DeveloperWeek 2020

In Silicon Valley, disruption has long been a synonym for success. Industry disruptors who develop complex, risky, and completely unique solutions that change the dynamics of their markets have received the biggest buzz and largest investments.

As a result, we all want to be the engineer, product manager, or developer behind these disruptive solutions. But the reality is that the solutions to some of society’s most complex challenges are incremental and simplistic. Sometimes re-inventing new approaches to existing solutions makes the greatest impact. Rather than inventing a completely new technology which may serve as a temporary fix, it often makes more sense to examine the reasons why existing technologies are failing and determine if making incremental changes would create longer-term impact than starting from scratch. When development teams take this approach, we can better harness the energy and creativity to solve society’s complex challenges with more simplistic solutions.

In this session, Jon Sadow, chief product officer and co-founder of Scoop, the largest carpooling solution in the United States, will discuss why developer and engineering teams at today’s most successful startups are choosing to turn away from industry disruption and instead develop simple, collaborative solutions to solve complex issues. Join Jon as he shares actionable takeaways and findings on:

- How you and your startup can focus less on glamour and invention and more on empowering teams to build the most impactful product possible
- Why you should tie product and business strategy together for long-term success
- Why establishing an egalitarianism workplace environment is key to your startup's product