Startup Technology

Ralph Gootee describes PlanGrid’s blueprint collaboration tools and its AWS-based stack, which spans Python, Go, mobile apps, web, and Windows. Calvin French-Owen explains how Segment routes customer data through hundreds of tools using AWS, ECS, Kafka, and Go. Diana Hu discusses ObEN Reality’s augmented reality backend and C++ code, while Lillian describes Second Measure’s credit card data analysis platform and its data science and engineering teams.

Gootee’s first blueprint viewer took a month to build after he discovered that large PDF files overwhelmed early iPads. Segment’s founders tried a lecture tool and a user analytics product before testing a shared data API; a landing page collected about 500 emails, and they built a hosted version in a week. Hu’s team spent time making augmented reality algorithms run well on phones, then found interest from game developers. Second Measure used quick user testing to learn that customers needed guided insights rather than an unrestricted data exploration tool.

The panel says early teams often prioritize shipping and learning, while adding tests, CI, and security as users, systems, and teams grow. Segment described moving from hackathon-style development to stronger testing and data handling, especially after signing enterprise customers paying more than six figures annually. Gootee says PlanGrid treated security and scalability as essential from the start because construction projects depend on the software, including projects with hundreds of thousands of blueprints.

Panelists favor adjusting workflows to the team’s size instead of following a methodology rigidly. They discuss daily stand-ups, weekly planning, documentation, time-boxing, one-to-ones, and OKRs as tools teams can adopt when useful. For deadlines, they recommend communicating uncertainty, accounting for release constraints, and gathering independent estimates from team members.

The founders caution that outsourcing core technology can also outsource early product learning, though contractors may help with well-defined work or trial hiring. They describe different choices on remote work, shaped by company needs, communication, and documentation. In the audience discussion, panelists advise showing products to users early and often, and one suggests building disposable prototypes before committing to a first version.