DevEx Unpacked

• Mastering Customer Success at Cloudsmith with Dave McConville

  #008: In this episode of DevEx Unpacked, host Alan Carson sits down with Dave McConville, a customer success powerhouse at Cloudsmith, to explore what it truly takes to build lasting customer relationships in a complex, fast-growing tech company. Dave shares his candid journey from aspiring software engineer to technical writer, scrum master, and ultimately, the go-to guy for making customers successful.With humour and deep insight, Dave unpacks the realities of artifact management, navigating curveballs post-sale, and the critical role of empathy, transparency, and trust in building partner-like relationships with customers. He discusses the early days of Cloudsmith, what it's like to move from Belfast to New Jersey as part of a remote-first company, and how he balances technical knowledge with human connection.Tune in for practical wisdom, real stories, and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes Cloudsmith’s approach to customer engagement truly special.(00:00) - Finding the Path to Cloudsmith: From Code to Customers (03:15) - Life as a Technical Writer: Writing for Readers Who Don’t Read (06:05) - Early Days at Cloudsmith: Chaos, Buckets, and Building (09:54) - The Handoff: How Sales Transitions into Customer Success (13:59) - Artifact Management Is Never Boring (15:26) - Building Trust: How to Win Customers Without Knowing Everything (20:23) - Dealing With Curveballs and Growing With Customers (25:11) - What Success Really Looks Like in Customer Success (26:35) - Moving to the U.S, Time Zones, Slack, and Coffee Overload (32:33) - Defining Customer Success From the Ground Up (38:09) - The Intercom War Room: Support, Sausage Making, and Real-Time Fixes (44:17) - Why Customers Love Dave: Relationships Over Transactions

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• Engineering at Scale with Ronan O'Dulaing: Culture, Chaos, and the Craft of Building World-Class Teams

  #007:  What does it take to scale a world-class engineering team? In this episode of DevEx Unpacked, Alan Carson sits down with Ronan O'Dulaing, seasoned engineering leader and VP of Engineering at Cloudsmith, to explore the strategies behind hiring top-tier talent, structuring growing teams, and building psychologically safe, remote-first cultures. Ronan shares battle-tested lessons from Silicon Valley to Belfast, offering candid insights on what it really means to lead with authenticity, manage chaos, and foster sustainable pace in high-growth environments. Whether you're a founder, CTO, or engineering leader, this episode is packed with actionable advice on recruitment, onboarding, team structure, and guiding principles that keep dev orgs aligned and effective. Learn how to build not just software, but engineering cultures that scale. (00:00) - Welcome to DevEx Unpacked: Meet Ronan O'Dulaing (03:00) - Lessons from Netscape and the Birth of Web Tech (07:00) - Building a Tech Scene in Dublin from Scratch (10:30) - The Art of Scaling Without Founding (13:30) - Hiring Great Engineers: Mindset, Culture, and Fit (17:00) - Onboarding Secrets That Supercharge New Hires (22:00) - Leading with Psychological Safety and Authenticity (26:30) - Structuring Engineering Teams for High Growth (31:00) - Engineering by Principles: Structure Without Bureaucracy (34:30) - Remote-First Culture Done Right (41:00) - Slack, Transparency, and the Culture of Connection (45:00) - Preventing Burnout and Driving Sustainable Engineering

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• Naval Aviator to SaaS CEO: Glenn Weinstein on Leadership, Scaling, and Serving Developers

  #006:  In this episode of DevEx Unpacked, Cloudsmith co-founder Alan Carson sits down with CEO Glenn Weinstein for a deep dive into leadership, growth, and developer-first thinking. Glenn shares his journey from programming on a Commodore PET to founding and selling a startup, his lessons from Twilio, and what drew him to lead Cloudsmith. The two discuss what it takes to build a category-defining company from Belfast, navigating VC funding, and how values like resilience, clarity, and service drive long-term success.A must-listen for founders, tech leaders, and anyone scaling with purpose. (00:00) - Introduction (08:17) - Building and Exiting a Startup: The Aperio Journey (12:10) - Lessons from Twilio and Why Cloudsmith Stood Out (15:46) - Becoming Cloudsmith CEO: Conviction, Relocation & Responsibility (20:06) - Naval Training Meets Startup Life: A Blueprint for Leadership (23:24) - Inside the Cloudsmith Offsite: Culture, Awards & Team Spirit (29:07) - Comfort vs. Conviction: The Pressure of Leading a Start-up (34:40) - Persistence, SDRs, and the Power of Trying Again (37:03) - Silicon Valley Is an Idea—Can Belfast Replicate It? (41:33) - Why Series B Matters: Signaling Strength to the Market (46:07) - IPO Ambitions and Staying True to Developers (47:56) - Serving Developers Is Serving the Enterprise

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• Support to Solutions: Ciara Carey on Secure DevOps, Rego Policies & Growing with Cloudsmith

  #005:  In this episode of DevEx Unpacked, Alan Carson chats with Ciara Carey, Solutions Engineer at Cloudsmith, about her career journey from developer to DevRel to her current customer-facing role. Ciara shares real-world insights on software supply chain security, how teams are using Enterprise Policy Management (EPM) to control open source risk, and why Cloudsmith’s cloud-native platform is a game changer for DevSecOps workflows. You’ll also hear stories about support chats, high-stakes demos, speaking gigs, and what makes a successful customer onboarding journey. A must-listen for engineers, platform teams, and security-conscious startups. (00:00) - From DevRel to Solution Engineering: Ciara’s Cloudsmith Journey (04:56) - Solving Real Developer Pain: Artefact Management in the Wild (09:06) - Guardrails Not Gates: Balancing Speed with Software Security (13:12) - Rethinking DevSecOps: Lessons from Real-World Customer Use Cases (17:02) - Inside Enterprise Policy Management: What Customers Really Want (21:25) - Rego, Auditing & Automation: Making EPM Easy for Teams (25:01) - Who Uses EPM, and How It Bridges Developers and Security Teams (31:01) - From POC to POV: What Makes a Successful Cloudsmith Onboarding (34:28) - Building the Customer Success Engine (and Letting Go) (41:48) - Talks, Panels & Product Demos: Behind the Scenes of DevRel Life (43:32) - The New Cloudsmith UI: Refresh, Delight, and Real-Time Feedback (47:26) - Cloud-Native FTW: Usage Dashboards, Seamless Upgrades & More

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• From Solo Founder to CTO: Jack Spargo on Scaling Startups, Blockchain & Developer Culture

  #004: In this episode of DevEx Unpacked, Alan Carson chats with Jack Spargo, CTO of Control Alt, about his fascinating career journey from aerospace engineering to leading blockchain-powered investment platforms. Jack shares lessons from being acquired overnight, the challenges of building a platform from scratch, and why he’s betting big on junior engineers and AI augmentation. They explore the realities of compliance, software supply chain security, and why Northern Ireland is fast becoming a serious start-up hub. A must-listen for technical founders, engineering leaders, and DevOps pros navigating scale and innovation. 

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