Andrey Kudievskiy

But as soon as we stabilized at this very first level, then my mind was, all right, what if the company is a thousand people? How would they see the structure of the technology delivery department? What would it look like? And by no means, I had a path to get to a thousand at this point. But I started to think that for every technology, we need a head of department.

This is how we call them, HOD, head of department. then every technology can actually be split by several. So if we have head of mobile department, let's split them by head of Android, head of iOS, head of cross-platform, and so on and so forth. And then you start thinking and building this pyramid. And every time when we make a new hire, We try to assess three things.

This is how we call them, HOD, head of department. then every technology can actually be split by several. So if we have head of mobile department, let's split them by head of Android, head of iOS, head of cross-platform, and so on and so forth. And then you start thinking and building this pyramid. And every time when we make a new hire, We try to assess three things.

This is how we call them, HOD, head of department. then every technology can actually be split by several. So if we have head of mobile department, let's split them by head of Android, head of iOS, head of cross-platform, and so on and so forth. And then you start thinking and building this pyramid. And every time when we make a new hire, We try to assess three things.

Number one, do we have someone in our team whom we can promote into this position? If that's a no, which does happen, let's go outside and let's try to interview the best person possible. Now, that comes with a challenge because if you have exceptional contributors, individual contributors, they might not have the skills to assess what the leadership will look like in this specific technology.

Number one, do we have someone in our team whom we can promote into this position? If that's a no, which does happen, let's go outside and let's try to interview the best person possible. Now, that comes with a challenge because if you have exceptional contributors, individual contributors, they might not have the skills to assess what the leadership will look like in this specific technology.

Number one, do we have someone in our team whom we can promote into this position? If that's a no, which does happen, let's go outside and let's try to interview the best person possible. Now, that comes with a challenge because if you have exceptional contributors, individual contributors, they might not have the skills to assess what the leadership will look like in this specific technology.

One of the tactics that we employed when building Distillery was let's get someone from the outside who is in the industry, field CTO, those are the positions that we call them, and let them interview the talent that we need to lead our department. and make sure that their only parameter is, is this person going to be a great technologist and a great leader? That's actually two parameters.

One of the tactics that we employed when building Distillery was let's get someone from the outside who is in the industry, field CTO, those are the positions that we call them, and let them interview the talent that we need to lead our department. and make sure that their only parameter is, is this person going to be a great technologist and a great leader? That's actually two parameters.

One of the tactics that we employed when building Distillery was let's get someone from the outside who is in the industry, field CTO, those are the positions that we call them, and let them interview the talent that we need to lead our department. and make sure that their only parameter is, is this person going to be a great technologist and a great leader? That's actually two parameters.

And then don't sacrifice on this. In the pandemic, we doubled our size. I know that some companies tripled their size, but it actually backfires when you start hiring too fast and you're sacrificing on the quality. We never did. We never will. So the goal is to, again, the strategic assessment of what you're missing, look into your own team if there is someone to promote.

And then don't sacrifice on this. In the pandemic, we doubled our size. I know that some companies tripled their size, but it actually backfires when you start hiring too fast and you're sacrificing on the quality. We never did. We never will. So the goal is to, again, the strategic assessment of what you're missing, look into your own team if there is someone to promote.

And then don't sacrifice on this. In the pandemic, we doubled our size. I know that some companies tripled their size, but it actually backfires when you start hiring too fast and you're sacrificing on the quality. We never did. We never will. So the goal is to, again, the strategic assessment of what you're missing, look into your own team if there is someone to promote.

There is no one, look outside. But then there is also a third component. If you have someone who has been manager of your team. And sometimes technology, it's a problem for all the delivery companies. The technology outgrows the leader.

There is no one, look outside. But then there is also a third component. If you have someone who has been manager of your team. And sometimes technology, it's a problem for all the delivery companies. The technology outgrows the leader.

There is no one, look outside. But then there is also a third component. If you have someone who has been manager of your team. And sometimes technology, it's a problem for all the delivery companies. The technology outgrows the leader.

The person who has been fine to lead a department of five engineers, when the department grows to 50, you may look into a potential replacement of this individual and ultimately bringing them one level below to manage a good department of five. Not all great engineers become great managers. And sometimes you do lose a very good engineer and you do not find a good manager by promoting someone.

The person who has been fine to lead a department of five engineers, when the department grows to 50, you may look into a potential replacement of this individual and ultimately bringing them one level below to manage a good department of five. Not all great engineers become great managers. And sometimes you do lose a very good engineer and you do not find a good manager by promoting someone.

The person who has been fine to lead a department of five engineers, when the department grows to 50, you may look into a potential replacement of this individual and ultimately bringing them one level below to manage a good department of five. Not all great engineers become great managers. And sometimes you do lose a very good engineer and you do not find a good manager by promoting someone.

And some people, they get stuck at the position where they are comfortable and they know that they can expand to 50 people. As soon as the department grows to 51, they start to struggle. They start to struggle managing their schedule, managing the workflow that we have outlined and so on and so forth.