ENCORE: The Myth of the Startup in a Large Company with Kevin Stewart

It Depends: Lessons in Technology Leadership

This is a repeat of an episode originally released on April 13, 2025
In October 2025, I will once again be speaking at the Lead Dev New York event. Registration and information are available here. You can use the discount code “KEVIN15” to receive 15% off your registration.
In this special episode, Kevin Goldsmith is joined by longtime friend and peer Kevin Stewart, SVP of Engineering at Splice, to challenge the familiar yet flawed narrative: that a team within a large company can "operate like a startup." Drawing on their shared experiences at Adobe and divergent paths through startups, they explore why innovation often stalls inside large organizations and what makes real startup environments fundamentally different.

This wide-ranging conversation explores culture, risk, incentives, and why resource contention, rather than imagination, hinders corporate innovation. Whether you lead a startup or a legacy company trying to move faster, this episode offers a valuable perspective.

• • Listener Survey: https://forms.gle/JVeKHsHJKhEM3dvK6
  • The book: It Depends: Writing on Technology 2012-2022
  • Your host: Kevin Goldsmith
  • The Guest: Kevin Stewart