Effective Engineering and Practices in Early Stage Startups

Steering the technology in an early-stage startup is a thrilling, challenging, and often chaotic endeavor. This track brings together battle-tested CTOs and Founding Engineers to share hard-won lessons on building software effectively under uncertainty. Learn strategies for making rapid, flexible technical decisions, implementing "just enough" solutions that are robust and extensible for growth, tackling scaling challenges, prioritizing work when resources are scarce, and balancing speed with a healthy work/life environment. If you're an engineer, technical lead, or aspiring founder navigating the unique landscape of a nascent business, this track offers invaluable, real-world advice and perspectives to help you build for both today and tomorrow.

From this track

Session

From Founding Engineer to CTO to CEO – At the Same Startup

Monday Nov 17 / 10:35AM PST

As a college sophomore, Trisha Ballakur founded Pointz, coding day and night to evolve from a dorm-room developer to CTO, securing VC funding while prioritizing the startup over classes.

Speaker image - Trisha Ballakur

Trisha Ballakur

Co-Founder and CEO @Pointz, Forbes 30 Under 30 2025, Previously @Techstars and @Adobe

Session

From Staff Platform Engineer to a 16z Founder: What I Wish I'd Known

Monday Nov 17 / 11:45AM PST

The Technical Leadership Challenge: Every successful engineering team faces the same inflection point: transforming beloved internal tools into a legitimate platform business.

Speaker image - Gonzalo (Glo) Maldonado

Gonzalo (Glo) Maldonado

CTO & Cofounder of @Mocksi.ai, Staff Platform Engineer Turned Startup Founder, Turns Developer Platforms into Products, Temporal & MCP Fanatic

Session

Unconference: Early Stage Startups

Monday Nov 17 / 01:35PM PST

Session

Architecting for a Future You Can't Predict for Your Early Users

Monday Nov 17 / 02:45PM PST

Details coming soon.

Session

How to Build an Engineering Culture Before You Have an Engineering Team

Monday Nov 17 / 03:55PM PST

Details coming soon.

Session

The First 100 Days of Code: What to Build, What to Buy, and What to Borrow

Monday Nov 17 / 05:05PM PST

Details coming soon.