Neetcode: Google vs Amazon, Programming Interviews, Quitting Big Tech
Monday, October 5, 2026 • Duration 34:43
Neetcode is the most well-known coding interview prep creator with over 1M+ subs on YouTube. I interviewed him about the latest on coding interviews, his career at Amazon vs Google, and what it was like quitting big tech to do his own thing.
• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/
• The Kickstarter page for it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done
Thank you to this episode's sponsor for supporting my work:
• WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(00:33) Quitting Amazon after 2 months
(06:00) Testing Neetcode on Leetcode
(12:57) Memorizing vs deriving solutions and intelligence
Amazon VP: Questions On Corporate Politics But They Get Increasingly Darker | Ethan Evans
Monday, September 28, 2026 • Duration 03:07:53
In this episode, I asked Ethan Evans (ex-Amazon VP) questions about common situations in corporate politics but they get increasingly darker.
• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/ • The Kickstarter page for it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done
Thank you to this episode's sponsor for supporting my work: • WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/
Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (00:42) How to receive credit for your work (19:18) Ways for quiet people to get visibility (21:32) How to be trusted for top projects (29:52) How to defend from others taking your project (36:13) How to reject bad projects (44:10) How to be first for promo (55:35) How to handle managers that dislike career growth talk (01:06:30) What if your manager is in the way (01:15:43) Did he ever have overly political reports (01:28:06) How to fire a bad manager (01:35:16) What gives you leverage (01:43:41) How to defend against peers undermining you (01:50:24) What if everyone is good at politics (01:55:11) How Jeff Bezos burned him for empire building (02:03:27) How to retain your headcount (02:07:31) Career recommendations for the current landscape (02:15:11) How to avoid negative layoff optics (02:18:39) How to develop executive presence (02:29:25) How to network in a natural way (02:33:30) How to network with powerful people (02:41:01) How to learn hidden incentives(02:44:43) What happens behind the scenes with HR(02:50:13) Did he burn people to get ahead(02:53:24) What he says to people who hate politics(02:59:03) Top book recommendations on power dynamics(03:00:45) How he would speedrun career growth today(03:06:56) Outro
OpenAI & Meta Distinguished Eng (IC9): The Psychology Behind Tech Career Peaks | Philip Su
Monday, September 21, 2026 • Duration 44:21
Philip Su grew quickly to a Distinguished Engineer at Facebook and OpenAI. We talked about the psychology behind peaking in a tech career and the pressure at the highest levels.
• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/ • The Kickstarter page for it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done
Thank you to this episode's sponsors for supporting my work:
• WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/ • Jira by Atlassian: Get more work done with your favorite agents and models all in one place, check them out at https://jira.dev/
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro (00:37) Growth past IC9 (05:39) Motivation changes over his career (11:36) Asking to not be promoted (17:33) What made it hard to sustain IC9 performance (22:22) What motivated him outside of promos (26:21) Is career advice useless (29:34) Motivation after you've hit FIRE (36:08) Meaning and fulfillment (38:17) Top book recommendation (40:14) What he would change (43:24) Outro
• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/ • X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/ • Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpetermanReferenced in this episode:• Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374715243/fourthousandweeks/
Casey Muratori: Surprises In Computer History And Where Bad Code Comes From
Monday, September 14, 2026 • Duration 01:57:50
Casey Muratori is a video game developer and programming creator also known for his talks about the history of software and computing. We talked about surprising parts he found while digging through computer history, where bad code comes from, and his career story.
• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/
• The Kickstarter page for it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done
Thank you to this episode's sponsors for supporting my work:
• Jira by Atlassian: Get more work done with your favorite agents and models all in one place, check them out at https://jira.dev/
• WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(01:08) Digging into computer science history
(04:08) What shocked him
(16:23) Dijkstra was depressed
(26:17) The personal side of goto considered harmful
How Anthropic Builds And How Engineering Will Change Soon | Thariq Shihipar
Monday, September 7, 2026 • Duration 01:10:58
Thariq Shihipar is an engineer on Anthropic’s Claude Code team I asked him how Anthropic makes the most out of the models for engineering and how the industry will change soon.
• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/
• The Kickstarter page for it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done
Thank you to this episode's sponsor for supporting my work:
• WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(00:29) Onboarding at Anthropic
(02:53) Internal capabilities vs external perception
(06:16) Model vs Harness
(08:55) What percent of Anthropics changes are fully autonomous
(14:51) Computer use
(17:42) How to make the most out of your compute
(20:45) Loop engineering
Creator of Scala: Comparing Languages And How AI Will Impact Them | Martin Odersky
Monday, August 31, 2026 • Duration 57:30
Martin Odersky is the creator of Scala and I interviewed him to compare different languages designs (Rust vs Zig vs Python vs Scala) and how AI will impact programming languages.
• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/
• The Kickstarter page for it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done
Thank you to this episode's sponsors for supporting my work:
• WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/
• Jira by Atlassian: Get more work done with your favorite agents and models all in one place, check them out at https://jira.dev/
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(00:44) Why care about functional programming
(06:35) Why should people learn Scala
(09:26) Rust vs Scala
(12:42) Rust vs Zig
(15:45) Scala vs Python
(18:31) The programming languages that influenced him
Sergey Levine: Current State of Humanoid Robotics, China & Future Predictions
Monday, August 24, 2026 • Duration 57:38
Sergey Levine is one of the world's top robotics researchers and co-founder of Physical Intelligence. We talked about where humanoid robotics is today, thoughts on the Chinese robotics ecosystem, and his predictions for future timelines.
• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/
• The Kickstarter page for it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done
Thank you to this episode's sponsor for supporting my work:
• WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(00:37) Where are we today
(04:20) Most surprising capabilities so far
(07:03) The most inspiring real world robotics
(08:36) If OpenAI or Anthropic got into robotics
(10:22) Chinese robotics
(13:15) Will one lab breakout from the rest
(16:59) Thoughts on a concrete roadmap
Creator of TypeScript: 10x Faster Typescript, Why AI Won't Replace SWEs | Anders Hejlsberg
Monday, August 17, 2026 • Duration 01:05:57
Anders Hejlsberg is the creator of TypeScript and C#, and I asked him about how the TypeScript compiler got 10x faster through a rewrite in Go and his thoughts on how AI has impacted software engineering.
• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/
• The Kickstarter page for it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done
Thank you to this episode's sponsors for supporting my work:
• WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/
• Jira by Atlassian: Get more work done with your favorite agents and models all in one place, check them out at https://jira.dev/
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(00:48) Why write a compiler in JavaScript
(07:29) Why rewrite the compiler in Go
(14:49) LLMs for large migrations
(20:12) Why Javascript is so popular
(26:32) Why ever use Javascript on the backend
Creator of Lean: Handwritten Math Will Change Dramatically | Leonardo de Moura
Monday, August 10, 2026 • Duration 01:08:06
Leonardo de Moura is the creator of Lean and the Z3 theorem prover. I talked with him about how Lean works and why LLMs plus Lean will fundamentally change how we write software and do math.
• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/
• The Kickstarter page for it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done
Thank you to this episode's sponsor for supporting my work:
• WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(00:28) How formal verification works
(05:21) A new way of writing software
(13:15) Proof assistants vs programming languages
(21:06) How Lean has assisted in mathematical breakthroughs
(32:03) When is it worth formalizing software
(33:29) How Lean will impact handwritten math
(38:55) The Z3 theorem prover project he started
Creator of Lua: Scripting, Programming Languages, Predictions | Roberto Ierusalimschy
Monday, August 3, 2026 • Duration 01:05:16
Roberto Ierusalimschy is the creator of the Lua programming language. I interviewed him about Lua's unique strengths, programming language design and predictions for how AI will impact programming languages.
• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/
• The Kickstarter page for it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done
Thank you to this episode's sponsor for supporting my work:
• WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(00:43) What sets Lua apart
(08:35) Comparing Lua with Python
(13:04) Top book recommendation on language design
(14:20) How JIT works and why it is hard
(23:21) Compiling Python and interpreting C
(30:31) How cross language calls work
(36:58) Lua unique design decisions
Where to find Ethan: • Personal website: https://www.ethanevans.com/ • Newsletter: https://levelupwithethanevans.substack.com/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanevansvp/ • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EthanEvansVP • X/Twitter: https://x.com/EthanEvansVP • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ethanevansvp
Referenced in this episode: • Never Split the Difference: https://www.blackswanltd.com/never-split-the-difference • Leadership and Self-Deception: https://arbinger.com/bookstore/leadership-and-self-deception • The 48 Laws of Power: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/330912/the-48-laws-of-power-by-robert-greene/
(35:09) The anatomy of a 35 year mistake
(50:12) Clean code horrible performance
(58:33) How to write high performance code
(01:01:18) Where bad code comes from
(01:06:37) Why design docs before code is a bad idea
(01:09:20) The only unbreakable law in software engineering
• Anthropic's post on removing 80% of Claude Code's system prompt: https://claude.com/blog/the-new-rules-of-context-engineering-for-claude-5-generation-models
(22:16) How running on the JVM works
(26:33) Why writing a compiler is hard
(29:19) Why Twitter adopted Scala early on
(31:00) How he believes AI will impact programming languages
(43:40) Will there be less engineers in ten years
(44:34) Top programming languages to learn to grow
• Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs: https://web.mit.edu/6.001/6.037/sicp.pdf
• A Brief, Incomplete, and Mostly Wrong History of Programming Languages (book): http://james-iry.blogspot.com/2009/05/brief-incomplete-and-mostly-wrong.html
(21:03) Generalization and demonstrating it
(26:04) Types of data and which is best for robotics
(34:34) Why humanoid robotics differs from Waymo
(37:10) If humanoid robotics failed here is why
(39:55) Are there hot take modeling architectures in robotics
(42:05) Thoughts on AI safety in robotics
(46:44) Top robotics research paper recommendation
(49:35) Why is Boston Dynamics less top of mind
(53:47) Advice for his younger self
(56:42) Outro
Where to find Sergey:
• Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=8R35rCwAAAAJ&hl=en
• The Evolution of Lua: https://www.lua.org/doc/hopl.pdf
• LuaJIT: https://luajit.org/
• How much does it cost: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUvgoxBm7uc
• JavaScript: The Good Parts (not an affiliate link): https://www.amazon.com/dp/0596517742
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