Great Software & Storytelling Is Emotional | Kelsey Hightower (Legendary Developer) | CRAFTED.

Kelsey Hightower is a legend. He’s a Kubernetes pioneer and recently retired (at 42!) from Google where he was a distinguished engineer.

He still regularly gives live software demos in front of tens of thousands of people, improvising them like it’s jazz. He’s a master storyteller and a master craftsman.

Kelsey loves to level people up and here we discuss:

-- The power of innovation that happens after going from Zero to One. Or, as Kelsey puts it, “From Hello, World to Hello, Revenue”
-- The art of the demo: how Kelsey engages crowds with his humanity, and how you can, too
Embracing emotion in software — and in storytelling
-- And Kelsey shares what he’s learned in his first year of retirement. He’s actually quite busy and has to remind folks that “I’m retired; not tired.” He’s fixing up his house, making time for others, and “learning how to live.” We get into what that means…
-- A demo for Google that went from a nightmare to “extra dope”
-- The power you have / impact you can create
-- Being a black man in tech
-- On being “retired, not tired”
-- The magic of being human in an AI world

This episode is very special. Enjoy!

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CRAFTED. is sponsored by Docker and produced by Modern Product Minds.

Docker helps developers build, share, run, and verify applications anywhere – without environment confirmation or management. More than 20 million developers worldwide use Docker's suite of development tools, services, and automation to accelerate the delivery of secure applications. Learn more at https://www.docker.com/.

Modern Product Minds (Dan Blumberg, the host, and his team) advises companies on product, discovery, growth, and experimentation. Learn more at https://modernproductminds.com/

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Where to find Kelsey Hightower:
LinkedIn:   / kelsey-hightower-849b342b1  
X: https://x.com/kelseyhightower

Where to find the host, Dan Blumberg:
LinkedIn:   / dblums  
X: @dblums (needs to be linked)
Instagram: @crafted.podcast

Where to find Docker:
Docker: https://www.docker.com/
LinkedIn: / docker
X: @docker (needs to be linked)
Instagram: @dockerinc


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Key Moments:
00:00 Introduction
03:06 “I’m retired; not tired.” – What Kelsey’s been up to in his first year off the job — and why he refuses to mount his TV over the fireplace
04:51 “How do the makers mature?” — Kelsey’s thoughts on how developers can advance
their careers by getting good at innovating after, sometimes long after, going from zero to one
08:53 Keeping an open mindset: how developers integrate new technologies, e.g. Docker
17:13 “Creating good software is very emotional”
20:40 The art of the live demo
25:39 Humans are natural storytellers – embrace it!
27:31 Vulnerability and how Kelsey learned to be so confident on stage
30:38 The time Kelsey nearly bombed on stage, but turned it around into an “extra dope” moment on stage at a Google keynote
36:15 “A lot of people don’t realize how much power they have until way later in life” – why even the really little things (like saying hello to a stranger) matter
39:28 Representation matters: being a black man in tech
42:15 The power of open source
45:04 “What is my actual impact on society?” — why Kelsey retired:
47:46 Kelsey’s hopes for the future — and why we should be more excited about human intelligence, not just artificial intelligence


#crafted #softwaredevelopment #kelseyhightower