Mirko Novakovic on Waves of Innovation and Observability Product Management

CaSE: Conversations about Software Engineering

In this episode of the CaSE Podcast, Mirko Novakovic, a seasoned entrepreneur and investor, shares his journey through the waves of technological innovation—from the early days of online banking to the rise of AI and open telemetry. We explore with him how the lessons learned in diverse industries, including the food business, can reshape our approach to software development and architecture, emphasizing the importance of curiosity, adaptability, and a solid grasp of the fundamentals.

Chapter Marks

-00:00:11 Introduction -00:01:35 Learning from Olive Oil farming and restaurant businesses -00:09:20 Waves of technological innovations? -00:16:19* Fundamentals vs. Trends in Software Engineering -00:21:08 Minimum knowledge of performance analysis today -00:26:49 Honouring the works of Brendan Gregg -00:30:17 Importance of features like profiling -00:39:45 You only change if you feel the pain -00:47:58 Overestimating the need for speed of change -00:51:25 Explaining benefits of Open Telemetry to customers -01:00:09 The Rift Framework and Data Usability -01:21:37 Product Management and User-Centric Design -01:38:11 Entrepreneurship -01:44:39 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Show Notes

• Dash0
• Instana
• eBPF
• Brendon Gregg
• OpenTelemetry

Chapters

1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. Learning from Olive Oil farming and restaurant businesses (00:01:35)

3. Waves of technological innovations? (00:09:20)

4. Fundamentals vs. Trends in Software Engineering (00:16:19)

5. Minimum knowledge of performance analysis today (00:21:08)

6. Honouring the works of Brendan Gregg (00:26:49)

7. Importance of features like profiling (00:30:17)

8. You only change if you feel the pain (00:39:45)

9. Overestimating the need for speed of change (00:47:58)

10. Explaining benefits of Open Telemetry to customers (00:51:20)

11. The Rift Framework and Data Usability (01:00:09)

12. Product Management and User-Centric Design (01:21:37)

13. Entrepreneurship (01:30:08)

14. Conclusion and Final Thoughts (01:44:39)