Nathan Marz - On changing the economics of building large-scale software with Rama - #23

Nathan Marz - On changing the economics of building large-scale software with Rama - #23

Author: Ronak Nathani, Guang Yang September 22, 2023 Duration: 1:32:40

What does it mean to change the economics of software development? Nathan Marz joins the show to share how they reduced the cost of building Mastodon at Twitter-scale by 100X and the 10 years journey to build Rama, a new programming platform that made this feat possible.

Nathan is the founder of Red Planet Labs. Prior to RPL, he led engineering for BackType which was acquired by Twitter in 2011. Nathan created the Apache Storm project and wrote the book Big Data: Principles and best practices of scalable realtime data systems. Outside of working, Nathan is a private pilot, loves going to stand-up comedy shows, and is forever trying to teach his dog new tricks.

 

Show Notes:

 

Stay in touch:

✉️ Subscribe to our newsletter: https://softwaremisadventures.substack.com

👋 Send feedback or say hi: softwaremisadventures@gmail.com

 

Segments:

[0:00] flying

[0:07] inefficiencies of backend software development

[0:17] suffering oriented programming

[0:23] AI programming?

[0:25] RAMA's programming model

[0:33] deployment & monitoring with RAMA

[0:36] building a twitter clone at scale with RAMA

[0:43] migrations with RAMA

[0:54] driving adoption for RAMA

[1:01] fundraising

[1:15] building a fully remote team


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
From High School Suspension to US Chief Data Scientist | DJ Patil [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:08
Known for coining the term "Data Scientist", DJ is a renowned technologist with a diverse background spanning academia, industry, and government. Having led product teams at companies like RelateIQ and LinkedIn, DJ was a…
Building Diverse Engineering Teams | Erica Lockheimer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:20:22
Erica is a former VP of Engineering at LinkedIn. Having almost dropped out of college, Erica's journey in tech is a testament to her perseverance and dedication. In addition to leading engineering teams at LinkedIn, Eric…
Stories behind building HashiCorp | Mitchell Hashimoto [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:01
Mitchell co-founded HashiCorp in 2012 and created many important infrastructure tools, such as Terraform, Vagrant, Packer, and Consul. In addition to being a prolific engineer, Mitchell grew HashiCorp into a multi-billio…
Open sourcing LinkedIn's Derived Data Platform | Felix GV (LinkedIn) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:09
What's it like to open source an internal project at a big tech company like LinkedIn? When should a company open source a project and what are the benefits and challenges that come along with it? If you want to open sou…