🎧 🧱 Uma Chingunde | Startups are for Optimists
Uma's been an engineering leader at Render, Stripe and VMware. In this episode we dig into how she keeps her cool, even when things aren't working as they should
Uma Chingunde is a seasoned engineering leader. She was previously the VP of Engineering at Render and engineering lead at Stripe, and started her career at VMware. In this episode, Uma shares her advice on how to balance uptime and reliability with feature release cadence, staying level headed through engineering incidents, and how startups that are selling to the engineering function should think about showing value in the post-ZIRP era.
In the episode we discuss:
Uma's background and journey into computer science and the tech industry
Her time at VMware, including her transition from individual contributor to engineering manager
Her move to Stripe and the company's approach to balancing uptime/reliability with feature velocity
Advice on building high-performance engineering teams
Thoughts on the changing landscape for startups selling products to engineering teams
Career advice and Uma's framework for evaluating new opportunities in her own career
We hope you enjoy the conversation! Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.
If you have any comments on this episode, ideas for future episodes, or any feedback on the podcast, hit reply or email brickbybrick@garuda.vc!
Brick by Brick is presented by Garuda Ventures. Garuda Ventures is a B2B-focused pre-seed and seed venture fund. Garuda is a first-check firm and aims to earn the right to be a founder's first call as they go about building their companies. To learn more, visit https://www.garuda.vc