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Balki Kodarapu
VP of Engineering | Focused on scaling engineering teams to maximize revenue and profits
Balki Kodarapu is the Vice President of Engineering at Lōvu Health, an experienced engineering leader, and entrepreneur.13 He has a proven track record of leading SaaS products from inception to hyper-growth, helping companies achieve 2x to 10x revenue growth, including two successful exits.2
At Lōvu Health, Balki leads the engineering team in creating positive, joyful, and healthy experiences for pregnant and postpartum mothers.12 He is known for his hands-on approach, contributing daily to engineering tasks while also shaping product strategy and building high-performing teams.2
Balki has extensive experience in scaling engineering teams and maximizing revenue and profits.4 Throughout his career, he has onboarded over 200 engineers5 and has developed a strong focus on building outcome-oriented engineering teams.1 He emphasizes the importance of connecting engineering work to business outcomes and impact, encouraging engineers to understand the 'why' behind their work.1
Balki is also an advocate for open communication and transparency in engineering teams. He promotes discussing both successes and failures openly, and encourages the use of public channels for team communication.1 His leadership style is characterized by curiosity, personal connection with team members, and a strong emphasis on understanding and supporting the company's mission.1
Highlights
I started as a wide-eyed engineering leader a few times now
Each time I go overboard, prepare my own 90-day onboarding plan
- With literally dozens of things I want to accomplish
- Essentially watering down what adds value
More recently though I realized, the Pareto Principle applies very well here
I’ve concluded that focusing on 5 important things as a new CTO yields much better results
Here are the 5 things I focused on when I started as a CTO recently:
1→ Align on engineering values for your team:
A core set of your team values 100% will inspire the team to rally behind company vision
2→ Demo what you are building to the entire company:
Even if this is too ambitious for the sprint#1 after you join, Work towards once a month cadence
Personally, this is my favorite thing and I get giddy leading upto that first company-wide demo
3→ Create a simple product & feature prioritization process:
None of the companies I worked for had any prioritization process to select features to build.
Or the process is way too unwieldy. The keyword I would press here is: SIMPLE!
4→ Upgrade the Pull Request process:
A second set of eyes on a PR improves the quality VERY much!
No matter how mature the process is already, as a CTO I can guarantee I can make this process better!!
5→ Set clear expectations with each member of your team:
The engineering values above can be high-level guidance and a great starting point…
But I also clarify with each existing and new hire what is expected of them broadly.
For example, before I hire an engineer, they clearly know That they need to lead their own 30-day onboarding
What is the most valuable thing among these for you? Why?
I am an all-in engineering executive, and an entrepreneur at heart
I wake up every morning excited about the infinite leverage Which is only possible with software..
Especially when that software is powered by a mission-focused team
A small team of engineers can change the world & I have seen that and led such teams multiple times
The key to this momentum is:
- We are all moving towards a unified goal
- We care about delivering value quickly & iteratively
- And we care about the end user, not just the craft
Most high-growth startups are founded by brilliant engineers → And that’s honestly key to the success of the venture → Brilliant engineers obsess about infinite scale → They don’t compromise for small wins
But once the company reaches product-market fit, And a certain scale
They need a wise, disciplined, and an experienced partner
If that partner is also an engineer and has true passion + street cred to lead... Then that startup is unstoppable!
If you are a CEO looking for help to lead your engineers
But money is tight,
Seriously consider a fractional or advisory CTO with experience
