The Peterman Pod

Epizodai

• Turing Award Winner: P vs NP, Zero-Knowledge Proofs, Quantum Computation | Avi Wigderson 01.06.2026 2val 15min

  Avi Wigderson is the only person in history to have won both a Turing Award (computer science) and Abel Prize (math). I interviewed him all about his field.• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/Podcast links:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/5GUcvSAJcJw• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/turing-award-winner-p-vs-np-zeroThank you to this episode's sponsor for supporting my work:• WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(01:08) P vs NP(14:51) What if you relaxed correctness(25:38) Why NP complete problems are equivalent(30:33) Space vs time complexity(43:06) Why people use SAT solvers(45:53) Randomness is a resource(55:48) Randomness depends on computational power(01:21:20) Zero knowledge proofs and their significance(01:38:30) Quantum computation and why it matters(01:56:24) Math vs computer science(02:08:16) Major breakthroughs and his experience(02:12:31) Advice for his younger self(02:14:48) OutroWhere to find Avi:• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avi_Wigderson• Personal Website: https://www.math.ias.edu/avi/homeWhere to find Ryan:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpetermanReferenced in this episode:• PCP Theorem paper: https://www.cs.umd.edu/~gasarch/TOPICS/pcp/AS.pdf• Paper on SAT approximation hardness: https://www.cs.umd.edu/~gasarch/BLOGPAPERS/max3satl.pdf• Turing's paper: https://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/Turing_Paper_1936.pdf• Original paper on NP completeness: https://www.cs.toronto.edu/~sacook/homepage/1971.pdf• Ryan William's breakthrough result on space vs time: https://people.csail.mit.edu/rrw/time-vs-space.pdf• Old result on space vs time: https://www-wjp.cs.uni-saarland.de/publikationen/HPV75.pdf• Paper describing constant space majority solution: https://people.cs.umass.edu/~barring/publications/bwbp.pdf• Fast primality test paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0022314X80900840/pdf?md5=6f748cd82fa8efa1a637efab5f632baa&pid=1-s2.0-0022314X80900840-main.pdf• Deterministic primality test paper: https://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/users/manindra/algebra/primality_v6.pdf• Randomness vs observer paper: https://people.csail.mit.edu/silvio/Selected%20Scientific%20Papers/Pseudo%20Randomness/How_To_Generate_Cryptographically_Strong_Sequences_Of_Pseudo-Random_Bits.pdf• Hardness vs randomness paper: https://www.math.ias.edu/~avi/PUBLICATIONS/MYPAPERS/NOAM/HARDNESS/final.pdf• Erdos original sum vs product paper: https://users.renyi.hu/~p_erdos/1983-18.pdf• Terrence Tao sum vs product paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/math/0301343• Seminal interactive proof paper: https://www.cs.miami.edu/home/burt/learning/csc609.221/goldwasser-micali-rackoff-knoweldge-complexity.pdf• Zero knowledge proof paper: https://www.math.ias.edu/~avi/PUBLICATIONS/MYPAPERS/GMW86/GMW86.pdf• Shor's algorithm original paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/quant-ph/9508027• Lattice paper (new hard problems): https://dl.acm.org/doi/epdf/10.1145/258533.258604• MIP* vs RE paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2001.04383• Zero knowledge non-interactive proofs: https://eprint.iacr.org/2025/1296.pdf
• Dropbox’s Former Most Senior Eng: Building Great Systems and Advice for the AI Era | James Cowling 25.05.2026 2val 1min

  James Cowling is the CTO at Convex and was previously the most senior engineer at Dropbox. We discussed technical details of his past projects, simplicity vs complexity, and career advice given where AI is today.• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/Podcast links:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/3XkmNSuHFmY• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/dropboxs-former-most-senior-eng-buildingThank you to this episode's sponsor for supporting my work:• WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/Timestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:00:53 Systems work during his PhD00:13:05 Dropbox technical deep dive00:21:57 Why Dropbox migrated from AWS00:36:40 How to do massive migrations00:44:31 Simplicity vs complexity in promos00:49:23 What technical teams should be focused on01:00:25 Doing the right thing vs promo hypothetical01:08:13 Why he dipped into management sometimes01:11:36 Why you should not lead by example01:23:23 How to mentor Senior Staff engineers01:27:30 Career advice for the AI era01:37:21 Why he started his own company01:46:05 The most technically challenging work of his career01:48:10 How he got involved in Silicon Valley01:52:16 Career regrets01:55:54 Top technical book recommendation01:56:36 Younger self and permanent underclass adviceWhere to find James:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcowling/• Twitter/X: https://x.com/jamesacowling• His company: https://www.convex.dev/Where to find Ryan:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpetermanReferenced in this episode:• His PhD Thesis: https://www.usenix.org/system/files/conference/atc12/atc12-final118.pdf• Masters paper: https://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/archive/fall19/cos418/papers/vr-revisited.pdf• Papercuts writing he mentioned: https://medium.com/@jamesacowling/embracing-papercuts-e6390055dfc4• "Don't lead by example": https://medium.com/@jamesacowling/dont-lead-by-example-4f86b1174e64• His writing about orienting teams around missions: https://medium.com/@jamesacowling/your-system-is-not-a-sports-team-e17f9eb16b94
• Creator of C++: Bell Labs, Negative Overhead Abstraction, Mistakes | Bjarne Stroustrup 18.05.2026 1val 59min

  Bjarne Stroustrup is the creator of the C++ programming language and a former researcher at Bell Labs. We talked about what Bell Labs was like, programming language design, and interesting anecdotes from his experience.• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/U46fJ2bJ-co• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/creator-of-c-bell-labs-negative-overhead𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲'𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸:• Cursor 3: a unified workspace for building software with agents, check it out at https://cursor.com/• WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:0:00 - Intro0:50 - The origin of C++8:46 - What Bell Labs was like17:24 - Dennis Ritchie24:00 - When to build a programming language31:59 - Bootstrapping a language33:58 - C++ is not object-oriented37:32 - Discussing type systems46:20 - Memory safety49:26 - Standards committee anecdotes1:09:40 - Adding automatic garbage collection to C++1:18:25 - Template instantiation is Turing complete1:21:57 - Abstraction and performance1:28:51 - AI writing code1:35:54 - His motivation1:39:18 - Famous quotes1:46:48 - Reflecting on building C++1:49:12 - Top C++ book recommendation1:50:59 - Advice for his younger self1:58:06 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗷𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲:• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bjarne_Stroustrup• Personal Website: https://www.stroustrup.com/𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲:• "A History of C++": https://www.stroustrup.com/hopl2.pdf• "Evolving a language in and for the real world": https://www.stroustrup.com/hopl-almost-final.pdf• "Thriving in a Crowded and Changing World": https://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2020/p2184r0.pdf• The lecture where he mentioned he lost half his hair: https://youtu.be/69edOm889V4?si=IAZxYNwlUALodEV7&t=474• Quotes I pulled: https://www.stroustrup.com/quotes.html
• Harvard Professor: CS50, What Matters More Than CS, Lecturing Well | David J Malan 11.05.2026 1val 3min

  David Malan is a Harvard professor known for turning CS50 into a popular online computer science course. We discussed the story behind CS50, how to lecture well, and how AI is changing CS education including in cheating/academic dishonesty.• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/bB2o81DnKHk• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/harvard-professor-cs50-what-matters𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲'𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸:• Cursor 3: a unified workspace for building software with agents, check it out at https://cursor.com/• WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:0:00 - Intro1:09 - Getting into computer science3:27 - Becoming the professor of CS5011:19 - How to lecture well14:25 - Depth vs engagement in education18:11 - Why don't we consolidate educational resources23:20 - Why start with C31:51 - The ideal use of AI in education34:54 - Cheating and AI38:21 - Should we really learn CS still?45:24 - College vs online education47:06 - The most difficult concept to learn51:00 - Growth vs fixed mindset52:35 - The future of CS5055:56 - Biggest career regret1:00:29 - Top book recommendations1:02:36 - Advice for his younger self1:03:35 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱:• Personal website: https://cs.harvard.edu/malan/• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dmalan• Github: https://github.com/dmalan• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidjmalan/• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malan/• Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/davidjmalan/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/davidjmalan• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@davidjmalan𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲:• His first program for CS50: https://x.com/davidjmalan/status/1432538424590929920• Paper about CS50 improvements: https://cs.harvard.edu/malan/publications/fp310-malan.pdf• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy• How Computers Work book (not affiliate link): https://www.amazon.com/How-Computers-Work-Evolution-Technology/dp/078974984X
• PyTorch Eng Director: Promo Hacking, Industry Shifts, Regrets | John Myles White 04.05.2026 43min

  John Myles White recently left his role as a director of engineering at Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) so we spoke freely about promo culture, how big tech has changed, and how his career grew.𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/aPfnP4iAIH8• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/msl-eng-director-promo-hacking-industry𝗕𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝘆:• Cursor 3: a unified workspace for building software with agents, check it out at https://cursor.com/• My ergonomic keyboard project, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/ 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:0:00 - Intro0:54 - Is he bullish on MSL5:23 - Running promotions at Meta15:15 - Growing at Meta22:22 - Julia core language contributor29:24 - Academics failing into industry31:48 - Stats book recommendations38:02 - Biggest career regret41:05 - Advice for his younger self42:46 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-myles-white-115697180/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/johnmyleswhite• Personal Website: https://www.johnmyleswhite.com/• Github: https://github.com/johnmyleswhite𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲:• Evaluating the design of the R language - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240040602_Evaluating_the_Design_of_the_R_Language• Stats book he mentioned (not affiliate link) - https://www.amazon.com/Foundations-Agnostic-Statistics-Peter-Aronow/dp/1316631141• Stats book he mentioned (not affiliate link) - https://www.amazon.com/All-Statistics-Statistical-Inference-Springer/dp/0387402721
• Turing Award Winner: Data Abstraction, Dijkstra, Distributed Systems | Barbara Liskov 27.04.2026 34min

  Barbara Liskov is a Turing Award winner known for her work in programming languages and distributed systems. We discussed the major problems she solved in her career, stories about Dijkstra, getting rejected from Princeton because she was a woman and misc topics around her work.🔸 My keyboard Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/T9CGjbPZeaM• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/turing-award-winner-data-abstraction𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• Go To Statement Considered Harmful: https://homepages.cwi.nl/~storm/teaching/reader/Dijkstra68.pdf• Viewstamped Replication: https://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/archive/fall09/cos518/papers/viewstamped.pdf𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:0:00 - Intro1:00 - Getting rejected from Princeton2:53 - The software crisis9:03 - The drawbacks of Python10:17 - Getting into distributed computing13:09 - Paxos vs Viewstamped replication21:44 - The significance of Dijkstras letter25:04 - Why she stayed in academia30:39 - Why her award was questioned33:51 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗮:• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Liskov𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
• Turing Award Winner: Postgres, Disagreeing with Google, Future Problems | Mike Stonebraker 20.04.2026 56min

  Mike Stonebraker is a Turing Award winner famous for his contributions to fundamental database technologies. We discussed the story behind building Postgres, where he disagrees with Google/Amazon on databases, and what he's working on now.🔸 My keyboard Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/YPObBOwIrHk• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/turing-award-winner-postgres-disagreeing𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• Red book of database readings: http://www.redbook.io/• BEAVER: An Enterprise Benchmark for Text-to-SQL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.02038𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:0:00 - Intro1:03 - How he got into databases6:43 - Competing with Oracle9:07 - What made Postgres special15:55 - One size fits none21:37 - Why he disagreed with Google29:14 - Why he chose academia over big tech30:58 - Replacing state in an OS with a DB42:02 - Future problems in databases51:36 - Technical book recommendations to learn databases52:20 - Advice for younger self55:52 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗶𝗸𝗲:• His current company DBOS: https://dbos.dev/ 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
• AWS Distinguished Eng: Learning From 3000 Incidents And How Engineering Is Changing | Marc Brooker 13.04.2026 1val 11min

  In this episode, I talked to Marc Brooker, a distinguished engineer at AWS who started there as a new grad and rose through the ranks. We discussed technical learnings from 3,000+ cloud system postmortems, how software engineering is changing with AI, how to find impactful problems and much more.🔶 My keyboard Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/u3GjIXP9N0s• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1qX2GfpbzxzGpGvDZVINdO?si=wsDGZo9PTbCNalKVybFVnA• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/aws-distinguished-eng-learnings-from𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• Post we discussed on hobbies and apparent expertise: https://brooker.co.za/blog/2023/04/20/hobbies.html• Post on software engineering changing: https://brooker.co.za/blog/2026/02/07/you-are-here.html• Post about Senior engineers and AI: https://brooker.co.za/blog/2026/03/20/ic-leadership.html• Post on Junior engineers and AI: https://brooker.co.za/blog/2026/03/25/ic-junior.html𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:0:00 - Intro1:27 - Finding problems that matter11:42 - Learnings from 3000 postmortems23:58 - Why caches are bad29:37 - How AI will change software engineering36:49 - Advice for junior engineers given AI44:02 - Thoughts for senior engineers49:59 - Why engineers should write57:51 - Visibility and apparent expertise1:04:23 - AWS engineers he admires1:06:53 - Technical book recommendations1:09:06 - Advice for his younger self1:10:37 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-brooker-b431772b/• Twitter/X: https://x.com/MarcJBrooker• Personal Blog: https://brooker.co.za/blog/𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
• Ex-Head of Eng at Instagram: Career Regrets and Learnings | James Everingham 06.04.2026 58min

  This is James Everingham, former head of engineering at Instagram and a veteran of the tech world with experience at Netscape. We talked about his unconventional start in the industry, learnings from every leg of his career, and regrets he has looking back.𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/VIF5Fm8NdE8• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/ex-head-of-eng-at-instagram-career𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:0:00 - Intro0:57 - Kicked out of college5:35 - FBI showed up at his house7:43 - Pre-IPO Netscape experience25:19 - Joining Instagram as head of eng29:12 - Why shrinking teams improves velocity32:59 - Working with Mike Krieger37:16 - Leading Cryptocurrency project at Meta42:30 - What he is working on now54:29 - Career regrets56:27 - Advice for his younger self57:42 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jevering/• Twitter/X: https://x.com/jevering• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@jevering𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
• Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans 30.03.2026 2val 50min

  Ethan Evans is a former VP at Amazon has seen pretty much every possible type of corporate politics. Now that he's retired, he could share everything he'd seen including stories about empire building, hidden politics, reorgs, senior promos and dealing with bad managers.🔸 The keyboard I'm building: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/6WaeGfLnRvc• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/amazon-vp-reveals-everything-hes𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:00:00 - Intro2:33 - Empire Building31:54 - Stealing scope44:03 - Managing out via reorgs51:01 - Bad managers and mutiny01:01:43 - Political messaging01:11:48 - Handling politically skilled operators01:20:01 - Orgs trying to steal scope01:30:26 - Handling difficult people from other orgs01:36:19 - Handling weak managers01:46:30 - Backchanneling01:52:04 - Influence without authority01:58:04 - Sexual harassment 02:00:49 - Skip overruling firing02:05:39 - How to fire managers02:11:31 - Leverage when people are getting fired02:24:01 - How to grow past senior eng02:43:01 - How to avoid politics02:48:15 - Advice for younger self02:49:51 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanevansvp/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/EthanEvansVP• Newsletter: https://levelupwithethanevans.substack.com/• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-BAdkBGjOIlccGLZ3jbLiA𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
• The Co-Creator of Kubernetes On Convincing Google, Building It, and Scaling for LLMs 23.03.2026 1val 7min

  This is a conversation with Brendan Burns, co-creator of Kubernetes and current technical fellow at Microsoft working on Azure. We discussed what it was like building it at Google, how he got buy-in, and what he learned along the way.🔸 My keyboard project: https://read.compose.llc/p/our-keyboard-design-reveal𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/FKijpCEH9D8• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/the-creator-of-kubernetes-on-building𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:37 - How he convinced Google leaders00:09:26 - Building the MVP00:11:43 - How he made time for Kubernetes00:25:28 - Technical details on building Kubernetes00:38:46 - Rallying the open source community00:50:01 - Scaling Kubernetes up for AI training workloads00:55:31 - Reflections on getting a PhD01:00:22 - The inevitable trajectory of software is death01:04:16 - Top book recommendations01:05:22 - Advice for his younger self01:06:21 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-burns-487aa590/• Twitter/X: https://x.com/brendandburns• Github: https://github.com/brendandburns𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
• Meta Hiring Lead On Behind The Scenes of Senior+ Eng Hiring 16.03.2026 1val 42min

  Austen McDonald is a former hiring committee member at Meta, where he led mobile hiring and conducted hundreds of interviews. In this episode, we talked about what happens behind the scenes in a hiring committee, unethical candidates, and the role referrals play.🔸 (Sponsor) Hello Interview's Website - https://www.hellointerview.com/𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/nOapM8i5jr0• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/meta-hiring-lead-on-behind-the-scenes𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:49 - What goes on in hiring committees00:09:02 - Unethical candidates00:12:50 - How leveling is determined00:23:12 - Can you negotiate level mid-process00:32:30 - How non-tech leads can signal scope00:39:11 - Referrals and bias00:45:28 - What the rubric looks like00:50:00 - OpenAI and Anthropic specific discussion00:52:22 - Most common mistakes senior candidates make01:02:31 - How to prep depending on your level01:08:34 - Subjectivity and bias01:21:02 - The questions you ask at the end matter01:23:59 - Storytelling tips01:30:31 - How he got promoted to Senior Manager (M2) at Meta01:33:32 - His biggest career regret01:38:13 - The best advice he ever received01:39:54 - Advice for younger self01:41:46 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻:• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/austenmc/• His book - https://thebehavioral.tech/𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
• OpenAI Codex Tech Lead On How His Career Grew And How He Uses Codex | Michael Bolin 09.03.2026 1val 20min

  This is Michael Bolin, the tech lead for the open source Codex repository and a former distinguished engineer at Meta. We talked about his career path, how OpenAI engineers use Codex and the difference between research-led vs engineering-led company cultures.🔸 My keyboard project: https://read.compose.llc/p/our-keyboard-design-reveal𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/hN5ZFzWFhhg• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/openai-codex-tech-lead-on-how-his𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:56 - Chickenfoot00:02:45 - Working at Google00:06:34 - Overhauling Facebook's build system00:16:36 - Rewriting Facebook's IDE00:26:01 - Struggles after Principal Eng (E8) promo00:28:39 - Building a virtual filesystem for Facebook00:35:47 - Delayed Distinguished promo (E9) and learnings00:39:56 - Joining OpenAI00:43:05 - Research-led vs engineering-led cultures00:44:53 - The story behind Codex00:51:00 - How he uses Codex00:57:00 - Why Codex's harness is open source00:59:50 - Top technical book recommendations01:05:02 - Why deep technical skills are still valuable (for now)01:11:07 - How to start projects well01:14:27 - Advice on writing better and career planning01:17:06 - Advice for his younger self01:19:10 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗹:• His personal blog - https://blog.bolinfest.com/• Twitter/X - https://x.com/bolinfest• Threads - https://www.threads.com/@bolinfest• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-bolin-7632712𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
• Distinguished Eng On Stack Ranking, Competing with Bezos, Regrets | Bryan Cantrill 02.03.2026 1val 21min

  Bryan Cantrill was a distinguished engineer at Sun Microsystems and has now founded his own company called Oxide Computer Company. We discussed his career experiences through boom/busts, what competing with Bezos was like, and career regrets.𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/qhSL-5GtmQM• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/distinguished-eng-on-stack-ranking𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• Link to the part in the talk on Oracle/Sun we discussed - https://youtu.be/-zRN7XLCRhc?si=eExjIMZROGjJcDsw&t=1977𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:42 - Working at Sun Microsystems00:10:17 - His growth to distinguished eng00:19:14 - Why goaling on promotion is bad00:29:34 - Stack ranking and layoffs00:36:00 - Why he hated the Oracle acquisition00:44:19 - Why Bezos is the apex predator of capitalism00:48:04 - Differences between CTO and VP00:49:58 - Starting his own company01:02:37 - Grilling him on his past01:11:57 - AI boom and bust advice01:14:41 - When he was happiest in his career01:17:22 - Top career regret01:19:21 - Advice for younger self01:20:57 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗿𝘆𝗮𝗻:• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-cantrill-b6a1/• Twitter/X - https://x.com/bcantrill• Personal Website - https://bcantrill.dtrace.org/• His company - https://oxide.computer/𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
• Turing Award Winner On Thinking Clearly, Paxos vs Raft, Working With Dijkstra | Leslie Lamport 23.02.2026 1val 10min

  I interviewed Leslie Lamport, a Turing Award winner known for his contributions to distributed systems and the inventor of the Paxos algorithm. We walked through the major contributions of his career for the stories behind them and what he learned along the way.🔸 My keyboard project: https://read.compose.llc/p/our-keyboard-design-reveal𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/U719vQz-WFs• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/turing-award-winner-on-working-with𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• Bakery Problem Paper: https://lamport.azurewebsites.net/pubs/bakery.pdf• Time Clocks Paper (most cited): https://lamport.azurewebsites.net/pubs/time-clocks.pdf• The Byzantine Generals Problem Paper: https://lamport.azurewebsites.net/pubs/byz.pdf• The Paxos Algorithm Paper: https://lamport.azurewebsites.net/pubs/lamport-paxos.pdf𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:00:00:00 - Intro00:01:25 - The Bakery Algorithm00:08:28 - Experiences with Dijkstra00:14:44 - His most cited paper00:23:26 - The "Byzantine Generals" problem00:38:05 - The Paxos Algorithm00:46:57 - Paxos vs Raft Algorithm00:51:26 - Building LaTeX00:54:45 - Why writing improves your thinking01:00:21 - Why he wasn't an academic01:02:08 - Grand theory of concurrency01:07:25 - Why he doesn't think he's smart01:09:07 - Advice for his younger self01:09:44 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗲:• His works: https://lamport.azurewebsites.net/pubs/pubs.html𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
• Retired Netflix Engineering Director On Regrets, Video Engineering, Hiring Stories 16.02.2026 1val 19min

  David Ronca joined Netflix in 2007 and grew to an engineering director there. Later he joined Meta as a Director and transitioned to a Principal engineer working on video technologies. Now he's retired and was graciously willing to share his career story with us. I asked him for everything he learned in his 36 year career.𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/retired-netflix-engineering-director• YouTube: https://youtu.be/ApG9vjbHDCk• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• Netflix culture memo (2009) - https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/culture-1798664/1798664𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:40 - How Netflix was different00:08:01 - The legendary Netflix culture memo00:18:54 - How to hire engineers well00:30:52 - The strongest engineer he's ever met00:33:02 - Joining Meta00:50:52 - Near death experience00:59:04 - Where he learned the most01:04:09 - Book that impacted his career most01:11:33 - Advice for his younger self01:18:32 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidronca/• Personal Website: https://www.roncatech.com/𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
• Meta Distinguished Eng (IC9) On Influencing Engs, Failures, and Learnings 09.02.2026 40min

  This is Adam Ernst, a Distinguished Engineer at Meta (IC9) who’s built iOS infrastructure that has impacted the entire company. We talked about how his career grew, a major failed project of his, and everything he learned growing to that level.🔸 My keyboard project link: https://read.compose.llc/p/our-keyboard-design-reveal𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/YA_OYJF3Mmw• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/meta-distinguished-eng-ic9-on-influencing𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:47 - His middle school company00:03:50 - His first project and promo at Meta00:10:03 - Why code review is undervalued00:12:42 - Senior Staff (IC7) promo story and project00:19:26 - His major failed project00:26:35 - How to handle a failed project00:29:04 - Thoughts on management00:31:35 - Technical depth vs breadth00:33:32 - IC9 expectations00:34:46 - Senior engineers he admires00:37:39 - Advice for his younger self00:39:52 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗺:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjernst/𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
• Instagram Principal Eng (IC8) On Building IG Stories, 1 Promo Per Half, Small Teams 02.02.2026 1val 35min

  Ryan Olson grew from mid-level engineer (IC4) to a principal engineer (IC8) at Instagram through a series of famous projects. The most notable was when he was the lead iOS developer that built Instagram Stories. We discuss his career journey and learnings.𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/instagram-principal-eng-ic8-on-building• Spotify: Episode link from Spotify after scheduling• YouTube: https://youtu.be/gpVETZnY9Y0• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Zuckerberg emails I mentioned:Twitter link: https://x.com/TechEmails/status/1944451283236303184Threads link: https://www.threads.com/@techemails/post/DMDi5IWpPyC𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:31 - Failing his FB interview00:03:27 - Interning /w future billionaires00:14:08 - Interview nerves tip00:16:37 - Early Instagram experiences00:34:08 - Building Instagram Stories00:45:03 - 1 promo per half to Staff (IC6)00:49:51 - Senior staff promo project (IC7)00:57:37 - IG labs & his principal promo (IC8)01:08:19 - Starting Retro and leaving big tech01:21:33 - Small teams hypothetical01:25:17 - Examples of talented individuals01:31:16 - Advice to his younger self01:34:45 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Retro (his company): https://retro.app/• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanolsonk/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanolsonk• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanolsonk/ • Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanolsonk𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
• Honest Big Tech Layoff Story After 25 Year Career 30.01.2026 50min

  In this episode, I talked to "Asian Dad Energy" an anonymous big techie who was laid off after 25 years in the industry. We discussed his layoffs experience, his early career in engineering consulting, and the realities of big tech compensation.🔸 My keyboard project link: https://read.compose.llc/p/our-keyboard-design-reveal𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/8bs6KmJX4_g• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ApCuf04MXv0nBRqKNLyiQ?si=bko-M46xQM2FHhTG6Vcy6Q• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/laid-off-from-big-tech-after-25-years𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:41 - His layoff story00:07:02 - Why he expects more layoffs00:09:42 - Tech consulting before big tech00:19:25 - Consultants shipping bad code?00:26:57 - Why do people dislike consultants?00:30:55 - Big tech compensation00:40:27 - When age impacted his flexibility00:42:04 - Why YouTube00:46:46 - Speaking advice for engineers00:49:09 - Advice for younger self00:49:35 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗺:• https://www.youtube.com/@AsianDadEnergy𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
• Ex-Citadel Quant and AI Researcher On Breaking In, Tech vs Finance Careers 26.01.2026 58min

  In this episode, I talked to Nimit Sohoni, a Stanford PhD and AI Researcher at Cartesia who previously worked as a quant at Citadel. We discussed the differences between AI research and quant careers, including work-life balance and the value of a PhD in these fields. Nimit also shared what he's currently working on and offered advice for those looking to transition into AI research.𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• YouTube: https://youtu.be/_jECS37M3dQ• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/stanford-phd-ai-researcher-and-quant𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:45 - Do you need a PhD?00:06:25 - Research taste and finding problems00:09:04 - Why become a quant00:12:01 - What quants do00:14:53 - How quants and SWEs collaborate00:16:29 - Quant vs tech culture00:26:39 - Quant firm tier list00:27:56 - Quant insider trading and perf culture00:30:53 - Going back to AI research00:35:08 - Who the top competitors are in voice AI00:39:22 - AI startups vs big labs00:42:08 - State space models vs transformers00:49:33 - AI labs: research or product?00:52:38 - Advice for SWEs who want to try AI research00:56:48 - Advice for younger self00:57:49 - Outro𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁:• Twitter/X: https://x.com/nimit_sohoni• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nimit-sohoni-68998854/• Cartesia: https://cartesia.ai/sonic𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman