Overcommitted | Software Engineering and Programming Insights

What do investors actually look for in software engineers and tech founders? Melanie Nabar pulls back the curtain on what VCs see when evaluating engineering talent, sharing insider insights on career growth, technical credibility, and the skills that matter most when funding is on the line. Perfect for engineers ready to level up their career strategy.
Links
Melanie Nabar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melaniejordannabar/
Volition Capital: https://www.volitioncapital.com/

Hosts
Overcommitted: ⁠https://overcommitted.dev ⁠Bethany Janos: ⁠https://www.trustyduck.dev/⁠ ⁠Erika Eggemeyer: ⁠https://github.com/eggyhead

Summary
What happens when a software bug stops a concert—or endangers a performer flying above the stage? System reliability takes on new meaning in live event tech. This week, Brittany and Erika talk with Lars Olson, full stack engineer at TAIT, about building safety-critical systems that power the world's biggest tours and theme parks. Lars shares how React and Rust meet real-world consequences, why error boundaries matter more than you think, and what production safety teaches us about code quality and engineering culture.

Links
My Hometown Recipes - ⁠https://myhometownrecipes.com/⁠ 
Erik Lars Olson - LinkedIn - ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/eriklarsolson/⁠ 
Bluesky - ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/eriklars.bsky.social⁠ 
X - ⁠https://x.com/energyblazer⁠ 

Hosts
Overcommitted: ⁠https://overcommitted.dev⁠
Brittany Ellich: ⁠https://brittanyellich.com⁠
Erika "Eggyhead" Eggemeyer: ⁠https://github.com/eggyhead⁠

As AI code intelligence tools reshape daily programming work, developer productivity and career growth depend less on speed and more on judgment. In this episode, we explore what skills actually matter when AI writes code—and why engineers need a new mindset about staying sharp. From code quality ownership to learning tactics, discover the practical skills that keep your value rising in an AI-native engineering world.

Links:
Math books: https://www.bravernewmath.com/
Crystal Bepis: https://crystalbepis.com/
GitHub Copilot App: https://github.com/features/ai/github-app

Hosts:
Overcommitted: ⁠https://overcommitted.dev
⁠Bethany Janos: ⁠https://www.trustyduck.dev/⁠
Brittany Ellich: ⁠https://brittanyellich.com
⁠Erika Eggemeyer: ⁠https://github.com/eggyhead

What happens when coding becomes nearly free - but everything else in the software delivery process doesn't? Cameron Etezadi, CTO at LaunchDarkly, joins Erika, Brittany, and Bethany to talk about the gap between code that compiles and code that actually works in production. They cover vibe coding pitfalls, the release-observe-iterate loop, how AI is shifting engineers toward frontline manager behaviors, and why speed without control is a liability - not an asset. Cameron also shares how LaunchDarkly changed their intern interview process to reflect the AI era, what EU regulations mean for human accountability in AI-generated code, and why the classic two-pizza team is giving way to something much smaller.
Cameron Etezadi is the CTO at LaunchDarkly and brings experience scaling engineering organizations at Google, HashiCorp, and SAP. He's also a licensed flight instructor with ratings in fixed-wing, seaplane, helicopter, and gyroplane - and has logged over 400 skydives.

Show notes:
Cameron on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameronetezadi
LaunchDarkly: https://launchdarkly.com
LaunchDarkly leadership page: https://launchdarkly.com/leadership/
Rainier Flight Service bio: https://www.rainierflightservice.com/rainier-flight-staff/cameron-etezadi

Summary
Brittany's first weeks at Bluesky are reframing everything she thought about coding interviews. Career growth in tech still hinges on algorithm problems, but AI, remote work, and async development have fundamentally changed what actually signals engineering ability. Why do companies cling to LeetCode when software engineers now solve problems in decentralized, AI-augmented teams? We dig into what hiring should measure, why job-hunting feels unsettled, and how women engineers navigate visibility and advancement in the interview process.

Links
How GitHub Engineers Learn New Codebases blog post: https://github.blog/developer-skills/application-development/how-github-engineers-learn-new-codebases/
Diataxis: https://diataxis.fr

Hosts
Overcommitted: https://overcommitted.dev
Bethany Janos: https://www.trustyduck.dev/
Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.com
Erika Eggemeyer: https://github.com/eggyhead