Neetcode: Google vs Amazon, Programming Interviews, Quitting Big Tech

Neetcode is the most well-known coding interview prep creator with over 1M+ subs on YouTube. I interviewed him about the latest on coding interviews, his career at Amazon vs Google, and what it was like quitting big tech to do his own thing.

• My ergonomic keyboard project I mentioned, you can follow along here: https://read.compose.llc/

• The Kickstarter page for it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done

Podcast links:

• YouTube: https://youtu.be/K15dND_Kfvg

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835

• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/neetcode-google-vs-amazon-programming

Thank you to this episode's sponsor for supporting my work:

• WorkOS: makes your app Enterprise Ready with easy to use APIs to add SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more in just a few lines of code, check them out at https://workos.com/

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(00:33) Quitting Amazon after 2 months

(06:00) Testing Neetcode on Leetcode

(12:57) Memorizing vs deriving solutions and intelligence

(16:13) The story behind Neetcode

(22:24) Getting a job at Google

(27:47) How it was quitting big tech

(29:38) What he hated most about Google

(30:52) Top technical book recommendation

(32:34) Advice for his younger self

(33:46) Outro

Where to find Neetcode:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/navdeep-singh-3aaa14161/

• Twitter/X: https://x.com/neetcode1

• His website: https://neetcode.io/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NeetCodeIO

• GitHub: https://github.com/neetcode-gh

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neetcodeio/

• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@neetcode.io

• Discord: https://discord.gg/ddjKRXPqtk

Where to find Ryan:

• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/

• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/

• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman

• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman

Referenced in this episode:

• Neetcode's "Maybe Some People Should Just Give Up" video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsoEipuwXiI

• Designing Data-Intensive Applications: https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Data-Intensive-Applications-Reliable-Maintainable/dp/B08VL1BLHB