Podcast · 60 episodes
The Peterman Pod, page 3
by Ryan Peterman · English
Sharing the transparent career stories of technical people. Hosted by an ex-Staff engineer at Instagram
All episodes, page 3
Shopify Distinguished Eng (L10) on Principal+ Engineering, Career Story, RegretsHow to reach Principal+ / Distinguished Engineer levels, career “tour of duty” between IC and management, and regrets about publishing/learning; includes career strategy “be the only person,” plus…24 Oct 2025 · 50 min · 17 chapters
Mozilla Firefox CTO on Browser War Stories and the Path to Distinguished EngineerBobby Holley, Mozilla Firefox CTO, recounts browser war history (Firefox vs Google Chrome), how Mozilla’s open-source culture shaped his career, and what it took to improve Firefox’s security and…10 Oct 2025 · 1 h 36 min · 33 chapters
Intern to Microsoft Distinguished Engineer in 11 Promotions (Career Story)David Fowler’s career at Microsoft, including how he went from intern to Distinguished Engineer in 11 promotions, plus Microsoft leveling mechanics, how Satya’s CEO tenure changed culture, and what…5 Sep 2025 · 1 h 33 min · 36 chapters
Ex-Stripe CTO on What Grew His Career, Hiring Without Leetcode, Coding as a Leader (Career Story)David Singleton’s career story (Symbian → Google → Stripe), focused on how he grew, how leaders stay close to engineering work, and hiring/coding practices at Stripe (including “no LeetCode” hiring).29 Aug 2025 · 2 h · 52 chapters
Behind the Scenes of this Podcast So Far (25,000 Sub Special)How the host started the podcast, behind-the-scenes production choices, what worked (and surprised him), and how he’s finding future guests; includes a “FAQ” episode created by repurposing paid San…22 Aug 2025 · 15 min · 6 chapters
Meta Senior Manager (M2) on Manager Career Growth, PIPs, Amazon vs Meta | Stefan MaiBehind-the-scenes big-tech management: performance management (PIPs, low-performer quotas, stack ranking), manager career growth (M1→M2), storytelling/active listening, and cultural differences…15 Aug 2025 · 1 h 31 min · 37 chapters
Instagram Staff (IC6) Promo Despite 10 Team Switches in 9 Years (Career Story)A career story from a Meta/Instagram engineer who switched teams 10 times in 9 years, focusing on how to thrive in ambiguous, high-risk prototyping work and how to measure “success” when impact…8 Aug 2025 · 48 min · 21 chapters
Amazon VP On Promotions, Getting Fired Twice, Working With Bezos | Ethan EvansEthan Evans recounts his path from being fired twice to becoming an Amazon VP, then explains Amazon promotion/performance mechanics (including PIPs, stack ranking/unregretted attrition), and how…1 Aug 2025 · 53 min · 25 chapters
Tech Lead for Meta's Most-Used Programming Language (Promotion Story)Dwayne Reeves’ career story at Meta (Facebook pre-IPO), centered on becoming a tech lead for Hack/typed PHP, the “uncanny valley” of type migrations, and lessons from promotions and managing teams.25 Jul 2025 · 46 min · 22 chapters
GoogleX Chief Scientist On Imposter Syndrome, Career Growth, Project TasteCareer growth and “project taste” across cybersecurity and big-tech; imposter syndrome; using LLMs in education; building Chronicle (Backstory) for fast cyber investigation; and autonomous-vehicle…18 Jul 2025 · 1 h 11 min · 30 chapters
Meta Senior Staff Eng (IC7) On Zuck Stories, Rapid Career Growth, Code Machine ArchetypeMichael Novati, a Meta senior staff engineer (IC7), reflects on joining Facebook pre-IPO (intern May 2009), rapid growth to IC7, Facebook/Meta culture and engineering empowerment, and whether LLMs…11 Jul 2025 · 1 h 26 min · 31 chapters
26 Year Old Meta Staff Eng (IC6) On Promotions, Redefining Expectations, Secret Equity BonusesSimon, a Meta staff engineer (IC6), explains how he reached promotions from new grad to IC6 in three years, how Meta’s performance ratings work (GE vs RE), why promotions and ratings don’t always…4 Jul 2025 · 1 h 17 min · 33 chapters