Hard Things Managers Rarely Talk About

September 4, 2025
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Hard Things Managers Rarely Talk About - With Lautaro Orazi

Managers in technology like to celebrate amazing things their teams build but there are some necessary and very real parts of their job they don't like to talk about. Alla Babkina, founder of Innovective, meets with Lautaro Orazi, Director of Engineering and former colleague at Theorem, to compare notes.

This is Episode 1 of the Innovective Podcast , where we share learnings on building and scaling teams, products and platforms. Remember to subscribe to our channel!

  • How can we grow more full-stack engineers to meet demand?
  • What do new, junior, managers look like?
  • Choosing between management and individual contributor path
  • Handling pay review and promotions
  • When to hire and when to promote internally
  • Dealing with conflict breaching professional boundaries and contract
  • Resetting expectations and disappointment
  • Life, death and war scenarios
  • Feedback no one wants to give
  • Growing self-awareness as a leader