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How do you build great software?

Kyle Neath
October 10, 2012

How do you build great software?

A bit of a rambling talk I gave at Brooklyn Beta about the importance of your surroundings. Covering GitHub's approach to software development and the importance of the tools you use.

Kyle Neath

October 10, 2012
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  1. B

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  2. William Morris
    If you want a golden rule that will t
    everything, this is it: Have nothing in
    your houses that you do not know to be
    useful or believe to be beautiful.

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  3. I’m Kyle Neath
    On the interwebs @kneath

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  4. I’m ≅ Designer

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  5. I work at GitHub
    A better way to make software

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  6. urbancase.com

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  8. I <3 engineering
    beautiful software

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  9. Software is a force for
    change in our world

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  10. Affect a change?

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  11. Affect a Change.

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  12. How do you build
    great software?

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  13. Conway’s Law
    Organizations which design systems ...
    are constrained to produce designs
    which are copies of the communication
    structures of these organizations

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  14. What if you could build the
    best software company
    in the world?

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  15. What if you could build the
    best software company
    in the world?

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  16. Let’s try.

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  17.     
    Traits of a great software company

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  18. Bootstrapped to profitability
    Predictable revenue stream
    No funding until 100 employees

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  19. Our customers were our friends
    We became extremely customer focused

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  20. We used GitHub to build GitHub
    We became extremely product focused

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  21. We hired slowly and carefully
    We became extremely company focused

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  23. We are driven by autonomy,
    mastery, and purpose

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  24. An open source company
    optimized for happiness

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  25. No managers
    No deadlines
    No top-down roadmap
    No core hours
    No mandatory meetings

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  26. “That’s cool and all when you’re a
    small company, but eventually
    you’re going to need
    management and structure”
    Everybody Ever

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  27. 2009 201

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  28. 2010 201

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  29. 2011 201

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  30. NOW October 10, 2012

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  31. 123 hubbernauts
    I guess we’re a big company after all

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  34. Build the best software possible
    and allow people to pay for it
    GitHub’s driving principle

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  35. Favor leadership
    over management

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  36. Favor goals
    over deadlines

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  37. Favor a shared vision
    over roadmaps

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  38. Favor sustainable pace
    over hourly commitments

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  39. Favor tangible work
    over meetings

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  40. Favor building new tools
    over using existing shitty ones

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  41. William Morris
    If you want a golden rule that will t
    everything, this is it: Have nothing in
    your houses that you do not know to be
    useful or believe to be beautiful.

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  59. Knyle’s Law
    Organizations will design software that
    is a copy of the software they surround
    themselves with.

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  60. Your surroundings
    =
    your company + your software

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  61. Traits of a great organization

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  62. Remote by default

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  63. Do real work

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  64. Open by default

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  65. Encourage serendipitous
    interaction

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  66. Always be classy

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  67. Create a better future

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  68. No matter what,
    love your work

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  69. We can create a better future
    by creating better companies

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  70. B

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