When people think about starting a software company, they usually imagine raising venture capital, hiring engineers, and growing a team as quickly as possible.
Michael Drogalis chose a different path.
After helping build technology in the Kafka ecosystem, founding a startup that was ultimately acquired by Confluent, and leading product for stream processing, he walked away from big tech to see if one person could build a serious B2B software company.
The result became ShadowTraffic, a product that helps engineering teams generate realistic production traffic for testing, demos, and development.
In this conversation, we talk about much more than streaming systems. We discuss why most engineers underestimate the importance of understanding customers, how AI is changing software development without replacing experienced engineers, what it takes to market technical products, and why writing publicly can become one of the biggest accelerators of your career.
If you’ve ever considered building your own product, becoming a solopreneur, or simply becoming a better engineer, this conversation is packed with practical advice from someone who’s actually done it.
I think this episode has broad appeal beyond data engineering. It’s really about engineering careers, entrepreneurship, and building products that solve real problems, which should make it one of your more accessible interviews.
Building and selling a Kafka startup
Life inside Confluent during its rapid growth
Why Michael left big tech to become a solopreneur
Building ShadowTraffic from scratch
Finding customers before writing code
Why marketing matters more than most engineers think
Using AI without becoming dependent on it
The future of software engineering
Writing online and building an audience
Advice for engineers who want to start their own business
