Episodes

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.

Leah Paulos - In this episode of the Leanpub podcast, Len Epp interviews Leah Paulos, founder of Press Shop PR and Book Publicity School. Leah shares her journey from magazine journalism to book publicity, discussing the evolving landscape of media and publishing, particularly in the digital age. She explains how Book Publicity School equips authors with essential skills for promoting their books, from building media lists to crafting effective pitches, emphasizing the importance of adaptability in today’s fast-changing world.

Maciej “MJ” Jedrzejewski - MJ is the author of the Leanpub book Master Software Architecture: A Pragmatic Guide. In this episode of the FrontMatter podcast, MJ shares his journey to becoming a software architect, his book, and his experience as an author.

In this episode of the Frontmatter podcast, Len Epp interviews Ryan Ripley and Todd Miller, authors of Fixing Your Scrum: Practical Solutions to Common Scrum Problems. Ryan and Todd share their career journeys and discuss how they co-wrote the book. They delve into the evolution of Scrum, the common issues teams face when implementing it, and how their book offers practical solutions to improve Scrum practices.

Eric Elliott - Eric is the author of the Leanpub book The Art of Effortless Programming: Unleashing the Power of AI Driven Development. In this interview, Eric talks about his early fascination with AI, his career working on AI projects like Adobe Firefly, and the transformative potential of AI in software development.

Michael Feathers - Michael is the author of the Leanpub book AI Assisted Programming. In this interview, Michael talks about his work on legacy code, and the evolving role of AI in programming. They also discuss the future of software development in an AI-driven world.

Eric Wise - In this episode of the FrontMatter podcast, Len Epp interviews Eric Wise, author of Effectively Learning to Code: A Brain-Based Approach. Eric shares his journey from being inspired by early gaming systems to becoming a software architect and education expert. The discussion covers his career transition from coding to management, his insights on teaching and mentorship, and the science behind effective learning. Eric also discusses

Gojko Adzic - Gojko is the author of the Leanpub book Lizard Optimization: Unlock Product Growth by Engaging Long-Tail Users. In this interview, Gojko talks about what he’s been up to since he was first on the podcast, managing hugely successful products with really small teams, and his new book about how to think about outlier customers.

Thad McIlroy - Thad is the author of the Leanpub book The AI Revolution in Book Publishing: A Concise Guide to Navigating Artificial Intelligence for Writers and Publishers. In this interview, Thad talks about his new book, and many of the important questions for both authors and books publishers in our current era of technological innovation in the area of artificial intellegence.

Peter Stevens - Peter is the author of the Leanpub book The Illustrated Guide to Scrum: Scrum Explained Through Infographics. In this interview, Peter talks about his background and career, manufacturing innovations and what it means to be a “Musk” company, Scrum, and about his approach to writing and illustrating for professionals.

Philip Gannon - Philip is the author of the Leanpub book Become a Senior Developer: A concise guide to succeeding as a Senior Software Developer. In this interview, Philip talks about his background and career, how he first got interested in technology, his book and the challenges faced by developers when they get promoted to senior roles, and his experience as a writer.

Phil Sturgeon - Phil is the author of the Leanpub book Surviving Other People’s APIs. In this interview, Phil talks about what he’s been up to since he was last on the podcast, co-founding the environmental charity Protect Earth, and his latest book, Surviving Other People’s APIs.

Isaak Tsalicoglou - Isaak is the author of the Leanpub book The Incredible Story of Deft: What Nobody Told You About Business Hype (Lean, Agile, etc.). In this interview, Isaak talks about his background and career, his books, how frameworks like Agile and Scrum can be corrupted, using Plato’s allegory of the cave to explain how startups can compete against incumbents, and about his work as a writer.

Barry O’Reilly - Barry is the author of the Leanpub book Residues: Time, Change, and Uncertainty in Software Architecture. In this interview, Barry talks about his background and career, his fascinating concept of Residuality theory in the fields Software Architecture and Computer Science, and his experience as a writer.

Luca Minudel is the author of the Leanpub book Succeed over difficult problems by embracing Complexity-Thinking. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Luca about his professional background, the challenges of high-pressure work, what it was like working on the software side of the Ferrari F1 team, his book, and his approach to writing.

Viktor Farcic - Viktor is the author of the Leanpub book Crossplane: The Cloud Native Control Plane. In this interview, Viktor talks about what he’s been up to since his first appearance on the podcast, and his latest book, on Crossplane, explaining how using the service you create, for people in your company, a platform that would provide them with the same experience they have when working with AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, or any other public Cloud provider.

Marc Bless - Marc is co-author of the Leanpub book Agile Games and Simulations: Field-tested games for Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches. In this interview, Marc talks about his background and career, his book, the nature and power of Agile games and simulations for improving team productivity, and his experience as a co-author.

Paul Hammant and Luc Courage - Paul and Luc are the authors of the Leanpub book Value Stream Mapping for Software Delivery Teams. In this interview, Paul and Luc talks about their backgrounds and careers, how they decided to collaborate on a book together, the history of manufacturing and the development of Value Stream Mapping, their book, and their writing process.

Joaquim Torres - Joca is the author of the Leanpub book Digital Transformation and Product Culture: How to put technology at the center of your company’s strategy. In this interview, Joca talks about his background and career, managing digital transformations in different industries, including internet services, real estate, and more, as well as his book, Digital Transformation and Product Culture.

Helene Gidley - Helene is the author of the Leanpub book The Art of Agile Living: A Simple And Powerful Approach To Tame Your Overwhelm. In this interview, Helene talks about her background and career, how she gained expertise in Agile and how you can apply it to your day-to-day life to become more productive, her book, and her experience as an author.

Wim Deblauwe - Wim is the author of the Leanpub book Modern frontends with htmx: Use htmx with Spring Boot and Thymeleaf to build dynamic and interactive web applications. In this interview, Wim talks about his background and career, his book, the revolutionary promise of htmx, a technology that redefines frontend development, and his experience as an author.

Barret Nobel and Jake Montalbano - Barret and Jake are the authors of the Leanpub book The DadFit Dynasty Manual: Daily Modern Strategies. In this interview, Barret and Jake talk about their backgrounds, how they approach being fit dads, the challenges that come with fatherhood and marriage, and how they’re writing a book together to reach more people with their ideas.