The Technical Founder's Path: Code, Leadership, and Balance

About this episode

Trisha Ballakur discusses her journey from coder to startup CEO, focusing on the balance between technical leadership and business development while avoiding burnout.

This is the Engineering Culture Podcast, from the people behind InfoQ.com and the QCon conferences. In this podcast Shane Hastie, Lead Editor for Culture & Methods spoke to Trisha Ballakur about transitioning from coder to startup CEO, balancing technical leadership with business development, and avoiding burnout on the journey. Read a transcript of this interview: https://bit.ly/3NGjHOX Subscribe to the Software Architects’ Newsletter for your monthly guide to the essential news and experience from industry peers on emerging patterns and technologies: https://www.infoq.com/software-architects-newsletter Upcoming Events: QCon London 2026 (March 16-19, 2026) QCon London equips senior engineers, architects, and technical leaders with trusted, practical insights to lead the change in software development. Get real-world solutions and leadership strategies from senior software practitioners defining current trends and solving today's toughest software challenges. https://qconlondon.com/ QCon AI Boston 2026 (June 1-2, 2026) Learn how real teams are accelerating the entire software lifecycle with AI. https://boston.qcon.ai The InfoQ Podcasts: Weekly inspiration to drive innovation and…

People in this episode

Host: Shane Hastie

Guest: Trisha Ballakur

Topics covered

• technical leadership
• startup
• business development
• burnout

Keywords

• coding
• CEO
• leadership
• balance

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Technical Founder's Path, the Engineering Culture Podcast, Engineering Culture Podcast

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