About

Marian Kamenistak

Mentor to CTOs, VPs, and the engineering leaders who report to them. 3,400+ sessions across 17 countries. Based in Prague, working across Europe and North America.

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Marian Kamenistak is an engineering leadership mentor based in Prague. He mentors 1:1 with engineering managers, directors, VPs, and CTOs across Europe and North America. Since 2019 he has run 3,400+ mentoring sessions with 300+ leaders from 17 countries, with an average review score of 9.17 out of 10.

Marian Kamenistak, engineering leadership mentor, celebrating a mentee win

Background

Been in the seat.

One road, from hands on the keyboard to the room that builds Europe's next leaders.

  1. Age 11

    Programming since age 11

    Hands dirty with code since I was 11, long before the computer science degree made it official. The craft came first. It still does.

  2. Top 3%

    Toptal top 3% developer

    Screened into the top 3% of developers worldwide on Toptal. For a while I was one of the top developers in Central Europe.

  3. Bay AreaSan Francisco Bay Area badge with the Golden Gate Bridge

    Principal architect at Databricks

    The dream job took me to Silicon Valley for 4+ years as a Principal Software Architect at Databricks. I learned the US business drive up close. Then I got married, and my wife and I came home to Central Europe.

  4. The unicorn

    Mews, a $2bn+ unicorn built in Europe

    Back home I helped grow Mews from the inside into a $2bn+ unicorn. Through Series C, R&D went from 8 to 80+ teams while the roadmap kept shipping. Engineering leadership at Manta, acquired by IBM, along the way.

    $2bn+valuation
  5. 300+ leaders

    Mentored 300+ leaders, grew more unicorns

    In 2023 I walked away from a $350k role to go all-in on mentoring. 3,400+ sessions with 300+ leaders across 17 countries since 2019, helping their companies and the next unicorns grow. Full numbers here.

    Marian Kamenistak in a 1:1 mentoring session
  6. Today

    Building ELC: community, conference, startups

    The Engineering Leaders Community: 3,100+ members across CEE, 120+ leaders in the room every month, and a conference with 500+ attendees and speakers from Netflix and Stripe. Plus a multitude of startups I help build along the way, as a mentor or fractional CTO.

    A full room of engineering leaders at an ELC community meetup in Prague
    Full auditorium at the Engineering Leaders Conference
Full bio on LinkedIn

Mission

Building Silicon Valley-level product tech leaders in the Heart of Europe.

Not another coach.

01 / 05

Been in the seat.

I helped build Mews into a $2bn+ unicorn: 8 to 80 teams, roadmap still shipping. I went through the shit.

02 / 05

CEE-native, US-fluent.

4+ years in the Bay Area as a Principal Software Architect at Databricks. I understand US business drive and European culture.

03 / 05

Still highly technical. AI freak.

Bullshit me on estimate, effort, code quality or architecture and I'll ask to see the code or your AI skill set.

04 / 05

Financially independent.

I don't need your money. I'm financially retired. Seeing you grow is my payoff.

05 / 05

Direct.

Mentoring first. I boost you fast. No esoteric loops.

Portfolio

How I've helped 300+ leaders.

One network, one goal. Whether you need a mentor, a room full of peers, or your next senior hire.

People

ELC Community

Companies