind of mentorship he received on his professional journey.

Key topics:

Advice for anyone transitioning from IC to manager (02:53)

Founding a tech program for kids to give back (03:54)

On dealing with "unknown unknowns" (06:50)

Seed stage CTOs (9:08)

Where's the value - the technical or the team? (10:05)

Your relationship and your role as an executive versus a VPN or an engineering lead (11:20)

Do you think it is that as an IC there's less of this holistic picture or connection to business outcomes? (13:53)

A function of environment and time (14:03)

Building the right environment (18:28)

The project champion (21:55)

Paying it forward through an internship program (23:15)

Product role with engineering knowledge (24:50)

...

As promised in the episode, here are a couple ways you can get in touch with Matthew:

Twitter: @mcschan

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mcschan/

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The Better Build - The Real Magic of AI with Microsoft's David Catuhe
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06/01/23 • 37 min

David Catuhe is the creator of Babylon.js, a powerful real time 3D engine using a JavaScript library, and has worked for Microsoft for over 12 years, both as an engineering lead and now as a Partner Group Engineering Manager, leading hundreds of people, with the Babylon.js team being his main priority.

He sat down with longtime friend Fred Brunel, Co-founder and CTO of Mission, for a casual but deeply insightful chat on AI and the ever-evolving role of the engineer. As Microsoft is one of the key companies developing and using AI currently, this conversation is a can't-miss window into the latest and most exciting aspects of this paradigm shifting technology.

You can buy David's art book here:

English: https://lnkd.in/gX5p4ANP

French: https://lnkd.in/g9VbTnma

Key Moments (click the timestamp to jump to that point in the conversation)

The creation of Babylon.js (1:50)

Predicting code in context, the engineer as architect (13:54)

The real magic of ChatGPT (19:22)

Every business has "core happy stuff" (27:08)

How Microsoft embraced the remote work from the beginning (28:59)

How Microsoft works across timezones (29:43)

Working in a hive style and the problem with Waterfall (31:41)

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The Better Build - Extreme Programming at Ford with Scott Erkkila
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08/10/23 • 37 min

Even if you don’t own a vehicle, you know the name Ford. Over 120 years after selling its first vehicle, Ford remains one of the world’s largest automotive companies. What’s kept them going is a willingness to innovate and change with the times, often topping the charts of best selling cars in America well into the 21st century.

Within Ford Pro, which oversees Ford’s commercial and fleet vehicles, is a hub of innovation: the Ford Pro technology team and its 600+ workers, including over 300 software engineers. And managing these top developers is this episode’s guest, Scott Erkkila, Head of Software Engineering at Ford Pro.

Scott sat down with Mission CEO Stephane Rossi to talk the latest at Ford Pro, with a particular focus on extreme programming, the methodology being implemented by over 100 software engineering teams within Ford Pro tech. Scott talks benefits and dispels myths around the “controversial” methodology, while giving clues as to how this massive company founded over a century ago continues to meet their customers’ needs and effortlessly stays ahead of the times.

Key moments

What is extreme programming? (10:00)

Key features of extreme programming (11:56)

Pair programming (15:20)

Why did Ford Pro adopt extreme programming? (15:45)

The importance of inclusivity and collaboration (21:42)

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Mission COO Gabriel Sundaram sits with Sophea Loche (VP of Engineering at Egencia, an Amex GBT company) to discuss how things have changed for women in tech (3:30), how she made a big career decision that required moving to another country (9:08), how she goes about building teams remotely (12:08), the importance of building a leadership pipeline (15:05), how to build trust and get aligned across teams (19:45), and how different country cultures deal with failure (22:17).

Learn more about how Mission can help you hire senior-level software talent backed by a powerful insights platform at mission.dev.

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In this episode of The Better Build, we sit down with Martin Kess, Head of Engineering at Fractal, a venture studio on a mission to launch vertical B2B SaaS companies into billion-dollar industries. With an impressive background that spans from Google and Lyft to now steering the ship at Fractal, Martin brings a wealth of experience and unique insights into building successful tech startups.

Fractal's innovative approach to identifying and capitalizing on hidden opportunities in niche markets has led to the launch of over 140 startups. Martin discusses the qualities they look for in founding CTOs, the importance of grit and adaptability in the startup world, and how Fractal supports its companies through the journey from idea to market leader.

Listeners will also get a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges of remote work, the advantages of a distributed team, and how empathy and curiosity play crucial roles in understanding and solving real-world problems with technology.

Whether you're a tech leader, a startup founder, or simply fascinated by the art of building impactful companies, this episode offers valuable lessons on leadership, innovation, and the power of looking where others aren't.

Key Moments:

The essential traits of a founding CTO and how to scale from a solo engineer to leading a dynamic team. (03:10)

The unique model that Fractal uses to identify billion-dollar opportunities in overlooked industries. (13:41)

Insights into the challenges and triumphs of scaling over 140 startups (19:43)

The impact of remote work on startup culture and product development. (43:35)

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FAQ

How many episodes does The Better Build have?

The Better Build currently has 18 episodes available.

What topics does The Better Build cover?

The podcast is about Entrepreneurship, Podcasts, Technology and Business.

What is the most popular episode on The Better Build?

The episode title 'From CTO to VC with Raif Barbaros' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on The Better Build?

The average episode length on The Better Build is 40 minutes.

How often are episodes of The Better Build released?

Episodes of The Better Build are typically released every 24 days, 1 hour.

When was the first episode of The Better Build?

The first episode of The Better Build was released on Feb 21, 2023.

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