Learning in public | Kelsey Hightower

Learning in public | Kelsey Hightower

Author: Ronak Nathani, Guang Yang April 16, 2024 Duration: 57:26

We're super excited to have Kelsey back on the show! Our last conversation was around his incredible career journey - from working at McDonald's after school to starting his own computer store, to hacking on python infrastructure with the core developers, to meeting Satya Nadella for an interview.

In part two of this conversation, we dive deep into Kelsey's experiences learning in public and writing "Kubernetes: Up and Running":

  • The biggest barrier to getting started with learning in public and a step-by-step guide to overcome it

  • Cautionary tale of the "JavaScript sucks" guy

  • Developing the skill of crafting good analogies

  • The business and economics of writing a book

  • Much more

 

Segments:

[0:01:12] Writing and learning in public.

[0:10:58] Writing "Kubernetes: Up and Running."

[0:16:05] The business and economics of writing a book.

[0:21:27] Why your first book should not exceed 100 pages.

[0:23:36] What prevented Kelsey from giving up on the book.

[0:26:15] Being intentional about building an audience and the cautionary tale of the "JavaScript sucks" guy.

[0:36:44] Authenticity does not guarantee success.

[0:39:09] Developing the skill of crafting effective analogies.

[0:47:47] Advice for engineers to leverage their technical skills outside of the nine-to-five.

 

Show Notes:

 

Stay in touch:

👋 Make Ronak's day by leaving us a review and let us know who we should talk to next! hello@softwaremisadventures.com


Behind every line of code, there's a person with a story, and that's where Software Misadventures finds its pulse. Hosts Ronak Nathani and Guang Yang pull up a chair with engineers, founders, and investors, but the conversation rarely stays in the technical manual. Instead, it wanders into the human territory of career detours, hard-won insights, and those unpredictable stumbles that often teach the most. This podcast is built on the idea that the journey is just as important as the destination, especially in the fast-moving tech world. You'll hear guests recount the projects that went sideways, the decisions they'd rethink, and the moments of clarity that emerged from the chaos. It’s a refreshingly honest look at the industry, emphasizing that expertise isn't just about what you build, but what you learn when things don't go as planned. Tune in for conversations that are less about perfect solutions and more about the real, sometimes messy, process of creating with technology. Each episode offers a blend of professional wisdom and personal narrative, making it a compelling listen for anyone curious about the lives woven into our digital landscape.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 55

Software Misadventures
Podcast Episodes
Impact Driven Development | Matt Klein (Envoy, bitdrift) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:19:18
From creating Envoy to co-founding bitdrift to reimagine mobile observability, Matt joins the show to chat about being told to simply "write some proxy in Python" in the early days of building Envoy, early influences fro…
Build the scary stuff | Bryan Cantrill (Oxide) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:19:41
From being a distinguished engineer at Sun Microsystems to co-founding Oxide Computer Company to build a new kind of server, Bryan joins the show to chat about being told that he's on a suicide mission when starting Oxid…
Lessons from the early days building Kafka and Confluent | Jay Kreps [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:08
From writing the first lines of Kafka over a Christmas break as a LinkedIn engineer to running a public company as the CEO of Confluent, Jay joins the show to chat about how he and his co-founders convinced investors to…
Become a LLM-ready Engineer | Maxime Beauchemin (Airflow, Preset) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:05
If you've worked on data problems, you probably have heard of Airflow and Superset, two powerful tools that have cemented their place in the data ecosystem. Building successful open-source software is no easy feat, and e…
Life as a Distinguished Engineer | Joakim Recht (Uber) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:15:43
Out of thousands of engineers at Uber, there's only a handful of Distinguished Engineers and Joakim was one of them. In this conversation we chat about Why software engineering is a lot like a sausage factory. Considerat…
Engineer's guide to startup advising | Kelsey Hightower [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:50
We're super excited to have Kelsey back on the show! Our last conversation was around his incredible career journey - from working at McDonald's after school to starting his own computer store, to hacking on python infra…