"You acquire more experience if you’re willing to get out of your comfort zone"

Ron, tell me a little bit about who you are:

I was in the Academic Reserve. I did my bachelor's in Engineering at the Technion and after that I joined the IDF where I served as an engineer while studying for my Masters. I later went to work for Zoran as a SoC architect after which I joined a start-up Annapurna Labs, where I was employee number seven. Annapurna was later acquired by AWS where I work now.

What is it like being a very early employee at a place like Annapurna?

It was scary at the beginning because you’re unsure of how things will play out, you have an undefined role, and you take a pay cut. But I learned a ton from working with experienced founders and handling multiple roles.

One major drawback of starts-up is that you get a pay cut, right?

Yes, but you gain valuable experience working with start-ups. Junior engineers should focus on long-term gains, not the salary, which is short-term.

What type of due diligence can one do before joining an early-stage company?

First, look beyond your day-to-day roles and think about the direction the company is looking to take in the long-term, and figure out if that aligns with your goals. Second, look for start-ups whose founders have significant experience and well-established records. Third, consult with people who work in the same field, seek their opinions and advice.

Moving from a start-up to a larger organization requires one to adapt and assimilate. What is that progression like, and what are some of the challenges that go with it?

In the beginning, you feel like a fish out of water because you’re unfamiliar with the culture, and you’re surrounded by people with much more experience. You need to understand your organization’s technology, its history, its culture, and the people. You need to learn as much as you can as fast as possible while giving yourself time to adjust. You also need to apply judgment in the cultural intake; not everything will align with who you are or how you do things.

What makes a good engineering team?

Engineering teams need to own the product. When people own things from beginning to end, things tend to converge much more smoothly. And beyond creating a product, they need to speak with their customers and understand their needs and if the product they’re creating meets their goals. Team members also need to look beyond their assigned role and offer support to members in different roles. And in my opinion, over documentation stalls projects. As long as you know 50% of the specification, you can start executing as you iterate along the way. That way the project moves faster.

What's the role of the team lead or the technical leader of such a product?

First, they should champion a distributed leadership culture, spreading decision-making ability throughout the team. Second, they should help the team focus on execution and less on debating how to do things. Third, prioritization, knowing what features to keep and what to discard. And lastly, communication, making sure team members understand their roles.

The idea of prioritization seems to be the hardest, right?

Yes, but you get better at it with experience. Consulting with the entire team also makes it easier.

What excites you most about being an engineer and leading teams?

The challenge of creating new technologies and building something that customers like. Also, I love teamwork - making decisions together, and working through challenges, and successfully completing a project.

What advice would you give to a new engineer?

Focus on building your core capabilities; it will help you accelerate quickly later in your career. Secondly, build knowledge across disciplines. Thirdly, think long-term, not short-term. Be kind and nice to people.

What three words best describe you?

Adaptable. Kind. Optimistic.

Michael Matias. Photo: Courtesy

Contributing editors: Michael Matias, Amanda Katz