A-Plus Engineering Signals

Identify high-performing engineers by their curiosity, pace-setting, and proactiveness

Geoff Charles
Velocity over everything: How Ramp became the fastest-growing SaaS startup ever | Geoff Charles

A-Plus Engineering Signals

"Behind Ramp's velocity is a lot less the culture that I try to amplify, but a lot more the quality of the engineering and design talent candidly. And so I'm just standing really on their shoulders here." - Geoff Charles

What It Is

A-Plus Engineering Signals is a framework for identifying high-performing engineering talent based on behavioral signals rather than technical interview performance. The premise is that world-class velocity comes from world-class talent—and identifying that talent requires looking beyond coding skills.

PMs are "force multipliers"—they can only multiply what exists. If the underlying engineering team is B-plus, no amount of process optimization will create Ramp-level velocity. The foundation must be A-plus talent.

These signals focus on mindset and culture fit rather than technical ability. They're observable in interviews, references, and early employment.

How It Works

The key signals:

1. Do they want to win in the market?

  • Do they care about beating competitors?
  • Do they care about winning customers' hearts and minds?
  • Do they understand the business context they operate in?

2. Are they curious about the business?

  • Do they ask questions about how the company makes money?
  • Do they ask what customers love and don't love?
  • Do they ask what the most important project is and why it's important?
  • Are they asking questions outside of just the engineering domain?

3. Do they set the pace?

  • Can they execute without your help?
  • Are they the ones asking you to keep up with specs and decisions?
  • Are they bringing pressure for more PMs or designers to do more?
  • Do they push you to respond more quickly to things blocking them?

4. Are they proactive beyond their scope?

  • Do they jump into customer channels and explain how features work?
  • Do they get feedback and fix bugs proactively?
  • Do they take on things that "aren't their job"?

5. Do they own their product's quality?

  • If their product isn't performing, do they act without being pushed?
  • Do they respond to feedback proactively?
  • Do they feel accountability for customer experience?

How to Apply It

In interviews: Ask about market awareness and business understanding. Look for curiosity about "why" not just "how."

In references: Ask former colleagues: "Did they set the pace or follow it?" and "Were they proactive about the business or focused only on their domain?"

In the first 90 days: Watch for the signals. Are they already asking about customers? Are they pushing for context? Are they in Slack channels they don't "need" to be in?

When evaluating your current team: Use these signals to identify who's operating at A-plus level and who might need coaching or might not be the right fit.

When to Use It

  • When hiring engineers (as PM interview signals)
  • When evaluating team health and talent density
  • When diagnosing why velocity isn't improving despite process changes
  • When deciding who to invest in developing

The Trade-offs

A-plus engineers can be harder to manage:

  • They'll push back on designs they disagree with
  • They'll challenge PM decisions
  • They'll have strong opinions about what to build

But: "I'll take that culture any day compared to a culture where they're just taking things at face value and not challenging the thinking. I'll take someone on my team any day that challenges what I tell them."

The Prerequisite for Everything Else

Every other Ramp practice—velocity over everything, single-threaded focus, empowered teams—depends on having A-plus talent. Without it, empowerment becomes chaos, velocity becomes sloppiness, and focus becomes isolation.

"The first year at Ramp, Karim, our CTO, was only focused on hiring the best talent. He was a lot less interested or focused on our product strategy, our product market fit, or even our revenue. It was all about bringing in the best engineers and the best designers and that has had compounding effects."

Source

  • Guest: Geoff Charles
  • Episode: "Velocity over everything: How Ramp became the fastest-growing SaaS startup ever | Geoff Charles"
  • Key Discussion: (01:02:06) - Identifying A-plus engineering talent
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube

Related Frameworks

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