Nick Schrock (Founder, Dagster Labs & Co-Creator, GraphQL) - Facebook Eng Culture & Modern Data Stack Consolidation

For those excited about Open Source, data, and understanding Facebook’s high performance culture, this is the episode for you!

Nick Schrock is the Founder of Dagster Labs and previously Co-Creator of GraphQL while at Facebook. In this episode, we discuss how Facebook maintained a culture of urgency and decentralization. Nick dives into the problem solved behind GraphQL’s creation and how the product rolled out within Facebook. We also cover the modern data stack and how Dagster Labs is moving beyond the orchestration layer to provide more value to data engineering workflows. Finally, we discuss Nick’s decision to transition from the CEO role and advice he has for other founders in the Open Source space.

Where to Find Nick:

·       Twitter: https://twitter.com/schrockn

·       LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schrockn/

Where to Find Shomik:

·       Twitter: https://twitter.com/shomikghosh21

·       LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shomik-ghosh-a5a71319/

·       Newsletter: https://www.shomik.substack.com

·       Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube.

In this episode, we cover:

(00:56) – Joining Facebook During “Move Fast & Break Things” Era in 2009

(06:06) – Why Facebook Open Source Has Proliferated So Well

(09:04) – How Facebook Culture Changed to “Move Fast With Stable Infrastructure”

(10:56) – Making the Shift From Mobile to Desktop

(12:33) – Creating GraphQL

(16:50) – Finding Space to Work on GraphQL (Power of Decentralized Decision Making)

(18:34) – Rolling out GraphQL to All Facebook Developers

(21:14) – Why Not Start a GraphQL Focused Company

(23:12) – Starting Dagster

(27:35) – Learnings from GraphQL Translated to Dagster

(30:24) – Do Things That Don’t Scale Moment at Dagster

(32:50) – Evolving Dagster Labs to a Platform from Single Product

(35:15) – How the Practice of Data Engineering Differs from Data Engineers

(37:12) – Transitioning from CEO to CTO

(40:48) – How Did the Shift Immediately Feel Like After

(42:18) – Advice for Open Source Founders

(45:07) – What’s Coming Next for Dagster Labs

Show Notes:

-       Nick’s Post on Learnings from CEO Transition

-       Dagster Labs Platform Launch Week

How to Subscribe:

Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube