Episode 27: Sonny Spencer Interview

We discuss an article called "The Butterfly Effect" which Eric wrote, describing his observations of the NetSuite development space. Often, our eagerness to say YES to every client, to every project, to every task, flings us into a spiral of dysfunction.

We discuss the pros and cons of being able to customize NetSuite as broadly and deeply as you want. How do you decide when to customize NetSuite to your business needs versus when to adapt your business process to NetSuite? Whose responsibility is it to make that decision? What are the benefits and drawbacks of either choice?

We highlight the significance of clear, concise, and consistent naming conventions in coding. Poor naming can lead to confusion, increased cognitive load, and avoidance of code. We talk about using domain-specific language in your code, the importance of consistency, the benefits of having a standard set of rules within a team, and the importance of good documentation.

An interview with Gil Hoffer, co-founder and CTO of Salto. We discuss Gil's long tenure as a leader in tech and Salto's mission of making our lives as business engineers easier. We also talk about the reasons that high-quality DevOps and engineering practices are critical within the business applications space, as well as the rewards and challenges of building both a team and a large system on the NetSuite platform.

We look back on 2023 and ahead to 2024. Tim discusses his struggle with chronic fatigue syndrome and his transition to project-based billing. Eric shares his experience with burnout and his decision to work independently once again. We both discuss the importance of self-care in our lives and maintaining a work-life balance.

An interview with Cassius Kellogg, Vice President of Services at Bryant Park Consulting. We discuss Cassius’ experience in the NetSuite graduate program, Bryant Park’s incredible growth and business mindset, and our ideas for efficiently onboarding yourself or gracefully handing off your projects to another developer.

An interview with Sonny Spencer, Director of Finance Operations at Veeva Systems, Salto Leap instructor, and a speaker at SuiteWorld 2023. We discuss the journey that landed Sonny where he is, about the experience of speaking at SuiteWorld, and about performance analysis in NetSuite.

We discuss our opinions on what it takes to be an effective NetSuite developer - the qualities and habits to invest in and the traps to avoid.

An interview with Paul Giese of OptimalData Consulting wherein we discuss common pitfalls and strategies for large data migrations.

We discuss the mindset and the tools we use when assessing and managing technical debt in our SuiteScript customizations.