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Το περιεχόμενο παρέχεται από το Postlight Podcast. Όλο το περιεχόμενο podcast, συμπεριλαμβανομένων των επεισοδίων, των γραφικών και των περιγραφών podcast, μεταφορτώνεται και παρέχεται απευθείας από τον Postlight Podcast ή τον συνεργάτη της πλατφόρμας podcast. Εάν πιστεύετε ότι κάποιος χρησιμοποιεί το έργο σας που προστατεύεται από πνευματικά δικαιώματα χωρίς την άδειά σας, μπορείτε να ακολουθήσετε τη διαδικασία που περιγράφεται εδώ https://el.player.fm/legal.
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1 Patti Truant Anderson: Polling and the Surprising Results Around What People Really Think About the Food System 24:55
Text “Do people even want to know about some of these issues? Because I think some of the meat production concerns, it's kind of like people would rather in some cases, I think some people might not really want to know all the nitty gritty. They don't want to know how the sausage is made. That poses an interesting question and challenge about how you communicate about some of these issues, when maybe there's a resistance among a subset of people who don't want to know more.” - Patti Truant Anderson This is the fourth episode in a special four-part series where we go deep into the food system with some of the brightest minds from Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, an interdisciplinary center based out of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. One of the reasons that we did this series is because we're about to enter another four years with the Trump administration; and last time, as we know, the Trump administration was pretty terrible for the food system in terms of climate, public health, worker safety, and of course, for the animals. This conversation is with Patty Truant Anderson. Patty is a senior program officer at the center. Part of her work at the Center focuses on public opinion polling around the food system. These polls can inform decisions by lawmakers. The great news is we're not nearly as polarized as it might seem. There is a lot of hope in the results. Links: Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future - https://clf.jhsph.edu/ Patti Truant Anderson - https://clf.jhsph.edu/about-us/staff/patti-truant-anderson…
Being the Hero: On Managing Client Relationships
Manage episode 342992604 series 2448961
Το περιεχόμενο παρέχεται από το Postlight Podcast. Όλο το περιεχόμενο podcast, συμπεριλαμβανομένων των επεισοδίων, των γραφικών και των περιγραφών podcast, μεταφορτώνεται και παρέχεται απευθείας από τον Postlight Podcast ή τον συνεργάτη της πλατφόρμας podcast. Εάν πιστεύετε ότι κάποιος χρησιμοποιεί το έργο σας που προστατεύεται από πνευματικά δικαιώματα χωρίς την άδειά σας, μπορείτε να ακολουθήσετε τη διαδικασία που περιγράφεται εδώ https://el.player.fm/legal.
Being the Hero: On Managing Client Relationships by Postlight
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359 επεισόδια
Manage episode 342992604 series 2448961
Το περιεχόμενο παρέχεται από το Postlight Podcast. Όλο το περιεχόμενο podcast, συμπεριλαμβανομένων των επεισοδίων, των γραφικών και των περιγραφών podcast, μεταφορτώνεται και παρέχεται απευθείας από τον Postlight Podcast ή τον συνεργάτη της πλατφόρμας podcast. Εάν πιστεύετε ότι κάποιος χρησιμοποιεί το έργο σας που προστατεύεται από πνευματικά δικαιώματα χωρίς την άδειά σας, μπορείτε να ακολουθήσετε τη διαδικασία που περιγράφεται εδώ https://el.player.fm/legal.
Being the Hero: On Managing Client Relationships by Postlight
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359 επεισόδια
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×Exciting changes have arrived at Postlight, officially now Launch by NTT DATA! This week Chris and Gina are joined by Mark Orttung, President of Launch, as he shares how Launch brought together the best digital companies around and his own journey to leading the company. They discuss Postlight’s unique fit in the new firm and look towards an exciting future of strategizing, shipping, and scaling provocative digital experiences.…
Pop quiz: What feature only makes it onto the feature list when it’s too late? In this archived episode, Chris and Gina chat about why speed should always be top of mind when developing a digital platform. They discuss how things can slow over time and share tips on how to build for speed. From database indexes to better search, they share how to make your platform speedy for everyone, no matter the bandwidth.…
What’s a good metaphor for running a business not about sports or war? Gina asked this question on Twitter some months back and got an overwhelming response. In this archived episode, Gina and Chris share the best answers that came out of this question. They explore gentler business metaphors like tending to a garden, playing in a band, or swinging through a forest.…
Self-imposed deadlines are critical. They make sure that expectations are clear and met. But how do you set realistic deadlines? How do you deal with dependencies and unknown unknowns? What happens if something unforeseen pops up? In this episode from the archives, Chris and Gina share tips on how to set deadlines that keep a project moving and work for both the client and the team.…
Taking a vacation can feel like a luxury, but it shouldn’t be. In this episode from the archives, Chris and Gina make the case for taking time away. Not only is vacation important to unwind and de-stress, but it can also help recenter on the “why.” It turns out that letting your brain disconnect from daily minutia can benefit both you and your work.…
Editor’s Note: Exciting changes are coming to the Postlight Podcast! We’re taking a few weeks off from recording and sharing some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We’ll have some big announcements for you soon, so stay tuned! “Move fast and break things” is a common phrase in tech, but is that the right way to go about product development? In this episode from the archives, Chris and Gina share their thoughts on when it’s okay to move fast during the product life cycle and when you should slow down.…
Editor’s Note: Exciting changes are coming to the Postlight Podcast! We’re taking a few weeks off from recording and sharing some of our favorite episodes from the Postlight Podcast archives. We’ll have some big announcements for you soon, so stay tuned! In this episode, get another look into how Postlight works as Chris and Gina discuss how specific training and onboarding guidelines can restrict progress and creative approaches to project delivery. Can encouraging critical thinking lead to better products and happier clients? How much freedom is too much? And do the benefits match the costs?…
For every tool or system we interact with, someone behind the scenes is powering it. This week, Chris Losacco is joined by Postlight’s Head of Product Design, Natalie Kurz, to discuss why you should focus not only on customer experience but how internal teams use the software. They share tips on how to know when to redesign your internal interfaces and make the case that by helping internal teams, you can reduce turnover, reduce inefficiencies, and ultimately improve your customer experience.…
Interacting with your coworkers in person can be hugely beneficial, and while nothing can fully replace it, forcing people back into the office isn't good for the business or company culture. This week Chris and Gina discuss why return-to-office mandates are misguided and share ways to create meaningful engagement for teams both in and out of the office.…
There’s nothing better than crossing something off your to-do list. This week Chris and Gina reflect on which tools are best for organizing your life and your to-do list. Their conclusion — analog is best. Gina breaks down why her bullet journal is the best option for her and why digital lists will never be as effective as writing things down on paper.…
There’s a feeling in the digital industry that working with the government is tedious due to endless bureaucracy, red tape, and too many stakeholders. As someone who worked in the public sector for years, Postlight’s Associate Director of Digital Strategy, Tait Foster, understands it better than most. This week Chris and Tait discuss the differences between working with public and private sectors and share tips on navigating software development for government stakeholders and, most importantly, their constituents.…
Annoying pop-ups, frustrating drop-down menus that make you scroll for minutes to find your birth year, untailored targeted ads — the list of annoying UX design goes on and on. This week Chris LoSacco is joined by Postlight’s Director and Head of Product Management, Nathan Henry, to complain about bad UX. They share gripes and guidance on prioritizing user experience and how not to enrage your users.…
The phrase “change is hard” may seem like a cliche, but it’s also true. This week Chris and Gina discuss how to manage change as Postlight navigates some changes of its own. As a leader, how much do you share with your team? Can you make it easier for them? How do you navigate people’s differing relationships with change? Chris and Gina share what they’re learning as they lead through change.…
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Differentiating product managers and project managers can be tricky. They share the same acronym (PM), and there can be overlap between the two roles. This week, Postlight’s Associate Director of Product Management, Ruiyan Xu, shares a handy analogy to help clarify the two roles. She chats with Chris about how PMs can be likened to different types of ship captains. For project managers, think of a captain sailing a predetermined route. For product managers, imagine a captain sailing uncharted seas. Ruiyan helps clear the murky PM waters.…
Chris and Gina have learned the hard way that the IT team is all about minimizing risk. The product team, on the other hand, is all about taking risks. So how do you bridge the gap? This week Chris and Gina discuss how you can bring your IT team into digital transformation projects. They share tips on building relationships with your IT team, collaborating on product choices, and encouraging ownership over new products.…
Navigating Disney World is a lot. There are endless parks, restaurants, hotels, and lineups. The My Disney Experience App was designed to help, but navigating the app is also pretty tricky. On the heels of a trip to Disney World, Chris shares how Disney could improve the app and the visitor experience.…
Over her years as Head of Product Design at Postlight, Natalie Kurz has noticed that the waterfall method isn’t always ideal for software projects. It doesn’t allow for innovation and creative problem solving. So she came up with a better way: figure out the what first instead of the how. With that method comes a lot of creative problem solving and you guessed it, rework. But rework doesn’t have to be seen as a failure, it can be a way to learn and get clarity. After all, rework is the work.…
Leaders are always going to have competing demands for their attention. Getting up earlier and working later isn’t always the answer to getting the work done. This week Chris and Gina reflect on how they prioritize and set boundaries to manage their workload without getting burnt out. They share tips on how to calmly set and stick to boundaries and determine your priorities. Do you really need to be in six hours of back-to-back meetings? Probably not!…
On most projects, things will inevitably go wrong at some point or another. So who’s to blame, or rather what’s to blame? This week Chris and Gina talk about accountability and how we learn and grow from our mistakes. They discuss how to discern where things went wrong without assigning blame. From addressing problems early on, to accepting apologies, they share tips on how to move away from punishment and blame and towards accountability so you can build a stronger and higher functioning team.…
This week, Netflix's Bernie Madoff docuseries sure has Chris and Gina thinking about trust. They discuss trust as the key to any partnership, even (and especially) in business, and its role as the backbone of client services. Through the lens of MADOFF: The Monster of Wall Street, they break down how to build trust, what might break it, and how the docuseries has given them perspective on trust in the workplace.…
Chris and Gina on the recent LastPass security breach and how to protect your information
Recently Postlight’s Head of Engineering, Aaron Ortbals, had an eye-opening experience with ChatGPT, an AI tool that can write code for you. This week Chris and Aaron chat about new AI tools being developed. They discuss the benefits, concerns, and future of these tools and how we can use them to move more quickly without replacing people in the process.…
We’ve all heard the excuse that the backend just can’t support the new needs of the frontend. But isn’t the backend there to power user needs, not limit them? This week Chris and Gina discuss how to develop the frontend and backend in concert with each other to create modern platforms. No longer should we be shackled by the limitations of the backend!…
Chris and Michael on how you can turn sales into a positive and collaborative experience
Big companies are a bit like tankers — sturdy, built to weather any storm, and can carry a lot of people. Startups are more like speedboats — fast and good at exploring new places. This week Chris and Gina talk about how you can bring speedboat startup energy to a tanker-sized company. From bringing in new voices to creating the space for change to considering your APIs, they share tips on shaking up entrenched systems and moving quicker in a big organization.…
Sometimes one small detail can make or break a product’s usability. Postlight’s Head of Product Design, Natalie Kurz, found this out the hard way when buying a fridge. In a rush to solve a smelly emergency, she ended up with a fridge that didn’t open properly. This week, Natalie joins Chris and Gina to chat about how this experience is just like building software. She breaks down how to effectively research so you can pinpoint the right problem to solve and avoid a future disaster.…
The Postlight team deconstructs Harvard Business Publishing’s new Leader Lab tool with Laura Helliwell.
Audubon’s new tool, the Bird Migration Explorer, is a groundbreaking interactive map tracking bird migrations for 450 different species worldwide. “Groundbreaking” isn’t hyperbole. There’s never been anything like it, and the amount of data compiled onto one site is an enormous collaborative accomplishment. This week Postlight’s Nathan Henry and Shawn Kelly chat with Melanie A. Smith and John Mahoney from Audubon about creating The Explorer and getting people involved in birding and conservation.…
The tech industry loves its jargon and acronyms, but do they help or just sow confusion? Gina and Chris discuss how acronyms can obfuscate understanding and deeper meaning for the speaker and audience alike. They share how simplifying your presentations and giving broad strokes rather than nitty-gritty details can show greater knowledge than any acronym you throw out there. After all — clarity is kindness!…
What if there was a way to both impress investors and keep your team focused? Postlight’s Chappell Ellison is here to tell you that there is! The answer: a simple product vision. This week Chappell joins Chris and Gina to talk about how writing a compelling product vision can help you meet financial goals and stay focused on the purpose of your product. They also discuss the importance of incorporating a human angle into your vision and how doing so can make your product more marketable.…
Reading on the internet can be tiring. There are pop-ups and ads — everything is trying to get your attention. Enter Postlight Reader, a browser extension that removes distractions from any article. This week Chris LoSacco and Michael Shane sit down with one of Postlight’s most senior engineers, John Holdun, to talk about how they developed Postlight Reader and the intricacies of developing a modern open-source browser extension.…
Show Me The Money: On Money Apps by Postlight
The day has come — your boss has finally asked for a big digital transformation. What now? In this third installment of Postlight’s Doing More With Less panel series, Postlight’s Associate Director of Digital Strategy, Chappell Ellison, chats with three experts in digital transformation. Leyla Ballantyne, Julia Beizar, and Stephen Tateishi share their digital transformation nightmare stories and tips on how to get back on track when managing unruly projects.…
Get another look into how Postlight works as Chris and Gina discuss how specific training and onboarding guidelines can restrict progress and creative approaches to project delivery. Can encouraging critical thinking lead to better products and happier clients? How much freedom is too much? And do the benefits match the costs?…
How do you account for small change items within larger product roadmaps? Should you keep small changes separate from the bigger items or lump them together? This week Chris and Gina answer a listener’s question about how to do the clean-up work while rolling out big shiny features. They share how to get creative with your work so you can focus on the big and small features in parallel.…
“Move fast and break things” is a common term in tech, but is that the right way to go about product development? This week, Chris and Gina share their thoughts on when it’s okay to move fast during the product life cycle and when you should take it slow. If you’re at the beginning of the life cycle, moving fast and taking risks can be crucial for the survival of your business, but later on, taking a slower, more methodical approach can get you to the finish line.…
Working with aggressive timelines, multiple stakeholders, and endless constraints can seem daunting. In this live panel recording, Postlight’s Head of Product Design Natalie Kurz chats with Matthew Marco, Jodi Leo, and Todd Hulin about navigating tricky project constraints. From tips on how to identify constraints early on in the design process to ways you can include all stakeholders (think legal and compliance), the panelists show you how to turn your constraints into strengths.…
Being the Hero: On Managing Client Relationships by Postlight
There’s a lot of bad software out there, but this week let’s celebrate the good software. This week Chris and Gina share some of their favorite productivity tools that make their work lives easier and work flow better. From streamlining emails to taking quicker notes to filing company expenses, get an insight into what products Postlight uses behind the scenes.…
You Are What You Measure: On Attracting New Users by Postlight
Disagree and Commit: On When You Hate the Work by Postlight
Taking a Break From Business Thrash: On the Importance of Vacation by Postlight
If you’ve ever been the victim of a content management system (CMS), raise your hand. This week Chappell Ellison, Postlight’s Associate Director of Digital Strategy, joins Gina and Chris to unpack their complicated relationships with CMSs. They talk about knowing when it’s the right time to dump your current system, how you can move on from the trauma of past CMSs, and how to choose your next one.…
Margin of Error: Factoring in the Unpredictable by Postlight
Bigger and Better: On Joining the NTT Data Family by Postlight
Ready Set Go: On Product Roadmapping by Postlight
Removing Uncertainty: How to Turn Anxiety Into Great Performances by Postlight
On Running Great Executive Meetings by Postlight
Our Credible Journey: On Joining NTT Data by Postlight
Kate Radway on product thinking and streaming platforms
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Postlight Podcast
Pragmatism and Panache: On Managing Priorities for Delivering Quality Products by Postlight
Roadmap vs. Backlog: On Product Thinking by Postlight
As a hybrid and remote-friendly workplace, it’s rare that the whole Postlight team gets together, but recently the entire team congregated in New York City for a week of in-person events. In this episode, Chris and Gina chat about the importance of Remotes Week in building trust and relationships and share tips on how to make everyone feel at home during in-person events. IRL cheers to IRL meet-ups!…
Keeping huge software projects on track is hard but not impossible. This week Chris and Gina walk us through how they come up with deadlines that work both for the client and the team. They explain what questions you should be asking to make sure nothing is overlooked in the beginning planning stages and explain what to do in that dreaded scenario when you realize you’re not going to hit your target. A good tip: Challenge anyone who says, “This should be easy.”…
What Postlight’s senior leadership team has learned about leading through their own mistakes.
There’s nothing worse than waiting for a page to load. This week, Chris LoSacco and Gina Trapani go deep on a crucial yet underappreciated feature of digital platforms — speed. They break down how things can get so slow and share tips on how you can build for speed, from database indexing to managing how much processing is happening on the service side versus the client side. We’ve got the need for speed!…
Software is never done — but that doesn’t mean you need to be stressed about constantly reworking it. The codebase architecture choices you make at the outset can set you up better for the future. This week, Chris and Gina share their tips on building for the future, from reusing code wherever possible to deciding what kind of technical debt you’re willing to take on to addressing accessibility concerns first instead of last.…
Founding Executive Editor of Wired Magazine Kevin Kelly just turned 70, and on his birthday, he shared 103 bits of advice that he wished he had known. This week, Paul and Rich share some of their favorite pieces of Kevin Kelly wisdom from the list.
Paul and Rich on the wealthy and their vanity projects
Is impatience the root of anxiety? Is a lack of others’ anticipation the root of our impatience? Is good communication the root of anticipation? This week Rich, Gina, and Chris discuss when impatience is a feature and when it’s a bug — and call on a framework from Gina’s kid’s school to prioritize what should get done when.…
At what age should you give your kid a phone? This week Paul and Rich sit down to discuss the inevitable moment when their kids ask for a phone. They break down how it can be a tool for freedom and the many concerns that can come with kids having their own phones. Could the answer be banning content creation for kids?…
Paul and Rich love experimenting with new tech and love the idea of decentralization, so why are they so skeptical about Web3? This week Paul and Rich distill their feelings about Web3 and explain why they’re already bored by conversations about it. They ask: Is it really worth investing in something long-term if the only benefit is that you’re not missing out?…
No founder should be all-consumed with work, and that is why Head of Bloomberg Beta Roy Bahat is no longer a founder. This week Roy joins Gina Trapani and Michael Shane to discuss how workplace boundaries are becoming normalized and why providing VC support in a company’s irrational phase excites him more than a later, safer bet. He also stresses the importance of language in a large and diverse workforce and questions whether metaphors and analogies are useful or alienating.…
From polar expeditions to Twitter’s Longform team, Tony Haile knows how to lead — and when to step back. Former CEO of Chartbeat and Scroll, Tony is now Senior Director of Product at Twitter. This week, he joins Gina and Paul to share wisdom on managing the managers, knowing your weaknesses, and successfully integrating a team after being acquired by a bigger player.…
How do you build a bridge between climate science and culture? This week, Alison Smart, Executive Director of Probable Futures, and Peter Croce, Lead Product Manager at Postlight, join Paul and Rich to talk about how to create accessible resources for understanding climate change. What tools has Probable Futures created to tackle this? How do they collaborate with clients that want to make a positive difference? And, what is the price tag for climate change?…
Gina and Chris share their favorite metaphors about running a business
TypeScript is now one of the top five programming languages, but what is it exactly? And why has everyone adopted it in recent years? This week, Paul and Rich sit down with Orta Therox, a former engineer on TypeScript at Microsoft. He breaks down what makes up a type system, how to migrate to Typescript, and why it could be considered “CTO Optimized.”…
A couple weeks ago Gina Trapani, Chris LoSacco and Michael Shane got together on Twitter Space to chat about how people with big ideas but less authority can get buy-in and budgets for future tech projects. In the live event, Chris, Gina and Michael answer questions like, Who do you need to persuade to get your project going? What kind of storytelling will be the most persuasive? What will motivate executives or bosses to support the change? We show you how to talk to execs to get them to recognize the value of your project.…
As Director of Product Design at HBOMax, Michael McWatters knows a thing or two about welcoming people to a service. This week, Michael joins Paul and Rich to talk about onboarding and why onboarding should actually be happening along every step of a user’s journey, not just as part of marketing. He draws some parallels between online onboarding and in-store experiences and explains why you shouldn’t be training during onboarding - show don’t tell.…
In 2021, Postlight grew from a small-ish agency to a team of over 100 people. This week, Gina and Chris share how they helped scale Postlight since taking on their new roles. From establishing a senior leadership team, choosing better internal tools, and sending out employee surveys, they break down how to empower your team to help everyone (company included) grow.…
So much of product management is about getting to launch, but what (and how) you learn when the product is live is when the data story begins. This week, Paul and Rich chat with data enthusiast — and Postlight’s Senior Product Manager — Reed Whitmont. Reed shares what goes into a solid analytics setup, what your funnel should look like, and how to use your data’s story to refine an even better product.…
How do you find new leaders? Is it better to promote from within or hire from outside? Do former practitioners make better leaders? As Postlight’s CEO and President, Gina Trapani and Chris LoSacco ask themselves these questions daily. This week, Gina and Chris share their thoughts on how to spot leadership qualities and empower new leaders.…
A little while back, Paul and Rich did an episode on the promises of Web3 — but there’s still more to be said. This week, they chat with internet pioneer Michael Sippey to get more clarity on what Web3 entails. Michael explains the three main components that make up Web3 (think DeFi, NFTs, and DAOs) and shares why he’s so excited about its possibilities.…
This week Paul and Rich send us a message from the future in the year 2058. A lot has happened since 2022 (like Paul Ford becoming the President of the United States of America). Paul and Rich report on the state of the world, from vaccines to climate to the state of software, and share what we could have done differently.…
We look at our phones now more than ever, which means we spend a lot of time looking at app icons — some even become seared into our minds. So, what makes an app icon worthy? This week, Chappell Ellison and Nathan Burge chat with Jim Nielsen and Michael Flarup, who wrote an entire book dedicated to showcasing the power of app icon design. Jim and Michael share the history of app icons, their impact on your brand, and why they wanted to write a book on the topic.…
The world of software and technology has never been so employed. From product designers to product managers to engineers, the need for finding new talent abounds. But what about retaining existing talent? Postlight’s dear friend and returning guest, Tim Meaney, joins Rich and Paul to offer his tips for making your best talent want to stay.…
Six months ago, Gina Trapani and Chris LoSacco took over as CEO and President of Postlight, respectively. This week, they join Paul and Rich to discuss their new roles, the leadership transition, and why Gina thought it might never happen. Chris and Gina also share their vision for Postlight’s future and what they’ll tackle first. Here’s to a new year and new opportunities!…
Will Web3 help decentralize the web and give us more privacy, or will it fall into the same old traps? This week, Gina Trapani joins Paul and Rich to dissect Web3 and its many utopian promises. Are they right to be critical of it, or is their point of view out-of-touch? Probably — but there’s still a lot to discuss.…
What is Web3, and why should we care about it? Will it be the digital revolution that brings the internet back to its decentralized and democratic roots? This week, internet expert (and Postlight CEO) Gina Trapani joins Rich and Paul to chat about their experiences with different iterations of the web and break down how it ended up so siloed, control-driven, and centralized. Will Web3 save us? Stay tuned.…
Paul and Rich are proud New Yorkers through and through, but sometimes they can't help but feel jealous that California kicked NYC to the curb when it comes to tech and Silicon Valley. This week, they unpack how that happened and try to figure out what it is about California that sparks innovation. They also speculate what the next technological revolution will look like and discuss whether or not we're on the cusp of a crypto explosion.…
It’s no secret that the past two years have shaped the ways we work with others. We have a growing constellation of tools at our disposal that all orbit around our sun: Slack. But why does it still feel like none of those tools talk to one another? This week, Rich and Paul chat about that disconnect and how it affects the way we work. They also envision a more streamlined future for tools and a better way to communicate.…
It’s been a few weeks since Zuckerberg’s video broke the internet, but does anyone actually know what the metaverse is? This week Paul and Rich chat with journalist Choire Sicha to figure it out. Will it be a radical new way to live in the future, or did Facebook only need a new story to tell? Together, they predict what digital platforms will look like in 20 years and what such changes will mean for all of us.…
Tom Watson and Stefan Borsje are avid photographers and creators of the new photography app, Glass. This week they join Paul Ford and Michael Shane, Postlight’s Head of Digital Strategy, to talk about developing the app for their fellow photographers. They also share why they chose community funding over venture capital, highlight the importance of transparency with your users, and discuss defining product success when growth isn’t the primary focus.…
Clay Shirky is a man of many talents — author, educator, and now Vice Provost of Educational Technologies at the New York University. This week, Clay joins Paul and Rich to discuss his role in procuring tech for a large educational institution and shares how the pandemic made us more aware than ever of ed tech's shortcomings. He also breaks down the dangers of optimizing for stability instead of flexibility. Could low-code solutions be the answer for universities? Clay thinks so, but it’s not always that easy.…
What's a Product Discovery Coach? This week Teresa Torres joins Paul and Rich to break down the mystique of her job title and the important work behind it. They discuss all things product development, and Teresa shares how unearthing product assumptions can help you achieve a better final outcome. Teresa also explains why you should expect your ideas to fail — and use that failure to your advantage.…
As an actor and communications coach, Bill Smartt knows how to speak to the room — both in person and online. Bill has been working with Postlight for years, and this week, he joins Paul and Rich with tips on how to communicate effectively and give that presentation you’re nervous about. He breaks down how to structure your deck, shares how to make eye contact on a video call, and discusses the importance of rehearsing.…
Paul Ford may have coined the term “content strategist” but he’s certainly not the only expert in it. This week Paul and Rich are joined by Postlight’s Associate Director of Digital Strategy, Chappell Ellison, to discuss the three pillars of content strategy. She also discusses the difference between editorial and technical content strategists, shares her journey in finding the role, and explains why content strategy work will only continue to grow.…
On October 4th, 2021, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp were all down for most of the afternoon. Meanwhile, Paul and Rich recorded this week’s episode to discuss the outage and the ongoing allegations against Facebook. They also draw parallels between regulating Facebook and regulating the tobacco industry and share their hypotheses on how Facebook got to the point of overlooking the safety of its users.…
It’s the 300th episode of the Postlight Podcast! To celebrate, Paul and Rich talk with Steph Colbourn, founder and CEO of editaudio and producer of the podcast since early days. Steph gives the inside scoop on how the podcast gets made, what makes a great one, and the latest developments in the podcast production industry. She also shares Rich and Paul’s best (worst?) bloopers from the cutting room floor.…
So, you’ve agreed on what you’ll deliver and signed the contract, but then a stakeholder asks for one more thing. And one more thing. Change is bound to happen when you’re shipping software — how do you keep your project on track? In part three of the Catalyst Live! event series, Paul and Rich share tips on managing change from the get-go and explain when it’s okay to say no. As always, they top it all off by answering listener questions.…
Both Rich and Vicky didn’t start off in software, so how did they end up there? This week Rich is joined by Postlight’s Head of Product Management, Vicky Volvovski, to talk about their professional paths. They discuss what drives them and share tips on how to get that next role you have your eye on. Hint: Don’t be afraid to show your work in progress.…
Acronyms can feel cheesy, but they sure are effective — in the world of software and beyond. This week Paul and Rich discuss the value of naming your initiatives and urge you to embrace the inevitable acronym that will follow. They chat about how strong naming can help teams internalize processes and rally around projects. They also discuss how the power of naming has been a powerful communication tool of the pandemic.…
If you've been a customer of Amazon Web Services, you know the billing nightmares of services that weren't built to talk to each other. After learning firsthand, Corey Quinn founded The Duckbill Group to help companies tackle their confusing and wildly expensive AWS bills. This week, he joins Paul and Rich to share advice on cutting down your AWS bill and tips on what cloud services you should be using.…
As you know by now, Rich and Paul were itching to get back to the office. They craved those IRL moments that spark conversation, build relationships, and foster innovation. This week, Senior Director and Head of Product Management, Vicky Volvovski, argues that all of that can be done remotely (and done well!). After working from home for a decade, Vicky shares her favorite tools to set up a deliberate remote working environment, build team relationships, and conceive great products.…
The MTA is one of the largest transit systems in the world, and recently, Postlight helped take it digital. This week Joshua Gee, Director of Digital Customer Experience at the MTA, joins Paul and Rich to get into the nitty-gritty of updating massive government systems. From legacy platforms to procurement to getting different parts of government to talk to each other, they chat about implementing new tech platforms at the government level and why it is often so difficult.…
This week Chris and Gina sit down with Nathan Henry and Vicky Volvovski of Postlight’s PM leadership to talk all things product management at a client services firm. Nathan and Vicky share ideas on building lasting client relationships and break down how to structure client workshops to get at the root of the problems you’re trying to solve. Then, they discuss what questions you should be asking to gain trust and encourage your clients to open up.…
Since the 1950s, Fender has been one of the leading names in music. Six years ago, Ethan Kaplan pitched Fender to build out a digital take on a traditionally analog experience — guitar lessons. This week, Paul and Rich sit down with Ethan to discuss how he pitched the idea to the team and why Fender needed a digital strategy. He also shares valuable project management advice and REM album recommendations.…
Deadlines might be the best productivity tool invented to date. But what are other ways to motivate your team? This week Paul and Rich grapple with how to operationalize work processes without exerting too much power. They also give cheeky tips for employees to navigate deadlines with their bosses.
Exciting things are happening at Postlight! This week Paul and Rich introduce the new President and the new CEO of Postlight. Paul and Rich explain why they are stepping back into their roles as Co-Founders and share what they’ll be doing next. Also, Gina Trapani and Chris LoSacco talk about their new roles and what they envision for the future of the firm. Don’t worry — the Postlight Podcast isn’t going anywhere.…
Billionaires live in a different reality — but that’s no reason why you can’t connect, communicate, and collaborate. This week Paul and Rich share tips for successfully communicating with the wealthiest leaders. They explain the importance of keeping it simple and why billionaires often respond with gusto when you tell them what they shouldn’t do.…
Agendas are important, but can you stick to them too much? This week Paul and Rich break down how to transform your meeting from a rigid list of bullet points to a more creative and collaborative environment. They discuss how remote work has changed meeting dynamics and share what they've missed about the spontaneous, quick-fire meetings brought on by working in person.…
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When Lauren Lockwood and Emily Wright-Moore worked for the government, a digital services agency to serve their industry didn’t exist — so, they created one! This week Paul and Gina sit down with Lauren and Emily of Bloom Works to discuss the unique challenges of providing digital services within the government. Then, they share how Bloom Works aims to help people working on software in government navigate through the dense bureaucratic fog.…
As the Co-Founders of Postlight, Paul and Rich don’t often hack away and engineer anymore. This week though, Rich shares a little side project he’s been working on. He breaks down why he's programming in Python and shares his realization that although the languages may change, the problems stay the same.…
Throughout his engineering career, Andrew Childs used his fair share of project management tools. None of them felt quite right, so he quit his job and built his own — Clubhouse.io. Andrew joins Paul and Rich to discuss why the tool has become so popular at Postlight, and how it’s managed to survive in such a crowded project management marketplace.…
Michael Shane began his career as a classical musician, and now he’s Director of Digital Strategy at Postlight. This week, Michael takes Paul and Rich on his journey from the orchestra to the land of tech. He shares what he's learned along the way from what makes a great digital strategist to why strategy isn’t the same as sales — and gives tips on how to write a proposal that will win over any audience.…
When you’re a small but growing company, sometimes the best people to learn from are the big fish in your industry pond — the friendly ones that don’t eat you. This week Paul and Rich speak with Tracey Zimmerman, President and CEO of Robots & Pencils, a digital innovation firm working on similar projects as Postlight but at double the size. They compare notes with Tracey on what makes a successful innovator, how to build the right teams for your clients, and how to scale your organizational culture. Links:…
This week Paul and Rich are joined by a new Postlight team member, Director of Product Management Vicky Volvovski. Vicky talks all things product management and breaks down the differences between agency work and product org work. She also shares the six things she looks for when hiring project managers and gives Paul and Rich some solicited feedback. Links:…
This week Paul and Rich respond to a mailbag question! A listener reached out seeking advice on how best to deliver a project pitch to higher-ups at a company. From keeping your presentation short to showing up with deliverables, Paul and Rich break down the best ways to make your idea land with the C-suite.…
What does Facebook’s Oversight Board actually do? This week Paul and Rich discuss the immense power that the Oversight Board holds. They talk about what type of oversight should exist and whether the current measures are enough. Also, Rich gets to flex his law degree breaking down the difficulties of translating policy into product. Links:…
Hindsight is 20/20. This week Paul and Rich look back at Postlight’s beginnings. Knowing what they know now, they share insights on what they wish they’d done when founding the company. From embracing marketing to betting more chips on design, they reflect on some of the things they missed.
After over a year away, Paul and Rich are vaccinated and back in the office. From the Postlight recording studio, they discuss their experience of returning to the office — overwhelming at first, but ultimately a refreshing reset. They also reflect on the importance of in-person work for effective communication, connection, and planning for the future. Links:…
It feels like every week there’s a new tech trend that’s being touted as the next big thing: from the Internet of Things to augmented reality to machine learning. This week Paul and Rich break down some of these trends and tell you if and when you should worry about adopting them. Links:
In the past year the world saw the development and distribution of the COVID vaccine. This week Paul and Rich share what they observed in watching this process. We talk about how, like the vaccine, with software, you need to be able to take something very complex and make it available to the masses. Links:…
Why discuss only one topic when you can discuss three! This week Paul and Rich dig into three unrelated but important topics that they’ve had top of mind. They share musings on going back to the office and break down Natural Language Processing (NLP). Then Paul reveals what he learned from watching a two-hour presentation by Salesforce. Links:…
Ever wonder how (or why) certain emoji get made? Look no further than Jennifer Daniel, Google’s Chair of the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee — the team that brings new emoji to life. Jennifer gives a brief emoji history lesson and explains how her work creating emoji is surprisingly akin to journalism. She also breaks down the emoji creation and selection process and gives a sneak peek into next year’s releases. Links:…
When’s the right time to adapt? This week Paul and Rich discuss how companies adjust to changing times and risks. They consider whether you need a culture of fear in a company to force change, or if innovation can come from a positive and aspirational place. Links:
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Tim Meaney returns to the Postlight Podcast, and he’s ready to talk DeFi. This week Paul, Rich, and Tim have a heated discussion about new trends in blockchain and cryptocurrencies. They draw parallels between crypto and conspiracy theories, and Tim explains why the protocols around DeFi are something we should be looking at beyond its current financial applications. Links:…
In this second live Catalyst event, Paul and Rich discuss how to pitch your project to all types of stakeholders. They also delve into the tools and methods you can use to gain consensus in the room and talk about the persuasive power of good design. Links:
Paul was once a believer in creating small startups within large organizations. But after years in the tech industry, he’s changed his mind. This week Paul and Rich discuss internal startups and why they’re often just not possible. After all, one key ingredient is existential risk — without that, can you call it a startup? Links:…
As both a medical practitioner and a patient, Lyfebulb founder Dr. Karin Hehenberger knows a thing or two about living with chronic disease. As a young girl, she was diagnosed with diabetes and went on to earn her M.D. and a doctorate studying health complications around the disease. This week, Karin joins Paul and Gina to talk about Lyfebulb — the online platform she built with Postlight’s help to empower those living with chronic disease. Links:…
These days, artificial intelligence is being sold as the solution to all of your technological problems. But is spending time and energy on AI systems worth it? According to Paul and Rich — it’s not. They share why it’s more important to clean up your existing problems instead of implementing new, sparkly technologies to solve them.…
Scaling your business is exciting, but it can also be scary and anxiety-inducing. This week, Paul and Rich share lessons they’ve learned in five years growing Postlight from managing business owner anxiety to learning to let go and trust others. They also discuss the importance of building your business to be much bigger than its founders. Links:…
Black Girl Ventures began with a tipi in Shelly Bell’s living room and a call to a psychic in California. Shelly Bell chats with Paul and Gina about how she went from building that tipi to building a platform that has now funded over 100 Black and Brown woman-led businesses. Shelly also shares what goes into a strong investor pitch and talks about the importance of giving honest feedback. Links:…
The goal of the vaccine rollout is to first protect the most vulnerable in society. But what happens when the system keeps out those who need it most? Rich walks us through his frustrating experience navigating New York’s vaccine website. He breaks down the design barriers causing accessibility issues and offers fixes to reduce friction in the process. Links:…
The pandemic has made people crave simple, digestible information even when the information they need is not-so-simple. This week, Rich and Paul draw similarities to technology and the conspiracy theories that have mastered messaging and used it to spread harmful misinformation. How can we counter it? Tell a clear, simple story and tell it again and again. Links:…
Technology is an accelerator that helps people share ideas and connect. But last week, people in power used that same accelerator to harm others. Likely too little too late — but banning Trump from social platforms hugely impacts the spread of misinformation. This week, Paul and Rich break down the four hacks that contributed to dangerous conspiracy theories and discuss the laws that need to be put into place to protect the future. Links:…
Since its beginning, WordPress has won the hearts and computers of millions. This week Paul and Gina are joined by WordPress creator Matthew Mullenweg as he talks about the expansion of WordPress and his love for open source. He shares controversial opinions on open source and explains why we’ll all be headed there in the future. Links:…
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is North America’s most expansive mass transit system — and Postlight partnered to take it digital. This week, Gina Trapani and Chris LoSacco discuss shipping such a large and sprawling project, from the importance of engaging with stakeholders to furthering team leadership opportunities along the way. All aboard! Links:…
It’s been a rough year — but the web still has Easter eggs, and tech is not all evil. This week, Paul and Rich briefly ignore 2020 to focus on the Pleasant Internet Things that bring them joy. From their favorite sites to their favorite tech, they share a few insights to help finish the year on a high note. Links:…
A little while back we made gentle fun of Google’s hamburger menu. Well, Google responded! This week Paul and Rich sit down with Google’s Senior Director of Product Management, Ben Wilson, to discuss the hamburger menu and so much more. We chat about the importance of good research and why it’s vital to promote diversity in your teams. Also, Ben shares what it’s like designing product at such a large scale — think trillions of API calls a day. Links:…
In October, we released Catalyst, a Postlight whitepaper on driving digital transformation within an organization. This week we release the audio from our first of a four part presentation series on Catalyst. In this first live recording, we explain the importance of defining your mission, we share some industry trends and we answer all of your questions. Links:…
A little while back Mailchimp approached Postight for some help. They wanted to improve their developer experience and rebrand their APIs. This week we are joined by two Postlight employees, Liz Tan and Adam Pash, who helped make that happen. They share their reflections on the process and talk about what it was like doing design and content strategy for such a well known and beloved company. Links:…
What happens when software eats the world? Industry veterans Paul Ford and Rich Ziade chat with their friends about technology, design, and business from a distinctly East Coast point of view. Decades of experience inform their no-BS, quick-witted patter about what digital transformation really means. Created by Postlight, the digital product studio they co-founded in New York City.…
If you’ve ever struggled to build software in a large organization, you know how many obstacles can get in the way. To help you through the process, look no further than Catalyst, Postlight’s new whitepaper. This week Paul and Rich discuss the whitepaper and the different organizational aspects of shipping software that are often overlooked. Be sure to join us on November 12 at our live (remote) recording of the Postlight Podcast where we'll talk about all things Catalyst and give more insights on growing the digital side of your business. Links:…
Postlight is going to Kindergarten! It’s been a wild ride these past five years and we’ve learned a lot. This week we share some useful lessons that we’ve learned since our inception. We talk about the importance of being generous, keeping your contracts short, keeping your employees happy and never forgetting that revenue comes first. Here’s to five more happy years! Links:…
Flying is all about giving up control, trusting your instruments and staying the course. This week Paul and Rich break down the similarities between piloting a plane and piloting a company. We talk about the concept of instrument flying and explain why navigating cross winds in a plane is not so different from an agency navigating their business. Links:…
As someone who has worked both in Silicon Valley and in The White House, Jason Goldman has a unique perspective on tech regulation. This week he shares his thoughts on the rise of monolithic social media platforms and how they’ve been used to advance political agendas and promote hate. He shares what he’s learned about regulation while working in the White House and reminds us that there’s hope in younger generations. Links:…
It feels like every week a new software as a service project management tool pops up. This week we discuss if these spreadsheet-like project management tools can act as a good template for shipping products. We discuss the power dynamics related to project management and talk about whether these notification driven tools are actually effective or if they are instead just a bit annoying. Links:…
This week Paul & Rich discuss what’s in a name, or more specifically a job description. We read some recent job postings and try to understand how tech culture got to the point of needing DevSecOps and Happiness Engineers. We talk about how the industry creates specialized skills and share our experience evolving within our own jobs. Links:…
It’s 2020. You can buy just about anything on your phone, you can do banking on your phone, so why can’t you vote on your phone? This week, Paul & Rich discuss the various security concerns that could come with online voting. We talk about the possible vulnerabilities in an online system and the danger of removing the people, checks and balances that come with traditional voting. Most importantly, be sure to go vote! Links:…
Microsoft used to be all about Windows but in recent years we’ve seen a huge transformation in the company. They went from thinking monolithically to branching out and making new connections with users on several different devices. This week we break down how Microsoft’s failures and new leadership led to a more diversified list of products and how humility helped them move forward. Links:…
We’ve been seeing a lot of questionable data being thrown around recently — think Trump’s interview with Jonathan Swan. As the election approaches, we can’t help but notice how data is being used to manipulate people. This week we dive into conspiracy thinking and talk about how tech today is being used to spread what were once fringe opinions to the masses. Links:…
There are two types of tech stakeholders, the detente and the dreamer. One is more reactive and is just trying to keep the peace while the other loves the possibility and potential in innovating. So which is best? Do you focus on stability and mitigating risk or do you make big bold moves? This week we discuss these two types of stakeholders and talk about the best ways to pitch software investments to CEOs and CFOs, which is no small feat. Links:…
We recently launched a huge project with New York’s public transit system, The MTA. Like the transit system the project was big and complex. This week we are joined by Product Manager Jojo Giltsoff who kept the MTA project running smoothly. She shares her tips and tools for managing big and busy teams and projects. She also teaches us how to find a healthy balance between being hypercritical and being an advocate for your team and explains why you should be writing down all the positive things people say about you. Links:…
Paul tells us about his new project, Ephemeralist, a web page that gives your brain a break from the heaviness of social media. It pulls archives from places like the MoMA and the Smithsonian, and allows you to scroll through history—from books and fossils, to pictures of donkeys from the 1700s. We go through Paul's experience with hosting his new project on Google Cloud and how these massive hosting platforms have become increasingly convoluted and geared towards engineers. Links:…
Enterprise software is a behemoth. It’s expensive, confusing and takes forever to learn. On this week’s episode of Postlight Podcast, Paul & Rich continue to break down why enterprise software is such a mess. We get into this confusing world of caked-on features and mysterious sales pitches. Links:…
In the wise words of Elbert Hubbard “logic is a tool for furthering prejudice.” On this week’s episode of the Postlight Podcast, Paul & Rich unpack this quote and talk about how best to communicate facts and logic. We share some tips on how to communicate facts in a way that actually engages people and talk about why using rhetoric rather than fact is a better way to get your point across. And in the end, we of course tie this all back to software.…
The past 6 months have forced everyone into a new working situation, a situation that could continue for a while yet. This week Paul and Rich share some tips for coping with the ongoing pandemic. We discuss why you should be gathering your team more often and keeping clear and frequent communication about what’s happening across the company. We also talk about ways to be a source of stability for your employees and, of course, about the importance of humour. Links:…
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1 Restricting Freedom for More Freedom: On The Parallels Between Wearing a Mask and Regulating Tech 26:37
We regulate cars so why not regulate tech? This week on the Postlight Podcast, Paul & Rich get philosophical. We ask the big questions about how to regulate our own creations and how sometimes infringing on someone’s freedom can actually be a good thing. After all, without red lights the streets don’t work. Links:…
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In this final episode of our 3 part series, Paul & Rich check back in with Managing Partner Chris LoSacco on the two final mistakes you’ve likely been making with your product. Chris explains his controversial opinion on why you shouldn’t be listening to your customers (don’t worry it’s not as scary or irresponsible as it sounds). We also talk about the importance of marketing your products within your own organization. Links:…
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In Part 2 of this 3 part series, Paul, Rich & Postlight Managing Partner Chris LoSacco talk about two more mistakes you’re making with your product, neglecting your tooling and single sourcing your Quality Assurance (QA). We discuss how you can optimize your tooling setup to be more productive and catch errors early in the development process. We also talk about how product managers can help select the right tools and why QA should be baked into the whole process. Links:…
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Keeping your timeline super flexible may sound like a good idea when developing software, after all software is always changing, but Chris LoSacco is here to tell you why that’s a mistake. This week we dig into the 6 common mistakes people make in product development. In Part 1 we go over the first two mistakes, being vague with your timelines and waiting too long to ship. Chris gives some solutions to these common problems and walks you through some tips for structuring a better product release. Links:…
When presenting to a client, you may feel inclined to load your pitch deck with information, but overwhelming your audience with information may actually be working against you. This week Rich & Gina give some tips on putting together an effective and persuasive deck. We talk about the importance of simplicity and storytelling and discuss our different methods of rehearsing the pitch. Links:…
We hate to introduce yet another acronym, but this one is worth paying attention to. This week we introduce QORE, Postlight’s method of evaluating the main components of any projects. We breakdown the 4 letters of the acronym, quality, opportunity, risk and efficiency and show you how keeping track of these can help you produce something you and your clients will be proud of. Use QORE and prosper friends! Links:…
When your company is growing quickly there comes a time when you need to give up some control and hire new leaders and managers. This week we discuss introducing new managers to your company and finding the right fit for your team. We also reluctantly acknowledge that off-site meetings in the woods can actually be beneficial. Links:…
Big tech continues to dominate the markets. How can their competitors stay alive while keeping up with the speed of innovation? Paul & Rich discuss the double-edged sword of how to find efficiencies. How can we shift away from machine learning that often misses the mark? Start empowering & trusting your people and give them what they need to build tools to find those insights for you. Links…
Workflow is a seemingly simple process, you assign tasks and move a project down a pipeline. So why then is workflow still so difficult to manage? This week Paul & Rich talk about different workflow tools and how none of them seem quite right for the challenges we are facing today. We discuss the tools that are out there today and the need for better alternatives. Links:…
Do social media companies have a responsibility to monitor what people say on their platforms? This week Paul and Rich discuss why Facebook & Twitter should be changing their policies in response to unrest and poor leadership. We discuss the laws that let these companies off the hook and Rich gives us an interesting lesson in free-speech law. Links:…
Ever wish you could create a custom Slack emoji to send to your co-workers? Well look no further than Textmoji, a new web app from Postlight Labs. It’s simple and easy to use and allows you to make text emoji for Slack and Discord for any occasion. Textmoji creator and software engineer Preston Richey joins us to talk about how and why he wanted to create this app and teaches Paul and Rich about a new developer framework. Links:…
How do you know when it’s time to rebrand? Last week we launched a new brand and want to tell you all about it. But we also want to share some broader lessons about when and why rebranding is necessary. We share what we’ve learned over the years about growing a company and evolving a brand to better suit what the company can do, not what it’s already done. We hope you like our new look! Links:…
Artificial intelligence is all about automating human behavior — and that includes bad behavior. How can technologists write software that helps rather than harms? Paul and Rich discuss the rise of apps that encode shady approaches like loan sharking into automated tools, and whether social pressures may eventually right those wrongs — or if that change will come too late. Links: "…
When was the first time you became aware of the air? As the CEO of a drone transportation company, Star Simpson thinks about flight everyday. She joins the podcast to talk about her startup, ThereCraft, which uses drones to deliver lifesaving supplies to first responders and improves last-mile delivery to remote locations. She reveals a few secrets about engineering her flying vehicles of the future, and discusses what’s to come for drone technology. Links:…
Postlight loves playing with code — and sometimes that play helps people be more productive. Paul and Gina introduce Account, a new open-source Labs project from Postlight that renders interactive math equations as text stories. Paul discusses the importance of creating data representations that people can explore, and thanks to Account, Gina is converted from an old-school coder to a React fan.…
It seems natural to implement rules to reduce risk. But when dealing with fluid processes like software development, can rigidity and fear of unknown variables actually hold you back? Paul and Rich discuss what’s at stake when leaders confuse rules with risk mitigation. We draw parallels between a good pilot, a good lawyer, and good software development — and as a bonus, Paul tells you how you can earn a promotion using only four words. Links:…
When you can’t invite a prospective client into the office, how do you hold their attention and show them you’re actively listening? Charisma and eye contact don’t make the same impact over Zoom. Paul and Rich explain an adaptive sales approach that uses digital tools and tactics to demonstrate value. Behold our new Reactive Sales technique. Links:…
Good design often goes unnoticed, but not for Scott Berkun. In his new book, How Design Makes the World, Scott delves into how both good and bad design affect our daily lives. On this episode, Scott lays out the big questions you must ask about your users: Who do you design for, and why? And how do you avoid unintended harm when designing products? Links:…
The modern global economy has been built on relatively stable markets, so what happens now that stability is no longer a constant? Paul and Rich ask the big questions about our economic systems: Why is it so difficult to coordinate at scale? What is the best way to optimize a supply chain? And how can we meet everyone’s needs?…
Creating a sensation: Jordan Mechner built his first video game in high school, sourcing info from books (there was no internet); a few years later, he concocted the hit game Prince of Persia in his dorm room. On the podcast, Jordan shares an inside look into his new book and chronicles the time he spent building a genre-defining game: his creative process, inspiration for his work, and insights about building games then vs. now. Links:…
Shared Crisis: When a stressed client comes to you with an urgent request, it's hard not to panic. The tight deadlines may seem daunting but there are ways to mitigate the crisis. Paul and Rich share their insights on how to lessen stress, limit expectations, and simplify processes to get a product shipped quickly. Some pro tips: take a breath, create a sense of shared responsibility, reduce risk, and don’t forget to sleep! Links:…
Apologize later: Renowned tech journalist and writer Steven Levy chats about his new book, Facebook: The Inside Story, which peers behind the scenes at the biggest social media monolith of our day. Levy breaks down how he convinced Facebook to give him inside access, what was happening there during the 2016 election, and why Mark Zuckerberg loves Caesar Augustus so much. Caution, books spoilers ahead! Links:…
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Paul and Rich have a follow up discussion about Marc Andreessen’s newest article and ask the important question: How can we connect and empower people to create crucial tools for society when the industry has become so transactional? Are we able to create necessary social momentum when there’s no money involved? Paul puts out a plea for Postlight to create a software development kit for education at a platform level. It remains to be seen if venture capitalists are ready to shift their focus to do the same. (Perhaps that’s an idea for Marc Andreessen to think about!) Links…
There’s a reason to expect criticism: Paul and Rich dig into the newest article from VC Marc Andreessen. In it, Andreessen exhorts Americans to innovate and blames our lack of preparation for the pandemic on a lack of desire to do so. We reflect on the current state of America and how apparent the holes in our social governance have become since COVID-19 (especially the education system). Is there a world where VC and startups can help us improve these old systems? Has social policy towards more privatization led us towards the wrong things being optimized? We look to other innovations that have come from crises and ask: How can you install that startup-style motivation outside of commercial profit? (Spoiler: Marc Andreessen doesn’t have the answer!)…
Brand Safety: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich are joined by Parse.ly founders Andrew Montalenti and Sachin Kamdar. Andrew and Sachin give us the rundown on their content optimization software and the content trends they are seeing. We discuss how publishers and media outlets are being impacted by COVID and how changes in advertising is impacting those who rely on it. They also share some of the ways they are trying to give clarity to their clients in this time of uncertainty. Links:…
Scripted Interactions: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul, Rich and Gina chat about ways to keep your team focused and on track when working remotely. How do you create urgency to make sure things get done? How can you keep people focused during remote calls? We discuss the need for clear communication and accountability and share some tools to help you structure your meetings and interactions in a digital-only work world. Links:…
This isn’t remote, this is pandemic: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich chat with friend and client Tim Meaney about when things could return to normal and if they should return to normal. We reflect on some of the positive changes that have come from this pandemic, like more time with family and getting rid of inefficiencies. We also talk about the importance of resilience and of course, the hit documentary series Tiger King. Links:…
Excelsior: In this episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich discuss the new Apple-Google contact tracing app aimed at tracking the spread of COVID. We explain what contact tracing is and how the app works. We chat about the potential difficulties of onboarding these types of apps and whether the app will be able to help the most vulnerable. We also discuss how we can best combine technology with good old fashioned testing. Links:…
Priorities as a leader: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich sit down to discuss how the pandemic is impacting business and mental health. Priorities are changing and it’s important to put health and family first. That being said, we also discuss how work can be a welcome distraction from the news and rising COVID-19 numbers. Links:…
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The Grind: This week on Track Changes, Paul and Rich chat with Postlight’s Head of Engineering Jeremy Mack about all things video games. Jeremy teaches us about current video game trends. We learn about loot boxes, battle passes, pay-to-win games and the controversy surrounding these types of monetization. We also get some great indie game recommendations and chat about the future of gaming. Warning for anyone playing the game Journey, this episode contains some spoilers. Links:…
Specify like a caveman: This week on Track Changes, Paul and Rich are joined by Gina Trapani, a managing partner at Postlight, to talk about statements of work (SOWs). We chat about Postlight’s unique SOW process. We talk about why we base our approach on trust and relationships rather than just time and money. We also talk about managing risk, what to do when someone oversteps their original demands and Paul gives some tips on how to make the SOW writing process easier. Hint: write like a caveman. Links:…
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Craft and Quality: This week on Track Changes, Paul and Rich chat with Vice President of Partnerships and Community at InVision, Mike Davidson. We chat about everything from tomato seeds, to shower heads to how to lead a remote team and the ups and downs of remote work. Mike shows us that the one thing these all have in common is they can help simplify your life to help you dig deeper into the things you love. Links:…
Work from home: This week on Track Changes, Paul and Rich chat with Postlight’s head of engineering Jeremy Mack about ways to improve your remote work setup. From basic tips like getting dressed in the morning and using wired headphones to tips on how to navigate remote meetings, Jeremy shares the best practices he’s developed after 6 years of working remotely. He also gives us some examples of non-verbal cues to show others that you’re busy and ways to unwind after a day working from home. Links:…
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Friction is introspection: How did the iPhone come to feel like an intuitive thing to use? This week on Track Changes Paul and Rich sit down with UX designer Cliff Kuang and co-founder of Dalberg Design Robert Fabricant to talk about their new book User Friendly: How the hidden rules of design are changing the way we live, work and play. We discuss the history of the concept and how it’s become something that we demand yet often take for granted. We also chat about the greater paradigm shift that led to the popularity of user experience design and about why we should maybe start to question the view that ease equals progress. Links: User Friendly - Penguin Books Dalberg Design Frog Design Paul Rand - Wikipedia Carbon Design System Plex - Google Fonts Three Mile Island Raymond Loewy - Wikipedia Ideo Marvin Minski - Wikipedia Doug Englebart - Wikipedia Health Kit - Apple The Softbank Effect: How 100 Billion Left Workers in a Hole - New York Times Softbank…
Catering to the masses: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich sit down to discuss the mess that is app stores. We chat about how the race to produce more and more content and why trying to cater to as wide an audience as possible is making for frustrating user experience. We also discuss our dreams of getting rid of in-app micro-purchases and the need for better app reviews. Links: Apple Arcade Google Play Pass Monument Valley Cut the Rope Netflix The Verge iCloud Apple TV Pages Numbers The Morning Show Candy Crush Nintendo Life Death Stranding The Wirecutter Sago Mini Khan Academy Kids…
Answer the question: On this week's episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich share some interview advice they've learned after conducting hundreds of job interviews. We give some straight-forward tips on what to do in job interviews. We chat about the importance of listening, keeping your answers concise and being able to have a conversation with your interviewer. We also talk about what you shouldn’t do. For starters, don’t act like you don’t want the job. Links: Careers at Postlight…
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1 Promoting Digital at the MET: What does it take to be the CDO at The Metropolitan Museum of Art? 26:55
Facilitating a digital mindset: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich sit down to chat about the current job description for the Chief Digital Officer at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. We go over the demands of the job and talk about the many complexities that come with being a CDO at such a large and political organization. We also talk about why it can be difficult joining a new organization and why you might have to accept that people will hate you for a while. Sadly it’s part of the job sometimes. Links: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Job Posting for Met CDO - LinkedIn Met Gala 2020 - Vogue Ralph Lauren Documentary - HBO…
What's the purpose of Email today? This week Paul and Rich sit down to discuss the monster that email has become. Email has transitioned away from a place to have conversation and become a function that eventually moves to another platform (usually Slack). So what is email's real purpose? Do all meaningful conversations need to happen face-to-face? Can we collectively put an end to the eight-paragraph email? We answer these questions and share the top 5 worst email subject lines (Hint: "You have a minute?" is up there!)…
To ship or not to ship: Software is never ready, but sometimes you have to ship it. This week Paul and Rich sit down to talk about the difficulties of shipping software. We share tips on how to deal with numerous stakeholders and engineers so that you can release software on time. We also talk about the importance of setting deadlines and draw some parallels between software and Las Vegas buffets. Links: General Magic Tinysheet by Postlight…
Do Digital Boundaries Exist?: This week Paul and Rich sit down to talk about this week’s tech scandals. We chat about the security flaws found within email client Superhuman and teleconference software Zoom. Do these companies have an obligation to protect their client’s information? Should usability trump security? Do we have a right to be angry? If that's not enough, we also chat about summer BBQs. Links: Mike Davidson: Superhuman is Spying on You Superhuman Zoom…
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Technology is not a panacea: This week Paul and Rich sit down with Noah Brier, who explains to us why technology cannot solve all of our problems. Noah has done countless interviews with enterprises about their tech needs, and has created content marketing software for large enterprises. He shares his insights on current enterprise software trends and gives us some tips on how to better market our business. Pro tip: traditional marketing like billboards and taxi top ads give the most bang for your buck! Links: Percolate Noah Brier’s Blog…
Digital Transformation is like a Horoscope: In this week’s episode, Paul and Rich sit down to discuss need creation and the tech industry's move to talk about trends in such abstract language that it seems like it applies to everybody. We chat about the relationship between service providers and tech research firms and why you should be suspicious of new industry buzzwords and complex acronyms. Reminder: it’s okay to ask what that new acronym means!…
Focus on Core Needs: Lara Hogan knows and loves management so she wrote a book about it. This week she joins Paul and guest host Gina Trapani to chat about her new book and about leadership in the workplace. Lara breaks down her framework for managing different types of people and gives tips on how to adapt your management style. She also gives Paul some useful advice on where he should sit in the office and explains why moving desks can be so traumatic. LINKS: Lara Hogen - Resilient Management Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard…
One size never fits all: This week Paul and Rich discuss two of the need to decentralize or centralize software platforms. Worried about the dozens of unintegrated platforms that have appeared over the years? Feeling restrained by the old legacy software system you’re using? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. We give some tips on how to move forward when dealing with these issues and how to avoid them in the future. Hint: get a product manager, develop a product roadmap, and be cautious of giant pieces of software that claim to solve all your problems.…
Don’t hide what you want people to do: is the advice that Al Rotches gives Paul and Rich about online advertising. Al has built a career on making banner ads for clients like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. On this week’s episode, we chat with Al about how he gets people to engage online with his ads. He shares his insights about the importance of ad placement and about why most banner ads are so horrible. He also gives us some advice on how big and what colour the button should be on your ad. Hint: it should be big and stay away from red! Links: Al Rotches’ Website Barack Obama’s Banner Ads…
No more slapdash, we want Slack-Dash: Ever get bogged down by a neverending Slack thread where few decisions ever get made? On this week’s episode of Track Changes we hear about a new Slack app that solves this very problem. Paul and Rich sit down with fellow Postlight employees Matt Quintanilla and Phil Johnson to chat about Dash, the app they developed that helps you organize your teams and deadlines in Slack. Matt and Phil tell us about why and how they created this new app and why it can be used for anything from preparing for a meeting to wedding planning. Links: Get Dash More about Postlight Labs…
Is this really necessary?: This week Paul and Rich sit down to discuss the current culture surrounding software updates. Are constant software updates necessary? Are they improving the user experience or complicating it? We chat about our love/hate relationship with updates and get to hear Paul compare Spotify to a shapeshifting witch! Links: Updating Spotify Postlight Labs…
Improworsement: is an improvement that makes things worse, and Erin McKean knows all about that. She's wanted to create dictionaries since the age of eight and this year she is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Wordnik, an online dictionary she helped create that has grown to 10 times the size of the Oxford English Dictionary. This week Paul and Rich sit down with Erin to discuss the evolution of Wordnik, from its humble beginnings in PHP to developing a full scalable API. Erin shares the challenges she’s faced, both technical and financial, and gives us tips on how to deal with failure. She also helps us expand our vocabulary and answers the difficult question: what is the best word? Links: Wordnik TED Talk - Erin McKean: Go ahead, make up new words! Wordnik on Twitter…
Technology, You’ve Changed: For years, the conversations we’ve had about tech have focused on the negative. We’ve all heard about how tech giants have infiltrated our politics and our privacy, we’ve ridiculed the power-hungry people behind the platforms we love, but that’s not the technology industry Paul and Rich fell in love with. On today’s episode, we look at where we’re at right now, we ask ourselves if tech giants want to be ethical, and we try to defend an incredibly difficult and powerful industry. We also hear Paul’s top-three favourite tech things! LINKS Paul's Wired Cover Story PostgreSQL Ubuntu emacs…
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Don’t go chasing easy answers: This week Paul and Rich are joined by Microsoft veteran Adam Barr to speak about his new book, The Problem with Software. Barr worked as a programmer for Microsoft for over 20 years and during this time he saw a number of troubling patterns in software development. We chat with Adam about what’s changed in the industry over the years and about the need for better education for programmers. Adam also gives us an inside scoop on what it was like working for Microsoft in the old days and draws some parallels between Microsoft management and baseball. This episode is a homerun! Links: The Problem with Software: Why Smart Engineers Write Bad Code Adam David Barr on Twitter…
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Prioritize growth and allow for risk: This week Paul and Rich come back from holiday to discuss the best ways to encourage creative thinking. We uncover the relationship between reducing clutter and problem solving. We discuss the importance of deadlines and prioritization as tools to better organize your thoughts and make time for the things that matter. We also discuss the paradoxical trick for better growth and productivity: stepping away from our computer screens rather than towards them.…
Email sucks: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul Ford and Gina Trapani reflect on how Gmail has revolutionized email over the past fifteen years. We recall the many iterations the platform has gone through—going all the way back to the days when it was invite only— and discuss the many flaws that still remain. Is there ever going to be a productive solution to deal with that ever growing pile of emails? Links: Superhuman: The Fastest Email Experience Ever Made Lifehacker: The Guide to Working Smarter, Faster and Better…
Accountability is friction: On this week’s episode of Track Changes Paul and Rich sit down to chat about different types of accountability software. Whether it’s a CRM, a to-do list or an app, we discuss what works best for staying on track and getting things done. We talk about the importance of empathy and support and why tactics based on fear never work in the long run. We also discuss why some software is moving away from adding accountability into its workflows despite it’s importance. Links: Sony Aibo Clippy Pipedrive Dash for Slack Postlight Labs Mirror Peloton Mother by The Police Sydney Cummings - Youtube…
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The new entertainment system: On this week’s episode of Track Changes Paul is flying solo without Rich. He is joined by New York Times writer Taylor Lorenz. Taylor answers all of Paul’s questions about influencers, including how they actually monetize their brand in such a crowded online market. Taylor addresses stereotypes about influencers being vapid and shallow and shows us just how hard influencers work. LINKS New York Times - Taylor Lorenz Tumblr Tyler Oakley - Youtube Hannah Hart - Youtube Vine Instagram Lilly Singh - Wikipedia Noah Centineo - Wikipedia Tik Tok Patreon Rosanna Pansino - Youtube United Talent Agency WME Community Forget DMs. Celebrities Want You To Text Them - New York Times Discord The Rise and Fall of the Jeremy Renner App, Which Was a Real Thing - New York Times Kim Kardashian: Hollywood Taylor Swift’s mobile app, The Swift Life, is the latest celebrity app to shutter - TechCrunch The Instagram Aesthetic is Over - The Atlantic Teens Are Being Bullied ‘Constantly’ on Instagram - The Atlantic Pewdiepie - Youtube Taylor Lorenz - Twitter Taylor Lorenz - Instagram…
Software is like people: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich sit down to discuss software baggage. We chat about how a simple software idea can morph into layers and layers of product features and about how implementing use-cases can lead to confusing and bloated software. We also share our many HR software gripes. Links: Recruitment Software Market Size, Share and Industry Analysis - Fortune Business Insights Scala JQuery Jira SAP Basecamp Slack Dash for Slack - Postlight…
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Removing Friction: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich sit down with Noah Brier and James Gross ahead of a Postlight event to talk about the new trend that is taking enterprise software by storm, product-led growth. We discuss why the shift to PLG is as big as a transition for enterprise as the switch from on-premise to cloud software and how this move to more user-centric products removes friction from all levels of product implementation. Links: Salesforce Lattice Pingboard Google Sheets Google Docs Abacus Dropbox Google drive Invision Figma Sketch SAP Slack Percolate Variance Zoom Datadog Oracle Concur Mailchimp Notion Product Led Growth Index - OpenView Partners Amplitude Pendo Atlasian Jira ZohoSuite…
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Listen, don’t tell: Having trouble convincing your boss to invest in new software? On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich teach you everything you need to know about selling software services. We chat about changing the narrative to be about selling growth instead of products, and give some great sales tactics. Paul also shares some interesting car purchasing tips he learned from his brother. Links: Sarbanes Oxley - Wikipedia Chevy Blazer CarMax Google Analytics J.P. Morgan Amnesty International Node…
Adjust the quirks: On this week’s episode of Track Changes we ask the question, “is programming becoming obsolete?”. As user-friendly visual interfaces continue to get more and more popular, we discuss why programming remains so important to tackle complex tasks and long-term software challenges. Paul and Rich also come up with a new, nicer, way to talk about bugs. In this week’s Hello Postlight segment, we hear from product manager Jorge Mir Alvarez, who tells us how he went from a Track Changes listener to a Postlight employee.…
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Constant tweaking and improving: This week on Track Changes we are joined by friend and tech writer Clive Thompson, to talk about his most recent book Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World. We chat about coder culture, its influence on society, and why the search for efficiency can sometimes be a double-edged sword. Paul and Rich also share their worst bug stories. Quotes: Clive — 4:38: “I realized after 25 years of writing about software that I’d sort of spent a lot of my time saying okay, here’s how x, y or z piece of software, or social network, is kind of warping and deforming and reshaping everyday life, but the average person, you know they could get that, but they had no idea where software came from.” Clive — 6:42: “I began to realize the more I talked to them, that these [coders] are people who have an ability to endure a grinding level of frustration that’s like an order of magnitude higher than most normal human beings can handle.” Clive — 9:19: I was looking for the stuff that would not just help people understand the people, but understand the decisions they make architecturally and engineering wise that kind of result in the downstream effects that we live with.” Clive — 12:47: “Alongside obsessions with efficiency, a lot of developers are super obsessed with scale.” Rich — 14:07: “The fact that you’ve injected your opinion, creation, into everybody’s lives in such an intense and profound way is very empowering.” Clive — 14:48: “Socially, culturally, economically, we have pretty good ways of recognizing the advantages of efficiency and optimization. We have really no language that’s very good for talking about the occasional advantages of friction and inefficiency.” Links: Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World Shift Magazine This Magazine The Nation Code for America Kickstarter Tilde Club…
Beware the low hanging fruit: On this week’s episode of track changes, Paul and Rich share some industry warning signs. We chat about why you should be wary of long research phases and of people who have total faith in the product funnel. We also share some tips on how you can tell if your deadline is slipping and chat about the importance of long term product thinking. In this week’s Hello Postlight segment we meet Stephen Koch, a lead engineer who joins us to talk about his transition from marine biologist to musician to computer engineer. Links: GraphQL Big Spaceship Agency Frog Design McKinsey Letter of Recommendation: Bug Fixes by Paul Ford Amazon Dropbox Sketch Adobe Athletic Brewing Company…
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To scrape or not to scrape: In this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich sit down to discuss the recent verdict in the hiQ v LinkedIn lawsuit. We chat about the importance of this case and how it helped solidify a basic aspect of the web: public information access. But first, in this week’s Hello Postlight segment we hear from Thomas Rudczynski, our Director of Product Management, who shares advice on how to be a good product manager and how to get into the field. Links: Huge LinkedIn Medium Wired HiQ HiQ v. LinkedIn and the Legality of Web Scraping Common Crawl…
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The Fun of the Struggle: On this week’s episode of Track Changes we are joined by Netflix’s first CEO and co-founder, Marc Randolph. Marc talks about the origins of Netflix and how he helped grow the company from a Patsy CD to a billion dollar publicly traded media provider. He shares some tips on how to stay flexible in the face of changing demands and talks about the importance of timing and luck when starting a business. He also shares some details about why he left the company and talks about his new book That Will Never Work. Links: Blockbuster The Netflix Prize: How a $1 Million Contest Changed Binge-Watching Forever How Netflix Lost 800,000 Members, and Good Will - New York Times That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea Redbox Looker Data…
There is no perfect freedom: This week on Track Changes, Paul and Rich sit down to discuss internet censorship on a global scale. We chat about how power impacts technology and information access and whether global software can really exist when countries have such different approaches to the internet. Also in this week’s Hello Postlight segment we meet Liran Okanon, a Senior Product Designer at Postlight, who talks about the importance of empathy in his work. Links: Life in an Internet Shutdown - New York Times Revel Getaway Bar ‘You Stink’: The fight to get rubbish off Beirut’s streets WhatsApp Trakt WeChat…
Trojan Horse: Ever wonder why some web pages take forever to load? On today’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich explore the mess that is the internet. We take a look at three different websites to see what’s hiding behind them, and what we find is not pretty. From ad-tech to unknown JSON files, the results are surprising and confusing. Links: New York Post The Atlantic Chartbeat Mixpanel New Relic New York Times Scroll Wirecutter AMP uBlock Privacy Badger Ghostery…
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We Need Guardrails: On this week’s episode of Track Changes we sit down to discuss the big question of regulating online content. Could a class action lawsuit be brought against sites that encourage violence? How can content be screened to ensure it doesn’t lead to harm? What is the role of government in all this? We discuss these questions and many more and Paul and Rich share some online privacy tips. We also chat with Engineer, John Holdun! LINKS LGBTQ creators accuse YouTube of discrimination in class-action lawsuit alleging it unfairly restricts and demonetizes queer content TikTok Full House of Mustaches Firefox Pi-hole Variable Stage John Holdun Postlight Labs (Trimmings coming soon!)…
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Follow the Data: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, tech journalist Adrianne Jeffries sits down with us to talk about The Markup, a new non-profit data driven newsroom. She talks about the importance of using data to combat bias and about how using data in journalism can bring about greater change. She also addresses the shake up that happened at The Markup in its beginnings and tells us about her personal podcast Underunderstood. Links: - The Markup - Propublica - Machine Bias by Propublica - HUD Sues Facebook Over Housing Discrimination by Propublica - New York Times - Buzzfeed - Yelp is Screwing Over Restaurants By Quietly Replacing Their Phone Numbers - ReadWrite - TechCrunch - New York Observer - Motherboard - The Outline…
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Without the user there is no product: When Twitter rolled out its new design, many users were upset with the new changes, but what comes first, the product or the user? On this week’s episode Paul and Rich sit down to chat about Twitter’s redesign. We share our reactions to the changes and delve into questions of user consultation. Also featured in this week’s episode is the second installment of our new segment Hello Postlight. In it we hear from Aimée Reed, Postlight’s Director of Product Design, who talks about where she finds inspiration for her work (Hint: get out of the house!). Links: Twitter The Web Is a Customer Service Medium by Paul Ford Aimée Reed Barbara Kruger Geoff Teehan…
This week on Track Changes, Paul and Rich sit down with a live studio audience to discuss funnels. Lately, Salesforce and Mailchimp seem to be everywhere, from the buildings around us to the platforms we’re creating for clients. How can we integrate sales funnels without destroying user trust? Can we understand the immense economy underneath each online click? What does this mean for the future of the platforms we create? Spoiler: Paul created an acronym to help us out! LINKS Salesforce Mulesoft The marketing technology landscape This episode was recorded by Chandra Bulucon…
Beyond metaphors and into the digital future : In 1973, Xerox PARC introduced the Xerox Alto. It was the first computer to support an operating system based on a graphical user interface. This began the desktop metaphor; the computer monitor as if it were the top of the user's desk. Forty-six years later, the metaphor lives on. We talk about files and documents— even when there’s nothing to print. Why are we still hung up on the desktop? Can we imagine a digital future free of off-screen comparisons? Paul and Rich ponder the possibility, and more. Links: Notability (app) DocuSign (app) History of the Xerox Alto…
The battle over the App Store is far from over: In March Spotify launched Time to Play Fair, a website outlining how Apple mistreats companies like Spotify by charging excessive fees, blocking upgrades and promoting its own services in its App Store. Shortly after, Apple fired back in a press release, making the case that Spotify’s claims are misleading This week, Paul and Rich weigh in on the squabble. Is Apple really muscling in on Spotify? How symbiotic is their relationship? Why is Spotify making this case now? What are the implications of opting into the platform economy? Links: Spotify's Time to Play Fair Apple ‘Addressing Spotify’s claims’…
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Why Go In?: On today’s episode of Track Changes, Rich and Paul sit down with Andrew Smith, a journalist and writer who recently learned to code. We talk about following curiosity, and learning to program in a world where almost everything we interact with is mediated by code. We discuss Andrew’s pivot from writing about music and culture, to technology and high-finance, and dissect what that says about our lives today. We also get some insight into Andrew’s most recent research into the kids who ran the internet through 1995 - 2000 (Spoiler: the reasons behind the dot-com crash are a sham!). LINKS Andrew Smith https://andrewsmithauthor.com/ Andrew on Twitter https://twitter.com/wiresmith Totally Wired: The Rise and Fall of Josh Harris and The Great Dotcom Swindle https://www.amazon.com/Totally-Wired-Harris-Dotcom-Swindle/dp/080212934X Douglas Rushkoff https://rushkoff.com/ Real Player https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RealPlayer Quincy Larson https://twitter.com/ossia Free Code Camp https://www.freecodecamp.org/…
It is always a negotiation: This week on Track Changes, Paul and Rich discuss how to be a good manager and leader of people. We compare past experiences we’ve had as managers at our worst and best selves, and what we’ve learned from them (Tip: do not passive aggressively go in!). We discuss the importance of building a culture of speed and execution from the beginning, and how to foster conversation around timelines and scope. Paul and Rich also give tips on how to push back on a manager’s demands, in the right way. Rich— 2:11: “Consensus and discussion and dialogue around decisions are really important. But as a leader, sometimes you actually want to apply a little pressure … and applying that pressure means there is less dialogue.” Paul— 7:26: “You are always caught between do I mentor this person and give them a model of thinking that they can apply or do I tell them what I need to get done and assume that they will figure it out later.” Paul— 13:21: “It really is a negotiation. If you firmly believe that anything less than 6 weeks completely is a risk, then you have to come back to me and say, ‘we have got to cut scope’. We don’t want to fail and be humiliated in public.” Rich— 16:54: “The best advice I can give [to someone with a manager]… is pause and think about what are the motivations that are creating that pressure. … if you pause and think about those motivators, then a) you start to empathize with why you’re getting that pressure and b) you can actually have dialogue when you are talking to your manager about that pressure. It actually opens up their thinking and they start to see a leader, in you.”…
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Turning the universal mouse button on its head: this week, Paul and Rich discuss the importance of getting into new skills and unlearning old habits. We look at Rich’s new interest in Blender, how it’s led to him making a beautiful hotdog, and the time it takes to learn how to use a 6 button mouse (spoiler: it doesn’t take long!). We talk about how the phone is the new computer and what that means for the future of the desktop. We also invite you all to attend our live podcast taping on April 11th at Postlight! Links: blender https://www.blender.org/ blender guru https://www.blenderguru.com/ the architecture of open source applications http://aosabook.org/en/index.html net logo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetLogo jupyter https://jupyter.org/ raspberry pi https://www.raspberrypi.org/ little bits https://shop.littlebits.com logitech MX Anywhere 2 https://support.logitech.com/en_us/product/mx-anywhere2…
Good design doesn’t have to be complex: Like many, Rich feels like a bit of an outsider when it comes to design. To non-designers, the field can seem confusing, at times even intimidating. But it doesn't have to be like this way. At Postlight, design drives the process, and in this episode we break down that process. Paul and Rich are joined by Postlight’s directors of product design, Skyler Balbus and Matt Quintanilla, who lead Relay, the Postlight design sprint. What is a design sprint? What makes good design? What role should it play in product development? And what makes a great product designer? The team answers these questions and more. Links: Relay, Postlight’s design sprint Google Ventures’ Design Sprint Thoughtbot’s playbook…
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Can a reclusive coder become a criminal mastermind?: Journalist and author Evan Ratliff spent four years piecing together the story of Paul Le Roux, a programmer who began by selling hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of painkillers through an online prescription drug network— but he didn't settle. The rest of Le Roux’s story spirals into a grim parody of startup culture not even a novelist could’ve dreamed up. In this episode Paul and Rich sit down with Ratliff to discuss his new book, The Mastermind, the true account of the decade-long pursuit of Le Roux. What happens when expertise on information security and internet infrastructure falls into the wrong hands? What could have become of the villainous tech-savvy entrepreneur? What can the tech world take away from this eerie chain of events? Links: Evan Ratliff Evan Ratliff on Twitter The Mastermind by Evan Ratliff The Mastermind on Amazon Evan Ratliff’s piece on Wired Paul Le Roux on Wikipedia E4M on Wikipedia…
The web is a mess, and it’s getting messier: This is something you know if you read articles online. Close the pop-up, scroll past the ads, and click ‘next page’ to finish the piece. You’re right, it shouldn’t have to be this hard. In 2009, Rich hacked together simple bookmarklet called Readability, which would turn a cluttered article page into the essentials— a headline, headers, images, and the article. The project’s impact is undeniable. After more than five years of operation, Readability was shut down and replaced by Postlight’s Mercury Toolkit, a lighter, more flexible open-source web parser. In this episode Paul and Rich are joined by Postlight developer Adam Pache to talk about the online battle over usability, Python versus JavaScript, knowing when to go open source, and contributing to Mercury. Links: Mercury Mercury on Twitter Mercury in the Chrome Webstore Adam Pash Readability shutdown announcement Instapaper Lifehacker Snowfall by The New York Times…
A Creative Path to Find What's Next : Harper Reed could have listed his many accomplishments on the historical monument he installed in his parents’ front yard. It could have said that he founded Modest, a mobile retail startup eventually acquired by Paypal, or that he was CTO of Threadless and the 2012 reelection campaign of Barack Obama. Instead, he and his brother Dylan chose to commemorate their exploration of Uranus. It’s no wonder Rich often hears Paul say “I wonder what Harper Reed would think”. In this episode, we find out; the pair talk to Harper about his dad’s Apple IIc, coming of age during “the most rapid capital expansion in the history of the universe”, political tech, mobile commerce, and what comes next for the defiant technologist. Links Harper’s website and Twitter Harper and Dylan Reed’s boyhood home monument Threadless Dylan Reed’s Twitter Dylan Richard, cofounder of Modest, on Twitter…
Less is more: There’s nothing cool or sexy about a pitch deck. Business folk love them. They’re meant to convince the viewer of something. Some people have a talent for producing them, but most need a bit of guidance. Like them or not, pitch decks run the world— and making a good one may not be as straightforward as you think. How do you make a purposeful, beautiful, even entertaining deck? Years of appealing to large clients has taught Paul and Rich a thing or two about creating a cogent presentation. In this episode, the two expound some of their knowledge; balancing words with images, the density of your information, understanding your audience and your message, and the power of great design. Links: Presentation Zen Keynote Powerpoint The Perfect Thing by Steven Levy…
It isn’t Glamorous, But it’s Critical. In this episode, Paul and Rich explore a time-consuming component of product development: Authentication. You know the drill. You save time and having to memorize another pesky password by using Google or Facebook to log on to a website. But is the proliferation of external authentication providers on the web a good thing or not? Which companies should invest in setting up their own authentication system, and which ones should save their web developers and online visitors the hassle? (Spoiler: Banks should. Any group set growing an audience should not.) The pair also discuss the merits of Facebook, the difference between being a free and a paying Google customer, and why password managers are a godsend. Bonus: Rich discovers that his email has fallen foul to multiple data breaches, and is cool with it. Links: LastPass 1Password Have I been pwned?…
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1 #0152: How Can Data Drive Digital Journalism?: A Conversation With Chartbeat’s Josh Schwartz 27:56
Behind Every Great Media Outlet Is Clever Analytics Software:This week Rich and Paul speak to Josh Schwartz, chief of product at Chartbeat, the content analytic ssoftware used by media heavy weights across the globe, including The New York Times, CNN and The Washington Post. Which stories work and which ones tank? Do media organizations really need to pivot to video? Is the online quiz dead? Do numbers in a headline matter? Should analytics drive content? Josh talks to Rich and Paul about how Chartbeat’s real-time web traffic reports help editors entice and retain online readers. He also gives his take on operating in a post-GDPR world and on how effective pop-up data collection warnings are. The trio also muse on the future of the data dashboard. Chartbeat EU General Data Protection Regulation What the GDPR Means For US Brands Does journalism have a future?…
Fear, Flattery and Word Salad: In this week’s episode, Paul and Rich spill (not-so-secret) insider secrets and discuss what businesses should be wary of when hiring a digital agency. Analytics change, as does the in-house vision for a product. How can you ensure that your agency will accommodate the dynamic development process while staying within your budget? Why is it important to remain on equal ground with your agency–and what has that got to do with acronyms? At what point is it important to worry about scaling? And why should businesses be wary of suggestions that are a little too on-trend? From demanding transparency, communicating clearly, sniffing out flattery, and ensuring that all proposals–no matter how shiny–are entrenched in your core business needs, Paul and Rich have got you covered.…
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Conversations are Terrible. Podcasts are Good: 2018 was a rough year for technology in the popular mind. We look at what went wrong to see how it can inform the future tech of 2019. We could say that 2019 is about accepting the fact that we’re all doomed. Or, in keeping with our theme of optimism, we could look forward to things like 5G networks, better machine learning, and the continued success of Pinterest and Etsy. What does Etsy have that Facebook doesn’t? How can we all accept that community moderation is necessary? Will this years advancements in machine learning lead to better, cheaper, and faster hardware? How can we stay optimistic when competing with the giant platforms like Google and Facebook? LINKS The Dunning-Kruger Effect 5G Cellular Networks Crowd Supply Zipline Drones…
#0149: Digital Problem Solving with Perry Hewitt by Postlight
Cultural Dialogue is The Person Of The Year: People, corporations, and governments expressed their hesitation and suspicion towards tech in 2018. Is Facebook demolishing the pillars of society? Is your child doing Fortnite dances? Where has blockchain landed among ordinary people? On this week's episode we talk about the tech that stood out in 2018 and look at what changed for us internally. We had Postlight's third year anniversary and have continued growing. We have a little more process and a defined culture. We made a concerted effort to move beyond media into other sectors, and we learned that while relinquishing control feels counterintuitive to running a business, it’s crucial to the physics of growth. Oh yeah, we also released Upgrade!, our how-to for digital transformation. All of us at Postlight wish you a very happy holiday and a great New Year. We’ll see you in 2019. LINKS Amazon HQ2 Mark Zuckerberg Gave His Testimony From a Booster Seat Lean In’s Sheryl Sandberg Problem Google+ is Shutting Down Is Screen Time Bad for Kids’ Brains? How Many People Play “Fortnite”? 80 Million Upgrade! A How-To for Digital Transformation…
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Why Do People Want To See Others Fail? This week on Track Changes, we take a look at the power dynamics that play out when we go into big companies to solve problems and ship software. What happens when organizations show that they don’t want our help after they’ve brought us on? Why are people resistant to scaling? Is it because we’re taking all the cool jobs? There are three ways to overcome that: Firstly, use your advocate. Let them lead. Somebody brought you here. Your failure is their failure; your success is their success. Second, establish your mandate and keep it brief. Memorize it! This is your best defense against tweaks, delays, and edge cases. Lastly, meet your first promise. Ship early, ship often, and show value. There’s a currency exchange from great design to political capital. Rich values this advice at $720,000. All listeners will be invoiced.…
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There’s a Difference Between School and Real Life: This week on Track Changes, Paul and Rich sit down with Allan Chochinov, chair of the MFA in Products of Design program at the School of Visual Arts and founder of design network Core77. We talk about who is really teachable, building good design from huge problems, the vast applications of "design thinking", and how much time is wasted on meetings. Allan shares two incredible medical UX-design moments that he's witnessed— building an at home diagnostic tool for HIV testing and creating a quick-attach prosthetic limb. Both of these scenarious required empathy towards consumer experiences and pragmatism. These small design gestures can have a big impact. Paul Ford You’re a— you’re a sensitive, in touch person. Rich Ziade [Crosstalk] Are you in your fifties, Allan? Allan Chochinov I am, yeah. PF It’s a little— RZ You look great! PF [Crosstalk] When you realize . . . AC I’m gonna be 57 soon. PF Yeah. RZ What?!? PF I know— it’s [snickers] we’ve had this conversation. RZ Oh he’s had LSD— PF Look at the beautiful hair— AC My mom’s— [inaudible over crosstalk] PF Yeah, some grey. Some grey. RZ I— I can’t see his face right now but the forehead is tremendous. PF No, no. Alan just won a lottery on this front. RZ Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Are we recording? PF We are. We’re talking about— RZ Steph, feel free to put this stuff in [laughter]. PF [Chuckling] We’re talking about how handsome Allan is [voices fade out, music fades in, plays alone for 18 seconds, ramps down]. Allan Chochinov, a key person in New York City tech and design for a long, long time. Let’s talk about that in a minute but the first thing to talk about, really, is you run a program at the school of visual arts. [0:56] AC Yup. PF What is the name of that program? AC Uh [music fades out] the name is MFA in Products of Design. PF Ok. That— [yeah] ok. Let’s break that down a little bit [laughs]. AC We should. We intended for it to be uh future proof and [uh huh] it actually came true because— well, I mean the idea was that everything is a product of design [mm hmm]. So each and every kind of design: uh graphic design; industrial design; service design; interaction design, social innovation design; tons of business design— PF So a new design— like, you know, suddenly there’s a new kind of way— AC Well, yeah, radically, you know, multidisciplinary or generalist anyway [ok] but what’s interesting is people see the word product design they think that we’re an industrial design program and we do teach industrial design— PF Like make a teapot kind [yeah] of thing, yeah. AC But the fortunate thing is that, I guess about four or five years ago interaction designers kind of like stole the term product design from [snickers] industrial designers— PF Actually that’s— boy, we did, didn’t we? AC Which is— it’s either like funny or heartbreaking depending on which side you’re on. PF No, it’s funny for us. Yeah. We’re— we’re enjoyin’ it. AC So many of my colleagues spent their whole lives trying to, you know, help people understand what an industrial designer was, you know you would— you would say well, “We’re— we design product.” [Oh!] Product design. That was easier. Now it’s just like, “Oh, what platform? Facebook?” PF [Exhales hard] We destroyed everything with that— RZ “We” is a lot— PF No. But you know how many times have we said “product design”? RZ We jumped on it. We did jump on it. [2:17] PF Yeah. AC You know? Many people have said everything is interaction design, everything experience design. So— PF It’s true. AC Alright. PF Alright, so tell us a little bit— this program, it’s a graduate program? AC Yup. PF And it has how many students— AC There’s about 18 students a year. Uh it’s single track; every student takes every course, uh no grades which is really helpful uh cuz we want maximum risk...…
Photo by Joe Lewandowski on Unsplash It’s Black Friday Forever in America: This week on Track Changes we ask the question on everyone’s minds: Are we happy that Amazon has come to Queens? On one hand, our own consumer choices have brought this upon us. Amazon is great at eliminating steps (hey there Same-Day Delivery and 1-Click Ordering). But on the other hand, we're now reliant, and can't live without them. Is Amazon is obsessed with scale and expansion? Will New York tolerate not owning an entire sector of the economy? Is any mass-expansion good for society? LINKS Jeff Bezos and the Breakfast Octopus Amazon Buys Woot Amazon HQ2: What it means for Long Island City residents What’s Coming For Giant Platforms Cornell University Campus on Roosevelt Island Opens Accepting What You Can’t Change: The Serenity Prayer…
#0144: Screen Time and Me Time : A Conversation On Platform Obsessions by Postlight
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How Do We Move The Rectangle: It’s no secret that we think design is integral to engineering great products. This week Gina Trapani and Skyler Balbus are joined by Dylan Field, CEO of Figma, to talk about how Figma’s collaborative interface design tool came to be. We talk about how diverse creative backgrounds are essential to building design teams, how browser-based tools leave designers at the mercy of the browser, and the ways in which constraint inspires creativity and partnerships. Dylan also shares a tip for new designers: get into open-source projects. LINKS Figma Adobe Fireworks (RIP) Aviary WebGL Hacker News Made by Evan Screenflow Loom Notion Repl Airtable…
#0142: Inspect Element : Diving Into The Complexity Of The Web by Postlight
In recent episodes you’ve heard from Paul, Rich, and various guests talk about scaling, ethics, design, and engineering?—?now it’s time to hear from Postlight’s other leaders. We discuss the diverse backgrounds of our leadership team, how have their roles have changed over time, and how we come together to make good software while shipping great products. This episode is also the debut of Paul’s new, deeper voice, which Gina Trapani calls “a massage for your ears.”…
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Tech is Giant, Monolithic, and Scary: This week, Paul Ford and Rich Ziademeet with Louise Matsakis to discuss how tech reporting has evolved alongside the hyper-growth of tech companies. How has the role of journalists changed? Which companies are difficult to talk to, and which are the easiest? More often than before, Louise says that journalists are playing the role of content moderators, forcing platforms to do more introspection and make broader changes. We touch on what’s topical in tech reporting today: What can be done to stop the culture of harassment prevalent on big platforms, how should scaling companies deal with oversights that screw people over, and how could we imagined role of the Facebook Press Secretary? LINKS Louise Matsakis Know Your Meme: Chaotic Good, Chaotic Neutral Amazon’s Electricity Subsidies, Bloomberg Time magazine sold to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and his wife for $190m, Gaurdian Journalists Are Not Social Media Platforms’ Unpaid Content Moderators,Motherboard (VICE) Elsagate Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act Google Wants to Kill the URL, Wired Unmasking Reddit’s Violentacrez, The Biggest Troll on the Web, Gawker…
Creating a Language We Can Carry Forward: People get really good at bad habits. When we talk about digital transformation, we’re talking about more than software and systems?—?we’re dealing with how people work with software and with each other. This week, Paul Ford and Rich Ziade discuss Upgrade, our report on digital transformation. Why did we call it Upgrade? Because that’s what we’re almost always striving for. We talk about how real digital transformation happens, from idea through execution. What are you waiting for? Upgrade is available to download for free here.…
Never Going Away: It’s hard to conceive how tech giants will be destroyed. Might it be Government regulation? Another Great Depression? Genius disruption from Topeka, Kansas? This week, Paul Ford and Rich Ziade discuss the changeable future of tech by looking to the past. How does a company go from owning the market in a red-hot moment to a shadow of its former self? We talk about where companies like Microsoft and Xerox went wrong?—?and what they did right?—?while trying to predict what will finally undo the reigning champs.…
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What Is Creative Capital, Anyway?: This week, Paul Ford and Rich Ziade meet with Jules Ehrhardt, founder of Creative Capitol Studio FKTRY, the author of the term ‘digital product studio’, and an advocate for authenticity. On this episode, we talk about the problems with the old-guard agency model, where creatives are going instead, and how creativity is commodified and sold like sausage links. How does authenticity impact design? How are we changing the way we think about creativity by defining the language around it? Jules?—?3:15: “I think one of the problems the industry has is that people who are representing the industry and interfacing with partners and brands or clients, they don’t actually have a deep empathy and understanding for creativity.” Paul?—?5:25: “Sometimes we’re just delivering bad news to people. Like hey, that’s actually going to be hard and expensive. I hate to say it because I can see how optimistic and enthusiastic you are, but building things is really hard and it’s going to take a lot of time. That’s actually been really effective for us.” Jules?—?7:35: “There [are] enough people out there in this city, in this country, in the market who have been sold wonderful things and been disappointed. So for me, the only place to be is real, and in a world of perfect information?—?which we don’t live in?—?you will find your place and you’ll find that work.” Jules?—?8:45: “Our expertise is working with you, deploying our processes to get to a better place. You say that and it’s completely true, but then they’re going to reflect on this super-polished bullshit that they’ve just been presented by an agency. […] Yes, there’s a degree of sales if you want to call it [that], but it’s true, even in the honesty you’re actually doing the job of sales.” Jules?—?11:20: “The perception of this space [as an agency], there’s definitely a contagion effect from the worst practices of the industry.” Jules?—?13:05: “That was one of the miss-steps of the add-on marketing industry of pretending to do digital product work by just basically redressing case studies. In fact, rather than building product teams and product processes and getting away from the creative director model top-down, they’re going bottom-up.” Jules?—?17:45: “You’ve got tech companies providing a compelling alternative for creatives and people are increasingly going tech-side for better salaries and different conditions.” Jules?—?19:27: “I’m pushing something called ‘creative capital’. You can raise venture capital or you can raise creative capital. So for me, creative capital is a subset of Sweat Equity. What you do and what [teams I’m building] are capable of doing is making a pivotal impact upon a business.” Jules?—?21:05: “We [the creative class] need to understand how angels work, how VCs work, how investors work, how pension funds work, and everyone else?—?we need to understand their language, their business models, build relationships and understanding so we can build and forge these new models where it’s not a zero-sum game, it’s a game in which we can all win.” Paul?—?29:30: “The model is [to] name it, make a market, prove it’s real, and the rest of the entreprise?—?at it always does?—?will see it and go, ‘oh, that’s working, we should do that so we don’t get too far left behind.’” Jules?—?29:45: “I believe that we in the creative class should be exploring the intersection between creativity and capital.” LINKS Track Changes: Are You My Digital Product Studio? State of The Digital Agency 2016 by Jules Ehrhardt State of The Digital Agency 2020 by Jules Ehrhardt FKTRY ustwo Accenture Acquisitions The 5 Cs R/GA Sweat Equity Special Purpose Vehicle Creative Class Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from...…
Harpal Singh Design is Not an Add-On: Why did it take so long for design to come back into the conversation? This week, Paul Ford and Rich Ziade talk about Digital Transformation and the marriage between Design and Engineering. We talk about how how the importance of design is often misjudged when it comes to Digital Transformation (hint: it’s crucial), and how what may be common sense to designers isn’t always common sense to others. What are people risking when they forgo good design? [soundcloud] ?iTunes/?SoundCloud/?Overcast/?Stitcher/?MP3 /?RSS Rich?—?1:35: “The days of just getting a technology project up and running isn’t enough that you have to think about your whole business in terms of the world [having] changed, technology is part of everything and it needs to be part of how your business works.” Rich?—?2:20: “People are fully digitized in terms of how they interact with the world, and that’s how they need to interact with your business.” Rich?—?3:10: “This is something different. [Digital transformation] is about literally dismantling process as it exists today.” Rich?—?6:30: “I’m old enough to remember when it was really hard to sell User Experience services to big companies. They just didn’t get it. They didn’t want to get it. It was just too bizarre.” Paul?—?11:05: “I would say that without strong sea-level leadership, don’t do [a Digital Transformation project].” Rich?—?12:25: “Probably one of the biggest public failures of a massive technology mandate is the Obamacare debacle.” Paul?—?13:10: “That’s why Open Source is really good. Why are we building things for the government in secret? There could have been a collaborative public presence driven by a small team where that code was going right into the Commons.” Rich?—?13:35: “The truth is, if you’re not able to transact on the web on your phone, you’re kind of screwed. You have to get there.” Rich?—?17:45: “I think the way that they’re thinking about it is that design isn’t a phase or a discipline, but actually it’s no different than [somebody] saying I’m going to go ahead and build this sky scraper, but I’m going to skip the architect.” Rich?—?21:25: “We don’t call them ‘designers’ at Postlight […] we call them Product Designers. The spirit behind it is that the designer is not peripheral. They’re key to the quality of the product, to the definition of the product, [and] how the product is going to be differentiated.” Paul?—?22:00: “The engagement will fail if design doesn’t lead.” Paul?—?28:35: “Design is about making that least possible effort?—?my god, don’t just throw a bunch of candy corn on the floor and call that dinner.” LINKS Chili’s To Go Digital Transformation Obamacare and Health Care Design User Interface Design Amazon Web Services IBM Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
Making the World a Better Place: This week, Paul Ford and Rich Ziade discuss how the ingegrity of platforms like Facebook and Twitter has been compromised by their growth. We talk about Facebook as a company versus Facebook as a system, and why they are crumbling. Was the company ignoring user concerns or just waiting until it impacted their profit? Rich?—?2:00: “People deciding that the governors of the Facebook world weren’t taking care of it well enough such that they’re emigrating out of it is a very big deal.” Paul?—?3:05: “It’s not slow growth?—?it’s departures. The Pew Foundation did a study and they found that [like] 1 out of 4 humans are taking a break [from Facebook].” Paul?—?5:15: “Let’s be clear: Platform companies only have transactions and metrics in order to understand how they’re performing. They have no sense of individuals, and if the numbers are down it’s like everyone is running around on fire.” Rich?—?13:45: “You could make the case that these were just selfish people just foaming at the mouth to make money, but you could also make the case that they were just optimistic about how humans were going to be when you put 2 billion of them in a very nice place where the gestures are, ‘I like you,’ ‘I love you,’ ‘I’m crying for you,’ ‘I’m laughing at the funny thing you did,’?—?it’s all optimistic. There’s no middle finger.” Paul?—?14:10: “God, save the world from rich people with good intentions.” Rich?—?14:40: “It’s the exact same narrative around Twitter. Twitter said, ‘[…]We’re going to make everybody a publisher. Everybody’s a broadcaster,’ […] and it’s a cesspool.” Paul?—?16:15: “What you’ve got is a very very serious product problem and your product is at a scale that it interferes with things like the governance of the world and the way that human beings act and behave.” Rich?—?17:40: “It’s a real investment to take care of the integrity of the platform. What they didn’t anticipate was all these other sort of dynamic things that can take hold that are much more subtle and much more insidious.” Paul?—?18:00: “As far as they can tell, they were doing everything right until they weren’t. What happened is they created systems that were unbelievably easy to game. They actually had lots of good warnings, […] and they ignored it because I think they were getting so many other messages [that were] positive.” Rich?—?22:25: “The terms in the code of conduct that are easiest are the ones they can most effectively enforce. If you are threatening violence on someone, that’s very explicit, because what they want to do is avoid the perception of subjective judgement of what’s on there.” Paul?—?23:15: “You don’t have a congress that is truly ready to create a regulatory framework in the interest of the Republic and the world right now. We just don’t have it.” Rich?—?28:30: “I think the point we’re making is that this turned out to be way bigger than a startup and that the people at the wheel?—?I don’t think they’re evil?—?I think that their mandate it to squeeze maximum value for investors and not break the law.” Paul?—?30:00: “Facebook says it serves but it doesn’t really know who its master is.” LINKS Mark Zuckerberg Makes Brisket Randian Objectivists Pew Research Center: Social Media Use 2018 A Conversation with Robyn Kanner Sheryl Sandberg Code of Conduct Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
Trusting Your Gut: This week, Paul Ford and Rich Ziade are joined by Michael Shaoul, the philosopher-manager of Marketfield Asset Management and expert on business cycles and the convergence of world events and geopolitics. Is the cycle of commercial real estate on its deathbed? Are shoes the only thing immune to downtrodden cycles? We discuss what happens when people tell you that you’ve got it all wrong, and exactly what you should do if you see a volcano at the company party. Michael?—?4:15: “There are multiple cycles that you learn to pay attention to. One of the things that I say is that when you look at cycles across decades or centuries […] the nouns and the verbs are always changing. It’s always something different, but the adjectives and the adverbs stay the same.” Michael?—?5:40: “Clearly we’re here in the middle of a great technology cycle. When it’s gone over its skis, when it’s no longer investible, when it’s outright dangerous, it’s a hard thing to notice. But if I went back to the early 1990s, language starts to change. Evaluation metrics start to change. You start valuing eyeballs rather than revenue.” Michael?—?6:45: “I don’t think I need to apologize to my children for not owning Bitcoin, but to me that’s what the end of one of these investment cycles looks like. You look like a moron for having not put an indiscriminate amount of cash to work in the space and everybody on the outside is kind of laughing at you and trying to pull you in.” Michael?—?8:20: “When I read your article on Blockchain, one of the things that really pulled it home to me because you were going back and talking about the late 1990s is how little fun is had towards the end of a cycle. It’s just miserable. There’s nothing genuinely creative going on, it’s all about the bottom line or the top line. Everybody’s expectations go beyond what is possible. It’s just a lot of stress and aggravation. Good luck keeping employees.” Michael?—?12:40: “I always say to people it’s okay to do something stupid and reckless with your money as long as you follow two rules: One is you put a small amount of money […] in it. Number two is you remember that you’re doing something stupid and reckless. The mistake people make is they think that they’ve found the answer and they overcommit.” Paul?—?13:00: “The people we know who are very into Blockchain who are kind of rational about it basically are like, hey, you’re going to the track. See what happens. But you don’t put your kids’ college funds in it.” Michael?—?16:50: “I publish my weekly thoughts on markets. […] I put together a sort of chatty weekly piece, just saying look, this is what’s happened in the last week and this is why it matters or this is why it doesn’t.” Michael?—?17:25: “[Macro] is a funny term. It’s like saying what does ‘technology’ mean? It’s a very broad term, so the way we look at it is we think at any given point in time [it is] the things which are worth focussing on. Obviously I’ll always talk about the S&P 500 in my job because that’s the starting point for whether it’s been a good week or a bad week as far as most people are concerned. We’ll focus on a particular sector we think is really in motion […] and ignore things that might be interesting but we feel 25 people have already written about.” Rich?—?19:45: “Technology is seeping into?—?or the world is seeping into?—?[…] the formulas around valuing technology that come from really dramatically different places like foreign policy and security. If you had told me that 15 years ago that global geopolitics would affect Microsoft Excel…” Michael?—?24:20: “Gatsby is still, to me, a great book about cycles. It could only get written at that point in time, it’s another cycle on top of everything else. LINKS Marketfield Asset...…
Pull to Refresh? How about Smile to Fave: This week, Paul Ford and Rich Ziade discuss the building blocks of software development. Why do apps so often look and behave the same? We break down the tension between working within beautifully designed parameters and the need to innovate. What principles do fast food and software share, and does this have anything to do with why Paul had so much trouble ordering his salad? ?iTunes/?SoundCloud/?Overcast/?Stitcher/?MP3 /?RSS Paul?—?2:55: “This is the thing that people don’t know. When you come to us and say ‘write me an app,’ you’re asking us to write as little code as possible. That’s in your best interest.” Paul?—?5:05: “Why do apps look the same? Why do they behave the same? […] It’s because everyone is using the same libraries. It’s really tricky, right, because you’d think if you want to innovate, you’d want to break out of that.” Paul?—?5:45: “This is the great tension in our industry, because you want to innovate and you want to blow everything up, but the cost to do so is unbelievably high. […] I could go to the store, I could buy food, and I could cook from a recipe, or I could grow my own wheat.” Rich?—?9:55: “We’re talking about how these libraries are great for engineers because they get to skip. It’s great for users because the patterns and the gestures become common and becomes so much easier to pick up another app.” Rich?—?10:50: “Isn’t this the model behind fast food? It’s good because it has fat and sugar in it, but consistency is huge. Like people who go on vacations go to McDonalds because they know what they’re going to get.” Paul?—?15:50: “Design?—?brand focused design and the traditional qualities of design?—?were always about having a specific kind of voice. Like the work that Paul Rand does, or the work they do down the street at Pentagram. […] I recognize this, it feels familiar, it works within a set of parameters, but it’s original too.” Paul?—?16:10: “There’s a huge tension in technology where [you have to] follow the rules of the SDK, follow the Human Interface Guidelines and make it looks exactly like the other apps […] or you’ll lose the user.” Rich?—?19:35: “Credit to Adobe for giving every single engineer that worked on Photoshop props when you load it. The problem is that it zips by at 180mph.” Paul?—?20:00: “If Adobe Photoshop worked like Mac apps typically worked, it would be a lot easier to learn and adapt to. But it would also be less differentiated and it’s Photoshop and it’s Adobe so it has its own thing going.” LINKS Software Development Kit Web Framework Creating a Chicken Sandwich From Scratch Microsoft Visual Studio Why We Fail: A Conversation with Victor Lombardi Pull-to-refresh Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines Google’s Material Design Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
Product is Humbling: This week, Paul Ford and Rich Ziade talk about John Carreyrou’s Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies In a Silicon Valley Startup, a book about “what can go wrong when you believe stuff”. Drawing comparisons to Wild Wild Country’s Baghwan and the late Steve Jobs, this episode discusses the founder of Theranos’ charisma within the culture of Silicon Valley. Was the failure of Theranos to deliver its product a case of collective megalomania, mass hysteria, or simply a refusal to say “I don’t know?” Paul?—?2:00: “You’re looking in a mirror in some parts of this. You’ve met people like the people in this book. First of all, it’s hardware instead of software?—?and it’s healthcare hardware instead of software.” Paul?—?3:05: “You cannot deceive the public with your blood product and tell them, ‘come to Walgreens and we’ll test everything and we’ll tell you what’s wrong with you!’ when you can’t do that.” Paul?—?3:20: “There’s an element of self-deception throughout that I really found fascinating because that’s a big part of software. You kind of lie to yourself about how easy it’s going to be.” Paul?—?4:30: “Clearly [Steve Jobs] knew what the limits of possibility were and he would just shove people right up through that. Past that limit.” Paul?—?7:25: “It was also cool to see Silicon Valley connect to pharma, […] like this is Brave New World.” Paul?—?8:55: “Everyone is starting to realize that the marketing message doesn’t correlate to reality. It’s this very tricky thing where the agency isn’t quite sure what its ethical responsibilities are because they’re about to put help information up.” Rich?—?10:15: “You try to get in the head of the founder here and you have to wonder, is the founder terrible and self aware and has just decided, ‘ok, I am evil, I know what I’m doing is evil,’ or is this someone that just got lost and drank their own kool-aid?” Paul?—?12:45: “The book ended up being about the way that litigation affects the truth about business, and how a business is run and operated at a certain scale.” Paul?—?15:20: “Your number one job in any role where you’re dealing with the public is to reduce litigation risk. People don’t get that. My job has often been?—?when I’m writing, when I was an editor?—?you think constantly about the attack surface for litigation.” Rich?—?18:30: “There are two ways to get people to stay with your organization: Fear or, really, a sense of commitment or loyalty to the place […] where if you’re doing it right, if someone leaves, you pause and reflect on yourself and wonder what happened.” Paul?—?22:25: “It’s very easy if you are a smart, talented person who has succeeded to believe that you have perfect knowledge about things you know not a damn thing about.” Paul?—?25:45: “Nobody pretends that real estate in New York City is a utopian life-changing industry that’s gonna make the world better. It’s just savage vampires sucking blood from each other.” LINKS Bad Blood by John Carreyrou Theranos Elizabeth Holmes Hot Startup Theranos Has Struggled With Its Blood-Test Technology Bill Burr’s Steve Jobs bit Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
Don’t Quit Your Day Job: This week, Paul Ford and Gina Trapani sit down with Rick Webb, COO of Timehop, to discuss his 2015 book Agency: Starting a Creative Firm in the Age of Digital Marketing. Rick lays out how anybody?—?even someone born in a ditch in Topeka?—?can start an agency. He also leads a discussion about the legacy of viral marketing in his own career, and the history of the advertising mega-structure. Rick?—?5:55: “I think that at any moment in marketing there is some technology, craft, or medium that is the new emerging thing that’s very good for agencies to be able to make their mark in.” Rick?—?7:20: “The book is really written like you came to this business as a craftsperson.” Rick?—?7:50: “In the old days, an agency operated as an agent on behalf of their clients and the reason they’re operating as an agency is because they’re going to buy media… this is the classic definition.” Rick?—?9:10: “That’s why they really want video ads to be a thing and they have since the early 2000s. They could just take the model they had and use them again?—?and they are winning. It is slowly becoming that.” Gina?—?9:50: “Timehop is a great product. When it first launched […] it was something my company took a lot of inspiration from. It just let you kind of appreciate your social content in a perspective that you wouldn’t have had.” Rick?—?11:15: “[Timehop uses] programmatic advertising. We don’t do data-driven advertising. Your data isn’t in your advertising.” Rick?—?12:55: “There’s a business case for Timehop that’s out there, but really we took it because I believe in nostalgia. I always have. That’s why I wrote the first cheque for them. I like little simple things that are just a couple minutes of your day.” Paul?—?17:40: “So we’re living in this world of giants. We scamper around in the shadows of dinosaurs as a little mouse with our firm, but a lot of the people listening to this show are people who are doing a reset of some kind in their career. If somebody wants to get into your world, what do they do?” Rick?—?18:00: “I think one thing that really confounds everyone is the compensation structure of start-ups. Like there’s this widely pervasive belief you can get rich in start-ups.” Rick?—?18:50: “Right now, hundreds of companies are being planned in New York. Maybe one or two will become a unicorn. […] The minute you can tell they’re going to go anywhere, everyone else can too. It’s just a waste of time.” Paul?—?19:10: “Going to a late-stage start-up is just a job.” Gina?—?22:18: “In the beginning, though, you have to have some resilience for feast and famine. You know, when you’re first starting out, you have to be able to take a couple of months where you’re not getting paid or getting paid very little.” Rick?—?24:15: “You don’t have to quit your day job until you make enough to quit your day job.” Rick?—?29:20: “Advertising is a very, very, very big part of our world and people don’t think about it. […] Mass media and technology are both primarily funded by advertising. LINKS Rick Webb Agency: Starting a Creative Firm in the Age of Digital Marketing The Subservient Chicken Timehop Martin Sorrell LUMA’s State of Digital Media 2018…
The Only Success that Matters: This week, Paul Ford and Rich Ziade discuss the figurative moats that protect companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Google from competition. Has anybody really figured out how to disrupt their markets? Why isn’t Postlight jumping on machine learning and blockchain? This episode is about companies zeroing in on their own strengths and focusing on their right-sized ideas. Paul?—?3:10:“How do you function and thrive in a world where you know you’re never going to be the biggest? Where there are giant organizations with giant competitive moats around them and yet the whole narrative is like, ‘this is the only success that matters.’” Paul?—?6:10:“Starbucks at one point was making little coffee shops that were not Starbucks but were really cool and looked local. They wanted to just make sure they had a place to test out ideas and they wanted to make sure they were getting that market.” Paul?—?7:40:“It’s so hard for the legacy company to catch up.” Rich?—?8:10:“I think the way you disrupt is you eliminate steps. There was a day when you’d have to sign on to the internet with some internet provider. There was a day when you weren’t on the internet and when you wanted to get on the internet you dialed a number… Then you’d open your browser, and you’d go to Google.com, then you go into the search box and search. Google decided to come out with a browser. I couldn’t get it. Firefox was killer. It was excellent at that point in time… It turns out the only reason they were doing it was to eliminate one of the steps. The search bar and the URL bar became one.” Paul?—?11:40:“Organisms at this size are vulnerable in a very sort of macro way. They’re vulnerable to economic shifts, technological disruptions, and cultural shifts. They’re not vulnerable to somebody else [doing] something 4% better, because then they’ll just buy them. Maybe global warming will destroy Google.” Rich?—?16:30:“It’s funny, right? These monsters are competing with each other. They’re paranoid about each other. We started this with the moat. I mean there’s the moat between Starbucks and Pete’s Coffee?—?those are little moats compared to what’s going on [between Amazon and Google], so how the hell do you get in?” Paul?—?17:30:“What we did is we made a decision to just focus on being a good company that puts nice things in your hand, and build solid platforms.” Paul?—?19:16:“The giant tech companies, because they have such loud voices in the room, they get the press, they get to define the web and they define mobile… They eat up all that oxygen and they define success entirely for the vast majority of human beings.” Rich?—?25:15:“That’s the tone of this. Just keep your chin up. Don’t ask if [you’re] going to be the next Facebook. Who wants to be Facebook?” Paul?—?25:30:“When you are in this world and you listen and you pay attention to the media, you feel like an idiot if you don’t have a trillion-dollar opportunity.” LINKS Lily Tomlin?—?This is a Recording Slack Tensor Processing Unit TensorFlow Google Brain Stealth Starbucks Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
Learning from Failure: On this week’s episode Paul Ford and Will Denton sit down with Victor Lombardi to talk about how great experience design often fails. We talk about taking a humanist approach to UX design within a corporate role, look at design that has failed, and find ways to detect early signs of failure. We also make fun of Google Plus. ?iTunes/?SoundCloud/?Overcast/?Stitcher/?MP3 /?RSS Victor?—?4:47: “When your product is money, it’s hard not to get greedy.” Victor?—?6:58: “That blew me away: that there are people doing this work. They can be technical but their job is really to interface with humans.” Victor?—?18:10: “If you’re not really in touch with the customer [that’s an early sign of failure]” Paul?—?19:34: “That’s your whole world view, and then [apple comes in] and is like, ‘actually you’ve been thinking incorrectly’”. Will— 20:36: “Can we add a little addendum [to the book], ‘lots of money and sheer bravado will get you through’ [your failures].” Victor— 20:39: “They have such a great history of questioning our expectations and getting away with it, that it’s become a pretty good strategy for them to keep cannibilizing themselves, messing with our expectations of what we should be doing with our software and getting away with it 90% of the time.” Paul?—?20:57: “You’re a humanist at heart … and that’s not a corporate mindset. The corporate mindset is that we have to basically be flawless.” LINKS Victor Lombardi Victor on Twitter Why We Fail: Learning from Experience Design Failures Timex Sinclair Joy Mountford Brenda Laurel Bruce Tognazzini Wesabe Mint Why wesabe lost to mint Agile Google Plus Google Photos Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
#0128: Putting A Fine On Great Experience Design by Postlight
Two Jabrons Shooting the Shit: Source management, change management, version control?—?is there a better, more modern way to track changes in software? This week, Paul Ford and Rich Ziade hash it out. For decades, change management has been a huge part of computing, but how has it developed over time? What works, what hasn’t, and where are we heading? ?iTunes/?SoundCloud/?Overcast/?Stitcher/?MP3 /?RSS Paul?—?3:00: “Really what it’s about is that life is not linear, work is not linear. Two people need to work on one thing at the same time.” Paul?—?3:25: “Code tends to be simple text files. Version control and change management of code have been a huge part of computing for decades and decades.” Rich?—?4:00: “The internal network, or the shared network, was a pivotal point. Because you wanted that productivity of having a shared network.” Rich?—?5:00: “You’re spewing out the key requirements of what’s gonna make decent version control. Keep versions?—?huge. Don’t just overwrite. Absolute requirement. Mark who did what.” Paul?—?6:10: “Here’s what’s tricky to remember. We need to track lots of files. We’re not just talking about one. It might be a big directory with lots of sub-directories and lots of files… You could lock a file and say no one else could get this. In some different kinds of version control systems, especially in publishing workflows, that’s the primitive version. You’re in a world of pain. Every time somebody tries to do locking in version control, it just means everyone is like, ‘Can I get the file?!’” Rich?—?6:45: “So locking’s not a good idea. You would think, rationally, that it would be a good idea.” Paul?—?7:10: “Locking still shows up. You still see it in marketing content management tools where it’s like I’m gonna go in and edit that file but only I can edit it.” Paul?—?7:35: “One of the reasons they like to lock in content management is that the content is really kind of arbitrary. If I give you two text files, it’s actually pretty easy for a computer to be like ‘this line isn’t in this file but it is in this one.’” Paul?—?10:35: “The modern way is decentralized version control systems. What makes them decentralized is that you have a copy of the code and you have a copy of all the changes that came before it. You download everything, and that sounds like it would be huge but actually it’s not.” Paul?—?11:20: “I want the latest version. I enjoy reading the source code. I have a twenty-year relationship with this piece of software at this point. One of my better, closer relationships in life.” Paul?—?12:15: “You don’t necessarily get every change that was ever made, except that if there was a change that lead to the current state of that software?—?like here’s what it took to get us to today, you’re basically guaranteed to have that version and all the versions going backwards.” Paul?—?12:45: “The nice thing about having everything is that you can make your own changes and you can compile your own software and that’s all good. If they do something you don’t like, you can roll back and work from the old version.” Paul?—?13:25: “What Github provides?—?the thing about version control systems is that there actually is no canonical version, and this is really hard for people to understand. I had my copy of the software, you had your copy… The whole thing that makes your text editor, including the icon. That’s all in a folder that I got from somebody. Paul?—?14:00: “There’s no owner, you and I are just sharing.” Rich?—?19:55: “In a way the revelation here is policing at the top level. Let everyone work. Nobody can step on anyone else, but to maintain order up at the top?—?very low coordination.” Rich?—?20:20: “There’s actually...…
How does systems thinking influence design thinking? How much of shipping new design is about coping with anxiety? What do designers and basketball players have in common? From Abstract Theory to Capitalist Practice: This week, Paul Ford and Rich Ziade meet with designer Robyn Kanner to discuss her journey from a tiny art school to a UX designer at Amazon to the founder of MyTransHealth. We talk about the conversations designers should be having and the complex systems that inspire Robyn’s design practice. Robyn also reveals the surprising turn in her design journey that taught her how to throw a literal punch while Paul and Rich wrestle with the idea that, much like a basketball team, different designers do different things. [podcast player] ?iTunes/?SoundCloud/?Overcast/?Stitcher/?MP3 /?RSS Paul?—?2:15: “That is a very empowering moment when you go like, ‘I can make my own reality,’ and as you get better you start to look like a better and better musician regardless of how your music is.” Paul?—?5:30: “When you create something and there’s a lot of heat and light, and you’re making that new thing, your life is really tumultuous at that point. Then it goes out?—?it’s very emotionally tiring to go back to it.” Robyn?—?5:55: “I think my identity was a ‘bad thing’ for a while and then all of a sudden became a good and popular thing, and never really having the time to process that while trying to ship an actual experience?—?that was sort of the experience of it.” Robyn?—?6:25: “It’s not that they weren’t understanding [my identity], they just didn’t know how to have a conversation about it. They weren’t able to separate me from the work that I did and it was a deep UX problem to solve that kind of stuff […] It was a lot of patting me on the shoulder like, ‘good job, kid!’ and I was like, ‘if this was a shoe company you would think I was the freshest shit. It’s because it’s like a healthcare company you’re devaluing me right now.’” Robyn?—?7:35: “[Design thinking] is a methodology. I think designers think very highly of themselves for something that’s remarkably simple for the most part. I think design thinking is like, ‘great, you know how to work post-its, cool!’” Robyn?—?8:15: “When I think of systems, I think of things that already exist. I think music is one of the most perfect systems ever because everything has a time signature, everything has a rhythm and a melody. They all work together at the same time which is to me the most wild shit in the world… It’s all harmonious.” Robyn?—?11:00: “What’s interesting in-house is that you have to deal with politics. I think if you take the sprint at face-value it’s really cool. Once you introduce company politics it gets a lot hazier. I think when it comes to that approach you need a person in the room who can balance feelings.” Robyn?—?14:00: “Everything has a legacy, right. Every time I touched a product at Amazon, I knew I might be messing with code that’s at least seven years old.” Robyn?—?15:40: “[The goal of Amazon] is to try to naturally be in your life.” Robyn?—?16:05: “If you use time as the success metric, then you start having questions about where does this person need me, or where can I be more effective in their life?” Robyn?—?18:20: “If we think about the classic definition of design, it’s the solution to a problem within aesthetic constraints. For some unknown reason, people got it in their head that that meant type and color. For the life of me, I don’t fucking know why, because for me it means so many different things, and those different things are the conversations that really excite me.” Robyn?—?22:35: “Yes, I’ll get you the rectangle but we’re gonna talk about it first. That’s it. If we have a conversation about it first and we can figure out...…
The Game of Product Management: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade record a live podcast episode at our Ship It! meetup. We dive into the blockers that slow us down, the drivers that move us forward and we compete to see who can ship it. We also get a window into Paul’s keynote skills! 4:00— Paul: “[Product Management] is kind of the uber topic of our existence: How do we get these things shipped? We might know how to engineer, we might know how to design, but putting it all together and getting it out into the world is hard as hell.” 9:34?—?Paul: “That looks like someone who can ship a process, we need someone who can ship a product.” 10:22?—?Rich: “There’s nothing more effective than two or three people in Slack, beating the shit out of a problem. Meetings suck.” 11:25?—?Rich: “This is about leadership stepping in and giving you advice because they just read a thing in Fortune.” 11:39?—?Rich: “There is an art in responding to a leader and getting them to go away.” 15:18?—?Rich: “Paranoia is very, very powerful.” 19:29?—?Paul: “Even in success, you’re going to find failure.” A full transcript of this episode is available. LINKS Ship It We’re Hiring Keynote Agile Manifesto Slack Flickr Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
How did TIVO lead to Netflix? How does good software lead to empowerment? In this episode, we deconstruct the everyday impact of great software. It’s pretty cool having control of the screen: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade meet with their friend Timothy Meaney, VP Product & Quality at Insight Catastrophe, to talk about what makes software great. Between the earliest spreadsheet programs, the hidden databases upholding Manhattan, and the ChromeBook interface that makes Paul’s kids cry, we learn how the best software is characterized by its simplicity. [Podcast player] ?iTunes/?SoundCloud/?Overcast/?Stitcher/?MP3 /?RSS 2:35?—?Tim: “People also don’t think about software.” 6:10?—?Tim: “There was something very powerful about computing, being from what you just described?—?me being alone in my room writing a game that I want to play myself?—?to talking to other people.” 6:50?—?Tim: “The web, since [AOL Instant Messenger] has been about people.” 7:05?—?Paul: “What’s interesting from the two of you is that the quality of greatness is accessibility. It’s not about inventing anything, it’s about making it accessible.” 8:00?—?Paul: “Suddenly AIM replaced a whole category of communication. BASIC made it possible to program. MacPaint made it possible to draw.” 8:50?—?Rich: “Photoshop has gone straight to hell! To hell with Creative Cloud! To tell with whatever is happening in Photoshop today. I don’t understand it.” 9:10?—?Paul: “The magazine industry died, why do they make me relive it every day?” 10:05?—?Rich: “Once it came to me?—?the mental model kicked in around layers in Photoshop?—?I lost my mind. I was like, oh my god, this is how everything is done.” 11:20?—?Paul: “If you walk up and down the streets of Manhattan where we happen to be right now, billions and billions of dollars of decisions will be made this week based on Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint. Those are the tools and the software that people will use to move entire markets.” 16:05?—?Paul: “I just want to pull SQLite out and point at it because it’s a tiny piece of software and it stores data. That’s all. It’s a tiny database. It used to be that you’d go to Oracle and spend $30,000 to have this database. SQLite is on every Android phone, every iOS phone?—?it’s in just about every computer and every platform.” 21:20?—?Paul: “TiVo was our first step on our cultural path to Netflix.” 25:40?—?Tim: “The cycle is funny, right. It’s reached a point where it’s so transparent that we’ve ceded the control. A 10-year-old is not getting excited about gaining that control, they just have it.” 25:55?—?Paul: “If you ever want to see a 6-year-old have a temper tantrum, just give them the interface to a ChromeBook.” 26:25?—?Paul: “I thought the NYPD was gonna arrest me for downloading Chicago 17.” 26:50?—?Paul: “God, I love a good shared file system between friends! I miss that in my life!” A full transcript of this episode is available. LINKS Tim Meaney VisiCalc SQLite BASIC The Rise and Fall of AIM, the Breakthrough AOL Never Wanted OiNK.cd Shut Down, Admin Arrested Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
Virtual vs. Physical Privacy: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade talk about privacy around your data and devices. We talk about search warrants, argue about the systemic problems of the prison system, and look into the ways that encrypted messaging is influencing our laws. We also get a preview into Rich’s life as a lawyer! [audio player] ?iTunes/?SoundCloud/?Overcast/?Stitcher/?MP3 /?RSS 2:38— Paul: “Anybody can sue you for anything, at any time. So you need to be buttoned up, but also plan for that.” 4:48?—?Paul: “In the future, if you ever want to start a business, buddy up with a lawyer. That’s my advice.” 9:42?—?Rich:There’s laws right up to the constitution that protect our privacy in terms of our homes; our information. 14:07?—?Rich: “How do you feel about technology that exists, that doesn’t allow for that next step?” 16:55— Paul: “I dont actually see a fundemental difference between a virtual entity (like a communication network) and a physical space (like this guy’s house).” 18:20— Paul: “It’s very hard to ban end-to-end encryption, if people want it”. 19:41?—?Rich: “Privacy is sacred, and it should be respected, unless there is enough reason to infringe on it because a greater good is being threatened or harm is being inflicted in some way.” LINKS Fact Pattern Probable Cause Signal Telegram Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
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Postlight Podcast
We sit down with the host of Zig Zag to talk about decentralization, feminism, and how the blockchain might fix journalism The creators of Zig Zag: Manoush Zomorodi and Jen Poyant Capitalism, Journalism, and Women: This week Paul Ford and xarissa sit down with Manoush Zomorodi to talk about her new podcast, Zig Zag, and why she left a steady job at NYPR to create a media company on the blockchain. We chat about what it means to create a podcast on a technology no one really understands yet, the importance of owning your work, and how decentralized platforms are benefiting women. We also get to hear Paul’s manatee impression! 6:34?—?Manoush: “It wasn’t necessarily about an incident or a guy, it was about the whole system.” 7:29?—?Manoush: “If [Trump] can be President, I can have my own company.” 14:17?—?Manoush: “ I don’t understand the blockchain, no one understands the blockchain, so what if we actually made something that explained the blockchain… it’s the perfect narrative vehicle to explore all the other problems that we have with the internet.” 13:30?—?Manoush: “You’re going to put this thing on the blockchain… and you can’t take that away from us.” 19:07?—?Paul: “It’s tricky. You’re in this priestly cast when you’r ein the media, and you’re not supposed to get your hands dirty. Then there comes a point where you’re like, ‘do I believe more in the ethos of this culture or is it worth it for me to participate even though I might get cast out of heaven’.” 22:08— Paul: “There’s a point where you go, ‘I can’t be broke and smart’.” 24:56— Xarissa: “[Women] historically have been really bad at creating things that we own.” LINKS Manoush Zomorodi Civil Zig Zag Podcast Jen Poyant Note to Self Stable Genius Productions Popula Maria Bustillos Julia Angwin Joe Lubin Sir Tim Berners-Lee Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
How does the endless scroll of Netflix impact our desire for sneakers? How does the manufactured scarcity of shoes influence a billion-dollar secondary market? What is a sneaker bot? The difference between iPhones and Sneakers: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade sit down with product designer Matthew Famularo to talk about sneaker appreciation, manufactured scarcity, and the second-hand marketplace built around sneakers. We get acquainted with sneaker bots and discuss the ways that teens unknowingly carry out digital strategy for their favourite brands. We also listen to Rich’s admiration of Paul Newman’s good looks. [podcast player] ?iTunes/?SoundCloud/?Overcast/?Stitcher/?MP3 /?RSS 5:25?—?Matthew: “Part of this multi-billion-dollar industry of sneakers winds up being sold because the supply is so incredibly limited and the demand is so high.” 7:25?—?Matthew: “People will camp out for sneakers… It’s like Apple products, it’s like when the iPhone comes out.” 9:40?—?Paul: “There was kind of a larger trend of athletes going from cool hometown celebrities to global mega superstars where everything is affiliated with them, like when Steph Curry came out with his sneaker and everybody made fun of it?—?I don’t follow basketball or sneakers, but that was big news.” 10:00?—?Rich: “It’s fully baked at that point. You’re not wearing a sneaker to go play basketball in the schoolyard. You can, but it became fashion.” 16:18?—?Matthew: “It’s a multi-billion-dollar industry, sneakers. It’s a marketplace. Because of this multi-billion-dollar industry and supply that doesn’t meet with demand, there’s now a billion-dollar secondary market that StockX is participating in, that eBay is participating in, that people are using platforms to sell sneakers.” 16:30?—?Paul: “There’s a low cost of entry, it’s connected to street culture, there’s an element of hustle to it, and there’s a key thing you’ve just described which is that you’ve got this marketplace over here, you’ve got this waiting room here, you can automate this?—?or you could, theoretically.” 16:55?—?Matthew: “There are a lot of different kinds of sneaker bots that you can get and it depends on the shoes that you’re looking for… Some bots do all of them. Some bots only do websites that use Shopify. Some bots only work on jailbroken iPhones because they work on the Nike SNKRS app. You have to understand what you’re looking for, and dependant on that, there are a number of options available.” 17:35?—?Paul: “Everything you can do with the web has ended up in sneaker bot development territory.” 19:25?—?Matthew: “We are now exposed to digital objects more than types of physical objects.” 20:05?—?Matthew: “What you have today is between the digital objects [of music, TV, and film] is the notion of scarcity has exploded. Netflix will just pour content over your head until you drown in it so the perceived value is gone. I think that this is almost in a way a reaction to it, because you actually have this thing you can cherish in a weird way because not everyone has it. You know for a fact that because of the marketplace that there are just not a lot of them.” 20:50?—?Paul: “That aspect, that sort of raw capitalist consumption part of street culture got really into the brains of cool rich young kids who are like, ‘Oh yeah, $1500 for a cool pair of sneakers, that’s no big deal. I’m a DJ and my parents are funding the next 30 years of my college education.’” 22:00?—?Paul: “It’s not such a big market that serious, giant players are really deeply invested in it so it stays kind of ground level. Even the fact that there’s this whole sneaker culture and the bots and so on becomes part of the mystique. The marketplace is now connected to the big public branding event… They’re seeing this growing...…
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Postlight Podcast
Are you sick of productivity apps and social platforms that hijack your time? What happens when a platform encourages creativity rather than distracting us? How can you raise capital from users rather than ads? by Chris Sherron Less machine learning, less algorithms, less likes: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade meet with Charles Broskoski, founder of Are.na, to discuss how his platform moves away from the like-based models of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We talk about how pattern recognition drives our creativity, discuss the difficulty of building a community that people are willing to pay for, and complain about Pinterest. Rich also discovers what an Art Prof is! [Soundcloud] ?iTunes/?SoundCloud/?Overcast/?Stitcher/?MP3 /?RSS 2:35?—?Charles: “The main thing that you’re doing [with Are.na] is making collections of resources… You can throw anything in there and the point is that you’re thinking of things you’re consuming over a long period of time. It’s about doing this research and thinking about it as you’re doing things.” 4:15?—?Paul: “It’s the overall platform of Pinterest that’s okay, and the membership is very very excited, but it just breaks the web. You hit Google images and you go into Pinterest.” 4:40?—?Paul: “Compared to Pinterest, Are.na users tend to have intent when they link things together. Pinterest, on the other hand, is watching people and making these connections for them.” 9:30?—?Charles: “I think what was appealing about Del.icio.us is that it didn’t orbit around likes and hearts and whatnot. The thinking was that you use it for your own selfish needs and the sort of by-product of that was something really great for everybody else.” 9:45?—?Rich: “There was more of a culture around thinking and deep thought, about being more inquisitive and curious and less about performing a personality online.” 11:00?—?Rich: “This is success now on the Internet. Build the tool that lets you ‘heart’ pictures and sounds… It’s born out of Twitter and Facebook and the like.” 17:40?—?Paul: “So you’ve got this very abstract set of things. This has actually been one of the challenges of hypertext and the web in general, it’s that most websites end up looking like something that was there before. Newspaper websites look like newspapers. Youtube is about video of a certain aspect ratio that looks like TV… The thing that you’re doing here, the thing that you’re describing?—?which I think both Rich and I have found really hard to get across to people?—?is that here are abstract nodes that connect to other abstract nodes about concepts and they can be remixed. I’ve seen a lot of experiments along this line and I think that this one is really interesting in that forty thousand people doing abstract hypertext stuff is really a lot.” 23:00?—?Charles: “We’re doing an equity crowdfunding campaign right now, and that was a sort of scary proposition… The scary part with a community like ours is that they’re very critical, they know what’s going on, and they’re very sensitive to changes?—?but it’s going a lot better than we ever expected.” 23:45?—?Paul: “The mental model of what success is has to be changed to accommodate the spaces like this that people really want and will pay for and will be a good business.” 24:10?—?Charles: “I’m also very optimistic that people are getting smarter?—?and I know this is a minority opinion?—?but people’s ability to pattern recognize different things that are happening in the world, that ability gets strengthened over time and there’s nowhere to put that.” 24:50?—?Charles: “We just might as well not do it if we’re gonna do ads. It sets up a weird dynamic because your customer is not the user, your customer is the advertiser. Your motivation then is to serve the advertiser and not...…
How many cake decorating videos does it take to disrupt the platform economy? Would forcing constraint on platforms generate better content? How do we reconcile unlimited access to an infinite library when we’re being pummeled by bad content? Endless scrolling is the opium of the people: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade discuss how platforms like Spotify, Netflix, and Youtube have turned into an inescapable hellscape of unfocused content. We talk about being disappointed with the infinite media libraries of our dreams, and the potential for platforms to redeem themselves by constraining content, while looking at how smaller creators are already doing that. Paul also reveals his utopian dream of a centralized platform of curated cake-making content. 4:45?—?Rich: “I go to the track, and I go View Album, because I’m wondering if I’ve stumbled on an artist that I want to really dive into… then I go to the album, and I want to like it so I’ll give the album a full listen. There’s so much shit. I get through the first [few] tracks of the album and then the waves break the glass in my house and flood, taking the table and me and the chair, and I go to the next thing.” 5:45?—?Paul: “You know what I’ve noticed is the truly talented young artists just produce EP after EP, for years, and then they’re like ‘oh, I’m gonna do this album now.’ They don’t jump to the album. It’s a high risk game. 80% of it is gonna be trash unless you know what you’re doing.” 8:30?—?Paul: “With the pure algorithmically defined entertainment that Netflix specializes in, there’s this thing called Dinotrux. It’s dinosaurs that are trucks because they know that little boys like trucks and dinosaurs?—?little girls too! Have you seen Dinotrux? It’s so bad.” 10:00?—?Paul: “It must have been very exciting though at first where it’s like, ‘I’m doing a new thing, a Netflix standup special,’ and then a month goes by and it’s just not as cool for the comedians. Now you’re like, ‘I’m doing a Netflix special!’ and your housekeeper says, ‘so am I!” 12:30?—?Paul: “We have a developer/designer here named Darrell and he made a playlist expiration tool. It’s called Dubolt. It’s quite good, you seed it with a few tracks and parameters and you get a very good playlist back.” 13:30?—?Paul: “So we’re hitting a point in the glut where we’re realizing that emotionally and intellectually it’s not that satisfying to keep waiting and searching. You saw this when cable TV suddenly had five thousand stations and nobody could figure out what to watch.” 14:00?—?Paul: “There’s always the great simplifying agent, which in our industry is often Apple, [saying], ‘you don’t want all those choices.’ Now the problem that Apple has?—?which is the problem everybody who creates a successful minimalist approach has?—?is that everybody starts adding stuff to it.” 15:00?—?Paul: “We’re in the glut. There’s very little quality in a glut. There’s no sense of quality. Literally, it’s just this tsunami of content coming in and we’re all just like, ‘wow, that’s a lot of content!’ You thought it was what you wanted.” 15:25?—?Paul: “We measure creativity by how people respond to constraints.” 16:50?—?Rich: “When I see a Netflix Original Series, I just assume?—?and I could be surprised?—?I assume it’s bad.” 16:55?—?Paul: “Compare Netflix and Youtube for a minute. What do both of them solve? They solve distribution. Suddenly they were like, ‘oh my god, we can put moving pictures in a rectangle on a screen and we can get it out to millions and millions of people.” 17:20?—?Rich: “There’s a phenomenal quote by the Chief Content Officer of Netflix. They said, ‘what’s your strategy?’ and he said, ‘we have to become HBO faster than HBO can become...…
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Postlight Podcast
Paul and Gina meet up with Christian Madsbjerg to discuss the ideas behind his new book, “Sensemaking: The Power of Humanities in the Age of the Algorithm” What happens when you take a philosopher out of their element and plunk them into management? How can the business and tech worlds benefit from the humanities? Are we putting too much trust into algorithms and the promise of artificial intelligence? Courtesy of ReD Associates Just because Google does it, doesn’t mean we should do it too: This week Paul Ford and Gina Trapani meet with Christian Madsbjerg, author of Sensemaking: The Power of Humanities in the Age of the Algorithm. Christian ruminates on the limits of the algorithm, bringing human insight into tech and business where artificial intelligence falls short, and the impact of Elon Musk (ed. note: unfortunaltey this interview was recorded before the Met Gala) 4:00?—?Christian: “Philosophers are for critique and against suggesting anything. But if you want to make something, you’ve got to suggest something.” 4:55?—?Christian: “[Philosophers] see there’s still a way to have integrity in what you’re doing, and still deal with the kinds of things and the way they want to deal with them but in a different world.” 7:15?—?Christian: “I suppose philosophy is just making manifestos?—?what’s sort of underneath us all the time, and that we didn’t think about. What’s happening, at least in the technology space right now, it’s this big reckoning. There’s this big sort of realization that there’s more to this than we thought there was. That’s what a philosopher would do, they would ask, ‘based on what do you say that? What are the underlying assumptions?’” 8:15?—?Paul: “A vast number of our conversations… are ultimately about ethics. It’s a constant refrain through the organization. It’s daily and it’s top-to-bottom. Everything we do?—?maybe also because we deal with so many abstractions and so many requirements from the client?—?it’s more about preventing unethical situations.” 10:40?—?Christian: “It’s often a group of people that aren’t like you and trying to understand what their life is like. ‘What is it like to be them?’ is the basic idea. You can enter their world and you can enter it in a way that can inform that world with whatever you’re making. 13:45?—?Christian: “There are things we humans can do that we don’t understand yet. The fact that the machine can beat us in chess doesn’t mean that it can beat us in every other aspect of life, including understanding each other.” 16:20?—?Paul: “No one is going to buy a car that sacrifices your life to save another life… We’re about to hit a wall. This is where capitalism and ethics are about to have a very exciting moment around self driving cars.” 16:45?—?Christian: “Another way to think about driverless cars is [asking] are they really so attractive? Some people enjoy driving cars […]and that’s worth something as well. Another way of seeing it is that you can look at the people that get slaughtered in traffic every day, but does that really mean that all cars have to be driverless? Isn’t it a magical thing if you think about all the people that step into a car every day and they somehow find their way through these streets and they don’t crash?” 20:50?—?Christian: “I wish [Elon Musk] would represent a more interesting dream for eighteen-year-olds than going to Mars.” 21:05?—?Christian: “The first process is that in any public institution or any company there is a language that is often native to that place… The first thing is to translate that business language, or the language of the institution, into a human language. So how would human beings think about this? What would be the human phenomenon at the heart of this?” 24:15?—?Paul: “So sensemaking as a practice is...…
What conversations can we have in email? When do we need to transition them into meetings? How can we make meetings more productive, and less of a waste of time? Like Startups, Most Meetings Fail: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade chat about the inefficiency of frequent meetings. We discuss what makes a meeting fail within the first few minutes, and provide strategies that can be deployed to make them successful (like defining a leader). We also complain about the neverending email thread, and the disconnect between our daily lives and the design of Google Calendar. Rich shares his best excuses (Ed note: lies) to get out of a meeting! 3:45?—?Paul: “There’s the Two Pizza Rule for Amazon where no team should be bigger than what you can feed with two pizzas.” 4:00?—?Paul: “I think there are three good meetings. There is, ‘hi, let’s all get in the room as higher primates and get a sense of each other.’ You need to see and understand the people who are going to be working with you on something. There’s the kickoff. Then there’s the ‘we went away and did some work and we wanted to show you that work and get your discussion within about a half hour.’ Then there’s the standing process focus meeting in which you know what you’re going to do, it’s about a half hour long, and it’s just more efficient to […] find out what the tasks are and walk away.” 6:10?—?Rich: “This is free for all our listeners. It’s the opposite of saying ‘this is a waste of time.’ Ready? Here’s the sentence: ‘You don’t really need me for this.’” 6:30?—?Paul: “The calendar is this territory that belongs to you.” 10:35?—?Paul: “Let’s be honest. Calendering software is terrible. The way that we’ve arranged the weeks so that they’re verticle stacks from top to bottom, that’s now how humans think about things.” 11:00?—?Paul: “Time really works like a slithering snake. It goes from left to right.” 11:50?—?Paul: “95% of meetings fail within the first six minutes.” 13:37?—?Rich: You know what the worst invite is? The preface is this: ‘We all gotta get into a room.’ You get in a room and you realize the email thread was way more productive than us getting in a room.” 15:00?—?Paul: “I’ll tell you what I like. Email or meetings? Neither. They’re both terrible.” 18:30?—?Paul: “My brain works that way. Business brains don’t work that way. They talk and talk… My brain works in 8.5 by 11 inch paper, top to bottom. I can’t get that in business, and I accept that. I always feel a little bit like a space alien.” 20:40?—?Rich: “If there isn’t a clear path to failure, then that meeting is useless.” 20:50?—?Paul: “What favour are you doing anyone by hiding the fact that you’re secretly a compulsive lunatic who needs them to do things?” 21:00?—?Rich: “The three legs of a stool are ‘what is the thing?’, ‘who’s responsible for the thing?’, and ‘when are you gonna get the thing?’” A full transcript of this episode is available. LINKS Jeff Bezos Meeting scheduling tool The ‘two pizza rule’ is Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ secret to productive meetings Jeff Bezos explains his famous one-character emails Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
How can true information be used to rile communities? What is the difference between misinformation, disinformation and malinformation? How is deception tracked and quantified? Is the next generation more media literate? Häagen-Dazs is from the Bronx; Umami is from LA: This week, Paul Ford sits down with Encyclopedia of Misinformation author Rex Sorgatz. We discuss his new book, the ways marketers, newsrooms, and scientists use deception to their advantage, and the diffusion of misinformation. We talk about our role as consumers and how we’re changing the media literacy movement to revolve around systems of thought, rather than presenting everything as opposition. Rex also shares a list of supermyths (Spoiler: Colombus knew the Earth was round before he set sail). 1:40?—?Rex: “Misinformation is data that is incorrect, effectively. Disinformation is intentionally spreading that information… Malinformation, which is relatively new, is not actually incorrect information, it’s information that is correct but spread with the intent of abuse.” 6:30?—?Rex: “[Conspiracy theories] moved out of pop culture and onto the internet. I think back then, it was a playful thing, but now in the age of Infowars, I don’t know what to call it anymore. It’s a completely different thing.” 11:00?—?Rex: “I grew up in a small town before the internet and I still remember having access to information that didn’t seem right.” 15:34?—?Paul: “So this is a practical guide to the nightmare mediascape in which we find ourself.” 16:40?—?Rex: “I tell people it’s barely a book. My publisher said to stop saying that…” 25:30?—?Rex: “Instead we should try to think about how other people are coming to the conclusions that they’re coming to?—?it’s not a matter of what, it’s a matter of how. I think there’s a lesson in there about media literacy for kids, that we work toward letting them understand systems of thought, not presenting everything as opposition.” 26:20?—?Paul: “We consume so much media, so much, all day… People are willing to lightly hold and connect to all kinds of ideas as they suck media down their media holes in their brains. Part of the literacy is giving people the credit as discerning consumers who accept and reject the things that they’re hearing.” 28:30?—?Rex: “Learning is systems more than it is facts.” A full transcript of this episode is available. LINKS Encyclopedia of Misinformation The Internet Really Has Changed Everything. Here’s The Proof. Track Changes Episode 20: Rex Sorgatz?—?“The Other Side of Fate” Fate Magazine Anti-Vaxers The Flat Earth Society What are supermyths? Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
How have sales funnels changed in the past 20 years? What actually is a CRM or CMS? Are they merging together into a larger client management platform? This week, Paul and Rich sit down to discuss the new way of onboarding customers. Systems Collide Into Each Other: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade sit down to talk about bringing the right clients into your company. We explain the three pillars that are working behind sucessful customer relationships: sales, customer service, and marketing. We define the differences between CRMs and CMSs, and discuss the convergence of the two. We also announce that we’ll mail a box of chocolates to anyone who comes up with a good name for this convergence! 1:30— Paul: “At some level, your funnel is everyone in the whole world. …” 2:20?—?Paul: “Funnel is kind of a marketing term about getting from less qualified to more qualified. … about somebody signing on some dotted line and saying, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna do that’.” 3:53— Rich: “There was a day you’d have to stand out in the street with a sign. …That’s the old school, analog way of somehow taking the millions of little atoms that make up New York City and somehow filtering just a few into your shop.” 6:02?—? Rich: “There is software today that gets you way, way further ahead than standing outside of your shop with french fries.” 9:06?—?Paul: “CRM is a big bucket term… but it’s basically how do I track people and how I’m doing at persuading them over time.” 18:07?—?Paul: “Everybody’s a publisher on the web. Everybody.” 25:12?—?Paul: “This platform is emerging where the people are in the funnel, the kind of content they see, the kind of opportunities that they have to integrate and connect to your thing… are all in one.” 28:33?—?Rich: “It’s something big and beautiful. I would even say it’s broader than System A and System B colliding into each other.” A full transcript of this episode is available. LINKS Tugboat Finders CRM Salesforce CMS Be Kind to People Dressed As Food Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
How can you build software on small budgets and short timelines, without making everyone’s life worse? How can clients get a bunch of vendors on the same page? Is it even worth trying? A Bad Way to Build Software?: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade chat about the problems you’re going to face when you hire multiple companies to build a single piece of software. We discuss the communication, latency and separate agendas that hinder the process of software creation and give advice on how to make it work. 4:28?—?Rich: “When I go to management … I need dollars, I need timelines, and I need what it is…what are you going to give them, when, and how much is it going to cost.” 15:32?—?Rich: “There is nothing that will bring more friction, more latency, and more disagreement than human beings that view themselves as orbiting around separate entities but have to somehow come together to build a thing.” 15:50?—?Rich: “The single biggest risk to designing and building stuff is the dependencies and the reliance and the agendas of different groups of people.” 17:21— Paul: “The overall software experience is a unified thing, and it comes from a unified team. So if you put those different vendors in the room, really what you’ve done is you’ve incurred a month or more of teaching them to communicate with each other, and they’re all going to have different processes that they use to get stuff done.” 20:51— Paul: “What you’re doing is creating a pathological work environment, even if these places have good work environments themselves.” 28:19— Paul: “If people would take this seriously, and think about it, they could save themselves so much… just so much emotional pain.” 28:58?—?Paul: “It’s a big messy world out there… but vendor madness is very dangerous.” LINKS Kickstart Every Idea With a Real Product Plan Are You My Digital Product Studio? Software as a Product Software as a Service Two Pizza Rule Jeff Bezos Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
How did cyberpunks and activists affect the tech industry? Do we understand the history of the internet? How much of what we know comes only from a man’s perspective? This week, Claire L. Evans tells us about her new book, Broad Band, and the women who created the internet. Photo by Jaclyn Campanaro There Were Women In The Room: This week Paul Ford and Gina Trapani sit down with Claire L. Evans to chat about her new book, Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet. We discuss the impact of online communities, how weird the dot-com era was, and the stories of the women who made things work. We also get a window into Y?CHT’s future project?—?the Broad Band Musical! 2:29?—?Claire: “[This book is] a corrective if you will, of all the books we’ve all read and love about Silicon Valley, and the garage-to-riches stories of entrepreneurship… These are the stories about the women who were in the room the whole time, and nobody asked about them.” 5:06?—?Paul: “Women get forgotten from activist histories too, and it was kind of an activist scene in the early days.” 5:22?—?Gina: “Weird was welcome, in a way that is no longer the case.” 7:03?—?Claire: “My big takeaway is how little we value long-term care and maintenance when it comes to building things… I profile Stacy Horn, who founded Echo BBS in the late 90s. It still exists. And she has devoted 25 years of her life to fostering and caring for this community. … She’s taking care of something, because she’s responsible for a community, and I think that’s really beautiful.” 8:24— Claire: “We mythologize the box, but it’s the users that change the world; it’s what you do with it. The culture work, the development of making things worth linking is almost as important as making the conventions for linking. 8:24?—?Gina: “It’s broadening the definition of what making the web was. It wasn’t just about standardizing protocols and running code, it was about building the places where people wanted to come and connect and share.” 9:07— Paul: “Moderation…it’s critical, it’s key to these communities but it doesn’t get as much appreciation as ‘I wrote a page of code.’” 20:51?—?Claire: “We’re all very siloed in the contemporary media landscape.” A full transcript for this episode is available. LINKS Claire L Evans Y?CHT Broad Band : The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet Ada Lovelace Jamie Levy Halt and Catch Fire BBS Echo BBS Stacy Horn Heather Champ Polymaths Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
What information is Facebook gathering? Do we really understand how our data is being used? Is it time for Silicon Valley to step up and address our concerns around privary? This week, Paul and Rich sit down to discuss the problems with Facebook (beyond its ugly interface) and the lack of governing body around our data security. Mark Zuckerberg holding a cat (that is very much alive) They Have One Product: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade sit down to chat about the hellscape that is Facebook. We chat about the lack of communication around what is happening with your data, discuss what Silicon Valley’s role is in protecting our privacy, and complain about how ugly the Facebook interface is. Rich also paints us a picture of Zuckerberg holding a dead cat! 2:01 —Paul: “They have one product, the product is the social network and your access to that social network. So privacy should actually be something they have worked out in my opinion.” 2:01?—?Rich: “They’re doing stuff to me I don’t know about. That’s very different to me than privacy.” 9:37?—?Rich: “And so what I just described to you is the human cookie, right?” 13:34 —Paul: “what we’re seeing here is that there’s no . . . centralized controlling authority for all this stuff, right? Like people think that there’s might be order or like a governing body . . . but it doesn’t work that way.” 17:34 —Paul: “What the hell is goin’ on in that interface though? As we make fun of it as a giant, monolithic privacy destroying pseudo-government… as a product it’s just an insane circus?—?it’s just this blue and white hellscape.” 21:57?—?Paul: “I think people assume that consuming is a kind of making, right?” 26:03?—?Rich: “Zuckerberg? He creeps me out. The way he holds his hands out… It’s like there’s an imaginary dead cat in his hands. I can’t?—?I can’t peg it, man. He freaks me out.” A full transcript of this episode is available. LINKS Facebook eHow wikiHow Content farms mltshp (Formerly Milkshake) Paul’s Archivepix on Twitter “Silicon Valley Has Failed to Protect Our Data. Here’s How to Fix It” by Paul Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
How do you grow a company successfully? How do you build a company that values its culture over its profit margins? Can you successfully grow a company that started in NYC, in Lebanon? This week, Paul and Rich sit down to talk about the growth of Postlight and the amazing new team in Beirut! The Postlight office in Beirut, Lebanon! Growing in Two Places: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade sit down to talk about the growth of Postlight. We chat about how Rich’s Lebanese background informs the culture at Postlight, the misconceptions around outsourcing work, how to let your own team of engineers make hiring decisions, and the lessons we’ve learned from growing a company across an ocean. Paul and Rich also revel in the snacks they miss from Lebanon! 7:28?—?Rich: “Being Lebanese is part of the way we do business.” 9:24?—?Rich: “There’s no factory farm of humans that you lease out, to put some code out in Lebanon. They just don’t think that way.” 12:15?—?Rich: “A team starts to form and they said, ‘we want to be part of you, we dont want you to just throw stuff across the ocean because you had a thing that needed to get done that wasn’t interesting. We want to join you’. And to hear that from the other side was really, really interesting.” 14:49?—?Paul: “We got a clear signal back saying, ‘[outsourcing] wont work, just like it wont work anywhere. You need to have us be part of your culture, we need to connect, and then we’ll do work at the quality that you expect. And we want that for ourselves and you should want it from us.’” 15:07?—?Paul: “What you don’t get is some easy, spreadsheet savings; but what you do get is increased capacity to do quality work, which is actually where our growth is as a company.” 16:48?—?Rich: “We’re actually not driven by metrics. We’re driven by doing great work, finding great opportunities, doing great work again.” 24:05— Paul: “Theres a really good chance here that the good cultural things that helped us grow, are gonna happen in Beirut too.” LINKS Rich’s article on Postlight Lebanon Freaknomics Episode on the Most Successful Expats Shakira Kinkos Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
Is the blockchain more than bitcoin? Can the publishing space be taken out of the hands of banks and billionaires? Can local journalists band together to make the change? This week, Paul and Rich sit down with Maria Bustillos to discuss the future of the news on her new blockchain-powered publication, Popula. Blockchain Fever: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade sit down with Maria Bustillos to talk to about Popula— a blockchain based publication on news and culture. We chat about what it means to publish journalism on Civil: Self-Sustaining Journalism, honouring archives, the power behind direct and transparent news, and how Popula is working to address the problems that centralized banks have caused the world. Rich and Paul also try to write a song, titled Blockchain Fever! 5:05?—?Paul: “The internet exists because people took a piece of technology and an idea into their heart, and couldn’t leave it alone until it manifested…and I can see that happening with bitcoin.” 5:34?—?Maria: “Blockchain technology isn’t the answer, but it’s the paper that you can write the answer on.” 7:55?—?Maria: “Journalism has a lot of problems: in its funding model, in its deteriorating archives, in the vulnerability to billionaires who don’t like what we write. …And all these things can be addressed using blockchain technology.” 9:37?—? Maria: “Whenever we publish anything on Popula, a text version of it will be published to the Ethereum blockchain, and it cannot be altered. Ever.” 12:00?—? Maria: “It protects again Peter Thiel, it protects against linkrot, it protects against the degradation of search engines.” 16:00?—? Paul: “So local journalists are banding together and they are going to publish using these blockchain technologies on Civil. So does this get rid of the quixotic billionaire who funds the news?” 24:54?—?Maria: “We know it’s anti-bank, it’s anti-central bank, that it’s anti the dilution of currency. These are significant problems. They’re serious problems. There’s nothing bullshit about this. It’s not about instantaneous wealth, it’s not specifically anti-government either. It’s about addressing the problems that centralized banks have caused the world.” 25:28?—?Rich: “So this is a statement. Can you build economies and startups on a statement?” A full transcript of this episode is available. LINKS Maria Bustillos on Twitter Popula Civil Peter Thiel bidding on Gawker Wayback Machine Microfiche Ethereum Vitalik Buterin Satoshi Nakamoto The Winkelvoss Twins Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
Can electrical engineers create tangible objects? Do we really need to be writing lines of code in a text-editor to be programming? Is it time for society to redefine what it means to compute? This week, Paul and Rich sit down with Bret Victor to discuss his journey from Electrical Engineer at Caltech, to UI Designer at Apple, to Creator of his ultimate vision, Dynamicland. The building is a computer; the computer is a building: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade sit down with Bret Victor to talk to about Dynamicland?—?a non-profit that’s inventing a new computational medium, where people work together with real objects in the real world (not alone with virtual objects on screens). We chat about the tech behind Dynamicland, the importance of creating intentional communities, and how a culture of secrecy at Apple inspired a life-long vision of community computing. Bret also shares a surefire way to impress a date?—?bring them to GuitarCenter and show them your analog modeling synth! 3:58?—?Rich: “The bureaucracy got obliterated; all the machinery that usually slows you down was gone. The parents weren’t home!” 13:14?—?Bret: “I came in the first day, went ot my desk and there was an iPad sitting on my desk. This was 2007. The iPhone just had been released. The iPad was not a thing at all… and I said ‘what is this?’ and my boss said ‘well we don’t know, Steve wants a tablet’.” 16:03?—?Bret: “I was starting to see that my values and Apple’s values were a bit at odds. Apple ultimately wants to enable people to listen to their music, and read their email, and watch videos, and have an entertaining digital experience. I wanted to enable people to understand things more deeply or create amazing things that they couldn’t create before.” 22:08?—?Bret: “It’s hard to have the level of motivation to pull off something really huge like that, if you don’t have the right support structures in place.” 22:08?—?Bret: “We want to create a medium that works for all people. So growing our community, we’ve been pretty deliberate about reaching out to people who aren’t on Twitter and who aren’t traditionally advantaged by technology.” LINKS Bret Victor Bret Victor on Twitter Dynamicland Donate to Dynamicland Dynamicland on Twitter Alesis Ion Alesis Micron The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity by Alan Cooper Edward Tufte William Cleveland Magic Ink : Information Software and the Graphical Interface by Bret Victor Joystick Example at Dynamicland with Paula Te David Hellman Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
#0108: The Internet Got Shrinkwrapped by Postlight
Are your photos scattered across multiple platforms? Can you access them anymore? Are you locked into platforms you barely enjoy? On this week’s episode, Paul and Rich sit down to discuss the impossibility of getting all your files in one place. Photo by Martin We’re locked in: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade sit down to talk to about a major problem with giant platforms?—?getting locked into them. We talk about having our documents scattered across multiple platforms, the impossibility of possessing your photos, and becoming trapped by a giant platform without realizing it. Rich also pitches an app that’s based on the hugs he didnt get from his father! 4:11 —Rich: “I want all my shit in one place… and it turns out, it’s hard.” 5:55— Paul: “Apple didn’t do anything particularly nefarious. We entered into a relationship without thinking about how that relationship was going to end. Which we all do; as humans, we’re optimistic creatures. So you get into Apple and you think it’s going to work forever … and then you’re caught, you’re locked in.” 6:30?—?Paul: “The more lock-in [technology companies get], the better they’re doing. The more their stock prices go up, the more people like and respect them.” 11:23— Paul: “It strikes me as sort of hilarious because everyone in Silicon Valley is like ‘disrupt, disrupt, disrupt’, but there is nine levels of middle men here, all owned by one or two companies. And you can’t wedge in there.” 18:54?—?Paul: “These big platform companies love to lock you in. It’s absolutely in their best intrest.” 22:37?—?Rich: “Google’s doing it right. Lock-in is scary. Own your shit.” LINKS Flikr The Wire Adobe Lightroom DCIM AOL Messenger Chris Dixon on centralized platforms Google Takeout Chuck Berry Voyager 1 Clay Shirky Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
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Is bitcoin still operating in a vaccuum? How do we trace it back to market value? What does startup technology and bitcoin have in common? Paul and Rich talk to Aaron Lammer about smoking weed, the similarities between startups and bitcoin, and the future of the blockchain as a post-national project. Photo by Anna Rose It’s healthier to see it as gambling: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade sit down with Aaron Lammer to talk about his new podcast Coin Talk. We discuss the stability of bitcoin, the value of human satisfaction, and the similarities between bitcoin investors and startup founders (spoiler alert: it’s that you have to be a bit insane). Rich also grills Aaron on his shift from marijuana enthusiast to financial advisor! 4:00?—?Aaron: “[bitcoin] combines a lot of stuff that I’m really interested in. It has elements of startup technology media world, but it also has some game theory, and some like . . . just like gambling-y stuff. And I also think that people who are like, say, investing their own time and resources in startup technology are doing a form of gambling.” 4:41 —Paul: “It’s healthier to see it as gambling; if you see startups as a business, you’re an idiot.” 8:17?—?Aaron: “There are a lot of currencies in the world that are less stable than Bitcoin.” 8:53?—?Aaron: “I believe really strongly in like experiencing these things…like you don’t want to get lectured about Twitter by someone who’s not on Twitter. You really have to like experience technology to get it.” 14:36?—?Rich: “I think today [bitcoin] is nonsense. Eventually there has to be a dotted line to actual value, whether it be services or resources. Bitcoin is in a vacuum, as I see it today, and eventually somebody is going to want to trace that line. It leads to nothing today. 17:45— Aaron: “It could potentially be a post-national project, in the same way that many opensource software projects are post-national. The blockchain is really just the lowest layer. Once you take that idea of an immutable server that everyone can access without anyone controlling it, whether the project succeeds or fails is whatever people can build on top of that. And the first thing that they’ve built on top of it that’s truly been viral is money.” 26:16— Aaron: “Is your religion art or is your religion technology? And where will it be in a hundred years? Will it be with a technological religion or an art religion?” A full transcript of this episode is available. LINKS Aaron on Twitter Francis and the Lights Stoner Podcast Coin Talk on Twitter Francis and the Lights ft. Bon Iver and Kanye Exchange Traded Fund Bit Torrent Longform Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
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1 #0105 Are Smart Homes the new HVAC?: Paul and Rich discuss the pros and cons of a connected home. 25:28
Do you need a security camera for your front-door? Do you need programmable lighting? Are smart homes really innovative? Paul and Rich talk about the pros and cons of connected homes, the security of our information, and the impossibility of competing with giant platforms like Google and Amazon. Smart Homes, Foolish People: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade sit down to talk about connected homes. We talk discuss the pros and cons of distributed networks, the fear of sharing data with giant platform companies, and ask if smart-tech is eating away at our creativity. Paul also predicts that one of Zuckerberg’s 2018 goals will clam-digging! 5:15?—?Rich: “All of this stuff is so you have to do less. I used to love that sense of achievement when I had a 486 computer and when I finally got it to print in colour, because I bought a colour printer that took 20 minutes to print a colour page and it only worked right because I got the latest drivers that were crashing before, but finally it was working right. That felt so good. We’re eating away at the skills needed to do some incredibly complex things.” 7:57?—?Paul: “This is the fundamental flaw of everything though right? Which is that your home is increasingly becoming a set of distributed network processes and the way the cable companies and the routers are set up it’s very difficult to gain access to those from outside of your home” 11:44?—?Paul: “What’s happening is you’re seeing the same thing that always happens, which is that enormous consolidated players are starting to get their platforms together. They’ll get into a partnership. Like Amazon, I’m sure, is talking to Netgear right now. 13:30?—?Paul:“The big platforms, because of their ability to form relationships with other big platforms, always tend to win.” 14:17— Paul: “In ten, 15 years from now this will be built in like HVAC.” A full transcript of this episode is available. LINKS Alexa Echo Dot John Herrman Shitphone: A Love Story?—?John Herrmann Speech to Text Brother Printer Foscam Prince of Persia Video Game Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
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Are we living in a post-file world? Has our cultural understanding of “notes” changed? Paul and Rich talk to Chris O’Neill about innovation, acquiring talent,and the importance of focusing your team. The Ups and Downs of Focusing: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade sit down to talk to Chris O’Neill, CEO of Evernote to discuss the company’s shift in focus. We talk about acquiring talent as an established company, digital hoarding and how to compete with a pen and paper. Paul also compares NYC to a hatchet, and California to a widdled stick! 4:30?—?Chris: “[We] came from a place of wanting to be innovative and I think we spread ourselves fairly thin as a company. So part of the first step for me, was to spend time with our users and spend time with the founder of the company and really reflect on what is our purpose in the world? And how do we rally solely around that?” 7:09?—?Paul: “You’re not the new hotness, you’re ten years old, you’re Evernote, everyone’s heard about you, they’re 23 years old so they’ve known you to exist since they were 13. How do you convince talent to come work for you?” 13:18 —Chris: “WordPerfect and Microsoft Office were only like 30 years ago, 40 years ago. And all the metaphors were physical things: desktop, file, folders, and there’s a very good reason for that: Microsoft needed to have a metaphor that people understood. Now the problem is we’re stuck in that metaphor. You use Google Docs. Like a Doc is an eight and a half by 11. That little picture I scribble on the pad of paper, a whiteboard, an audio note, a business card?—?is that a file? I don’t know. I don’t think so. We’re in a post-file world.” 17:36— Chris: “People are going to find things that work, whether that’s pen and paper or Evernote, or whatever, people are gonna find what works for them. So why don’t you actually empower and enable them? That’s a mega trend I think you’ll see in the workplace . . . things are going to be user chosen but then companies will enable them.” 16:45— Rich: “Let’s talk about Information bankruptcy. I have a friend. I once took a look at her computer for a moment and she had about 77 tabs open. They didn’t look like tabs anymore…It is digital hoarding to some extent. It is that feeling that if I just put it away somewhere then I put it in my brain.” A full transcript of this episode is available. LINKS Chris on Twitter Chris on LinkedIn SCTV Digital Divide Salesforce Voice Interface Alexa Siri Information Hoarding Bear Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
What does Chief Compliance Officer really mean? What do you actually do? Paul and Rich sit down to talk about job titles, ruining our LinkedIn profiles, and the value of clarity. What does Grandpa do?: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade sit down to talk about terribly unclear LinkedIn profiles. We chat about the evolution of titles like Evangelist or Entrepreneur In Residence, and how to capture someone’s attention in three seconds. Rich complains about contracts and Paul makes a compelling defense for white chocolate. 0:38?—?Rich: “There’s the ceremonial title which is ‘Co-founder’, which speaks nothing to skill or vocation.” 2:11— Paul: “Boss [as a title] is a great. You never see that on a business card.” 7:05— Paul: “The X at Y is a really good formulation if you’re trying to break through and let people know what you’re about. ‘Self-employed’ is tricky. It should be Self-employed Something at first. You know? Self-employed Writer, Self-employed Designer.” 9:47?—?Rich: “I think this is a good piece of advice, generally: LinkedIn flies under people’s noses… You’re always on a list with about 200 other people… so if somebody’s giving you the three seconds, you gotta really nail your headline.” 23:55 —Rich: “ If you keep going back to Clause 6A1, you will destroy the relationship. You will destroy it. The thing exists in the first place for mutual benefit. I get money from you, you stay in my apartment, right? If I go back to Clause 6A1, because you didn’t take the garbage out and put it in the front, therefore I’m gonna ask you for an extra 50 dollars, right? Cuz it’s in the contract. You just destroyed actually something far more durable than the actual contract.” A full transcript of this episode is available. LINKS Guy Kawasaki Amedei Chocolate Video of chocolate and Steely Dan Milton Snavely Hershey Hershey School Chipotle Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
How can a side-project become a multimillion dollar venture? How has San Quentin become a technology incubator? How can we work to curb America’s prison problem? Paul and Rich talk to Chris Redlitz about Venture Capital and his newest nonprofit, The Last Mile. Invest in the Pivot: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade sit down with VC, Chris Redlitz to talk about his newest venture, The Last Mile (TLM). What started as a mission to instill hope in prisoners has become a technology incubator and coding school. We talk about access to information, the stigma around hiring criminals, and the tangible steps we can take to curb mass incarceration and reduce the recidivism rate in America. Rich also reveals his subconscious love of tight polyester pants! 3:52 —Chris: “We’ve seen some of the best companies come out of pivots or side projects.” 9:34?—?Chris: “Kenyatta Leal who was in our first [round of the program], he’s on our board of directors, he was serving a life sentence when I met him as a result of the three strikes reform. He was released, now he’s on his four year anniversary and he works for a technology company here in San Francisco. Someone like that has just become a beacon of hope for those inside.” 11:56?—?Chris: “The first thing that we recognized was that many of [the students] just lacked hope. They lived in a box and they thought in a box…And so our first premise was to instill hope and confidence, so that they could dream big.” 12:58?—?Chris: “It’s come a long way from this idea of just instilling hope. Now we are teaching practical skills and we have guys getting out, getting hired as software engineers. We just had three guys hired within the last month in the Valley as Javascript coders.” A full transcript of this episode is available. LINKS Chris Redlitz Guy Kawasaki?—?Enchantment The Last Mile on Twitter The Last Mile The Last Mile Newsletter Donate to The Last Mile Wish Transmedia Capital Inside San Quentin’s Coding School Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
Are we experiencing bitcoin’s tulip-mania moment? Do we need to care about the iPhone X? Is Russia our biggest threat? Paul and Rich talk about the top three letdowns of last year, and make predeictions for what’s coming down the pike. A Bad Technology Year: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade sit down to talk scrutinize 2017. We talk about being letdown by iPhone X, relate the bitcoin economy to tulipmania, and question how we will deal with cyberwarfare in the future. We also make goals for the year ahead?—? Paul wants to go to more museums; Rich wants a good omelette! 5:01?—?Rich: “I think if you trace money back to its roots it’s goods and services, right? … So, I don’t understand where the dotted line goes from Bitcoin. It seems to go back to Bitcoin.” 5:40?—?Paul: “we live in an economy that favours bubbles…It takes an entire aluminum smelting plant in China to process one transaction on wish.com with Bitcoin… At what point do you look at this and go, ‘Maybe this isn’t sustainable.’” 6:05— Paul: “The Silicon Valley ethos around technology, if you talk to venture capital people they are very, very focused not necessarily on making amazing, awesome products. That’s a big part of what they do but what they really wanna do is make the marketplace. Google is a great search engine. Truly great. Probably the best in the world. However, where it really is, is a marketplace for ad distribution.” 11:19?—?Rich: “If you can maintain scarcity that’s where value lies.” 13:26?—?Rich: “This is a big deal, right? Because what we saw is that platforms can be consolidated to the point on the internet that they have massive, direct cultural power. And then you can feed that with complete garbage information that satisfies the users.” 17:17 —Paul: “We’re two Mr. Digital Guys and we went to war without knowing it. And we just got the crap kicked out of us….the Russians were like, “Well, what can we do?”… “We can’t use nuclear weapons. That’s really bad. Let’s avoid that, at least so far.” ... “But boy, you know, with one relatively cheap cable modem line we can destabilize a giant global democracy”. A full transcript of this episode is available. LINKS Extraordinary Popular Illusions and the Madness of Crowds. Tulip Mania List of items you’d need to buy one tulip bulb iPhone X Microsoft Connect Bitcoin Cryptocurrency The Kimberley Process and Conflict Diamonds Track Changes is the weekly technology and culture podcast from Postlight, hosted by Paul Ford and Rich Ziade. Production, show notes and transcripts by EDITAUDIO. Podcast logo and design by Will Denton of Postlight.…
For decades, the Library of Congress seemed to err on the side of keeping information on lockdown, but Kate and Abbey have changed that. We talk about digitizing archives, creating cultural memory, and rethinking what a library really is.
What does product management really mean? How can you effectively couple design and engineering to bring a product to life? Paul and Rich talk about the difficulty in defining the discipline of product management, the three red-flags you should avoid on a resume, and how to demonstrate value under an ambiguous title. You report to the product: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade sit down to talk about hiring product managers who do more than the hand-off. We delve into the intersection of design and engineering, why product management is so difficult to define, and the value of curiosity. We also share our top three ways to destroy your resume!…
How can you pitch your product without boring an investor? How have audio platforms won the competition for user attention? Paul and Rich talk to Matt Hartman about product development, chatbots and the importance of creating products that establish a sense of connection. Competiting with the Infinite Scroll: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade sit down with Matt Hartman, Partner and Director of Seed Funding at betaworks to talk about creating products that stick. We delve into the future of chatbots, why audio is an exciting space to invest in, and how to not bore an investor with your pitch. We also challenge Rich to start the new year with daily positive affirmations!…
Check your shoes. Are you standing in shit already?: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade make the case that net neutrality was never enough. Of course, congress’ vote to to repeal net neutrality protections will have huge impacts on innovation, product development and the way we think about equality. We delve into the ways that we can we compete with the giants, the disruptive tech that’s created in protest, and we compete for the title of Most Cynical (Spoiler: Rich wins).…
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Have we moved too far away from the mainframe? Do engineers need more empathy? Does technology have a woman problem? Paul and Gina talk to Ellen Ullman to find out how the past 20 years of tech are shaping the next 20.
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1 #0095: The Medium is the Mission: A conversation with Michael Sippey, Head of Product at Medium 32:10
Words matter, writing matters and that mission is alive and well at Medium. Paul and Rich talk to Head of Product, Michael Sippey to find out more about making money in publishing, the importance of good content and his three-step approach to product management.
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Are we building the dystopian future we’re afraid of?: This week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade talk about Amazon, Facebook and other big-tech companies that have changed our basic human interactions. We delve into the commoditization of our feelings, valuing efficiency over communication, and the despair that comes from seeing a death announcement on social media (especially when it’s bumped up against a recipe for a chocolate soufflé).…
For decades, startups have tried to unseat the mighty spreadsheet, with no success. Does Airtable, a database for the web, have what it takes? And what did it take to make Airtable? Paul Ford and Rich Ziade talk to Airtable co-found Andrew Ofstad to find out.
Is Facebook a monopoly? This week Paul and Rich tackle the 2-billion-user elephant in the room and go back and forth on two big questions: whether Facebook violates antitrust laws and should be broken up, and how the platform (or its regulators) can solve its rampant fake news problem. Topics covered include what “breaking up” Facebook would even look like, how the platform might verify news sources, separating news from satire, and the general public’s ambivalence about privacy and security.…
From the front lines of the podcast boom: this week Paul and Rich talk to Matt Lieber, co-founder of Gimlet Media, one of the most successful podcast studios in the industry. Topics covered include the company’s origin (and the podcast that chronicled its founding), how Gimlet recruits and trains its editors, the trajectory of the medium, why you shouldn’t play favorites amongst your employees, and how Matt has been re-cast as a sleazy door-to-door salesman in an upcoming ABC comedy produced, directed by, and starring Zach Braff.…
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Postlight Podcast
1 #0090: Paul and Rich Try to Talk About Something Else But End Up Complaining About LinkedIn Again 24:58
Is there a way to fix LinkedIn? This week Paul and Rich return one of their favorite hate-topics: LinkedIn is, in Paul’s words, “a remarkable affront to everything that we care about and believe in.” They discuss “human spam,” various UX gripes with the platform, Paul’s methods for “killing the virus” to eliminate certain types of social connectors, resumes, and various suggestions for improving the product—including a $100 offer to anyone who can build a Chrome extension to implement their ideas.…
From TV writing to scriptwriting software: this week Paul and Rich talk to Rob Dubbin, former writer and producer for The Colbert Report and The Late Show and current CEO of Scripto. They discuss Scripto’s creation and the special workflow challenges coordinating a late-night show, animal welfare, transitioning from writing to tech, Bluetooth, Google Wave, and more.…
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Postlight Podcast
How do you pull the plug on a product people love? This week Paul and Rich talk about good and bad ways to shut a digital product, from giving people a path to export their data (good) to writing a blog post entitled “Our Incredible Journey” (bad) (very, very bad). Topics discussed include AOL Instant Messenger (RIP), communities around software, Rich’s experiences shutting Readability, and Paul’s experience pinpointing the fundamental ethos of the web: “Why wasn’t I consulted?”…
Building a community for developers: this week Paul and Gina talk to Jenn Schiffer, community engineer at Fog Creek’s Glitch, a platform for developers to write, share, and remix code that is, in Jenn’s words, helping to “lower the barriers for developers to build great things.” Topics discussed include development frameworks, how coding is taught, cultures of harassment online and in the tech world, and the (sort of mindblowing!) way a bloomin’ onion is made.…
New technologies vs buzzwords: this week Paul and Rich discuss the challenge of sifting through trends in the technology world—and how they help clients separate what they need from what they think they need. Topics discussed include SOAP, machine learning, Paul’s love of the words “matrix” and “vector,” React, blockchain, the iPhone X “notch,” and, most importantly, paddleboarding.…
Building digital tools for active citizenship: this week Paul and Rich talk to Glenn Brown, the chief digital officer at the Obama Foundation. The conversation works through each major stop in his career, from Harvard Law (including the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society) to Creative Commons to Google and YouTube to Twitter to his current role. Topics covered include the mission of the Obama Foundation, copyright and fair use, what “product counsel” does at a place like Google, the power of livestreaming, and Rich’s fantasy vision of a Miami courtroom.…
“The bad times, as a manager, are easier than the good times”: this week Paul and Rich discuss a “good problem to have”—managing growth as demand for your work grows. They talk about their personal experiences at Postlight before offering up a series of tips for managing growth, including not taking on too much while still not compromising on the approach and philosophy that got you there.…
New horizons in digital media: this week Paul and Rich talk to Anna Holmes, the founder of Jezebel and current SVP of Editorial at First Look Media, where she recently launched the visual storytelling site Topic.com. They discuss her early magazine career, the rise of online media, comment sections vs social media conversations, and what it's like to run a more reflective site in a world of reactive takes.…
How does Postlight tackle security challenges? This week Paul and Rich begin the episode with takeaways from the Apple iPhone announcement (which they had not yet heard at the time of recording) before diving into a wide-ranging discussion on digital security, from personal worries to the Equifax breach to the steps they take as a company to ensure clients’ data safety. They then tell the story of the first $20 Postlight ever made—a tale about infidelity, large datasets, AshleyMadison.com, and a trio of guys who were definitely up to no good.…
The challenges of product management at scale: this week Paul and Rich talk to Oren Mor, a head of product at Goldman Sachs and a former product manager at Google. They discuss his entry into the industry, making the technology behind Microsoft’s Kinect, his pivot to finance, and his return to tech at Google, where he spent years shipping ad products. They then go deep into the online advertising world, including ethical concerns around ad placements and the new taxonomies that’s creating on the web.…
What makes a good meeting? This week Paul and Rich set out to break down everyone’s least-favorite part of the workday—the meeting—but they wind up breaking down complicated office management dynamics along the way. They do offer concrete tips and strategies, from how to keep your head down early in your career to keeping the agenda focused and specific to the beauty of ending a meeting early.…
How design came to drive business: this week Paul and Rich talk about the evolution of the role of design in the tech industry, from Microsoft’s early dominance—privileging function over form—to Apple’s ascendency in the past decade, where user-centered design, particularly on mobile, has led to their success. Topics discussed include the McKinsey consultants, the early history of Apple, the jumble of titles and roles in the digital design world, and Rich’s perpetual hatred of Apple’s chief design officer, Jony Ive.…
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Postlight Podcast
Understanding the fundamentals of public speaking: this week Paul and Rich talk to Bill Smartt, a coach who believes that everyone can improve their speaking skills. They break down his three big tips—speak up, slow down, and make eye contact—and discuss (and practice!) breathing exercises that can help when stagefright kicks in. They also discuss his origin story, which involves some poorly-placed dry ice at a Nashville Halloween party.…
Remote working, iPhone cases, and Spotify’s UX: this week Paul and Rich tackle three very disparate reader questions. In the first, they outline Postlight’s remote working culture and the tools they use—most notably, Slack—to help everyone stay on the same page. Next, they talk about the iPhone as a design object—and our desire to immediately cover it up with a case. And finally, they go in on Spotify’s clunky user interface when asked: if Spotify was your client, how would you fix it?…
Changing the podcast user experience: with Paul away, Rich is joined by Postlight’s new partner, Gina Trapani, for a conversation with developer Leah Culver. They discuss her career trajectory, from embracing computer science in college to moving Silicon Valley to founding startups Pownce and Convore to becoming an engineer at Dropbox. They then discuss her newest venture, Breaker, an “end-to-end podcast company,” and the podcast space in general, from the fractured digital spaces for podcast listeners to Apple’s recent announcement to share user data with creators.…
Understanding an organization’s older technology systems: this week Paul and Rich discuss legacy software and the work cultures around them. Topics discussed include how companies put systems in place and how they become unworkable, resistance to change, clashes between engineering departments and broader company culture, and tips for dealing with the social dynamics when dealing with—and trying to change—legacy software and systems.…
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Postlight Podcast
The history and the future of CSS: this week Paul and Rich talk to Eric Meyer, an expert on HTML and CSS for more than two decades, about web design and standards. Touching on both basic and more technical aspects of CSS, topics covered include the development of the style sheet language, the incompatibility of early web browsers, accessibility (or lack thereof) in modern web design, and, of course, what the W3C CSS working group’s after-parties are like.…
The iPhone at 10: this week Paul and Rich reflect on the iPhone’s 10-year anniversary, discussing everything from Steve Jobs to Apple’s evolution to the future of smartphones to how Jony Ive uses a microwave. Then they debut a new segment where they complain about things that frustrate them; this week, they get out all their feelings about kombucha, the always-broken Google Inbox, and Adobe’s Creative Cloud.…
Helping veterans enter the tech world: this week Paul and Rich talk to Jerome Hardaway, a veteran who became a programmer before founding Vets Who Code, a nonprofit that helps other veterans do the same. They discuss the challenges he faced reentering civilian life at the height of the Great Recession, how Vets Who Code was born, the specific assets vets bring to programming and the tech world, and how they overcome the challenges and stereotypes they face.…
From Amazon to Russian watches: this week Paul and Rich start by trying to rationalize Amazon’s recent acquisition of Whole Foods, a conversation summed up by Paul as, “You can Occam's Razor this bad boy down.” They move on to Amazon’s strategy at large, the departure of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, whether our individual actions can ever have any broader effect on the planet, and the harrowing saga of the time Rich tried to buy a watch from a shady Russian website.…
Analog books in the digital age: this week Paul and Rich talk to Maris Kreizman, editorial director of Book of the Month Club, the 90-year-old book subscription service that shaped American literary history. Topics discussed include BOMC’s revival and current iteration, demographics and preferences in book consumption, materiality of paper books and physical bookshelves, Amazon’s relationship to the rest of the book world, and why Paul just can’t get behind mermaid fiction.…
Chat, bots, privacy, and the internet of things: this week Paul and Rich embark on a wide-ranging conversation about innovation and change in tech—and its impact on our daily lives. Topics covered include connected devices, machine learning, the future of medical apps, technologies and superpowers, and whether it would be fun to go to a bar with Siri. (Spoiler: it wouldn’t.)…
Understanding crowdfunding with “The Crowdsourceress”: this week Paul and Rich talk to Alex Daly, a Kickstarter expert whose company, Vann Alexandra, has managed 50 campaigns and raised more than $20 million dollars. They discuss her background and earliest introduction to crowdfunding, a number of memorable campaigns she’s run (for Neil Young, NASA, the MTA, and more), and tips and observations about building both an audience and a successful crowdfunding campaign.…
Launching the employee development movement: this week Paul and Rich talk to Jen Dary, the founder of Plucky, “a consulting firm that helps companies with their people.” They discuss the value of retention over hiring, how to reframe thinking about career paths, Jen’s “employee development” approach to human resources challenges for both people and companies, and a pivotal conversation while stuck in traffic on the Verrazano Bridge.…
A user’s experience in a world of endless updates: this week Paul and Rich talk about the changes tech giants and digital publishers make on our mobile apps and on the web. Topics covered include our apps’ constant stream of small updates, user-experience disconnect on major social media platforms, publications’ redesigns and the ultimate aims of publishing on the web, and the lack of—and the need for—software criticism.…
Understanding advertising on the web: this week Paul and Rich talk to John Shankman, an internet advertising veteran who has worked at companies like Federated Media, Huffington Post, and The Awl Network. He currently runs Hashtag Labs, a company that helps make ad tech more manageable for independent publishers. The conversation runs through various types of advertising online, from programmatic to direct sales to premium networks, and tracks the life of a web ad for the Paul and Rich’s new school, “Ford University.”…
From Uber to Mars to the New York City bus system: this week Paul and Rich talk about the highs and lows of tech industry’s relationship with transportation, where some apps dismantle industries and others knit cities together. The conversation includes Rich’s theories about tech billionaires and space travel, Paul’s paean to express busses and the MTA Bus Time API, and a segment in which Rich roleplays as Travis Kalanick—and Paul gets to tell the Uber CEO exactly how he feels.…
Product management, from journalism to music to podcasts. This week Paul and Rich talk to Aaron Lammer about the three prongs of his career—as the co-founder of Longform, as a musician with Francis and the Lights, and as the host of Stoner, a new podcast about weed. They look at his career through the lens of product management and entrepreneurship—and Aaron’s tendency to downplay success, like going on tour with Chance the Rapper.…
Managing the world’s largest software registry: this week Paul and Rich talk to Laurie Voss, chief operating officer of npm, the JavaScript package manager that gives 7 million programmers worldwide access to hundreds of thousands of packages. They discuss how npm works and the details of its past, present, and future—as well as how removing one tiny piece from it can break the entire internet. They also discuss managing a large community of users, where the 0.1%’s complaints always seem to outweigh the 99.9%’s praise.…
Digital innovation and collaboration: this week Paul and Rich sit down with Michael Shane, the Global Head of Digital Innovation for Bloomberg. They discuss his journey from professional clarinetist to applying for an editorial position on a whim to developing big and small ideas across platforms and divisions at Bloomberg. They then describe Bloomberg’s collaboration with Postlight Labs and the product they developed, Bloomberg Lens, a tool that gives a reader context for the people they’re reading about without ever opening an additional tab.…
Productivity at Postlight: this week, with Rich an ocean away, Paul is joined by Gina Trapani, a director of engineering at Postlight who is well-known for, amongst other things, founding the website Lifehacker. They discuss her productivity tool, TODO.txt, an open-source project now in the hands of Postlight’s team, and productivity tools at large, in a conversation ranging from the specifics of Paul’s favorite, org mode, to the way having children disrupts all your plans for organized, efficient workflows.…
Geopolitical design thinking: this week Paul and Rich talk to Jeremy Pam, an international relations expert whose career has taken him from Wall Street to Iraq and Afghanistan to MIT to his current position at Columbia University’s Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies. The conversation ranges from sovereign debt relief to New York subcultures to working in a warzone to the Homebrew Computer Club, and they draw parallels between the tech world and geopolitics—and how to reconcile with outcomes your data models never predicted.…
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Imagining New York’s underwater future: this week Paul and Rich talk to Kim Stanley Robinson, one of the most renowned science fiction writers alive. The author of nineteen novels, he describes his newest, New York 2140, as both a “post-disaster novel” and a “comedy of coping,” set in a New York City several decades after sea levels have risen and stabilized. They discuss the city’s history, its natural and manmade spaces, and its inevitable future due to climate change: how the watery city will adapt, and who will make a profit.…
The past, present, and future of advertising on the web: this week Paul and Rich talk to John Battelle, who’s been, in Paul’s words, “an internet entrepreneur as long as there’s been internet entrepreneurship to happen.” They chronicle his long and varied career, including early days as founding managing editor of Wired, founding Industry Standard during the dot-com boom, the Web 2.0 Summit, successive iterations of online advertising and content marketing, and his current work at NewCo Shift, where he’s working change the way tech leaders think about the industry.…
How do we measure and manage our lives? This week Paul and Rich talk to Alan Burdick, a staff writer and former senior editor at The New Yorker whose perpetual lateness led to Why Time Flies: A Mostly Scientific Investigation, a far-reaching and comprehensive exploration of time. They discuss productivity apps, our internal clocks, children’s perception of time, bullet journaling, and more.…
From Amazon Web Services to YouTube cake videos: this week Paul and Rich go on a journey into the depths of the web, from its infrastructure to its myriad communities. They start with the recent AWS outage that left sites large and small scrambling and somehow find their way to the well-compensated YouTubers, train enthusiasts, “gastro-pornography,” and relatability—including the aesthetics of “Track Changes” itself.…
The technologists defending the Constitution: this week Paul and Rich talk to two people with very different roles at the American Civil Liberties Union. Marco Carbone, Associate Director for Internet Technology, manages the ACLU’s website, while Daniel Kahn Gillmor, Senior Staff Technologist for the Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, does policy-oriented work, especially on digital privacy rights. Topics covered include the recent influx of donations to the organization, poor security standards on our social media platforms, warrants, and more.…
Demystifying public speaking: this week Paul and Rich talk to Lara Hogan, an engineering director at Etsy whose most recent book, Demystifying Public Speaking, aims to help get more diverse voices onstage in the tech world. Topics covered include overcoming specific fears before getting onstage, how to process feedback, and some of her own experiences onstage, from highlights on down to one particular public-speaking horror show. They also discuss her career at Etsy and the joys and challenges of management.…
From the front lines of the changing world of media: this week Paul and Rich talk to a client, VICE News, specifically editor Ryan McCarthy and general manager Dan Fletcher. They talk about VICE News and VICE more broadly, outline Dan and Ryan’s careers, and talk about the current media landscape and VICE’s position within it. They also discuss VICE News’s experiences with Postlight, who redesigned the site in 2016.…
Should Twitter delete the president’s personal account? Paul and Rich tackled this hotly-debated question in the first-ever live episode of Track Changes, recorded at the SVA Theatre in Manhattan as part of IxDA’s Interaction 17 conference. They take turns playing the fictional CEO of Twitter as he visits various departments, from tech to legal to PR to investor relations to design, to talk about whether they could delete the account—and what the ramifications would be if they “hit the big red button.” They also take in a variety of perspectives on the question with comments from the audience.…
Why you need prototypes and Powerpoints: this week Paul and Rich talk to Prashant Agarwal, the VP of Design at McKinsey Digital Labs. They talk about his career trajectory, from studying business to co-founding a startup to product management to design, and his current role at McKinsey, where he rethinks design challenges at scale. Paul and Rich also discuss content marketing, including this podcast and their fear of small talk at cocktail parties.…
The promise—and creepiness—of the web. This week Paul and Rich talk to Nicholas Carr, the author of books including The Shallows, The Glass Cage, and, most recently, Utopia Is Creepy. Topics covered include our addictions to devices, the internet’s influence on political discourse, shifting perceptions of digital technologies over time, and Rich’s desire to see less baked ziti on his Facebook feed.…
How do our media landscapes shape our lives? This week Paul and Rich have a wide-ranging conversation about media, from the changing landscape of journalism to the way we consume entertainment to the way we share information. Topics covered include fake news, Netflix, Jeff Bezos, Facebook, television, Fox News, David Letterman, and Peppa Pig (which gives Paul a chance to test-drive a British accent).…
Physically preserving the contents of the web: in the second and final installment of their conversation with Craig Mod, Paul and Rich talk to the writer, designer, and technologist about his new book and about the writing platform hi.co, the entire contents of which will be printed on a tiny nickel plate and archived in the Library of Congress. They also answer a listener question about Paul’s anxiety—or, in his words, “brain space shenanigans”—and whether the frequent subject of Paul’s writing has any bearing on Postlight’s business.…
Traveling the world with Craig Mod: in the first of a two-part conversation, Paul and Rich talk to the writer, designer, and technologist about his upbringing, his early relationships with computers, and strategy tips for walking through forests. They also take a question from a listener worried over what to do when your values don’t align with the values of your client—or your employer.…
What should we make of 2016? This week Paul and Rich recap the year, with a focus on the big tech trends of the past 12 months. Topics covered include virtual and, augmented reality, Pokémon GO, Facebook’s fake news problem, Apple’s terrible wireless headphones, self-driving cars, cybersecurity, conversational interfaces, Rich’s eternal optimism, Paul’s fears for the future, and the things they’re both grateful for.…
Creating change for New York City kids: this week Paul and Rich split the episode in two, with two conversations about children and learning. First they talk about their own kids’ relationships with technology and feelings about teaching them to code. Then they sit down with Colin Smith, executive director of the nonprofit Change for Kids, which works with motivated principals to help give students at New York’s poorest public schools access to pathways for success.…
Learning from successes and failures: this week Paul and Rich talk to Michael Sippey, whose career spans the history of the web, from blogging pioneer to Six Apart to director of product at Twitter to startup founder. He details his work at Twitter during a time of transition for the social network, and then shares frank perspectives about launching and recently shutting down his startup, Talkshow.…
Answering listener mail: this week Paul and Rich answer a few letters: first, an architect asks Rich to expand upon his analogy between small teams of software developers and architecture firms; then, a Facebook-weary listener asks why there isn’t an easy way to pull your content from the platform. They round out the show with a discussion on Postlight’s mission statement—or lack thereof. Also discussed: Shutterstock’s image search, consulting firms’ hiring models, and Rich’s opinion of the sushi in San Diego.…
A new division of Postlight: this week Paul and Rich debut Postlight Labs, a recently-launched space for innovation and experimentation within the company. They discuss Labs’ inception and some of the thinking behind its mission, and then detail three products Poslight has launched already: the Mercury AMP tool, Lux, a JavaScript framework, and SOTU, a tool that helps managers check the status of a project on Slack.…
Taking stock after one year: this week Paul and Rich assess the company they founded last year and what they’ve learned in the intervening months. They detail Postlight’s origin story, talk about philosophies around hiring and building a diverse workplace, meditate on success and achievement at the management level, and critique things they could have done better—and what they’ll keep working to improve in the future.…
Our dangerous reliance on big data: in an episode recorded before the election, Rich and Paul talk to Cathy O’Neil, author of Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy. They discuss Cathy’s origins in the math world, her years at a hedge fund on the brink of the 2008 financial crisis, the lack of transparency in the Department of Education’s data, and the various examples of “weapons of math destruction” in her book—all the ways that data is used to harm.…
Are we addicted to our phones? This week Paul and Rich very deliberately avoid talking about the fate of our democracy and tackle perennial questions about our devices and our (possibly unhealthy) relationships with them, starting with Andrew Sullivan’s recent piece in New York Magazine, “My Distraction Sickness—And Yours.” Topics covered include the essays of Montaigne, “play baseball dads” vs. “phone dads,” whether mobile software and design should take some blame, and the phrase “epistemological shenanigans.”…
The next step for Jeffrey Zeldman: this week Paul and Rich talk to the web design pioneer who, in Paul’s words, “designed the aesthetic of the web for a while.” They discuss his history as founder of the design studio Happy Cog and A List Apart Magazine, co-founder of A Book Apart and An Event Apart, and author of, amongst other titles, Taking Your Talent to the Web. They then discuss his newest venture, studio.zeldman, dig deep into the difference between an agency and a studio, and touch, controversially, on the pronunciation of “GIF.”…
How does the web shape our taste—and our choices? This week Paul and Rich talk to Tom Vanderbilt, author of You May Also Like: Taste in an Age of Endless Choice. They examine how online ratings affect our perceptions, the power of negative reviews, and Tom and Rich’s shared appreciation (/love) for Rush. They also discuss Tom’s previous book, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us), and how his research led him deep into the world of cycling.…
What can we learn from the history of an address? Fresh off Postlight’s recent move to offices at 101 Fifth Avenue, Paul and Rich use The New York Times’s archives to delve into the history of that particular parcel of land. Some of the results are dramatic (diamond thieves!), and some...well, not so much (dinner parties; book publishing). But what emerges is a narrative about a building that’s changed with the ebbs and flows of industry in New York City—and a narrative about New York City itself.…
How does design shape the world? This week, Paul Ford and Rich Ziade finish their conversation with Michael Bierut, a partner at Pentagram, and Jessica Helfand, senior critic at the Yale School of Art. Topics discussed include the public’s perceptions of designers’ work, collective interest in logos and branding, the danger of creating in pursuit of positive feedback, publishing personal writing on the internet, and their recent appointments as the first design faculty in the Yale School of Management.…
How designers see the world: this week, Paul Ford and Rich Ziade talk to Michael Bierut, a partner at the design firm Pentagram, and Jessica Helfand, a senior critic at the Yale School of Art. In the first installment of a two-part conversation, they discuss the institutions where they’ve built their careers, the balance between expertise and curiosity, how they teach the fundamentals of design, and the value of rituals when you’re trying to get the work done.…
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Postlight Podcast
1 #0032: Clover Newsletter—Turning over a new leaf (or four) with founders Liza Darwin and Casey Lewis 45:48
New media on old platforms: this week Paul Ford and Rich Ziade talk to Liza Darwin and Casey Lewis, former teen magazine editors who launched “Clover,” a daily topical newsletter and app for girls ages 13–22, early this year. They discuss their former employers’ struggles adapt to the internet age, the email behavior of today’s teenagers, nostalgia for Google Reader, inadvertently building a community, and sexism in the venture capital world.…
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