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PODCAST

The Tech Trek

The Tech Trek is a podcast about how founders, operators, and technology leaders build and scale technology companies. Each episode explores the decisions behind building products, teams, and technical organizations, with conversations spanning engineering, AI, data, product, hiring, leadership, and growth. Guests share what they are building, what they are learning, and how they are navigating the challenges that come with turning technology into a successful company.

technology

All Episodes

00:30:05

Leaders Need Two Things: Time to Learn and Time To Fail

The Tech Trek ·

2023/01/26

In this episode of The Tech Trek, our host Amir Bormand speaks with Lee Eason, the Director of Digital Branch Experience at Edward Jones. Amir and Lee share insights about working with distributed/remote teams, supporting new leaders, and prioritizing team health. Highlights: 00:05:35 - Lee shares his experience with adapting to leading a distributed/mostly remote team. 00:12:55 - What’s the link between team health and team performance? 00:19:05 - Strategies to support new leaders taking on their

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00:20:32

Phases of Growth in Engineering Management

The Tech Trek ·

2023/01/24

In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir Bormand speaks with Shruthi Murthy, the Executive Vice President of Engineering at Modern Treasury. Amir and Shruthi discuss the various phases of growth that companies like Modern Treasury and WhatsApp experience. They also discuss how businesses and entrepreneurs can choose the right growth strategies for their needs. Highlights: 00:01:47 - Shruthi breaks down her role and responsibilities as the Head of Engineering at Modern Treasury. 00:04:53 - What were

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00:24:43

Leadership’s core function is facilitation

The Tech Trek ·

2023/01/19

In this episode, Hadi Radwan, Co-founder at Asteya, talks about leadership and the core function of facilitation! Key takeaways: Executing the strategy The leader should not be the bottleneck 2-way communication Wearing different hats when communicating Fail fast, learn fast Lines of communication: remove yourself from the centerpiece Thinking frameworks - how do you structure problems Dunning-Kruger effect Shape the culture You always don’t have the answer unless you have seen

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00:23:05

Tech debt - SW is short lived anyways, why over engineer

The Tech Trek ·

2023/01/17

In this episode, Ozan Bilgen, Co-founder and CEO at base64.ai, talks about technical debt and why you should avoid over-engineering! Key takeaways: Tech debt is a conscious way of something things can wait Knowingly you under-engineer certain parts where you can afford to Focusing on the thing that does 99% of the job SW is short-lived anyways, so why over-engineer Scale and compliance are drivers for revisiting the architecture Tech debt is the delta between MVP and V1 When to decide

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00:24:30

Data Transformation at a Large Public Company

The Tech Trek ·

2023/01/12

In this episode, Rob Phillips talks about making an impact through data transformation at a large public company. Key takeaways: Becoming a more data-driven company Using data to predict what’s going to happen What does that mean to the company? How far down the maturity path do you look to build your roadmap Benefits of moving quickly to prove your MVP Focus on testing out new capabilities Give the team a problem to solve and allow them to figure out how How do you compete and attract

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00:28:47

Hiring for a niche skill set

The Tech Trek ·

2023/01/10

In this episode, Shweta Saraf, Head Of Engineering, Edge Infrastructure Services Engineering at Equinix, talks about how she handles hiring for a niche skill set and things you can do to help find the right talent. Key takeaways: Focus on optimizing the talent pipeline Removing the requirements friction Have existing staff find opportunities to grow skill sets Training from within What happens when you can't check the boxes Everything is now engineering About today’s guest: see below

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00:25:22

Planning across the engineering org

The Tech Trek ·

2023/01/06

In this episode, Mark Isham, VP of Engineering at FullStory, talks about how he handles planning across the engineering organization. Key takeaways: Identifying the top 2-3 priorities Tips for effective planning. Building a product security team. Dealing with different personalities/styles Flexibility is important in teams. Running effective one-on-ones About today’s guest: Mark Isham has led engineering teams for over 25 years, focusing primarily on hyper-growth Enterprise startups in

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00:24:27

Software Engineering Team Performance Metrics and Report

The Tech Trek ·

2023/01/03

In this episode, Dan Kador, VP of Engineering at Clockwise, walks us through how and where engineering teams spend (and "waste") their time! Meetings and coordination “tax” “Focus time” What activities do companies spend the most time on? Learn to implement no-meeting days Ways to run a team effectively Productive one-on-one meeting structure Pros & cons of asynchronous stand-up meetings Different kinds of one-on-one meetings About today’s guest: Dan Kador currently runs the

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00:25:31

For better adoption, build security into your...

The Tech Trek ·

2022/12/28

In this episode, Zeeshan Khadim, Head of Security at Panther Labs, discusses how to improve security adoption by building security into an engineer's workflow. Key Takeaways: Security and privacy are part of the core product, not an overhead Security implications from the design phase Empower users to start with security in mind Make sure you triage before involving other teams Understand what the “Crown Jewels” are to put things in perspective Treat the root cause and not the symptom

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00:27:49

Managing in a fast growing environment

The Tech Trek ·

2022/12/22

In this episode, Selim Onal, the Director of Engineering at Ladder Life, talks about managing in a fast-growing environment. Challenges involved in managing rapid growth. Being intentional in the people systems you implement. The power of “putting people first” Balancing a people-first culture with delivery. People systems should support career growth Benefits of hiring non-traditional people How do internships prepare you for your career? About today’s guest: see below ⬇️ Selim Onal

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00:25:11

Building a high-performing engineering culture

The Tech Trek ·

2022/12/20

In this episode, Claude Jones, an engineering leader, talks about how to build a high-performing team. At the time of this recording, Claude was the SVP of Engineering at Strava. Key takeaways: How to ramp up as a new leader? Tips for planning smooth transitions. Learn how to scale engineering teams. Steps to build a high-performance culture What is envisioned as engineering excellence? Strategy to measure the progress of your team Ways to evaluate team performance. 3 tips to becoming

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00:29:13

Establishing a Data Governance Strategy

The Tech Trek ·

2022/12/15

In this episode, Mike Bennett, Head of Data Governance at Bayer Crop Science, discusses starting and growing a data governance strategy. Key takeaways: Access and control Touches on security and compliance Compliance is just one aspect of governance Treat data as a physical product Start with a minimal process, then evolve and mature it Embracing data privacy as it’s not going away Build an adaptive model About today’s guest: Mike Bennett Head of Data Governance, Bayer Crop Science An

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00:19:28

Data Protection and Privacy Strategy

The Tech Trek ·

2022/12/13

In this episode, Omar Turner, Managing Director of Cloud Security at Microsoft, discusses data privacy and protection. Key takeaways: Data protection and privacy Evaluating smaller vs. big companies Stakeholder buy-in Data protection/privacy divergence from security Classifying data Privacy defines who has access Being aware of the data you have Understanding data sovereignty About today’s guest: Omar A. Turner is a Managing Director of Cloud Security for Microsoft. He brings over 25

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00:32:40

Strategies for frontline managers

The Tech Trek ·

2022/12/08

In this podcast, Eddie Flaisler, Head of Products Engineering at Lob, talks about managerial strategies for frontline managers. What frontline managers do Making sure the team is delivering high business value Conveying the problem statement, not the strategy Balancing constraints and business priorities Delegation Strategies for Leaders and Managers Importance of asking the right questions A key to delegation is people that can resolve dependencies and break down tasks About today’s

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00:29:18

Your engineering team’s mental health

The Tech Trek ·

2022/12/06

In this episode, Kevin Dotzenrod, VP of Engineering at Total Expert, talks about the mental health of your team’s individual contributors. Dealing with Impostor syndrome. Being as fearless as possible when you are starting off How do you manage your first-time manager Balancing of Empathy and Accountability Managing managers on their responsibilities Helping people flourish in a new environment What triggers imposter syndrome? Adjusting different learning styles How to develop a

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00:37:52

Solving congestion problems

The Tech Trek ·

2022/12/05

In this episode, Balaji Prabhakar, co-founder of Clockwork and Professor of Computer Science at Stanford, discusses congestion problems in data centers and real-life congestion issues. Challenges when dealing with network congestion within cloud infrastructures. What does it mean to build out a system of accurate clocks? Understanding the package switching networking and distributor systems. Creating fair transactions (first come, first serve) Uses cases for highly accurate clocks How do

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00:27:22

Impacts on engineering team productivity

The Tech Trek ·

2022/12/01

In this episode, Karim Fanous, VP Engineering @ strongDM, talks about the impacts on an engineering team's productivity. Key Takeaways: Impacts on productivity for the team Context switching between interviewing and development Importance of Having a repeatable and objective process Challenges in onbarding process for newly hired engineers. Understanding the people retention process. ___About today’s guest: Karim Fanous https://www.linkedin.com/in/karimfan/ Link to article:

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00:22:59

Tips to help Founders find a coach

The Tech Trek ·

2022/11/30

In this episode, Beth Scheer, Talent Partner at Homebrew, talks about the drivers for hiring a coach and what to look out for while going through the process. Key Takeaways: Why would a founder should look for a coach? Big commitment to hiring a coach Make sure you do a reference check with people the coach has worked with the right questions are a must. A good coach for someone else might not be the right coach for you How to interview a coach Costs of hiring a coach Red Flags to look

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00:31:24

How to Structure Your Engineering Team to Scale

The Tech Trek ·

2022/11/29

In this episode, Jeremy Eastwood, the Head of Engineering at DroneDeploy, talks about velocity and adding processes as your team grows. Key Takeaways: Metric to measure velocity Reconciling struggles Experimenting while using guardrails Devote an engineer to reliability during each sprint Making sure there is an expected result when experimenting When to sit back and let the team execute Definition of done and compliance Seeing the whole field and providing feedback to your

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00:25:40

The relationship between data and engineering teams

The Tech Trek ·

2022/11/22

In this episode, Che Sharma, Founder & CEO of Eppo, talks about the relationship between data and engineering teams and how both teams can originate impactful experiments. Key takeaways: Data teams are trying to improve decision quality across the org How do data quality metrics affect the engineering team? Importance of experiments and feedback loops Experimentation maturity curve Engineering can be a source of experimentation Leadership needs to provide clear metrics to help

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710 results

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