In today’s blog post, I’m excited to share a great conversation I had with Sebastian Gerhardt, founder of Flea, a company focused on improving developer experience and productivity. We talked about the challenges of measuring developer performance, the impact of workplace environment on engineering teams, and how Flea helps organizations build better cultures for their developers.
Daria Rudnik: Thank you, Sebastian, for joining me today. I’m really looking forward to our conversation about your journey with Flea and the company’s mission. To start, can you tell me what led you to founding Flea? What was your journey like in the beginning?
Sebastian Gerhardt: Yeah, sure. So, I’m Sebastian, the founder of Flea. We started our business almost one and a half years ago. We’re building a developer experience platform that helps CTOs identify friction points in their developers’ daily work, enabling them to ship better software faster and with greater satisfaction. Interestingly, my background isn’t in tech but in business. I initially approached our product from a people perspective, but as we iterated, we shifted to a developer focus. The goal has always been to improve how developers work and feel within their organizations.
Daria Rudnik: That’s fascinating. You mentioned that you come from a business background. What inspired your move into the tech space?
Sebastian Gerhardt: I come from an entrepreneurial family, so I always wanted to start my own business. After studying innovation strategy and entrepreneurship, I worked at a fintech startup and later joined a company builder in Berlin, where I helped corporates develop new startups. Over time, I became interested in leadership challenges within engineering teams, particularly around people management. I saw firsthand how unclear goals and poor communication created major blockers for developers, and I wanted to build something that could help fix that. That’s how Flea was born.
Daria Rudnik: Flea focuses on developer experience. Can you explain what that means and how your platform works?
Sebastian Gerhardt: Absolutely. Developer experience is about ensuring that engineers have everything they need to do their best work efficiently and happily. Traditionally, measuring developer productivity has been flawed. Some companies used to count lines of code or track the number of commits, but that’s like measuring Shakespeare’s success by how many pages he wrote rather than the impact of his work.
More recently, frameworks like DORA and SPACE have been introduced to measure developer performance, but they often focus on throughput rather than the factors that actually impact productivity. Flea takes a different approach: instead of just measuring outcomes, we measure the work environment. We collect direct developer feedback on things like clarity of goals, process efficiency, and team collaboration. By identifying friction points in real-time, companies can take actionable steps to improve their engineering culture.
Daria Rudnik: So rather than measuring individual productivity, you’re evaluating the environment in which developers work. That sounds like a game-changer for engineering teams.
Sebastian Gerhardt: Exactly! Measuring individual developer performance can create a toxic work culture. It often leads to frustration and disengagement. Instead, we focus on the blockers that prevent developers from being productive. For example, unclear requirements, poor documentation, or a lack of psychological safety within a team can have a bigger impact on productivity than anything else. Our approach encourages a bottom-up culture where developers feel heard and empowered to improve their work environment.
Sebastian Gerhardt: Yeah, sure. So, I’m Sebastian, the founder of Flea. We started our business almost one and a half years ago. We’re building a developer experience platform that helps CTOs identify friction points in their developers’ daily work, enabling them to ship better software faster and with greater satisfaction. Interestingly, my background isn’t in tech but in business. I initially approached our product from a people perspective, but as we iterated, we shifted to a developer focus. The goal has always been to improve how developers work and feel within their organizations.
Daria Rudnik: That’s fascinating. You mentioned that you come from a business background. What inspired your move into the tech space?
Sebastian Gerhardt: I come from an entrepreneurial family, so I always wanted to start my own business. After studying innovation strategy and entrepreneurship, I worked at a fintech startup and later joined a company builder in Berlin, where I helped corporates develop new startups. Over time, I became interested in leadership challenges within engineering teams, particularly around people management. I saw firsthand how unclear goals and poor communication created major blockers for developers, and I wanted to build something that could help fix that. That’s how Flea was born.
Daria Rudnik: Flea focuses on developer experience. Can you explain what that means and how your platform works?
Sebastian Gerhardt: Absolutely. Developer experience is about ensuring that engineers have everything they need to do their best work efficiently and happily. Traditionally, measuring developer productivity has been flawed. Some companies used to count lines of code or track the number of commits, but that’s like measuring Shakespeare’s success by how many pages he wrote rather than the impact of his work.
More recently, frameworks like DORA and SPACE have been introduced to measure developer performance, but they often focus on throughput rather than the factors that actually impact productivity. Flea takes a different approach: instead of just measuring outcomes, we measure the work environment. We collect direct developer feedback on things like clarity of goals, process efficiency, and team collaboration. By identifying friction points in real-time, companies can take actionable steps to improve their engineering culture.
Daria Rudnik: So rather than measuring individual productivity, you’re evaluating the environment in which developers work. That sounds like a game-changer for engineering teams.
Sebastian Gerhardt: Exactly! Measuring individual developer performance can create a toxic work culture. It often leads to frustration and disengagement. Instead, we focus on the blockers that prevent developers from being productive. For example, unclear requirements, poor documentation, or a lack of psychological safety within a team can have a bigger impact on productivity than anything else. Our approach encourages a bottom-up culture where developers feel heard and empowered to improve their work environment.
Daria Rudnik: Can you share some real-world examples of how Flea has helped teams improve their developer experience?
Sebastian Gerhardt: Definitely. One of our customers discovered through our surveys that their code review process was slowing them down because their testers didn’t fully understand the new features. The lack of documentation was causing unnecessary delays. Thanks to Flea’s insights, they quickly improved documentation, which led to smoother and faster code reviews.
Another example is around career development. One of our clients hesitated to introduce a career framework, fearing it would be too rigid for developers. However, our survey data showed that a third of the engineers actually wanted more structure to understand how they could grow. That feedback gave leadership the confidence to implement a career path framework that was well received.
Daria Rudnik: That’s really powerful. What do you think are the key factors of a great engineering team?
Sebastian Gerhardt: Open communication is number one. Teams that encourage honest discussions tend to perform better because problems are surfaced and resolved faster. Second, having an outcome-driven approach rather than focusing on output—meaning it’s more important to build the right thing than to build just anything. And third, strong collaboration between product and engineering teams. We see better-performing teams when the CTO oversees both product and tech because it prevents the usual silos and friction between these two functions.
Daria Rudnik: Speaking of silos, how do you see organizations improving cross-functional collaboration?
Sebastian Gerhardt: It starts with alignment. When goals and success metrics are clearly defined at the top and communicated effectively down to teams, collaboration becomes much easier. One of our customers realized they had been building a feature for six to nine months without validating if it met their broader customer needs. That misalignment resulted in wasted resources and frustration. When companies align on clear objectives from the start, these kinds of mistakes can be avoided.
Daria Rudnik: What’s next for Flea? How do you plan to evolve the platform?
Sebastian Gerhardt: Right now, we’re great at identifying friction points. The next step is helping teams take action on those insights. We’re integrating Flea into existing team rituals—pushing relevant feedback into one-on-one meetings and team retros so issues are addressed proactively. We’re also working on a maturity framework to help companies track and improve developer experience over time. Ultimately, we want to create an infrastructure that continuously levels up engineering cultures without adding extra work for leaders.
Daria Rudnik: That sounds incredible. Before we wrap up, what advice would you give to organizations looking to improve their developer experience?
Sebastian Gerhardt: First, shift from top-down monitoring to a more inclusive, bottom-up approach. Developers should feel like their feedback matters and that they have a say in improving their work environment. Second, take developer concerns seriously—engagement surveys should lead to real action, not just be a checkbox exercise. Finally, leadership should focus on removing blockers rather than micromanaging output. When developers have the right conditions, they naturally perform better.
Daria Rudnik: Great insights, Sebastian. How can people learn more about Flea?
Sebastian Gerhardt: You can find me on LinkedIn or visit our website at [helloflea.com](https://helloflea.com). We also offer free trials, so anyone interested can reach out to see how Flea can help their team.
Flea is on a mission to reshape how engineering teams measure and improve their productivity. By focusing on developer experience rather than individual metrics, they’re helping organizations build healthier, happier, and more effective teams. If you’re looking for a better way to support your engineers, check out Flea and start the conversation about what really impacts developer success.
Sebastian Gerhardt: Definitely. One of our customers discovered through our surveys that their code review process was slowing them down because their testers didn’t fully understand the new features. The lack of documentation was causing unnecessary delays. Thanks to Flea’s insights, they quickly improved documentation, which led to smoother and faster code reviews.
Another example is around career development. One of our clients hesitated to introduce a career framework, fearing it would be too rigid for developers. However, our survey data showed that a third of the engineers actually wanted more structure to understand how they could grow. That feedback gave leadership the confidence to implement a career path framework that was well received.
Daria Rudnik: That’s really powerful. What do you think are the key factors of a great engineering team?
Sebastian Gerhardt: Open communication is number one. Teams that encourage honest discussions tend to perform better because problems are surfaced and resolved faster. Second, having an outcome-driven approach rather than focusing on output—meaning it’s more important to build the right thing than to build just anything. And third, strong collaboration between product and engineering teams. We see better-performing teams when the CTO oversees both product and tech because it prevents the usual silos and friction between these two functions.
Daria Rudnik: Speaking of silos, how do you see organizations improving cross-functional collaboration?
Sebastian Gerhardt: It starts with alignment. When goals and success metrics are clearly defined at the top and communicated effectively down to teams, collaboration becomes much easier. One of our customers realized they had been building a feature for six to nine months without validating if it met their broader customer needs. That misalignment resulted in wasted resources and frustration. When companies align on clear objectives from the start, these kinds of mistakes can be avoided.
Daria Rudnik: What’s next for Flea? How do you plan to evolve the platform?
Sebastian Gerhardt: Right now, we’re great at identifying friction points. The next step is helping teams take action on those insights. We’re integrating Flea into existing team rituals—pushing relevant feedback into one-on-one meetings and team retros so issues are addressed proactively. We’re also working on a maturity framework to help companies track and improve developer experience over time. Ultimately, we want to create an infrastructure that continuously levels up engineering cultures without adding extra work for leaders.
Daria Rudnik: That sounds incredible. Before we wrap up, what advice would you give to organizations looking to improve their developer experience?
Sebastian Gerhardt: First, shift from top-down monitoring to a more inclusive, bottom-up approach. Developers should feel like their feedback matters and that they have a say in improving their work environment. Second, take developer concerns seriously—engagement surveys should lead to real action, not just be a checkbox exercise. Finally, leadership should focus on removing blockers rather than micromanaging output. When developers have the right conditions, they naturally perform better.
Daria Rudnik: Great insights, Sebastian. How can people learn more about Flea?
Sebastian Gerhardt: You can find me on LinkedIn or visit our website at [helloflea.com](https://helloflea.com). We also offer free trials, so anyone interested can reach out to see how Flea can help their team.
Flea is on a mission to reshape how engineering teams measure and improve their productivity. By focusing on developer experience rather than individual metrics, they’re helping organizations build healthier, happier, and more effective teams. If you’re looking for a better way to support your engineers, check out Flea and start the conversation about what really impacts developer success.
Sebastian is Co-Founder and CEO of Flea - a developer experience platform that helps CTOs remove the friction from their developers' daily work, so they can ship better code faster with more joy.
Having studied what makes engineering teams successful for the past two years, he and his Co-Founder Thomas have derived a feedback based framework to measure and improve developer productivity, beyond basic metrics.
The team already works together with leading Startups and Scaleups like Instaffo, Dixa and Tonies, improving engineering performance as well as employee retention.
When he's not building Flea, Sebastian can either be found on a tennis court, in an art gallery or a wine bar with friends.
Having studied what makes engineering teams successful for the past two years, he and his Co-Founder Thomas have derived a feedback based framework to measure and improve developer productivity, beyond basic metrics.
The team already works together with leading Startups and Scaleups like Instaffo, Dixa and Tonies, improving engineering performance as well as employee retention.
When he's not building Flea, Sebastian can either be found on a tennis court, in an art gallery or a wine bar with friends.
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