AGL 199: Tanaka Mutakwa

About Tanaka

Tanaka is a senior software developer and the VP of Engineering at Names & Faces, a Cape Town-based technology company. He’s the founder of a lifestyle brand called NoDaysOff, and a partner at Pahari African Restaurant. Tanaka started Tech Leadership Community in South Africa, a community of long-time, new, and aspiring technology leaders. Their mission is to help each other learn through conversation, collaboration, and ideation.


Today We Talked About

  • Tanaka’s past
  • Technology in Africa
  • Transition from Contributor to Leader
  • Slower feedback loop
  • The four key areas of focus for successful technology leaders
    • People
      • weekly checkins
    • Product
    • Process
      • Retrospectives
    • Technology Stack
      • Understanding what your team is using
      • Side projects
      • Pull Requests
  • Running

Connect with Tanaka


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