From Engineer to Leader: AngelList Lead Engineer Kevin Liu on Building, Managing, and Innovating in Startups

SummaryOn this episode of the 1st10 Podcast, hosts Boris Epstein and Alexis Munger sit down with Kevin Liu, Engineering Lead at AngelList and a seasoned builder in the tech industry. Kevin shares his journey from being a fresh computer science graduate during the post-dot-com bust to becoming a key player in high-growth startups like Klout and Nextdoor. He discusses the importance of staying hands-on as a builder, even while transitioning into leadership roles, and how AI is reshaping the engineering landscape.Here are some key insights that Kevin shared during this conversation:Staying Hands-On In Leadership: Maintaining technical skills even as you move into management roles is important. Kevin describes his style as that of a "coach-player", where he continues to code and build alongside his team.  Early-Stage Startups Are Rocketships For Early-Careers: Joining a startup early in your career can accelerate your growth and open doors to diverse experiences, from engineering to business strategy.AI Can Be A Productivity Booster: AI tools like Cursor have significantly boosted Kevin's productivity, but he cautions that they are most effective when used by skilled engineers who know how to direct them.Career Progression Needn't Be Linear: Career growth doesn't always follow a strict upward trajectory. Kevin advocates for following your interests and embracing lateral (or even backward) moves if they align with your passions and skills.Chapters:Additionally, don't miss Kevin's reflections on the shifts in the tech industry, from the dot-com bust to the social media boom, and the meteoric rise of AI in recent times.00:00 Introductions & Icebreakers06:02 From ColdFusion to AI: A Tech Journey Through the Decades10:14 Klout, "Influencers", And Lightning-In-A-Bottle16:20 Joining Nextdoor And The Power of Lateral Moves25:03 Web 1.0, Web 2.0, And... Web AI?29:06 Is Kevin Worried About AI Taking His Job?34:30 Working Through The Startup Ecosystem Food-Chain37:36 Kevin's Career Wisdom: Your Path Need Not Be A Straight Line41:12 Kevin's Contact Details & Career Prospects At AngelListQuotes:"When you join a high-growth company in a 'right-place-right-time' thing, as the company grows, you grow. You are forced to grow." - Kevin Liu (14:36)"Don't get soft. Whatever that means to you, whatever you need to do to make sure you don't get soft, that's on you." - Kevin Liu (19:40)"How can you be there for your people if you cannot empathize with what their day-to-day is? So I think it's a prerequisite to be an engineer before you can manage engineers." - Kevin Liu (23:13)"[AI] is a power tool. And if you don't know what you're doing, or if you don't know where you want to place that tool, it's not going to help you." - Kevin Liu (31:49)"Your job is to maximize the congruence between how you spend your days and what the company is willing to ask of you!" (40:51)Connect with us:Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/1st10podcast Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7e8ec9af-f38c-4cd9-8c68-1c1dd4516b 27/1st10-podcastApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1st10-podcast/id1760411207 Podcast: https://www.1st10.com/podcast RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/f951319c/podcast/rss YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@1st10podcast Webpage: https://www.1st10.com/podcast/ Twitter www.x.com/1st10engineersLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/1st10/YouTube: www.youtube.com/@1st10podcast Links:Kevin’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevliu/AngelList: https://angel.coKlout: https://klout.comNextdoor: https://nextdoor.com776: https://776.org500 Startups Vietnam: https://500.co/vietnamAscend Ventures: https://ascend.vcMusic by Roman Senyk from PixabayProducer: Shrikant Joshi

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