Episode · The Peterman Pod · 2026-01-19
Books mentioned on Airbnb Staff Eng on How To Not Get Stuck at Senior and Untold Rules of Calibrations
Laurent Charignon was a Staff engineer at Stripe, Airbnb, and Instagram with some experience in management as well. We discussed the unspoken rules you learn as a manager, how he transitioned, what good mentorship looks like, and advice for senior engineers who are stuck looking to grow to Staff.
Laurent Charignon recommended Radical Candor by Kim Malone Scott, and discussed Cracking the Coding Interview by Chinmoy Mukherjee.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Radical Candor
Radical Candor by Kim Malone Scott is a management guide focused on building trust, cultivating caring relationships, and delivering effective feedback in the workplace.
Recommended“And in order to be effective at it, to build trust, and to be able to um effectively motivate and coach I found that Radical Candor was the book that really gave me that.”
Where to get it
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Cracking the Coding Interview
Cracking the Coding Interview by Chinmoy Mukherjee is a widely utilized preparation guide designed to help software engineers master the complex algorithms, data structures, and problem-solving techniques required to pass rigorous technical job evaluations.
Discussed“There was like a book called Cracking the Coding Interview where they tell you about all those problems that are like weird, and that you have to like estimate, and that's how you apply.”
Where to get it
