“Yes. Yes. Yes. Everything, yes!” I screamed at my laptop,
grazing on the truth known as The Superstruct Manifesto.
My thoughts on so many subjects relating to developers,
managers, efficiency, and effectiveness were validated,
cross-referenced, and solidified. And yes, while I can see
list takers, commercial real estate investors, and “systems
thinkers” being put off by being called out for their shit
chapter after chapter, I do appreciate that David Guttman
is an equal opportunity trash talker. He may go for the
jugular of the limp engineering project manager, but
he also hits terrorist developers in the nuts for taking
organizations hostage. Yes, yes. Yes, I say. Scream it from
the rooftops, David. For the business owners!
Rob Maigret
Co-Founder, Titan Space Technologies
No matter how much engineering management experience
you think you have, someone always has a way of painting
a clearer picture. Within this read, I was able to rapidly
extract endgame wisdom without having to live through
a lifetime of empirical failures. It's ironically a modern
interpretation of old traditions, with a common-sense
perspective and straightforward tone. There is no fluff or
flurry, just a well-indexed accumulation of ideas framed for
old-timers to learn new tricks and immediately put them
into action. The Superstruct Manifesto should be required
reading for new and seasoned tech leadership.
Jad Meouchy
Co-Founder, BadVR
The Superstruct Manifesto contains practical advice for
founders, delivered succinctly and with a dose of hard
realism. David, a successful CTO and, as proven in this
book, a 20x engineer, debunks many of the myths behind
common management practices at software-driven
startups today—from the value of sprints, daily standups,
and 10x engineers to the real reason why we ask developers
to give time estimates on their latest task. It's a handy
tome to keep at your desk—you will want to refer to its
lessons again and again.
Michelle Lam
Co-Founder, True&Co
“Too many founders fail for avoidable reasons.” One of the reasons why founders fail is perhaps they
didn’t have access to the “The Superstruct Manifesto.” This brilliant and concise playbook is a must
read for any founder or C-Suite in the constant need of real-time, bedrock solutions designed to guide
us through a technology world that is disrupting itself every quarter. After reading it, I was compelled
to do away with stand-up meetings forever, a testament to the transformative insights housed within its
pages. Mr. Guttman says this book is not a cookbook with step-by-step recipes inside, and I agree. The
wisdom of each chapter actually feels like a finished meal meant to nourish and sustain us. So I
strongly recommend you savor these 10 tasty, powerful, well curated and highly articulate chapters in
whatever order you wish. I guarantee your business will feel better after.
Steven Amato
CEO/Founder (Contend, Apex, Omelet, HoT, BlockPop)
Superstruct outlines a clear quality of life plan for founders, the developers they work with, and the
project itself. A clear structure, a superstructure, provides the tools to ship on time and under budget
despite the wild and inevitable changes most projects undergo. If I had half of this implemented we'd
surely be further along!
Brent Bushnell
Executive Chairman & CoFounder, Two Bit Circus
If managing developers is psychological warfare, then
The Superstruct Manifesto is the Art of War for winning the
battle. David Guttman treats his readers like he treats his
projects; without wasting a word, he doles out countless
cheat codes that would benefit virtually any development
team regardless of language or scope. Reading The
Superstruct Manifesto feels like I'm using a warp whistle
to steal hard-earned secrets without having to go through
the suffering of decades of leveling up. Moving forward,
I'll personally treat The Superstruct Manifesto as the Bible
for all of my product managers. I expect it will save us
countless hours of wasted dev time and the sanity of our
management team. Everyone wants to recruit 10x devs,
but few ever learn how to become 10x managers. And
while The Superstruct Manifesto doesn't explicitly promise
to make you a 10x manager, it probably could.
Darwyn Metzger
CEO, Phantom Firm
The Superstruct Manifesto serves as an essential and
relentless guide for startup founders. David's manifesto
presents audacious challenges that question traditional
beliefs. If it unsettles you, that's the point; these cautions
and proclamations are designed to compel you to
reassess your understanding of collaborating with a dev
team. Drawing on years of experience, David provides a
dynamic and unapologetic toolkit that equips you with
practical strategies to maximize the potential of the very
people responsible for transforming your vision into
reality. Read it once, then read it again for good measure.
Alexx Henry
CEO, BlueVishnu
I've been building engineering orgs in rapid growth
technology for the past 12 years. I consider David's text to
be a critical pocket guide for any leader looking to avoid
common tropes and pitfalls faced by otherwise wellintentioned orgs. These are lessons that can eat a lot
of
time if learned the hard way. At a technology company,
time is the one resource you can't have too much of and
can never get back. As such, I highly recommend The
Superstruct Manifesto to anyone looking to survive in
this rather brutal and unforgiving industry.
Spencer Allen
Founder, Fulcrum Hire
As a creative technologist, musician, and repeat founder,
I have a bad case of imposter syndrome when it comes to
being a “real” engineer. I know my way around a codebase,
but as a manager over the years, I’ve been guilty of almost
every no-no in this book! The Superstruct Manifesto
helped reveal many bad habits—especially falling victim
to blindly mimicking the principles and practices of
my favorite companies. Building teams around a slate
of diverse projects with different engineering needs is
difficult. By remembering David’s “Commando, Infantry,
Police” staffing analogy, I have increased velocity,
creativity, and quality. Excellent read!
Matthew Davis
Founder, [namethemachine]
I highly recommended The Superstruct Manifesto for
CEOs and other business leaders that regularly interact
with technical leadership. The chapters give good insights
into the mindset of technical leaders and the challenges
they run up against. CEOs will learn common situations
and patterns that cause distress to their tech team, along
with ideas on how to support their technical leadership
moving forward. Stated differently, you should read this
to learn how to better understand and talk tech and not
come across as an ignoramus.
John Shiple
CTO, Standard Draft