Instagram Principal Eng (IC8) On Building IG Stories, 1 Promo Per Half, Small Teams

Ryan Olson grew from mid-level engineer (IC4) to a principal engineer (IC8) at Instagram through a series of famous projects. The most notable was when he was the lead iOS developer that built Instagram Stories. We discuss his career journey and learnings.
𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:
• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/instagram-principal-eng-ic8-on-building
• Spotify: Episode link from Spotify after scheduling
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/gpVETZnY9Y0
• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835
• Zuckerberg emails I mentioned:
Twitter link: https://x.com/TechEmails/status/1944451283236303184
Threads link: https://www.threads.com/@techemails/post/DMDi5IWpPyC
𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:
00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:31 - Failing his FB interview
00:03:27 - Interning /w future billionaires
00:14:08 - Interview nerves tip
00:16:37 - Early Instagram experiences
00:34:08 - Building Instagram Stories
00:45:03 - 1 promo per half to Staff (IC6)
00:49:51 - Senior staff promo project (IC7)
00:57:37 - IG labs & his principal promo (IC8)
01:08:19 - Starting Retro and leaving big tech
01:21:33 - Small teams hypothetical
01:25:17 - Examples of talented individuals
01:31:16 - Advice to his younger self
01:34:45 - Outro
𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:
• Retro (his company): https://retro.app/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanolsonk/
• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanolsonk
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanolsonk/
• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanolsonk
𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:
• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/
• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/
• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman