Shopify Distinguished Eng (L10) on Principal+ Engineering, Career Story, Regrets
Shopify Distinguished Eng (L10) on Principal+ Engineering, Career Story, Regrets  
Podcast: The Peterman Pod
Published On: Fri Oct 24 2025
Description: Ilya Grigorik grew to a Distinguished Engineer (VP-level role) at Shopify and I asked him what it took to get there. We covered his full career including the behind the scenes of his startup getting acquired by Google, his growth to Director at Google, and what it means to operate like a Distinguished engineer.𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/distinguished-engineer-at-shopify• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0MX9PyeCzDhdlyRv6slwIX• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:45 - Thoughts on Waterloo00:04:36 - Starting his own company00:08:40 - Google acquisition story00:14:04 - Joining Google00:20:28 - Switching back to IC00:26:42 - Principal+ Engineering at Shopify00:40:09 - Career regrets00:44:53 - Top career-impacting book00:46:59 - Advice for younger self𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗹𝘆𝗮:• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@igrigorik• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/igrigorik/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/igrigorik• Personal Website: https://ilya.grigorik.com/𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman