Making experimentation easy | Exec Engineering #116
Yassine Kachchani
I publish Exec Engineering, a weekly digest on Engineering + Talent | Co-founder & CEO at Gemography
Hi there 👋
Posting about offshore tech hiring challenges often leads to uncomfortable, spicy discussions, and I get why.
After nine years of building remote engineering teams, I've seen firsthand how the traditional offshore hiring model is built on ambiguity. Most employers have no visibility into how their overseas talent is vetted, while engineers have little say in the projects they work on, with rarely any direct, uninterrupted communication channels between the two parties.
The middlemen are the only ones winning.
This has been accepted as "just how things work" for so long. But when you see companies struggle to build reliable remote teams, and world-class engineers get mismatched with the wrong opportunities, you realize that if we don't talk about these challenges openly, nothing will change.
Thanks for reading Exec Engineering, a weekly digest for the busy tech executive.
I hope this edition brings you value.
The Digest
The research reveals a telling gap in European tech. Despite 91% of companies planning 2025 raises, data shows only 21% of employees received increases in the past two years.
Retention and resilience (Matt Spitz)
Using tent stakes as a metaphor, Matt Spitz points out why mission-driven employees outlast those anchored only by projects or pay.
"Nothing goes well all the time, and the more places one finds satisfaction, the more places one might seek comfort while hammering a tent stake back down."
Dumb Leadership Mistakes I’ve Made (Laura Tacho)
Drawing from her own mistakes, Laura Tacho highlights a pattern among engineering leaders. Their need to demonstrate technical expertise leads them to solve problems that should be learning opportunities for their teams.
Using systems modeling to refine strategy (Will Larson)
This piece reframes systems modeling for engineering leaders. Instead of pursuing model perfection, focus on versions that help teams learn strategic implications faster.
Making experimentation easy (Leemay Nassery / LeadDev)
This practical approach to experimentation uses automated setup tools, sample size calculators, and review checks to replace manual, complex testing procedures.
"That is how you build a culture of experimentation at your company; you make it so easy and seamless that teams have no reason not to measure the effect of the changes on user, business, and product metrics."
Setting Team Metrics for Performance Alignment (Mindaugas Gluchovskis / Teamhood)
The article exposes a disconnect in engineering metrics. While teams obsess over engineering velocity, customers mainly care about reliability and quick problem resolution.
Why your product idea sounds too complicated (Andrew Chen)
Andrew Chen brings focus back to what matters in product positioning. Technical sophistication means nothing if customers can't understand the value of your product.
"When it's easier to describe what you do, it's more memorable. It spreads faster. Your onboarding gets more efficient, and your customer acquisition gets cheaper. Simpler is a competitive advantage unto itself."
How to budget in Product Mode Organisations (Scott Millett / Medium)
This outcome-based funding model offers a fresh perspective on product investment. Instead of fixed project budgets, teams receive initial funding for experiments, and then earn more based on measured results.
Dialog
“Leadership must find the balance between too much freedom and too much control. You need to build an environment with certain standards while allowing teams to make decisions independently.”
In my chat with Miroslaw Stanek , Engineering Site Leader at Papaya Global , he shares valuable lessons from scaling engineering teams through startup growth, leading through acquisitions, and balancing freedom with structure. Read the full interview:
More reads
This digest is supported by Gemography .
Quickly scale your tech team and accelerate your product roadmap with pre-vetted remote engineers ready to dive in.
Whether it’s for short term or long-term projects, the right talent is one interview away.
About Exec Engineering
I’m Yassine 👋. I spend a big chunk of my time digging into engineering management and talent acquisition, especially where the two overlap. I share the most interesting resources I come across in this newsletter, all curated by hand.
If you like the digest, please consider subscribing and sharing.
P.S. If you prefer your content on Substack, I'm also there.