Episodes

Russ Miles - Len Epp interviews Russ Miles, author of The Sovereign Engineer, about how software professionals can thrive in the age of AI. Russ argues that AI magnifies both good and bad engineering practices, introducing concepts such as habitat engineering, AI literacy, and sovereign engineering. They explore LLMs, agentic development, architecture, TDD, feedback loops, and why human judgment, curiosity, and systems thinking remain essential as AI transforms software development.

Denniz Dönmez, PhD - Len Epp interviews Denniz Dönmez, PhD, co-author of Micro Habits for Better Teamwork, about how tiny behavioral changes can transform teams. They discuss psychological safety, compassion, curiosity, transparency, trust, better meetings, decision-making, and enabling structures, along with the research and real-world experiences behind the book and practical habits that help teams collaborate more effectively.

Serena Martino - Len Epp interviews Serena Martino, executive coach and author of The Unwritten Job Description, about her journey from corporate roles at Google and in the travel industry to founding a coaching practice. She discusses the gap between achievement and alignment, the unwritten rules people live by, and her experience writing and publishing her book chapter by chapter on Leanpub.

Dr. Danielle Boyce - In this episode of the Leanpub Podcast, Len Epp interviews Dr. Danielle Boyce, author of Ten Habits of Great Data Analysts: Practical Tips from My Three Decades in the Field. Danielle shares lessons from a career spanning public health, biomedical informatics, and data science, discussing what separates great analysts from merely technical ones. They explore communication, curiosity, collaboration, data storytelling, career development, and the human side of analytics, along with Danielle’s experience writin

Alexey Krivitsky - In this Leanpub podcast episode, Len Epp interviews Alexey Krivitsky, co-creator of Org Topologies and co-author of 10X ORG. They discuss how organizations can become more adaptive, effective, and AI-enabled through better structural design, team interactions, and leadership practices. Alexey shares insights from decades of experience redesigning organizations, exploring how companies can combine people, technology, and AI to improve performance and stay relevant in a rapidly changing world.

Daniel Vaughan - In this Leanpub Podcast episode, Len Epp interviews Daniel Vaughan about his book Codex CLI: Agentic Engineering from First Principles. They explore how agentic AI is reshaping software engineering, from prompting and multi-agent systems to CI/CD and enterprise use. Dan shares insights on the future of work, developer workflows, and how engineers can adapt to rapidly evolving AI-driven tools.

Sal Kimmich - In this episode of the Leanpub Podcast, Sal Kimmich explains how modern computer chip supply-chain threats, insecure defaults, and fragmented trust models shape today’s cybersecurity posture. They discuss digital isolation, open-source governance, and practical strategies for building resilient, verifiable systems.

Matthew Hawthorne - In this episode of the Leanpub Podcast, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with software engineer Matthew Hawthorne about his book Push to Prod or Die Trying, war stories from working on high-scale systems, learning from production incidents, and the culture of big tech and high pressure software engineering.

César Antonio López Segura - In this episode of the Leanpub Podcast, Len Epp interviews César Antonio López Segura, author of Neural Networks and Adaptive Control: An Online Machine Learning Perspective. They discuss his academic and professional journey, control theory, adaptive systems, and his experiences as a writer.

Rich Allen - In this episode of the Leanpub Podcast, Rich Allen, author of User Needs Mapping: Aligning Teams Around What Matters, discusses how organisations can shift to user-centric value delivery. He explains how visualising user needs and team boundaries helps reduce friction, clarify responsibility and deliver faster, meaningful flow.

Edward Abramowich - In this episode of the Leanpub Podcast, Len Epp interviews Edward Abramowich, author of Rethinking Capital Project Delivery, about why large projects fail and how agentic AI can transform them. Ed explains how autonomous AI agents improve adaptability, coordination, and risk management, reshaping project roles and strategy. They discuss real-world applications, cultural change, data challenges, and practical steps for adoption.

Max Guernsey, III - In this episode, Len Epp interviews Max Guernsey, III, co-author of Ready: Why Most Software Projects Fail and How to Fix It. They discuss Max’s nearly 30-year career in software, his consulting work at Producore, and why so many projects fail due to poor alignment between strategy and execution. Max shares insights on Agile practices, organizational learning, and how to create conditions for teams to thrive.

Luniel de Beer - In this Leanpub Podcast episode, Len Epp interviews Luniel de Beer, co-author of Ready: Why Most Software Projects Fail and How to Fix It and co-founder of Producore. Luniel discusses why many projects collapse under poor planning and unclear value. He highlights aligning business goals, creating resilient teams, and practical steps to improve project outcomes.

Romano Roth - In this Leanpub Podcast episode, Len Epp interviews Romano Roth, author of The Cybernetic Enterprise. Roth shares insights on building future-ready organizations through cybernetic transformation, enterprise evolution, and platform engineering. He explains how companies can overcome the “fast team, slow enterprise” problem to scale agile and DevOps successfully.

Klaus Haller - Len Epp interviews Klaus Haller, senior IT security architect and author of The Definitive Guide to Cloud Security Architecture. They discuss his career path, the four pillars of cloud security - architecture, network/perimeter, identity & access, and workload/SOC tooling - plus AI risks, quality assurance, and his writing process. Klaus shares insights on building resilient, secure cloud systems and the future of cybersecurity.

Andriy Burkov - In this episode, machine learning and artificial intelligence expert Andriy Burkov discusses his book The Hundred-Page Language Models Book, reflects on the evolution of AI and LLMs since his previous Leanpub bestseller, and explains why hype around AGI is premature. He also shares insights on the challenges of self-driving technology and writing a bestselling technical book.

Qiusheng Wu - Len Epp interviews Qiusheng Wu, author of Introduction to GIS Programming, about his journey from rural China to becoming a leading geospatial data scientist. They discuss his open-source Python tools, the rise of GIS and remote sensing, and his experience as a content creator and self-published author dedicated to making geospatial analysis accessible to all.

Ed Barnard - In this Leanpub Podcast episode, Len Epp interviews Ed Barnard, author of Beyond Prompt Engineering: The Revolutionary Way to Learn Augmented Thinking. Ed reflects on his dual 20-year careers in operating system and web development, his experience with Cray Research, and his passion for transforming computing through augmented thinking. The discussion explores Ed’s practical and philosophical insights into AI and software, learning, and the future of human-computer interaction.

Anne-Marie Charrett - In this episode of the Leanpub Podcast, Len Epp interviews Anne-Marie Charrett, author of The Quality Coach’s Handbook. They discuss quality in software engineering and change management. Anne-Marie shares insights from her coaching experience, the evolution of testing roles, and how to foster a quality-first culture in teams.

Jonathan B. Crossland - In this episode of the Leanpub Podcast, author Jonathan B. Crossland discusses his book The Software Developer’s Handbook: Volume 1, his unconventional journey from music and acting to software, and his passion for improving software engineering through values-based frameworks. He explores coding complexity, developer growth, and the importance of creativity, autonomy, and gatekeeper-free platforms like Leanpub.

Alex Telford - Len Epp interviews Alex Telford, senior pipeline and software engineer and author of Practical Python for Production Under Pressure. Alex discusses his career in VFX, the high-stakes nature of production environments, and how his book provides pragmatic coding advice for getting projects over the line amid constant change and pressure.

Ivan Krnic - Len Epp interviews Ivan Krnic, author of BizTech Evolution, about aligning business and technology teams, his role at CROZ, and the 0800-DEVOPS podcast. They discuss evolving collaboration models, the strategic role of technology in organizations, and insights from Ivan’s Leanpub book aimed at breaking silos and building shared goals between business and tech leaders.

Isaak Tsalicoglou - In this episode of the Leanpub Podcast, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp interviews Isaak Tsalicoglou, author of Phoenix Product Codex. Isaak shares how real-world challenges in his family business inspired him to build a production-ready REST API with Elixir and Phoenix. They discuss digitization, API design, and the benefits of small business tech adoption. Isaak also reflects on his evolving writing process as a Leanpub author.

Nicolas Brown - Agility expert Nicolas Brown, author of Real World Agility, joins Len Epp on the Leanpub Podcast to discuss his career journey from Royal Mail to ASOS, the real-world application of Agile methods, and his passion for data-driven coaching. They dive into flow, value, culture, and the challenges of writing a book that bridges theory and practice with evidence and impact.

Isaak Tsalicoglou - In this episode, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp interviews Isaak Tsalicoglou about his book Northwind Elixir Traders. They discuss Isaak’s journey from digitalizing his family business to diving deep into Elixir and Ecto, the joys and challenges of functional programming, and the psychological side of learning and writing technical books. The episode explores how curiosity, creativity, and persistence shaped Isaak’s engaging and educational approach.

Special Guest Dan Holloway - In this episode of the Leanpub podcast, Dan Holloway, host of the Self-Publishing News podcast, joins Len Epp for Leanpub’s year-end review of 2024 book industry trends, including AI’s role in publishing, evolving author income patterns, and key controversies like WordPress disputes and the Internet Archive case. Holloway also shares insights on cozy literature’s rise and predictions for 2025.

Joe Justice - Joe is the author of the Leanpub book Scrum Master: The Agile Training Seminar for Business Performance. In this interview, Joe talks about In this episode of the Leanpub podcast, Len Epp interviews Joe Justice, author of Scrum Master and a former Tesla employee. Joe shares his journey from South Bend, Indiana, to working at Tesla, Amazon, and with Bill Gates. He discusses Agile methodologies, modularity in manufacturing, and innovation.

Chris Pinnock - In this episode of the Leanpub podcast, Len Epp interviews Chris Pinnock, IT professional and author of Learning Russian Verbs. Chris discusses his career journey from a PhD in Mathematics to leading IT teams and working at the Tezos Foundation, where he manages blockchain infrastructure. He shares his experience learning Russian after marrying a native speaker and how he combined his technical skills and love of languages to create his book, which uses a programmatic approach to teach Russian verb conjugation.

Special Guest Josh Bernoff - Josh is a business book expert and author of the Business Book ROI Study. In this episode of the Frontmatter podcast Len and Josh discuss Josh’s background, career, and insights from his comprehensive study of business authors. The study reveals key motivations and returns for writing business books, including credibility and revenue. They also explore the challenges of AI in publishing, the value of social media for authors, and the evolving role of hybrid publishing.

Pete Zerger - In this episode of the Frontmatter podcast, Len Epp interviews Pete Zerger, cybersecurity strategist and author of CISSP: The Last Mile. Pete shares his journey from IT into cybersecurity, discussing key concepts like cloud and endpoint security, and the significance of the CISSP exam for security professionals. He explains how his book helps readers prepare for the exam through targeted learning strategies, offering both comprehensive coverage and practical advice for mastering cybersecurity fundamentals.