Scaling Engineering at Wolt with Niilo Säämänen, CTO

Niilo is the CTO of Wolt, a subsidiary of DoorDash. In this episode, he talks to Swarmia founder and CEO Otto Hilska about lessons learned while rapidly scaling an engineering organization. Timestamps (0:23) Niilo’s background (03:49) Where to focus first (06:02) Product management in a 3-way marketplace (07:36) Principles-driven development (09:18) Turning “big things” into reality (12:26) Choosing the right work (15:18) Staying close to the customer (17:26) The culture at Wolt (21:17) A high bar for excellence, driven by data (24:11) Recruiting and hiring (32:43) Growth & Growing Pains (41:30) Ownership and standardization (47:11) Niilo’s journey Find the transcript: ⁠https://unblocked.fm/episodes/niilo-säämänen-cto-scaling-wolt Where to find Niilo LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niilosaamanen Where to find Otto LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hilska Twitter: https://twitter.com/mutru Where to find Rebecca LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmurphey Twitter: https://twitter.com/rmurphey Links and mentions Wolt: https://wolt.com/en High Output Management: https://www.amazon.com/High-Output-Management-Andrew-Grove/dp/0679762884 Marty Cagan books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Marty-Cagan/author/B00J21JTNM Project Aristotle: https://rework.withgoogle.com/print/guides/5721312655835136/

Om Podcasten

Keeping software engineers in flow and unblocked is one of the key responsibilities of software development leaders. In each episode of the Engineering Unblocked podcast, Rebecca Murphey interviews leaders who have navigated challenges of scale, complexity, and growth. You’ll hear from people with lived experience across the software development ecosystem, from CTOs and VPEs to directors and line managers to product managers, program managers, tech leads, and more.