nate mcguire

Speaking

Distinguished Engineer · Capital One · keynotes, panels & podcasts on scaling engineering teams

Nate speaks at conferences, on podcasts, and at corporate events on the operating realities of building software organizations — drawing from 15+ years building engineering teams, a Fortune 100 day job, and a founder's track record. Past venues include SXSW and NASDAQ in Times Square.

Formats

Format 01
Keynote 25–45 min, custom narrative for your audience
Format 02
Panel / fireside moderated discussion, 30–60 min
Format 03
Podcast guest spot, remote or in-studio

Topics

Topic 01

Scaling engineering for marketing-led organizations

How to align engineering with demand-gen, performance marketing, and revenue growth. Why most product-led engineering playbooks fail in marketing-driven companies — and what to do instead. Useful for CTOs, CMOs, and founder-CEOs whose growth engine is paid acquisition.

Topic 02

"We're not family" — building a culture of accountability

A leadership philosophy that contrasts high-accountability, results-driven management with overprotective, overly hands-on leadership styles. How to build autonomy, discipline, and high performance without coddling teams. Hits hardest with people manager audiences.

Topic 03

Remote work & the global engineering team

Lessons from a decade-plus as a pioneer of remote-first engineering — long before "remote work" was a buzzword. The realities of building distributed teams, scaling across timezones, and maintaining culture without an office. "Location-agnostic hiring isn't cheaper — it's better." A staple talk; works for engineering, HR, and operating audiences.

Topic 04

Engineering as a P&L: the economics of scaling dev teams

Most engineering orgs are run as cost centers, which is why they feel like cost centers. How to wire engineering into revenue, measure leverage instead of throughput, and build an engineering org your CFO actually understands.

Topic 05

API design & microservices at enterprise scale

Patterns from years of designing APIs and microservices for Fortune 500s and high-growth startups in regulated industries (fintech, telehealth). What actually breaks at scale, what doesn't, and the org-design implications most architects ignore. Technical audience.

Topic 06

AI & the future of engineering work

What changes for engineering orgs when LLMs are real co-workers, not toys. Hiring, code review, leverage, cost — and the long game on training data, model collapse, and the "snake eating its own tail." Forward-looking; great for founder/investor audiences.

Past venues & press

What I'm best at

Logistics

Book Nate

Email is the fastest path. Include: the event, the audience, format, date, and what you'd like me to leave the audience with.

Booking inquiries [email protected]