10 Interesting Newsletters for CTOs and Software Engineering Leaders
CTOs and top software engineering leaders know how awareness of the latest tech trends and innovative IT solutions matters. There are different resources of relevant information for technicians nowadays. Podcasts, blogs, interviews, and video tutorials are a great way to find the freshest insights on various topics.
One more reasonable mine of helpful data entries for tech leadership and software engineering specialists is expert newsletters. We are going to review ten interesting ones with tech news, tips, hacks, and case studies discussed in the posts. Read about niches, topics, and industries while taking a closer look at the how-to recommendations concerning newsletter subscriptions and other details.
1. TechCrunch Newsletter
It is one of the best newsletters for every CTO and software engineer. TechCrunch has no paid subscription plans. Content is free here. Together with main tech news concerning coding, management, and design, readers can enjoy long-reads and brief posts about cryptocurrencies, fintech, and many more.
It is worth noting that TechCrunch offers several newsletter categories with regular publications:
- TechCrunch AM - morning text content by Alex Wilhelm. The main topics are startups and hacks for tech leadership representatives.
- TechCrunch PM: articles that become available in the afternoon or later. Christine Hall will review the latest tech trends, flagship companies, innovations, events, and other catchy insights.
- Extra TechCrunch communities - you can read regular posts about space, crypto, mobile technologies, and fintech in special-purpose columns of this newsletter.
You need to specify your email address to subscribe. This way, readers can get notifications about updates in the newsletter.
2. ByteByteGo Newsletter
This newsletter is notable for its win-win visuals that accompany text content for software engineering experts. ByteByteGo is about design, coding, comparison of digital products, tutorials in the format of easy-to-understand tables, and many more. The authors would like to simplify all the terms and complicated processes while converting insights into step-by-step guides with detailed explanations.
You do need to pay for the newsletter subscription. Type your email to subscribe to ByteByteGo, which is read by 1,000,000 people worldwide. If you would like to have a premium membership, check all the available paid plans on the website.
3. The Pragmatic Engineer
Substack rated this newsletter first in the category of technology-driven resources. Pragmatic Engineer is hosted by Gergely Orosz. His experience in big tech and startup leadership allows delivering expert articles on various topics, including:
- iOS development;
- Engineering management;
- Agile methodologies;
- Big Data;
- Programming languages, etc.
Enter your email to subscribe. Only paid subscriptions are available. The most popular articles are listed on the welcome page of the Pragmatic Engineer website. However, only a few of them can be read by unsubscribed surfers.
Most high-expertise long-reads in the Engineering Culture Deep Dives and Platform Teams are blocked until you become a paid subscriber of this newsletter.
4. TLDR Newsletter
It is one of the most attractive newsletters for engineering leaders. TLDR has over 4.5 million subscribers. The procedure of subscription is standard - via users’ email addresses. A notable feature of TLDR is short summaries for each piece of content.
Note that most articles are sponsored. Also, there are paid ads. It is possible to review guest posts and tech news by sponsors without subscription.
5. Software Lead Weekly Newsletter
Almost every engineering manager knows Oren Ellenbogen - a famous tech VC in Forter. Hr hosts this newsletter and continues to write his blog, give answers on Quora as an experienced technician, and publish books about leadership, technical management, and a culture of IT startups.
His SLWN (Software Leed Week Newsletter) project contains articles on recruitment IT specialists, forecasts, case studies, ready-to-use strategies based on speakers’ successful stories, and many more. Let’s check other amazing facts about Oren’s newsletter:
- There are many articles that come with audio podcasts or videos with tech talks or animated handbooks.
- This newsletter is about long-reads you should consider. But manage your time well. For example, the latest Software Lead Weekly Newsletter posts require 70-75 minutes to read.
- Users can browse the latest article on the welcome page or move to the archive with other content pieces that are sorted according to the publication date. Unsubscribed readers have access to summaries and notes by the author.
Oren Ellenbogen created a true IT community with unique merch, discussions on social media, and online events for tech leaders. This atmosphere motivates most programmers and technical managers to subscribe to this newsletter.
6. Lenny’s Newsletter
Lenny Rachitsky is a founder and former software lead at Airbnb. The story of his newsletter began when this tech visionary faced numerous questions from colleagues after leaving his top position in the flagship company's leadership. The solution was to create a blog with research papers and tutorials for technicians.
Now, Lenny’s Newsletter is a highly-followed IT community with hundreds of comments after long-reads and thousands of shares. More than 825,000 people are subscribed, which is ever-growing in 2024. There is a free edition for unsubscribed readers - all the visuals and content pieces are accessible without authorization. For more articles, you must enter your email and get notifications about the latest items in the newsletter.
7. Amazing CTO Newsletter
This is the most diversified newsletter nowadays. Amazing CTO contains short 5-minute-to-read posts and long-reads that require more than several hours for reading. The newsletter is hosted by the brilliant CTO coach - Stephan Schmidt. His main topics are tech manager tips, IT recruitment, and reviews of the trends chief technical officers should keep track of.
Together with free access to the archive, Stephan offers other helpful options for tech leads:
- Online conferences - weekly meets for friendly talks;
- E-books for CTOs to download;
- CTO coaching services;
- Marketing, motivation, time management recommendations in the format of detailed posts, etc.
Amazing CTO can become an endless mine of information today. With the subscription, you may access premium (exclusive) articles and extra events for chief technical officers arranged by Stephan and his team.
8. Level Up Newsletter
This newsletter can become a must-visit hub for representatives of the IT environment. Most tech manager tips are presented in detailed long-reads. However, all the publications by Level Up are accessible only after readers’ subscriptions. Sponsored articles can be viewed even by unsubscribed users.
All the content pieces are free of charge. Note that must-read publications are regularly updated. You will receive email notifications about new insights added to the top-rated posts. Surf summaries to understand if long-reads deserve your attention. The newsletter contains information on reading time and the option of searching by topics (leadership, technology, management, etc.).
9. Hackernoon Newsletter
As the previously reviewed Level Up newsletter, Hackernoon offers weekly publications on tech trends and CTO insights. This is good news for technicians who would like to share their experience, research, or other helpful data entries — you can offer your stories to the editors of this online platform.
The search for relevant content will not take much time for several reasons:
- Hackernoon has 22 technology categories to choose from.
- It is possible to select stories according to the popular tags.
- There is an extra section with sponsored tag-rich content.
If you want to try yourself as a writer, enjoy ready-to-use templates according to the area of your tech specification (Hackernoon top story, AI chatbot context, etc.). Start an online draft that is available for potential authors and import your story on the website.
10. Refactoring Newsletter
This is Luca Rossi’s beloved brainchild. This top CTO has been sharing his tech insights with thousands of followers for more than four years. The former chief technical officer at FHOSTER and Wanderio is focused on engineering leadership. For example, the latest Refactoring articles by Lucca Rossi are devoted to metrics for more efficient teamwork, strategy development, and tech budget management ideas.
Note that most interviews with experts are published in the podcast format. The library with the latest articles becomes accessible after users’ subscription. The archive can be viewed by unsubscribed readers. Even exclusive surveys and tutorials based on Rossi’s personal experience can be read partly. The most valuable pieces of content are hidden until the paid subscription plan takes place.
To Sum Up
Plunge into the tech world with the recommended newsletters for software engineering leaders. Most of them will be helpful both for CTOs and average IT specialists. Keep track of the Wild Codes blog posts so as not to miss new reviews on must-read, must-followed, must-watch, or must-listen tech discoveries and storehouses of wisdom for engineering gods!
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