S1E8 Navigating the scaling journey with Gymshark's Engineering Director, Dan Blundell

Dan Blundell, Engineering Director at Gymshark, joins the show to talk about his journey from an aspiring musician to self-taught developer. He reflects on his experiences in the public sector, including working on the UK's Covid-19 test and trace application, and his transition to the fast-growing retailer Gymshark, where he has learned the importance of understanding business needs, hiring for culture, and the significance of maintaining leadership capacity during periods of rapid change. 00:00 The MySpace years and discovering the spark 09:00 Becoming an accidental manager 12:00 Lessons learned from the public sector 15:00 The fear of joining Gymshark and navigating leadership challenges 21:00 The importance of understanding business needs 24:00 Dan's Priority Zero: Scaling at Gymshark 27:00 Hiring for culture and values Dan's recommendation: The Engineering Leader by Cate Huston