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Dave Anderson went from getting a D in high school theater (which derailed his medical career dreams) to becoming a director at Amazon, where he helped change the company's transfer policy that affects hundreds of thousands of employees. In this candid conversation, Dave reveals how a recruiter told him his resume was "terrible," why he believes managers don't need to be great coders, and how he saved 85% of his income to retire in his 40s. He shares unfiltered insights about Amazon's culture, including why he thinks the company started declining before Jeff Bezos even left, and offers a surprising take on why Facebook's chaotic promotion process might actually be better than Amazon's rigorous documentation requirements.

The conversation takes unexpected turns as Dave explains why he tests his team by proposing "absurd" ideas, admits he was never actually a senior engineer despite writing guides about it, and reveals what number would bring him back to corporate life (spoiler: it's in the millions). He challenges conventional wisdom about AI replacing engineers, arguing that current layoffs are finance-driven rather than efficiency-driven, while also warning that we're essentially using capitalism to destroy capitalism itself. Whether discussing his move from the Midwest where he could "spend weeks doing almost nothing" to Amazon's pressure-cooker environment, or predicting a future where AI makes most human jobs obsolete, Dave brings a refreshingly honest perspective to career growth, money, and what's really happening in big tech.

🎉 Big Announcement: Linear is now the presenting sponsor of A Life Engineered!

We're thrilled to partner with Linear for the entire next year. Linear is the purpose-built tool for planning and building products - trusted by companies like OpenAI, Cursor, and Perplexity. Exclusive launch offer for our listeners: Get 6 months free of Linear Business (3 seats) to celebrate our partnership.

👉 Redeem at: linear.app/ale

https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@NeetCode⁩
https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@NeetCodeIO⁩
https://neetcode.io/

Episode Description: Navdeep Singh (Neetcode) opens up about his devastating two-month stint at Amazon that led to unemployment and mental health struggles, before building a YouTube empire with over 1 million subscribers. We discuss the realities of Big Tech, why coding interviews persist, and whether AI will replace programmers.

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Gergely Orosz walked away from engineering management at Uber to become tech's most influential newsletter writer. His Pragmatic Engineer newsletter reaches over 1 million readers—more than the population of San Francisco—making him the #1 tech writer on Substack.

In this conversation, we dive deep into why junior developers can't get hired, what actually drives career growth, and his concept of "energy" as the hidden force that makes or breaks engineering teams.

Key Topics Discussed:

The IC vs Manager Decision (5:45)

• Gergely's journey: Principal → Senior Engineer at Uber (but 2x the comp)
• Why you should try management for 1-2 years (even if you hate it)
• The "insurance policy" of management experience
• How "failed managers" make the best staff engineers

What Makes a Technical Manager (17:53)

• The Booking.com burnout story
• Why managers who can't code struggle
• Amazon's "dive deep" principle in practice
• Learning distributed systems as a manager at Uber

The Entry-Level Crisis (23:01)

• Why junior hiring has been down for 5 straight years
• The "30% AI efficiency" trap destroying traditional entry paths
• Why GitHub is bucking the trend and hiring MORE juniors
• Practical advice: Build apps that earn $1 from strangers

Career Growth Strategies (33:13)

• Step 1: Crush your current job (no shortcuts)
• Why your side projects might not help your promotion
• The Venn diagram of personal growth vs company value
• Understanding what actually drives business impact

The Energy Theory (41:39)

• Why OpenAI ships so fast (hint: it's not their process)
• Energy vs Process: What actually drives results
• The Factorio principle of enjoying "boring" work
• How high-energy teams blast through mistakes

Connect with Gergely:

• Newsletter: https://pragmaticengineer.com
• Book: The Software Engineer's Guidebook - https://geni.us/uTUAyx
• Podcast: The Pragmatic Engineer Podcast - https://www.youtube.com/@pragmaticengineer/podcasts