Behind the Scenes from the CTO of a Scaling Startup | The Good Thing Podcast - WunderGraph

TL;DR

Stefan sat down with Dustin, WunderGraph’s CTO, to talk about his path into the company, the importance of technical founders, and how AI is changing developer workflows. Dustin’s perspective: AI is useful but needs an operator, and the best engineers bring passion, curiosity, and openness to their work.

From open source to co-founder

Dustin shared how his career started in freelancing and open source. Jens first reached out after seeing his GraphQL projects in the community. That led to conversations about WunderGraph’s early ideas and eventually co-founding the company.

Jens saw what I did in several open source projects and wrote me a nice message like, hey, I’m interested in your stuff.

Why technical founders matter

Reflecting on his journey, Dustin cited Y Combinator advice: you can’t outsource passion. Early proofs of concept and architectures require someone deeply invested in the vision. Stefan added that AI tools like Cursor don’t replace a technical founder’s judgment, especially for building something as complex as Cosmo’s router.

You cannot assume that someone has the same passion like you to implement your vision or at least your proof of concept.

Using AI day to day

As CTO, Dustin is still hands-on with code and customer work. He uses GitHub Copilot daily in his IDE and has built internal ChatGPTs to help with documentation and meeting transcripts. Still, he stressed AI isn’t a replacement: it needs someone who knows what’s good or bad.

AI needs an operator. I need to know what should be the end result and what is good, what is bad.

What he looks for in new hires

Asked what makes a great engineer at WunderGraph, Dustin highlighted mindset over checklists: curiosity, passion, openness to new ideas, and the courage to ask questions. Skills matter, but the right attitude is what defines long-term fit.

If you’re super keen to learn new things and you love what you’re doing, this is the core principle.

This episode was directed by Jacob Javor. Transcript lightly edited for clarity and flow.

Frequently Asked Questions

How did Dustin join WunderGraph?

He first met Jens through open source work on Discord. Jens reached out after seeing his projects, and that led to joining as a co-founder.

What role does AI play in his CTO workflow?

Dustin uses Copilot daily and sets up internal ChatGPTs for docs and transcripts, but stresses AI still needs an operator who knows what good results look like.

What qualities does Dustin look for in new hires?

Passion, openness to new ideas, willingness to question things, and strong domain skills. Above all, curiosity and love for the craft matter most.