Pierre Benz, Engineering Manager at Headspace, brings a unique blend of experience in mobile development, agency work, and mental health tech. Before joining Headspace, he held roles at design agency AKQA and in multiple startups spanning IoT and consumer apps. He began his career focused on game development and human-computer interaction at the University of Cape Town, blending technical depth with a keen interest in user psychology.

In this episode, Pierre shares how his team at Headspace transitioned from fragmented native codebases to a unified Flutter architecture. He details the cultural, technical, and organizational hurdles of managing a high-stakes migration, balancing performance, feature parity, and developer sentiment. Pierre also reflects on parenting, leadership, and what it means to ship value fast when people’s mental well-being is on the line.

Key Takeaways:

(03:33) Early agency and startup work shaped Pierre’s engineering values.

(04:10) Headspace’s merger sparked major architectural challenges.

(16:00) Two legacy apps were integrated under intense deadlines.

(21:00) Flutter helped achieve cross-platform feature parity.

(26:27) Engineers were given time to upskill, but not all stayed.

(33:57) Flutter UI quality exceeded expectations, even for designers.

(40:23) A centralized migration team sped up execution.

(48:00) Trust, failure, and growth as leadership pillars.

Pierre Benz

https://www.linkedin.com/in/pierrebenz/

Headspace | LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/headspace-meditation-limited/

Headspace | Website

https://www.headspace.com

Flutter

https://flutter.dev

Very Good Ventures designs and builds world-class digital experiences for any screen, with the best tools and engineering approaches for consistent, scalable results. Find out how VGV helps you hit the mark at: https://verygood.ventures/

#Apps #Flutter #AppDevelopment

On today’s episode, we’re joined by David Goldman, whose career journey includes roles in investment banking and diversified investing before becoming a Partner at Celesta Capital. David shares insights into deep tech investing, the realities of venture capital, and strategies for navigating technological change in dynamic markets. He also reflects on the role of conviction in startups, the evolving impact of AI, and the traits he sees in successful founders and companies.



Key Takeaways:

(03:16) Celesta Capital’s focus on early-stage deep tech companies with differentiated technology.

(05:04) Technology VC ranges from quick, high-volume investing to deep, conviction-based partnerships.

(10:01) Venture capital requires long-term commitments, unlike the quick moves of public market investing.

(17:40) Improving productivity in health care, housing and education can make these essentials more accessible and affordable.

(23:03) Most AI investment today focuses on foundation models and infrastructure.

(30:27) Companies should anchor decisions in their core value to customers before reacting to external changes.

(34:54) Startups benefit from being small, enabling tighter collaboration across teams.

(41:27) Deep tech investments often require years of R&D before reaching the market.

Resources Mentioned:

David Goldman

https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-goldman-a72895a5/

Celesta Capital | LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/celestacapital/

Celesta Capital | Website

https://www.celesta.vc/

Mech robots of Dexterity

https://www.dexterity.ai/

OpenAI

https://openai.com/

Very Good Ventures designs and builds world-class digital experiences for any screen, with the best tools and engineering approaches for consistent, scalable results. Find out how VGV helps you hit the mark at: https://verygood.ventures/

#Apps #Flutter #AppDevelopment

Brian Abston, Senior Director of Digital Technology at The Wendy’s Company, brings over two decades of experience in software development, platform architecture and IT leadership. Before joining Wendy’s, he spent four years as IT Director and Platform Architect at SONIC Drive-In, leading digital initiatives in QSR. His background includes roles as a Java Developer at MSCI Inc. and Power Costs, Inc., where he honed his expertise in scalable software solutions and enterprise technology.

In this episode, Brian shares how he led the mobile transformation of Wendy’s, replacing fragmented native apps with a unified Flutter-based platform. He discusses the importance of automation, feature flagging and staggered rollouts in ensuring fast, reliable updates for millions of customers. He also explains how engineering decisions can drive business success, particularly in high-demand moments like March Madness promotions.

Key Takeaways:

(03:43) Custom-built technology supports QSR’s mobile, web and e-commerce platforms.

(08:08) Why maintaining separate native apps became unsustainable.

(11:23) Flutter delivered features twice as fast as native development.

(15:35) Product decisions flow from marketing to engineering for implementation.

(21:40) A centralized design system ensures consistency across all UI components.

(24:01) A critical integration deadline forced a fast technology transition.

(25:39) Managing web, iOS and Android separately created inconsistencies.

(27:54) How to run big digital promotion events with real-time app updates.

(31:52) A unified codebase doubled productivity without increasing team size.

(35:05) Transitioning 40 million users required careful planning.

(39:56) Software engineering remains an art, requiring human creativity.

(41:29) AI’s limitations stem from vague human requirements.

Resources Mentioned:

Brian Abston

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianpabston/

The Wendy’s Company | LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/wendys-international/

The Wendy’s Company | Website

https://www.wendys.com

Launch Darkly

https://launchdarkly.com

Very Good Ventures designs and builds world-class digital experiences for any screen, with the best tools and engineering approaches for consistent, scalable results. Find out how VGV helps you hit the mark at: https://verygood.ventures/.

#Apps #Flutter #AppDevelopment