Building and Scaling High-Performing Engineering Teams

Randy Shoup, with experience scaling engineering at Google, eBay, and Stitch Fix, shares battle-tested strategies for growing engineering teams without losing what made them great. This talk addresses the critical challenge of maintaining startup agility at enterprise scale.

Key topics include preserving culture during rapid growth, structuring teams for autonomy and alignment, maintaining technical excellence under pressure, and evolving processes without bureaucracy. Shoup presents frameworks for deciding when to split teams, how to maintain communication as you scale, and ways to preserve innovation while adding structure.

He shares specific techniques like the "two-pizza team" rule, the importance of written culture, how to scale decision-making, and the role of architecture in team autonomy. Real-world examples from his experience show both what works and common pitfalls.

Essential viewing for engineering leaders facing hypergrowth, CTOs building their first engineering org, or anyone trying to maintain team effectiveness while scaling from 10 to 100+ engineers.