Presentation about the culture of engineering at Etsy and shared values that enable our engineers to work together productively and happily. Originally delivered at CareerZoo in Dublin, Ireland, on 20 February 2016

1. Lauren Sperber
Senior Software Engineer
@laurensperber
Building Software at Etsy
CAREERZOO, 20 FEBRUARY 2016

2. Etsy is a global marketplace where people around the world connect,
both online and offline, to make, sell and buy unique goods.
2

3. How I Work

4. Product
Engineering
features for buyers and sellers
Infrastructure
Engineering
underlying architecture and tools
AS OF 2014

5. 5
Virtual Machine
by Louise Shaw of CelticValleyCeramics.etsy.com in Louth

6. 6
Code Review

7. 7
Automated Tests

8. 8
Feature Flags
by Letizia from ooakie.etsy.com in Cork

9. 9
Continuous Deployment
we change code on Etsy more than
40times a day

10. 10
Push Queue

11. 11
Princess & Production

12. 12
Prototype Groups & Experiments
by Emma Bourke from TheCuriousNeedle.etsy.com in Ballina

13. Etsy’s Engineering Practices

14. 14
Code Reviews
from Stuart Turnbull of Victorianaprint.etsy.com in Drogheda

15. Ego Cleverness
CODE REVIEWS HELP TO REDUCE

16. Readability Awareness
CODE REVIEWS HELP TO INCREASE

17. 17
Continuous Deployment
by Kellan Elliott-McCrea (@kellan), former Etsy CTO

18. Fear Risk
CONTINUOUS DEPLOYMENT HELPS TO REDUCE

19. Experience Confidence
CONTINUOUS DEPLOYMENT HELPS TO INCREASE

20. 20
Architecture Reviews
by Felix Williams of DublinStreet.etsy.com in Dublin

21. Novelty
ARCHITECTURE REVIEWS HELP TO REDUCE

22. Perspectives Awareness
ARCHITECTURE REVIEWS HELP TO INCREASE

23. 23
Blameless Post-Mortems
by Gillian of TrashMagic.etsy.com in Navan

24. Fear Repeated Incidents
BLAMELESS POSTMORTEMS HELP TO REDUCE

25. Learning
BLAMELESS POST-MORTEMS HELP TO INCREASE

26. Etsy’s Engineering Principles

27. 27
Empowering Trust
by Sarah Murphy of SarahMurphyInspires.etsy.com in Cork

28. 28
Collective Accountability
by Eithne Roberts from LittleWaxyArtSpace.etsy.com in Dublin

29. 29
Continuous Learning
by Darren O’Connor of ThingsWeLeftBehind.etsy.com in Cork

30. 30
Good Lookin’ Out
from ModelsAndCraftShop.etsy.com in Dunboyne

31. 31
“I had no idea how much engineers have each other’s backs.” —
Katie Rose Crosswhite

32. Empowering Trust
Collective Accountability
Continuous Learning
Good Lookin’ Out

33. 33
Three-Armed Sweater

34. Lauren Sperber
Senior Software Engineer
@laurensperber
Building Software at Etsy
CAREERZOO, 20 FEBRUARY 2015