Notion Podcast First Block: Interview with Julianna Lamb, Co-Founder & CTO of Stytch
Nov 14, 2023
Julianna Lamb, Co-Founder & CTO of Stytch, discusses her journey in the tech world, focusing on solving authentication challenges. She shares insights on transitioning from contributor to founder during the pandemic, emphasizing the importance of values in hiring. Julianna explains how they optimized their engineering team's processes and highlights the evolution of leadership dynamics as the company grew. Additionally, she explores adapting market strategies based on customer feedback and the critical role of open-source software in fostering community collaboration.
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Early Hiring Challenges and Strategy
- Stytch hired four engineers early: front-end, back-end, full-stack, and infra.
- Many hires came via cold outreach on LinkedIn despite minimal company info online.
Interview for Values Alignment
- Use value interviews to assess candidates' ambition and empathy.
- Ask about tough decisions and prioritization to understand grit and drive.
Dev Experience Fuels Fast Shipping
- Investing early in internal developer experience dramatically increases engineering velocity.
- Tools like distributed tracing and remote dev environments enable confidence in frequent deployments.