The Everything Feed - All Packet Pushers Pods TNO050: Resiliency and Transparency with Andy Lapteff
Nov 21, 2025
Scott talks with Andy Lapteff, a Senior Product Marketing Manager and passionate podcaster with a rich background in telecom. Andy reflects on his non-linear career journey from blue-collar jobs to tech, revealing how he turned challenges into opportunities. He shares insights on the demanding nature of fieldwork and his pivotal shift to networking through Cisco NetAcad. The conversation touches on resilience, mentorship, and the creation of the Art of Network Engineering podcast, driven by a desire to help others transition into tech.
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Failing Forward In A Tough Lab
- Andy failed an intense hands-on lab interview but persisted under pressure and earned a fintech role.
- The interviewers later revealed they were testing his crisis response, not just technical correctness.
Data Center Blast Radius
- Moving to data center work expanded Andy's blast radius of impact and responsibility.
- He realized mistakes in the data center can affect every customer, increasing the need for caution.
Slow Down Changes To Reduce Risk
- When a complex change breaks, slow down and reduce the change scope to find root causes.
- Use careful rollouts and labs to avoid widespread outages.