Hi ,
Welcome to this very first issue of The Optimist Engineer with the new format.
How many times have you been fed the lie that growing in tech is just a matter of accumulating years of experience?
The truth is that waiting quietly in your chair for someone to notice your hard work is a one-way ticket to career stagnation.
If you are a software engineer and you are looking to take control of your career path and actually land that next promotion, then this email is for you.
For The A-Side today, I am sharing the core strategies that truly drive professional success in our industry. We will break down exactly how to act for the role before you get the title and how to make your real-world impact undeniable with hard numbers.
That is just the start. Also in this edition:
The Read-Only Memory: Ada Lovelace’s forgotten attempt to design a steam-powered flying machine.
The Open Thread Club: My take on surviving environments where management claims every task is a top priority.
The Rendezvous: Upcoming tech events to put on your radar in Oslo, Bern, and Madrid.
👉🏼 I leave here a short survey to get your feedback about this new format.
Before continuing, if you like my work and you want to support it, I would appreciate it if you could share this newsletter with your peers via:
💚 On WhatsApp | 💙 On LinkedIn | 🩵 Bluesky
Or just forward this email. Thanks in advance!
The Read-Only Memory
You are probably familiar with Ada Lovelace’s biography.
Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852), also known as Ada Lovelace, was an English mathematician and writer chiefly known for work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the analytical engine. She was the first to recognise the machine had applications beyond pure calculation. Lovelace is often considered the first computer programmer.
— Wikipedia
But you may not know that her first major technical project wasn’t a computer: she wanted to build a flying machine.
Around the age of 12 or 13, she became fascinated by the flight of birds.
She didn’t just say she wanted to fly. She studied bird anatomy, investigated how their wings worked, and even conceived of a steam-powered flying machine. She herself described the idea of building something that would allow her to travel directly over mountains and valleys.
The Computer History Museum preserves this story and connects it to what Ada would later call “poetical science”: the combination of imagination and science.
In this section, we will focus on biographies of computer pioneers, forgotten historical whitepapers that remain entirely relevant, and independent blog posts that question the status quo of our industry.
Would you like to suggest some? I hear you! 👇🏻
The Open Thread Club
Folks, in this very first edition of The Open Thread Club, a reader shared this just past Tuesday:
I work in a job environment where priorities are piled up. I mean, it’s not like priorities change, but all priorities are top priority. Any advice for handling this situation? Thanks.
— Anonyous.
First, thanks to our Anonymous reader for sharing this. I could not imagine a better way to kickstart this section.
Second, do you feel identified with this? I do. Would you have a take on this for our Anonymous reader? Share it in the comments!
📖 My take: There is not such a thing as “everything is TOP priority”.
☝🏼 Keep this in mind: not even for the person who asked you that. The person who asked you to have 2 sprints with 3 different priorities at the same time is not really expecting it, even though she/he will never acknowledge it.
👉🏼 What you have to do: Figure out what the most important priority is, what is the most impactful one; the one that brings the most value over the rest. That’s the one that you will prioritize for real. The rest will go later. Actually, what I used to do is rank them so that when I finish the first one, I know what to do next.
Let me know how it goes.
In this space, we will address real dilemmas about architecture, technical friction, or leadership situations you send anonymously.
Instead of giving theoretical or dogmatic answers, I will respond with honesty, sharing my own past mistakes in similar situations and the lessons I took away when trying to solve them.
You can start participating RIGHT NOW! Click the button below and tell me your story so I can answer in the next issue 👇🏻
The Rendezvous
For this section, I received many emails since last Tuesday, when I announced the change in the format for the newsletter. Thank you all for the support!
Never went to this, but looks interesting: The NDC Oslo 2026 is happening from 14-18 September 2026 in Oslo (Norway).
Also on September 17th, the Swiss Cloud Native Day 2026 will happen in Bern (Switzerland). It’s always a good time to bring some great ideas (and chocolates) from Swiss people.
The GDG Madrid comes back from summer vacations with a new event “Liderazgo, equipos y desarrollo con IA”. Not sure if it will be in English too. Coming next September 22nd in Madrid (Spain).
The priority here is not to be exclusively massive conferences, but to give visibility to smaller, local encounters or emerging initiatives. If you are organizing a conference or know of an event worth sharing, the channel is open for you to send it to me and share it with the community.
Do you own an event or summit? Drop me an email! 👇🏻
The A-Side
How many times have you been told that growing in tech is just a matter of “accumulating years of experience”?
In The A-Side today, I want to share with you the core strategies that truly drive promotions and professional success in our industry, based on my own trajectory from junior to Tech Lead.
🚦 Let’s take a break here, so say something super important: If, after reading this article, you feel that you are not able to act like that, no worries, that’s ok. And I mean it. Take the reading as an informative article and DO NOT STRESS YOURSELF trying to become a person that you are not. There are other ways to achieve the same. Drop me a message if you want to discuss this.
Engage! 🖖🏼
🎯 Act Before You Get the Title
Here is a hard truth about scaling your career: nobody is going to come to your desk, tap your shoulder, and say:
Bob, it’s time to become a Senior.
If you want the next level, you have to start acting like you are already in that role.
Take ownership of technical decisions, help your teammates, and solve problems beyond your immediate tickets.
I know: it’s not an easy task, and maybe it’s not fair, but from my experience, I can tell you this is a must-have.
Now, acting like a Tech Lead sounds great on paper, but what makes someone actually stand out when they are starting?
👩🏽💻 Adaptability and Real-World Impact
When hiring or evaluating junior engineers, nobody is checking if you can memorize textbook algorithms. What senior leaders look for is openness to change.
If the company needs you to move from Java to Rust or adopt a new AI tool tomorrow, your answer should be:
I’m ready to learn.
I know (again): It can sound like it’s not fair… and it’s not, but that’s the spirit that the majority of startups look for in Junior profiles.
You have the right mindset and the technical drive. But there is a silent career killer that holds back even the most talented engineers.
🗝️ Make Your Work Visible (Numbers Matter)
In a growing tech company, your manager does not have time to track every single line of code you write.
If you don’t communicate your impact, it simply didn’t happen.
🧐 Bring data to your 1-on-1s:
“I reduced infrastructure costs by 12% with this optimization”.
“We reduced production bugs dramatically after implementing automated testing in our pipeline”.
Soft skills and clear communication will take you further than pure syntax.
You now have the exact mindset to take control of your career path. Let’s wrap up for today!
✨ Takeaways
Don’t wait for permission: Act as the role you want before you receive the title.
Be adaptable: Mindset and willingness to learn beat stack loyalty every single time.
Own your visibility: Measure your impact with numbers and present it to your manager.
☝🏼 Remember: Software engineering is not just about writing code; it’s about solving real problems and driving value.
What is the biggest challenge holding you back from stepping into your next career level right now?
Drop a message in the comments or reply to this email; I read and reply to all!
Be safe,
Marcos.