Unbundling the Enterprise • Stephen Fishman, Matt McLarty & Erik Wilde

GOTO - The Brightest Minds in Tech

This interview was recorded for the GOTO Book Club.
gotopia.tech/bookclub

Read the full transcription of the interview here

Stephen Fishman - Field CTO at Boomi & Co-Author of "Unbundling the Enterprise"
Matt McLarty - CTO at Boomi & Co-Author of "Unbundling the Enterprise"
Erik Wilde - Principal Consultant at INNOQ
RESOURCES
Stephen
https://x.com/fistsOfReason
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenhfishman
https://github.com/StephenFishman

Matt
https://bsky.app/profile/mattmclartybc.bsky.social
https://x.com/MattMcLartyBC
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattmclartybc

Erik
https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikwilde
https://github.com/dret

Links
https://itrevolution.com/articles
https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages

DESCRIPTION
How can businesses thrive by embracing optionality through digital transformation?
Authors Matt McLarty and Stephen Fishman talk about their book “Unbundling the Enterprise” with Erik Wilde. They highlight the power of APIs and flexible systems in enabling companies to capitalize on unforeseen opportunities, or "happy accidents," and how low-cost experimentation can drive long-term success.
The conversation emphasizes that optionality is crucial not only in tech but also in business strategy, urging organizations to view their digital capabilities as part of a broader platform that supports both developer empowerment and revenue growth. With insights on optimization, platform engineering, and the importance of aligning technology with business objectives, the authors offer a roadmap for companies to navigate the future with agility and resilience.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Stephen Fishman & Matt McLarty • Unbundling the Enterprise
Carliss Y. Baldwin • Design Rules, Vol. 2
Matthew Skelton & Manuel Pais • Team Topologies
Forsgren, Humble & Kim • Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps
Kim, Humble, Debois, Willis & Forsgren • The DevOps Handbook
Mik Kersten • Project to Product
Andrew Harmel-Law • Facilitating Software Architecture

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Chapters

1. Intro (00:00:00)

2. Embracing uncertainty with the OOOps Process (00:02:44)

3. Applying the OOOps Methodology beyond digital business (00:11:37)

4. Overcoming resistance to optionality (00:17:50)

5. Make option value part of your organizational math (00:20:33)

6. Decompose by default (but think about the cost) (00:23:38)

7. Identifying & creating valuable APIs for business option value (00:25:34)

8. Optimizing option value: From experimentation to business strategy (00:30:06)

9. The platform's role in supporting business strategy & optionality (00:35:46)

10. Outro (00:41:17)