In engineering teams, there’s a mythical concept of a “10x engineer”— engineers who have 10x more impact and responsibility than the average engineer. Do these engineers actually exist? Is this a myth, or a possibility that engineers can realistically aim to become? And if they do exist, how can we identify new team members that can have this level of impact on our teams?

In our third episode of Abnormal Engineering Stories, John Delaney and I discuss engineering recruiting, and how he approaches the challenge of identifying high potential engineers. John is a Principal on the Core Talent team at Greylock Partners, and has spoken with hundreds (if not thousands) of engineers, and is constantly matching high potential candidates with the right opportunities across Greylock portfolio companies.

In this conversation, we discuss what key behaviors and experiences stand out to John and startup engineering hiring managers, and what environments allow early-career engineers to demonstrate they will become high-impact engineers on their future teams and companies.

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