Ryan Graciano's guest appearances

Ryan Graciano

Geeks Who Lead Podcast (formerly CTO Connection)

Joel Beasley | Modern CTO

Second in Command: The Chief Behind the Chief

IT Visionaries

Code Story

The Engineering Leadership Podcast

Prime Venture Partners Podcast

The Data Chief

Mike Boufford

Beerud Sheth

Courtland Allen

Adam Miller

Christine Spang

James Kenigsberg

Rachana Kumar

Ami Luttwak

Bob Friday

Cai GoGwilt

Raghavendra Prabhu

Dan Langevin

Kaj van de Loo

Matt Schwartz

Nick Caldwell

OwlTail

Ryan Graciano, Co-Founder &amp; CTO @ Credit Karma, shares with us what it’s like to start a company during an economic downturn, how his leadership style had to evolve alongside Credit Karma’s growth, advice for running lean operations, bridging the gap between engineering &amp; business, how to scale the business as the company matures, and identifying &amp; correcting team/org dysfunctions. In addition, Ryan shares some of his favorite successful &amp; failed leadership experiments that helped evolve his leadership style!ABOUT RYAN GRACIANOAs a co-founder of Credit Karma and Chief Technical Officer, Ryan Graciano (@rmgraci) has grown the company’s engineering department from a one-man band into a team of hundreds, developing a technical framework to support the company’s rapid growth. His expertise and innovation has helped bring new levels of usability and sophistication to financial services technologies.Today, Ryan runs an ever-expanding group of engineers tasked with building out new products at pace while stressing a culture of agility and experimentation, even as Credit Karma reaches new levels of scale. As a leader, he serves as a constructive agitator, looking to break down traditional workplace hierarchies and empowering each member of his department with real influence over the future of the product.Ryan has a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology and spent five years at IBM before joining Credit Karma."When I was earlier in my career, I really thought that the CTO's job was to know the most about the technology. Really, the CTO's job is to hire the people that know the most about the technology and then translate it to the business people who don't speak it at all.”- Ryan Graciano   Looking for ways to support the show?Send a link to the show to your marketing team! https://sfelc.com/podcastsIf your company is looking to gain exposure to thousands of engineering leaders and key decision-makers, we have sponsorship opportunities available.To explore sponsor opportunities, email us at sponsor@sfelc.comInterested in joining an ELC Peer Group?ELCs Peer Groups provide a virtual, curated, and ongoing peer learning opportunity to help you navigate the unknown, uncover solutions and accelerate your learning with a small group of trusted peers.Apply to join a peer group HERE: sfelc.com/peerGroupsSHOW NOTES:What the early days at Credit Karma looked like (2:31)Eng leadership lessons learned from the early-stage days (4:03)Ryan’s advice on running lean &amp; determining what matters most (5:42)The inflection point when Credit Karma’s priorities shifted (8:31)Strategies for bridging the gap between engineering &amp; business (12:44)What was most helpful for designing a monetization engine early on (15:07)How Ryan’s leadership style evolved as Credit Karma expanded (16:37)Frameworks for identifying areas of improvement as an eng leader (18:32)Who do you hire first to scale yourself and your eng org? And other scaling principles (20:13)How to identify deficiencies in your system (22:00)An example of how detecting a dysfunction lead to systematic transformation (26:00)Tips for hosting conversations that lead to buy in / alignment (28:29)Ryan’s favorite failed leadership experiments (30:18)Why it’s important for leadership teams to measure &amp; respond (35:50)Matching the vision for the organization to what you want to see in a product (37:04)When adjustments have to be made to the org’s vision (42:18)Rapid fire questions (43:40)LINKS AND RESOURCESThe Genome Odyssey - In The Genome Odyssey, Dr. Euan Ashley, Stanford professor of medicine and genetics, brings the breakthroughs of precision medicine to vivid life through the real diagnostic journeys of his patients and the tireless efforts of his fellow doctors and scientists as they hunt to prevent, predict, and beat disease.

Ryan Graciano, Co-Founder &amp; CTO @ Credit Karma, shares with us what it’s like to start a company during an economic downturn, how his leadership style had to evolve alongside Credit Karma’s growth, advice for running lean operations, bridging the gap between engineering &amp; business, how to scale the business as the company matures, and identifying &amp; correcting team/org dysfunctions. In addition, Ryan shares some of his favorite successful &amp; failed leadership experiments that helped evolve his leadership style!<h2>ABOUT <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/graciano/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">RYAN GRACIANO</a></h2>As a co-founder of Credit Karma and Chief Technical Officer, Ryan Graciano (<a href="https://twitter.com/rmgraci" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@rmgraci</a>) has grown the company’s engineering department from a one-man band into a team of hundreds, developing a technical framework to support the company’s rapid growth. His expertise and innovation has helped bring new levels of usability and sophistication to financial services technologies.Today, Ryan runs an ever-expanding group of engineers tasked with building out new products at pace while stressing a culture of agility and experimentation, even as Credit Karma reaches new levels of scale. As a leader, he serves as a constructive agitator, looking to break down traditional workplace hierarchies and empowering each member of his department with real influence over the future of the product.Ryan has a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology and spent five years at IBM before joining Credit Karma.<blockquote>"When I was earlier in my career, I really thought that the CTO's job was to know the most about the technology. Really, the CTO's job is to hire the people that know the most about the technology and then translate it to the business people who don't speak it at all.” - Ryan Graciano   </blockquote><h2>Looking for ways to support the show?</h2>Send a link to the show to your marketing team! <a href="https://sfelc.com/podcasts" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://sfelc.com/podcasts</a>If your company is looking to gain exposure to thousands of engineering leaders and key decision-makers, we have sponsorship opportunities available.To explore sponsor opportunities, email us at <a href="mailto:sponsor@sfelc.com">sponsor@sfelc.com</a><h2>Interested in joining an <a href="https://hubs.la/Q01tssg60" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ELC Peer Group?</a></h2>ELCs <a href="https://hubs.la/Q01tssg60" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Peer Groups</a> provide a virtual, curated, and ongoing peer learning opportunity to help you navigate the unknown, uncover solutions and accelerate your learning with a small group of trusted peers.Apply to join a peer group HERE: <a href="https://hubs.la/Q01tssg60" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">sfelc.com/peerGroups</a><h2>SHOW NOTES:</h2><ul><li>What the early days at Credit Karma looked like (2:31)</li><li>Eng leadership lessons learned from the early-stage days (4:03)</li><li>Ryan’s advice on running lean &amp; determining what matters most (5:42)</li><li>The inflection point when Credit Karma’s priorities shifted (8:31)</li><li>Strategies for bridging the gap between engineering &amp; business (12:44)</li><li>What was most helpful for designing a monetization engine early on (15:07)</li><li>How Ryan’s leadership style evolved as Credit Karma expanded (16:37)</li><li>Frameworks for identifying areas of improvement as an eng leader (18:32)</li><li>Who do you hire first to scale yourself and your eng org? And other scaling principles (20:13)</li><li>How to identify deficiencies in your system (22:00)</li><li>An example of how detecting a dysfunction lead to systematic transformation (26:00)</li><li>Tips for hosting conversations that lead to buy in / alignment (28:29)</li><li>Ryan’s favorite failed leadership experiments (30:18)</li><li>Why it’s important for leadership teams to measure &amp; respond (35:50)</li><li>Matching the vision for the organization to what you want to see in a product (37:04)</li><li>When adjustments have to be made to the org’s vision (42:18)</li><li>Rapid fire questions (43:40)</li></ul><h2>LINKS AND RESOURCES</h2><ul><li><a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250234995/thegenomeodyssey" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Genome Odyssey</a> - In The Genome Odyssey, Dr. Euan Ashley, Stanford professor of medicine and genetics, brings the breakthroughs of precision medicine to vivid life through the real diagnostic journeys of his patients and the tireless efforts of his fellow doctors and scientists as they hunt to prevent, predict, and beat disease.</li></ul>

Leading through an economic downturn & bridging the gap between engineering & business w/ Ryan Graciano #115

No journey to the cloud is the same. While some will encounter similar obstacles, each journey has its own unique challenges. But what happens when a company born in the midst of a crisis and changing technology, has to innovate just as fast as the changing landscape to keep up?Ryan Graciano is the co-founder and CTO of Credit Karma, a company that is aligning technology and data to help bring transparency to the credit lending process. On this episode of The Data Chief, Ryan explains how Credit Karma survived early struggles such as the financial crisis of 2008. Ryan also touches on how Credit Karma navigated it’s journey to the cloud, stepping away from the comfort of on-premises data centers to the elasticity of the cloud, and the importance of grooming outside data sources to keep insights consistent. That and more on today’s episode with Ryan Graciano.Main TakeawaysExplainable algorithms drive success: As third party datasets become more readily available, there is an evolving need for data professionals to understand where that data is coming from and how it will affect your models. While these datasets can make it easier for models to be spun up quickly, you must be able to account for how and why those algorithms are generating particular answers.Clean data leads to reliable answers: Data analysts must spend time making sure the data they are using is not only clean, but reliable. When an analyst uses dirty or untrustworthy data, algorithms will have a tendency to run in an undefined manner, which will lead to high variance in answer quality and consistency.Keep data fluency a priority: Even for organizations that believe they are data literate, the process of understanding data at an organizational level is an ongoing one. A best practice for maintaining data literacy is to create a standardized set of how data is recorded and reported internally. When practices like this are standardized, organizations can avoid issues like data bias.About RyanAs a co-founder of Credit Karma and Chief Technical Officer, Ryan Graciano has grown the company’s engineering department from a one-man band into a team of hundreds, developing a technical framework to support the company’s rapid growth. His expertise and innovation has helped bring new levels of usability and sophistication to financial services technologies.Today, Ryan runs an ever-expanding group of engineers tasked with building out new products at pace while stressing a culture of agility and experimentation, even as Credit Karma reaches new levels of scale. As a leader, he serves as a constructive agitator, looking to break down traditional workplace hierarchies and empowering each member of his department with real influence over the future of the product.Ryan has a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology and spent five years at IBM before joining Credit Karma.--The Data Chief is presented by our friends at ThoughtSpot. Searching through your company’s data for insights doesn’t have to be complicated. With ThoughtSpot, anyone in your organization can easily answer their own data questions, find the facts, and make better, faster decisions. Learn more at thoughtspot.com. 

No journey to the cloud is the same. While some will encounter similar obstacles, each journey has its own unique challenges. But what happens when a company born in the midst of a crisis and changing technology, has to innovate just as fast as the changing landscape to keep up?<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/graciano" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ryan Graciano </a>is the co-founder and CTO of <a href="https://www.creditkarma.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Credit Karma</a>, a company that is aligning technology and data to help bring transparency to the credit lending process. On this episode of The Data Chief, Ryan explains how Credit Karma survived early struggles such as the financial crisis of 2008. Ryan also touches on how Credit Karma navigated it’s journey to the cloud, stepping away from the comfort of on-premises data centers to the elasticity of the cloud, and the importance of grooming outside data sources to keep insights consistent. That and more on today’s episode with Ryan Graciano.Main Takeaways<ul><li>Explainable algorithms drive success: As third party datasets become more readily available, there is an evolving need for data professionals to understand where that data is coming from and how it will affect your models. While these datasets can make it easier for models to be spun up quickly, you must be able to account for how and why those algorithms are generating particular answers.</li><li>Clean data leads to reliable answers: Data analysts must spend time making sure the data they are using is not only clean, but reliable. When an analyst uses dirty or untrustworthy data, algorithms will have a tendency to run in an undefined manner, which will lead to high variance in answer quality and consistency.</li><li>Keep data fluency a priority: Even for organizations that believe they are data literate, the process of understanding data at an organizational level is an ongoing one. A best practice for maintaining data literacy is to create a standardized set of how data is recorded and reported internally. When practices like this are standardized, organizations can avoid issues like data bias.</li></ul>About RyanAs a co-founder of Credit Karma and Chief Technical Officer, Ryan Graciano has grown the company’s engineering department from a one-man band into a team of hundreds, developing a technical framework to support the company’s rapid growth. His expertise and innovation has helped bring new levels of usability and sophistication to financial services technologies.Today, Ryan runs an ever-expanding group of engineers tasked with building out new products at pace while stressing a culture of agility and experimentation, even as Credit Karma reaches new levels of scale. As a leader, he serves as a constructive agitator, looking to break down traditional workplace hierarchies and empowering each member of his department with real influence over the future of the product.Ryan has a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology and spent five years at IBM before joining Credit Karma.--The Data Chief is presented by our friends at ThoughtSpot. Searching through your company’s data for insights doesn’t have to be complicated. With ThoughtSpot, anyone in your organization can easily answer their own data questions, find the facts, and make better, faster decisions. Learn more at <a href="https://bit.ly/2VPU8fF" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">thoughtspot.com</a>.

Credit Karma’s Ryan Graciano on Data Marts, Data Models, and Disrupting the Credit Landscape

Ryan Graciano, Co-Founder &amp; CTO Credit Karma chats with Amit Somani, Managing Partner Prime Venture Partners .Listen to the podcast to learn about:02:00 - Founding story of Credit Karma08:20 - Acquiring first 100k customers12:25 - Attach your message to something that is organically out there14:00 - The Thin-File Problem16:00 - The life of a fintech user on the internet22:00 - Financial Product as your Personal Financial Advisor23:45 - Monetisation journey of Credit Karma27:20 - How entrepreneurs should think about exits32:40 - Credit Karma’s future plansYou can read the complete transcript hereEnjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this.Follow Prime Venture Partners:Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_inLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/ This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: http://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/graciano/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ryan Graciano</a>, Co-Founder &amp; CTO <a href="https://www.creditkarma.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Credit Karma</a> chats with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/thesomani/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amit Somani</a>, Managing Partner <a href="https://primevp.in/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Prime Venture Partners</a> . Listen to the podcast to learn about: 02:00 - Founding story of Credit Karma 08:20 - Acquiring first 100k customers 12:25 - Attach your message to something that is organically out there 14:00 - The Thin-File Problem 16:00 - The life of a fintech user on the internet 22:00 - Financial Product as your Personal Financial Advisor 23:45 - Monetisation journey of Credit Karma 27:20 - How entrepreneurs should think about exits 32:40 - Credit Karma’s future plans You can read the complete transcript <a href="https://primevp.in/content/podcast/thin-file-problem-life-fintech-user-adjacent-opportunities-ryan-graciano-cto-co-founder-credit-karma/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a> Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. Follow Prime Venture Partners: Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/Primevp_in" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/Primevp_in</a> LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/</a> This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes.  Please share your feedback here: <a href="http://primevp.in/podcastfeedback" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://primevp.in/podcastfeedback</a>

#48 Thin-File Problem, Life of a Fintech User & Adjacent Opportunities with Ryan Graciano CTO & Co-Founder Credit Karma

Ryan Graciano remembers the early days of Credit Karma like they just happened. Born in the midst of a financial crisis, Credit Karma’s rise to significance didn’t seem certain, and Ryan remembers thinking to himself numerous times, “Are we going to make it?” Today, Credit Karma serves more than 100 million users, and provides consumers with tools that empower them to take the biggest financial steps in their lives. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Ryan discusses the early turbulence the company endured, how he leads through trying times, and how Credit Karma is helping in more ways than just by providing credit scores. Key Takeaways  Confidence Breeds Success: Be confident in your product. If you aren’t confident and passionate about the product you are bringing to market, the trying times will be much more difficult. Ryan details how Credit Karma, born in the midst of the financial crisis, overcame their trials and tribulations For the Long Haul: As a CTO and company leader, you have to constantly be thinking about what comes next. When obstacles arise, you need to have already discussed with your leadership team about possible alternatives. If you are not actively thinking about how things will fail, your company will fail.  Teamwork Makes the Dream work: The most important thing for any co-founder is having a solid support system. When Credit Karma started, Ryan was a one-man crew. Once the company began to expand, he focused on people that could magnify his skills while also expanding the product. Invest in good people and listen to your team and have faith in your decisions  ---  IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Customer 360 Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at salesforce.com/platform

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/graciano" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ryan Graciano</a> remembers the early days of Credit Karma like they just happened. Born in the midst of a financial crisis, Credit Karma’s rise to significance didn’t seem certain, and Ryan remembers thinking to himself numerous times, “Are we going to make it?” Today, <a href="https://www.creditkarma.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Credit Karma</a> serves more than 100 million users, and provides consumers with tools that empower them to take the biggest financial steps in their lives. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Ryan discusses the early turbulence the company endured, how he leads through trying times, and how Credit Karma is helping in more ways than just by providing credit scores. Key Takeaways <ul> <li>Confidence Breeds Success: Be confident in your product. If you aren’t confident and passionate about the product you are bringing to market, the trying times will be much more difficult. Ryan details how Credit Karma, born in the midst of the financial crisis, overcame their trials and tribulations</li> <li>For the Long Haul: As a CTO and company leader, you have to constantly be thinking about what comes next. When obstacles arise, you need to have already discussed with your leadership team about possible alternatives. If you are not actively thinking about how things will fail, your company will fail.</li> <li> Teamwork Makes the Dream work: The most important thing for any co-founder is having a solid support system. When Credit Karma started, Ryan was a one-man crew. Once the company began to expand, he focused on people that could magnify his skills while also expanding the product. Invest in good people and listen to your team and have faith in your decisions</li> </ul> --- IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Customer 360 Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at <a href="https://www.salesforce.com/products/platform/overview/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">salesforce.com/platform</a>

How Good Karma Empowered Credit Karma with co-founder and CTO Ryan Graciano

Early on in his life, Ryan Graciano aspired to be many things - law, writing... and eventually coding, of course. Fun fact, he is an accomplished dog trainer. focusing on animal behavior modification - and more recently, has gotten into powerlifting. Despite his love of analog activities, he got started coding right after college, and tried to avoid joining IBM... yet, still did, through an acquisition. After a few years of growth, he met a group of entrepreneurs who had an idea to provide credit scores to millions of users... for free. This idea would eventually become Credit Karma.Today's Sponsors: ClipGain.io (https://clipgain.io)RIMS (https://www.rims.org/)Linkshttps://www.creditkarma.com/ourstory/https://www.linkedin.com/in/graciano/Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!Amazing tools we use:If you want the best publishing platform for your podcast, with amazing support &amp; people - use Transistor.fm.Want to record your remote interviews with class? Then, you need to use Squadcast.Code Story uses the 1-click product ClipGain, sign up now to get 3hrs of podcast processing time FREE!Credits: Code Story is hosted and produced by Noah Labhart, Co-produced and edited by Bradley Denham. Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, Breaker, YouTube, or the podcasting app of your choice.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/code-story/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy &amp; Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Early on in his life, Ryan Graciano aspired to be many things - law, writing... and eventually coding, of course. Fun fact, he is an accomplished dog trainer. focusing on animal behavior modification - and more recently, has gotten into powerlifting. Despite his love of analog activities, he got started coding right after college, and tried to avoid joining IBM... yet, still did, through an acquisition. After a few years of growth, he met a group of entrepreneurs who had an idea to provide credit scores to millions of users... for free. This idea would eventually become Credit Karma. Today's Sponsors: <a href="https://clipgain.io/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ClipGain.io (https://clipgain.io)</a><a href="https://www.rims.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">RIMS (https://www.rims.org/)</a> Links<ul><li><a href="https://www.creditkarma.com/ourstory/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.creditkarma.com/ourstory/</a></li><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/graciano/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/graciano/</a></li></ul> Leave us a <a href="https://ratethispodcast.com/codestory" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">review on Apple Podcasts</a>! Amazing tools we use:<ul><li>If you want the best publishing platform for your podcast, with amazing support &amp; people - use <a href="https://transistor.fm/?via=code-story" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Transistor.fm</a>.</li><li>Want to record your remote interviews with class? Then, you need to use <a href="https://squadcast.fm/?ref=noahlabhart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Squadcast</a>.</li><li>Code Story uses the 1-click product <a href="https://clipgain.io/?utm_campaign=clipgain&amp;utm_medium=episode&amp;utm_source=codestory" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ClipGain</a>, sign up now to get 3hrs of podcast processing time FREE!</li></ul> Credits: Code Story is hosted and produced by Noah Labhart, Co-produced and edited by <a href="https://www.recordeditpodcast.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bradley Denham</a>. Be sure to subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/code-story/id1466861744" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0f5HGQ2EPd63H83gqAifXp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://pca.st/Z1k7" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pocket Casts</a>, <a href="https://playmusic.app.goo.gl/?apn=com.google.android.music&amp;ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&amp;isi=691797987&amp;ius=googleplaymusic&amp;link=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fmusic%2Fm%2FIcdmshauh7jgmkjmh6iu3wd4oya%3Ft%3DCode_Story%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://www.breaker.audio/code-story" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Breaker</a>, <a href="https://youtube.com/channel/UCgjZsiUDp-oKY_ffHc5AUpQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">YouTube</a>, or the podcasting app of your choice.Support this podcast at — <a href="https://redcircle.com/code-story/donations" rel="payment nofollow" target="_blank">https://redcircle.com/code-story/donations</a> Advertising Inquiries: <a href="https://redcircle.com/brands" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://redcircle.com/brands</a> Privacy &amp; Opt-Out: <a href="https://redcircle.com/privacy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://redcircle.com/privacy</a>

S2 Bonus: Ryan Graciano, Credit Karma (Replay)

Early on in his life, Ryan Graciano aspired to be many things – law, writing… and eventually coding, of course. Fun fact, he is an accomplished dog trainer. focusing on animal behavior modification – and more recently, has gotten into powerlifting. Despite his love of analog activities, he got started coding right after college, and tried to avoid joining IBM… yet, still did, through an acquisition. After a few years of growth, he met a group of entrepreneurs who had an idea to provide credit scores to millions of users… for free. This idea would eventually become Credit Karma.Today’s Sponsors:ClipGain.io (https://clipgain.io)RIMS (https://www.rims.org/)Linkshttps://www.creditkarma.com/ourstory/https://www.linkedin.com/in/graciano/Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!Amazing tools we use:If you want the best publishing platform for your podcast, with amazing support &amp; people – use Transistor.fm.Want to record your remote interviews with class? Then, you need to use Squadcast.Code Story uses the 1-click product ClipGain, sign up now to get 3hrs of podcast processing time FREE!Credits: Code Story is hosted and produced by Noah Labhart, Co-produced and edited by Bradley Denham. Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, Breaker, YouTube, or the podcasting app of your choice.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/code-story/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy &amp; Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Early on in his life, Ryan Graciano aspired to be many things – law, writing… and eventually coding, of course. Fun fact, he is an accomplished dog trainer. focusing on animal behavior modification – and more recently, has gotten into powerlifting. Despite his love of analog activities, he got started coding right after college, and tried to avoid joining IBM… yet, still did, through an acquisition. After a few years of growth, he met a group of entrepreneurs who had an idea to provide credit scores to millions of users… for free. This idea would eventually become Credit Karma. Today’s Sponsors:<a href="https://clipgain.io/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ClipGain.io (https://clipgain.io)</a><a href="https://www.rims.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">RIMS (https://www.rims.org/)</a> Links<ul><li><a href="https://www.creditkarma.com/ourstory/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.creditkarma.com/ourstory/</a></li><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/graciano/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/graciano/</a></li></ul> Leave us a <a href="https://ratethispodcast.com/codestory" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">review on Apple Podcasts</a>! Amazing tools we use:<ul><li>If you want the best publishing platform for your podcast, with amazing support &amp; people – use <a href="https://transistor.fm/?via=code-story" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Transistor.fm</a>.</li><li>Want to record your remote interviews with class? Then, you need to use <a href="https://squadcast.fm/?ref=noahlabhart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Squadcast</a>.</li><li>Code Story uses the 1-click product <a href="https://clipgain.io/?utm_campaign=clipgain&amp;utm_medium=episode&amp;utm_source=codestory" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ClipGain</a>, sign up now to get 3hrs of podcast processing time FREE!</li></ul> Credits: Code Story is hosted and produced by Noah Labhart, Co-produced and edited by <a href="https://www.recordeditpodcast.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bradley Denham</a>. Be sure to subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/code-story/id1466861744" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0f5HGQ2EPd63H83gqAifXp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://pca.st/Z1k7" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pocket Casts</a>, <a href="https://playmusic.app.goo.gl/?apn=com.google.android.music&amp;ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&amp;isi=691797987&amp;ius=googleplaymusic&amp;link=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fmusic%2Fm%2FIcdmshauh7jgmkjmh6iu3wd4oya%3Ft%3DCode_Story%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Play</a>, <a href="https://www.breaker.audio/code-story" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Breaker</a>, <a href="https://youtube.com/channel/UCgjZsiUDp-oKY_ffHc5AUpQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">YouTube</a>, or the podcasting app of your choice.Support this podcast at — <a href="https://redcircle.com/code-story/donations" rel="payment nofollow" target="_blank">https://redcircle.com/code-story/donations</a> Advertising Inquiries: <a href="https://redcircle.com/brands" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://redcircle.com/brands</a> Privacy &amp; Opt-Out: <a href="https://redcircle.com/privacy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://redcircle.com/privacy</a>

S2 E7: Ryan Graciano, Credit Karma

Ryan Graciano got his start working for a small company that was acquired by IBM. Having been on the employee side of a large merger, Ryan has been able to take what he learned to his role as CTO at Credit Karma. On today’s episode of CTO Connection, Ryan talks to Peter about his distaste for terms like microservices and technical debt as well as how to craft an environment that values both craft and customer.Listen in as Ryan discusses managing large teams of engineers while stressing a culture of agility and experimentation.[00:21] - How Ryan started his career in software development[01:40] - Transitioning to Credit Karma[02:50] - Building an engineering team[05:26] - Staying connected to the code[06:36] - Recruiting talent[11:13] - Moving from IC to manager[15:19] - Drawing the line at microservices[17:32] - Technical debt[22:31] - Communicating with business stakeholders[24:19] - Company, customer, craft[27:18] - What to look for in a great engineer[29:37] - What to look for in upper managementCTO Connection is where you can learn from the experiences of successful engineering leaders at fast-growth tech startups. Whether you want to learn more about hiring, motivating or managing an engineering team, if you're technical and manage engineers, the CTO Connection podcast is a great resource for learning from your peers!If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to CTO Connection in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/graciano/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ryan Graciano</a> got his start working for a small company that was acquired by IBM. Having been on the employee side of a large merger, Ryan has been able to take what he learned to his role as CTO at Credit Karma. On today’s episode of CTO Connection, Ryan talks to Peter about his distaste for terms like microservices and technical debt as well as how to craft an environment that values both craft and customer. Listen in as Ryan discusses managing large teams of engineers while stressing a culture of agility and experimentation.<ul><li>[00:21] - How Ryan started his career in software development</li><li>[01:40] - Transitioning to Credit Karma</li><li>[02:50] - Building an engineering team</li><li>[05:26] - Staying connected to the code</li><li>[06:36] - Recruiting talent</li><li>[11:13] - Moving from IC to manager</li><li>[15:19] - Drawing the line at microservices</li><li>[17:32] - Technical debt</li><li>[22:31] - Communicating with business stakeholders</li><li>[24:19] - Company, customer, craft</li><li>[27:18] - What to look for in a great engineer</li><li>[29:37] - What to look for in upper management</li></ul><a href="https://www.ctoconnection.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CTO Connection</a> is where you can learn from the experiences of successful engineering leaders at fast-growth tech startups. Whether you want to learn more about hiring, motivating or managing an engineering team, if you're technical and manage engineers, the CTO Connection podcast is a great resource for learning from your peers! If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to CTO Connection in <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cto-connection/id1104346760?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy50cmFuc2lzdG9yLmZtL2N0b2Nvbm5lY3Rpb24%3D" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3GKpjcEH3ydikWnDDDBpLv?si=vm0dges2QiKoLehoFAR24g" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a> or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cto-connection/id1104346760?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>. It really helps others find the show. <a href="https://www.dante32.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Podcast episode production by Dante32.</a>