Independent comparison
Staff Engineer vs NoBullshit Tech-Lead
Will Larson’s Staff Engineer describes the senior engineer who provides technical leadership without becoming a manager. Here are its public facts, and where NoBullshit Tech-Lead sits next to it, in French.
Published by its author in 2021 (371 pages according to Open Library, in English; $25 for digital and print according to the book’s website, as of 8 October 2026), Staff Engineer brings together 28 guides and 14 interviews with staff engineers. It describes the role’s archetypes, how to pick what to work on and how to work with your management chain. The foreword is by Tanya Reilly.
| Staff Engineer | NoBullshit Tech-Lead | |
|---|---|---|
| Author | Will Larson | François-Guillaume Ribreau |
| Language | English | French |
| Year | 2021 | 2026 |
| Pages | 371 | 240 |
| Publisher | Will Larson (self-published) | FGRibreau SARL |
Staff Engineer — ISBN 978-1736417911. NoBullshit Tech-Lead — E-book (PDF, ePub, MOBI), from €49.
Where Staff Engineer is a good fit
Staff Engineer is most useful if you read in English and are aiming for a staff or principal role, staying on the expertise track rather than management, with accounts from people already in that role.
What sets NoBullshit Tech-Lead apart
NoBullshit Tech-Lead is written in French and covers the Tech Lead role where engineering and management meet: production, debt, architecture, but also product, management and hiring. 60 actionable principles, from developer to CTO, designed first for French small and mid-sized companies. E-book format, digital access, from €49.
Discover the bookFrequently asked questions
- Is Staff Engineer available in French?
- Staff Engineer is published in English by its author, Will Larson (2021). For a French-language read, NoBullshit Tech-Lead offers 60 actionable principles, from developer to CTO.
- What is the difference between Staff Engineer and The Staff Engineer’s Path?
- They are two separate books. Staff Engineer (Will Larson, 2021) mixes guides and interviews with staff engineers. The Staff Engineer’s Path (Tanya Reilly, O’Reilly, 2022) is a guide to the senior individual-contributor track; Tanya Reilly also wrote the foreword to Will Larson’s book.
- How does it differ from NoBullshit Tech-Lead?
- Staff Engineer is about the technical-expertise track, in English. NoBullshit Tech-Lead is in French and covers the Tech Lead role at the engineering/management hinge, across 60 principles.
Methodology
Publisher data collected between 29 September and 8 October 2026 (date given for each source) from the publishers’ official pages and from Open Library, then archived on the Wayback Machine (links below). Scope: public bibliographic facts (author, publisher, year, page count, language). Prices vary by format and retailer, so they are given for reference only, as of the consultation date.
Sources
- Book website — staffeng.com — 8 October 2026 · archive
- Open Library — 8 October 2026 · archive
Independent comparison. NoBullshit Tech-Lead is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by Will Larson. “Staff Engineer” and the trademarks cited belong to their respective owners and are mentioned for information only.