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PODCAST

The Tech Trek

The Tech Trek explores the intersection of People, Impact, and Technology — how engineering leaders build high-performing teams, deliver real outcomes, and shape the future of innovation. Hosted by Amir Bormand, founder of Elevano, the show features CTOs, VPs of Engineering, and technical leaders sharing candid insights on leadership, scaling, and building technology organizations that last. Each episode uncovers the decisions, lessons, and mindsets that separate good teams from great ones — and

technology

All Episodes

00:26:55

The Mindset Shift Behind a True Zero Bug Policy

The Tech Trek ·

2025/11/20

Chris Church, VP of Engineering at Rainforest, breaks down why a zero bug policy is more than a technical choice. It is a mindset, an operating model, and a culture shift that shapes how engineering teams build, release, and support software at scale.In this conversation he goes inside the habits that actually make quality a strategic advantage and explains how small releases, strong visibility, and healthy engineering practices create real impact over time.Key Takeaways• Quality is not a feature

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00:31:07

The Skills Veterans Bring That Most Hiring Teams Miss

The Tech Trek ·

2025/11/19

Snehal Antani, co founder and CEO of Horizon3 AI, joins the show for a conversation about how veterans bring rare leadership strengths to fast moving companies. He pulls back the curtain on the world of special operations, shares what industry leaders often miss when interviewing former service members, and explains why these leaders are some of the most prepared problem solvers you can hire.This episode helps any listener understand the real strengths behind military experience and how those

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00:23:10

How Engineering Leaders Inspire Ownership

The Tech Trek ·

2025/11/18

Chandni Jain, VP of Engineering at Checkr, joins the show to talk about what it takes to build a real culture of ownership. She explains how clarity, trust, and true empowerment help teams move faster and work better together. You will also hear how leaders can bring out stronger initiative and confidence in their people.This episode gives a simple and useful guide for anyone who wants to lead with intent and build teams that think and act like owners.Key Takeaways• Ownership grows when clarity,

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00:31:38

The Future of Autonomous Transit Is Not What You Think

The Tech Trek ·

2025/11/17

Shawn Taikratoke, CEO and co founder of Mozee, joins the show to unpack one of the biggest questions in mobility today. How close are we to real autonomous transportation and what will actually move the needle in our cities. Shawn breaks down why the future is not a single robotaxi dream, but a more human centered shift in public transit that solves the first and last mile in a smarter way. If you care about how people move, how cities evolve, or how autonomy will reshape everyday life, this one is

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00:28:17

How AI Is Changing the Way We Talk to Computers

The Tech Trek ·

2025/11/14

Mike Hanson, CTO at Clockwise, joins the show to break down how our relationship with computers is changing as language based systems reshape expectations. We explore why natural storytelling feels so intuitive with today’s AI tools, how context is becoming the new currency of great software, and why narrow AI is often more powerful than the industry hype suggests.This conversation gives tech leaders a grounded look at what is real, what is noise, and what is coming fast.Key Takeaways• Natural

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00:29:32

The Truth About Starting Again After a Big Exit

The Tech Trek ·

2025/11/13

Soham Mazumdar, CEO and co founder of Wisdom AI, joins the show to talk about what it really takes to build again after major exits at Facebook and Rubrik. We get into the mindset shift required for a new startup, the danger of relying too much on past playbooks, and how to stay grounded when expectations rise.If you want a real look at repeat founder decision making, this is the conversation to listen to.Key Takeaways• The biggest advantage of being a repeat founder is the ability to attract talent

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00:42:28

How One Startup Is Cutting the Cost of Borrowing Money

The Tech Trek ·

2025/11/12

In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir sits down with Sadi Khan, Co-Founder and CEO of Aven, to unpack how technology can make capital fairer for everyone. Sadi explains how Aven is tackling one of the world’s biggest inefficiencies—the trillion-dollar burden of consumer credit card debt—and why the solution lies in reducing the cost of capital through innovation. This is a deep dive into building products that require not just engineering skill, but endurance, conviction, and a long-term

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00:27:15

How Data and Engineering Make the Impossible Real

The Tech Trek ·

2025/11/11

Svetlana Zavelskaya, Head of Software Engineering for Data Platform and Infrastructure at Quanata, joins the show to unpack what it really takes to make the “impossible” possible in tech. From re-architecting a startup codebase to scaling innovation inside an insurance giant, she shares how her team turns complex R&D challenges into production-ready systems. This conversation dives deep into engineering discipline, AI tool adoption, and why the next wave of insurance innovation is powered by

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00:25:20

The Future of Voice AI: When Machines Start to Sound...

The Tech Trek ·

2025/11/06

Nikhil Gupta, founder and CTO of Vapi, joins Amir to talk about how voice AI is reshaping the way we connect with businesses. From customer support to healthcare, Nikhil explains how voice agents can bring back the human side of digital interactions. This is a look at where real conversation meets real technology and what happens when machines start to understand us like people do.Key Takeaways• Voice AI creates genuine, human-like engagement instead of the usual scripted support.• The next wave of

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00:33:21

Building a Startup Culture Where No One Wants to Leave

The Tech Trek ·

2025/11/05

Alex Daniels, Founder and CTO at Predoc, joins the show to share how he is building a mission driven healthtech company that is changing how medical data is accessed and used. He opens up about the personal story that inspired Predoc, how he keeps culture authentic while scaling, and what zero turnover really looks like in a startup. From hiring philosophies to equity design to managing context switching, Alex brings a deeply human view of leadership in engineering.Key Takeaways• Building culture

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00:32:35

Building Infrastructure Startups: Why Everything...

The Tech Trek ·

2025/11/04

Jordan Tigani, CEO and cofounder of MotherDuck, knows what world class infrastructure looks like. He spent years building Google BigQuery before taking those lessons into the startup world. In this episode, he breaks down why building infrastructure products is fundamentally different from typical SaaS and why founders who don’t understand that difference are in for a painful surprise.What You'll LearnThere are no shortcuts in infrastructure. You can’t just wire together existing open source

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00:33:24

Why Enterprise Product Management Is Completely...

The Tech Trek ·

2025/11/03

Ogi Kavazovic, co-founder and CEO of House Rx, joins the show to unpack what most product leaders miss about building for enterprise software. Drawing from two decades in tech, Ogi breaks down how product management shifts when you move from B2C or “B to small B” to true enterprise—what he calls “B to Big B.” He explains why traditional user research frameworks don’t hold up, how buyer research should actually be done through sales and marketing motions, and how to keep engineering teams aligned

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00:23:06

AI Investing in 2026

The Tech Trek ·

2025/10/31

Astasia Myers, General Partner at Felicis, breaks down how venture capital is betting on AI and why over 80% of their recent investments are in this space. But this isn’t just another “AI is the future” conversation. We dig into the real ROI happening right now in healthcare voice agents, why MIT says 95% of GenAI projects fail to reach production, and what needs to happen for that number to flip. If you’re building, investing, or just trying to understand where enterprise AI is actually working

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00:27:18

The Real Difference Between Leading People and...

The Tech Trek ·

2025/10/30

In this episode, Amir sits down with Taofeek Rabiu, VP of Engineering at Etsy, to unpack a distinction that most organizations miss: being a people leader is not the same as being a people manager.If you have ever wondered why some teams thrive under pressure while others crumble, or why trust feels so hard to build in engineering orgs, this conversation has answers. Taofeek shares how leadership is not reserved for those with a manager title, why vulnerability is a strategic advantage, and how to

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00:23:39

How to Reinvent Your Role Every Six Months

The Tech Trek ·

2025/10/29

Ion Feldman, CTO at Rightway, has learned to love one thing about scaling a company from a kitchen table to nearly 1,000 employees: his job completely changes every six months. In this episode, Ion shares what it means to lead engineering when the role refuses to stay still—from writing code in the early days to building product, security, and data teams, and now shaping AI infrastructure. He explains how to stay hands-on without micromanaging, why he deliberately works himself out of roles by

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00:22:54

How Great Founders Empower Their Teams

The Tech Trek ·

2025/10/28

Jay Chia, cofounder of Eventual, joins the show to unpack what real empowerment looks like inside a fast growing startup. Most people confuse empowerment with initiative, but Jay explains how trust, vulnerability, and accountability work together to turn good teams into self directed ones. If you are scaling a startup or leading a growing engineering team, this conversation explores the human side of leadership, when to let go, when to step in, and how to help your team grow without losing

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00:27:24

Data Science Got 50x Faster

The Tech Trek ·

2025/10/27

Rohan Kodialam, cofounder and CEO of Sphinx, is building AI agents that treat data as its own language—one most models and humans still fail to understand. In this episode, he unpacks why data science has lagged behind software engineering, how AI can finally close the gap between business questions and answers, and what happens when small teams gain the analytical power of a thousand person quant desk.What You'll Learn• How AI models that actually see data can unlock insights traditional

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00:27:20

How Operator VCs Change the Game for Founders

The Tech Trek ·

2025/10/24

Karl Alomar, Managing Partner at M13 and former COO of DigitalOcean, joins The Tech Trek to share how being an operator changes the way you invest. He explains why M13 was built to be a truly founder-first VC firm—one that acts early, helps proactively, and builds deep relationships rooted in empathy and experience. From spotting great founders to balancing instinct and data, this episode explores how venture capital can drive better outcomes when it focuses on people as much as product.Key

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00:28:56

Scaling Engineering Leadership in a Fast Growing Startup

The Tech Trek ·

2025/10/23

In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir sits down with Michi Kono, CTO of Garner Health, to unpack what it really takes to scale engineering leadership inside a fast growing startup. Michi shares how he balances structure and speed, why formalizing processes too early can slow innovation, and how “the Garner way” blends lessons from big tech with first principles thinking. This is a conversation about leadership maturity, cultural design, and building systems that evolve with your company’s

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00:34:18

How AI Is Rewriting the Way Engineers Work

The Tech Trek ·

2025/10/22

Vibe coding isn’t just a new buzzword—it’s a complete shift in how engineering teams build, ship, and think. Zach Wills, Director of Engineering at Luxury Presence, joins to share how his team is rewriting the rules of software delivery using AI-assisted workflows. From Greenfield experiments to Brownfield transformations, Zach breaks down the frameworks, lessons, and mindset shifts reshaping what it means to be an engineer.Key TakeawaysWhy vibe coding feels less like automation and more like a new

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573 results

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