Serverless Craic Ep79 — Reflecting on The Value Flywheel Effect (5 Years On)

Send us Fan MailIn the first Serverless Craic episode of 2026, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly reflect on a five-year journey that began in early 2021 with the idea for The Value Flywheel Effect.This episode closes out the book series by looking back—warts and all—at what it really took to write, publish, promote, and apply the ideas in practice. The conversation spans writing fatigue, editing realities, imposter syndrome, enterprise adoption, and why the flywheel is arguably more relevant than ever in an AI-first world.If you care about modern software delivery, cloud strategy, serverless-first thinking, and leading technology change, this one is for you.⏱️ Chapters00:00 – Welcome & contextEpisode 79, first show of 2026, and closing out the book series 01:20 – How the book started (2021 → 2026)From an idea to a five-year journey01:35 – Did we enjoy writing the book?Ideation, Guinness-fuelled drafts, and the reality of writing02:30 – Shaping the narrativeWhy writing is harder than it looks, and why shared context doesn’t scale04:10 – Atomic essays & capturing thinking earlyGitHub, short-form writing, and building habits05:00 – Would this book have helped us 15 years ago?Modernisation gaps, agile limits, and why the flywheel mattered06:00 – The editing process (and thick skin)What professional editors really do to your manuscript07:40 – Feedback, criticism, and author psychologyWhy the one negative comment sticks09:15 – Has the book made an impact?Enterprises, conferences, and unexpected adoption stories12:40 – Applying the flywheel in real organisationsNorth Stars, Team Topologies, serverless-first in practice14:30 – The hardest part of the whole journeyFinishing, introductions, and the truth about selling a book17:30 – Promotion, modesty, and imposter syndromeWhy marketing a book is a full-time job19:00 – Influences & supportersKent Beck, Adrian Cockcroft, Simon Wardley, and standing on shoulders21:45 – Is the book still relevant in the age of GenAI?Why the flywheel + AI is a force multiplier23:00 – AI, context engineering, and agentic systemsUsing codified principles to guide AI effectively25:30 – Lowering the barrier to good practiceHow AI helps teams apply architecture, security, and governance29:00 – Business strategy vs technical strategyIs the divide finally disappearing?31:45 – The emerging “builder” personaShifting left, shifting right, and new SDLC realities34:50 – Closing thoughts & what’s nextAISDLCs, Brownfield challenges, and future episodes📚 Resources & Links📘 The Value Flywheel Effect — principles for modern cloud and serverless transformation🌐 The Serverless Edge: https://theserverlessedge.com🎥 Subscribe on YouTube for weekly Serverless Crack episodes💬 Follow the conversation on LinkedIn💡 Key TakeawaysWriting a book is much harder than most engineers expectThe flywheel was never about tech or business—it’s about bothAI makes codified principles (North Stars, well-architected practices) more valuable, not lessCritical thinking remains non-negotiable, even with powerful modelsContext is now a first-class architectural concern👍 If you found this useful, like, subscribe, and share with your team.💬 Let us know in the comments how you are applying the flywheel—or where it’s challenged you.Cheers,The Serverless EdgeServerless CrAIc from The Serverless EdgeCheck out our book The Value Flywheel Effect Follow us on X @ServerlessEdgeFollow us on LinkedIn Subscribe on YouTube