Speech

Zero Tech Debt: How to Build an Engineering Culture of No Deferred Work

Sam Kirchmeier & Matt Schraan

May 29, 2024

About the talk

Have you ever inherited a codebase so full of mixed concerns, bloat, and untested code that you couldn’t help but wonder “who are the developers responsible for this spaghetti code hellscape?”. While it may be convenient and even cathartic to blame the faceless, nameless developers responsible for creating the debt-ridden mess you’ve inherited, the better question to ask is “what is the engineering culture that allowed this to happen?”. The truth is, technical debt is less often the result of individual incompetence and more often the result of the engineering culture from which it was allowed to spread. In this session, we’ll dive into the practical habits and norms of engineering teams that don’t defer work, avoid technical debt, and hold each other accountable to high standards. With the right culture, you can actually make it easy to uphold best practices across your engineering team. Join this session to learn how!

Presented by

Sam Kirchmeier

VP, Engineering

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Sam Kirchmeier

Matt Schraan

VP, Product Management

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Matt Schraan

About Livefont

Our team creates beautiful mobile apps for people in motion. We work every day with Fortune 500 companies and startups alike to build custom software for phones, tablets, mobile payment wallets, and wearables like watches and glasses. We care deeply about quality, and we love what we do.