In this episode of Beyond Algorithms, Jun and Frost sit down with Nick Schrock—creator of GraphQL and founder of Dagster Labs—to unpack the messy, unfiltered journey from Facebook’s elite engineering team to open-source founder life.Nick reflects on what it really takes to build developer tools that matter—when your product might be loved by thousands but monetized by none. You’ll hear why recruiting after FAANG feels like begging, how AI is fundamentally reshaping developer-stakeholder relationships, and why being “just good enough” in open source can sabotage your commercial future.You’ll learn:• The real trade-offs of open source vs. commercial product strategy• Why AI isn’t replacing developers—but is rewriting the PMdev power dynamic• How Nick's startup Dagster is reimagining data orchestration for the AI-native era• The surprising truth about how tools like GraphQL went viral—and what it takes to do it againWhether you’re scaling your own data platform, dreaming of launching an open-source project, or just curious what’s next in the dev tools stack, this episode is packed with unvarnished lessons from one of the most influential voices in infrastructure.Tune in for career advice, startup wisdom, and the truth about developer communities—from tattoos to Slackbots.