In today's Coredump Session, we explore the wild early days of Pebble and what it takes to scale a hardware startup against industry giants. From scrappy hackathons to 100+ person engineering teams, Kean Wong, former VP of Software at Pebble and now CTO at Igor, joins Memfault’s François and Chris to unpack how startups can outpace Big Tech by staying nimble, hiring wisely, and embracing constant change.
Key Takeaways:
- Early-stage hardware startups benefit from direct engagement with developer communities for recruiting.
- Transparency and shared business context can create stronger, more motivated engineering teams.
- Scaling a hardware company requires embracing organizational change—not resisting it.
- “Trial by fire” can be an effective onboarding path for technical leaders in fast-moving environments.
- Engineering leadership should balance short-term firefighting with long-term vision setting.
- Hackathons and passion projects can be powerful hiring channels in embedded tech.
- Growth requires thoughtful infrastructure investments—even when it's tempting to keep things scrappy.
- A good leader earns respect by doing the hard work, not just delegating it.
Chapters:
00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Today’s Topic
06:00 Lessons from Scaling Teams at Pebble
12:00 Chaos, Structure, and Growing as a Startup
18:00 Building Process Without Killing Agility
24:00 Hiring Smart in Fast-Growth Environments
30:00 From Product Complexity to Organizational Change
36:00 Staying Productive Through Engineering Transitions
42:00 Applying Startup Lessons in Larger Organizations
48:00 What Kean’s Building Now at Eagor
54:00 Live Q&A and Closing Thoughts
Watch this episode on YouTube
Follow Memfault
Other ways to listen:
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Are You A Charlotte?
In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.