Shows / The Tech Trek
The Tech Trek
The Tech Trek is a podcast about how founders, operators, and technology leaders build and scale technology companies. Each episode explores the decisions behind building products, teams, and technical organizations, with conversations spanning engineering, AI, data, product, hiring, leadership, and growth. Guests share what they are building, what they are learning, and how they are navigating the challenges that come with turning technology into a successful company.
Episodes
The Tech TrekRashu Garg - Bringing innovation to the business and measuring its impact
Key takeaways: Balancing innovation with what is needed Managing stakeholder expectations and “excitement” Technology and business stakeholder partnership is…
The Tech TrekMike Ganz: Focusing on solving the right problem, not the most difficult
Key takeaways: Focusing on solving the right problem, not the most difficult Define the “north” star Seeing the most impactful project Positioning the need to…
The Tech TrekThor Clark - Never a perfect process, but the right process for the stage you are at
Key takeaways: Never a perfect process, but the right process for the stage you are at Making an investment into a more efficient process The time horizon gest…
The Tech TrekKishore Aradhya - Connecting technology and business strategy
Key takeaways: Don’t be too technology-focused without identifying the customer value it should provide The “connecting tissue” isn’t always obvious…
The Tech TrekMark DiAntonio - Team behavior and measuring impact
Key takeaways: Team behavior and measuring impact Looking at a 3 sprint rolling average to gauge velocity Keeping the workplace fun by focusing on skill…
The Tech TrekAndy Owens - Hiring and scaling your analytics team
Key takeaways: Look at a job’s deliverables to find the right hire The new data analyst needs to understanding core CS concepts Don’t let the process define…
The Tech TrekBarr Moses - Good data pipeline, “bad data” problem
Key takeaways: Good data pipeline, “bad data” problem Investing in data observability - it will cost you one way or the other Being proactive vs reactive Data…
The Tech TrekJohnathan Hunt - Implementing Security Sooner (especially in DevOps)
Key takeaways: Ramifications of waiting to implement security Consider alignment before jumping to tools Look within your current team to see if skills are…
The Tech TrekAnwar Reddick - Build vs buy in the security industry
Key takeaways: Build vs buy in the security industry Focusing on speed to get value out of tooling Avoiding tools that tie you into a rigid structure Carrying…
The Tech TrekNoah Beddome - Aligning the security roadmap to business objectives
Key takeaways: Aligning the security roadmap to business objectives Preparing for the initial requirements assessment Making sure you understand what is…
The Tech TrekJosh Scherbenski - Building and improving data quality through more testing
Key takeaways: Building and improving data quality through more testing Dividing work among geographically remote teams Quality decline as a symptom of team…
The Tech TrekJason Wilcox - Engineers and the business value they generate
Key takeaways: Importance of having context around the greater pieces of what the business is doing Staying engaged in the business vision post-onboarding The…
The Tech TrekBrian Pivar - Transforming the data capabilities at Kraft Heinz
Key takeaways: Bringing modern tech thinking to a legacy company Moving away from a FAANG to a non-tech company Ability to move the needle Building agile pods…
The Tech TrekLiran Eisenberg - Scaling your data engineering team
Top takeaways: Challenges around scaling data engineering teams Pros and cons of keeping job descriptions vague Waiting to make the “right” hire? Focusing on…
The Tech TrekAnil Beniwal: Preparing to scale your engineering team
What you’ll learn: What to think about when you are looking to scale your engineering team Healthy tech debt to support fast growth 3 categories of tech debt…
The Tech TrekAnthony Girolamo: A good process should solve an acute problem
What you’ll learn: 1-way vs 2-way doors Making a transition from a FAANG to a startup A good process should solve an acute problem Meet: Anthony Girolamo leads…
The Tech TrekNate Loomis: High-performing teams and getting to Teal!
What you’ll learn: Very important to define stretch goals Leveraging eNPS - employee net promoter score Using employee net promoter score within your agile…
The Tech TrekMike Brittain - The looming retention problem: returning to the office
Top 3 takeaways: The looming retention problem - returning to the office Balancing team distribution via fewer time zones Adjusting salary bands to account for…
The Tech TrekDan Simon - Decisions as a bridge between ideation and execution
What you’ll learn: Decisions as a bridge between ideation and execution RACI decision-making Decisions can’t be made absent of context; Provide as much context…
The Tech TrekChris Ieva - Military veterans are a hidden talent pipeline
What you’ll learn: - Adjusting to the differences in structure between private industry and the military - Valuing the importance of resource allocation -…
The Tech TrekRomit Jadhwani - How to grow an agile data and analytics team
What you’ll learn: How to grow an agile data and analytics team Solving data discovery challenges to speed up productivity Agility vs velocity Providing data…
The Tech TrekBrian Berger - Re-aligning technical operations teams to company needs
What you’ll learn: Challenges in getting deep expertise in many areas Moving from a project focus to deeper subject matter expertise Moving towards…
The Tech TrekChris Ieva - Connecting consumer experiences to the product
What you can take away from this episode: Connecting consumer experiences to the product Using alternative data-rich sources of information to increase…
The Tech TrekMitch Trale - Growing an efficient, effective, and content distributed team
What we cover: Improving asynchronous communication Understanding where decisions are being made Establishing repeatable actions and rituals Leadership is…
The Tech TrekJonathan Jaffe: Growing and building your security capabilities
What you’ll learn: Growing and building your security capabilities Prioritizing the first cybersecurity hire Security tools and automation rather than shifting…
The Tech TrekTeresa Martyny - Building resiliency into systems
What you’ll learn: Building resiliency into systems Failing and non-failing validations If failure happens, what’s the fallback plan? Creating SLAs with…
The Tech TrekHyung Lee and Chi Ho - Extensibility of the Salesforce platform
What you’ll learn: The extensibility of the Salesforce platform Growth and evolution of the platform Pushing Salesforce to do something that it shouldn’t…
The Tech TrekZak Allen - Building trust and transparency in the team
What you’ll learn: Building trust and transparency in the team Adjusting the structure of the 1-1 meeting for Zooms Replicating the ideation process while…
The Tech TrekKendra Rozett McCormick - The power of being underestimated as a female leader in technology
What you’ll learn: The power of being underestimated Being one of few females as an IT Director in the Massachusetts technology public sector Early exposure to…
The Tech TrekCarlis Ragland - The widening scope of IT Service Management
What you’ll learn: The widening scope of IT Service Management Does ITSM need their own Service Management Officer? ITSM buy-in and the why behind it Meet…
The Tech TrekKrishna Ramaswamy - Finding the right skill set mix in growing your analytics team
What you’ll learn: Finding the right skill set mix in growing your analytics team Interviewing tip: Trying to understand how a candidate’s problem-solving…
The Tech TrekKevin Recio - Proactive vs reactive problem management
What you’ll learn: Proactive vs reactive problem management Managing the multiple touchpoints involved in a service incident Balancing needs vs the squeaky…
The Tech TrekDavid Ting - Work fast and iterate very quickly
What you’ll learn: Work fast and iterate very quickly Try to think with a clear mind - communicate through writing over talking Shorten time to ideation…
The Tech TrekNana Somuah - Upskilling the data analyst role
What you’ll learn: Upskilling the data analyst role Medical knowledge is doubling every 73 days; pushing the technical envelope to cope with the increase…
The Tech TrekAidan Anderson - Deeper partnership between platform and security engineering teams
What you’ll learn: Deeper partnership between platform and security engineering teams Security by design Focusing on a handful of problems that really matter…
The Tech TrekMartin Corso - Delivering analytics in a hypergrowth industry
What you’ll learn: Delivering analytics in a hypergrowth industry Simplifying and pinpointing the direct analytic needs Meet: Martin Corso is the Director of…
The Tech TrekScott Persinger - Team health as a barometer for team velocity
What you’ll learn: Team health as a good barometer for team velocity Tech debt is inevitable; keeping it at a sustainable rate Balancing team size Meet: Scott…
The Tech TrekMurali Bhogavalli - The Data Product Manager as the Quarterback for the data team
What you’ll learn: Reasons why you should hire a data product manager Data product manager roadmaps are typically longer Being data-informed rather than being…
The Tech TrekEiwe Lingefors - Focus on cybersecurity earlier in the software engineers process
What you’ll learn: Benefits of incorporating security earlier in the process Balancing between business and security goals Avoid looking for the “unicorn”…
The Tech TrekNathan Wan - Managing your team with empathy in mind
What you’ll learn: Leading with empathy in managing your team Making sure to allocate time to prioritize learning Meet: Nathan Wan is the Director of Machine…
The Tech TrekGeorge London - From a non-traditional degree program into data and machine learning
What you’ll learn: Moving from a non-traditional degree program into data and machine learning Stubbornness as a superpower (sticking to a problem is key)…
The Tech TrekBen Garvey - Team velocity measured by the number of merges
What you’ll learn: Looking at the number of merges to evaluate team velocity Reducing wait times during code reviews Software is getting cheaper to make and…
The Tech TrekMyles Guanzon - Performance management of remote teams
What you’ll learn: Using stand-downs to check-in at the end of the day Clarifying expectations and establishing a clear technical ladder Doubling down on…
The Tech TrekDavid Kaplan - Focusing on predictability rather than velocity
What you’ll learn: Focusing on predictability rather than velocity How the code base’s complexity can affect estimation Balancing the effect of technology…
The Tech TrekDavid Relyea - Growing your career in data science
What you’ll learn: Inversion of talent vs seniority Hiring is not all about the hard skills Focusing on employees motivations for the long term benefit to the…
The Tech TrekRyan Weeks - Growing security awareness and maturity
What you’ll learn: Growing security awareness and maturity Starting with a security framework in mind Cybersecurity is an accessible field (moving past the…
The Tech TrekLiliya Frye - Moving towards Automated Continuous Testing
What you’ll learn: Challenges in moving to CI/CD What is continuous testing? The new skills required for people in testing Meet: Liliya Frye is a Technology…
The Tech TrekAndy Lu - moving your career forward by staying curious
What you’ll learn: Being curious, staying curious Servant leadership style Pushing for opportunities to grow Meet: I am an experienced technologist with over…
The Tech TrekGeorge Bezerra: Moving the business forward with data science
What you’ll learn: Evaluating where data science and machine learning can be applied Complimenting human decision making with algorithms Being aware of…
The Tech TrekGeorge Bezerra: Modernizing a legacy data infrastructure and culture
What you’ll learn: Modernizing a legacy data infrastructure and culture Pushing people out of their comfort zone Quick wins while building the long term…
The Tech TrekIan Amit: Mental health within the cybersecurity field
What you’ll learn: Security professionals and mental health Accepting that there are inherent limitations in security If you burn yourself out you are doing…
The Tech TrekIan Amit: Managing security across multiple brands
What you’ll learn: Setting up an internal MSSP (managed security service provider) Establishing a baseline of security (using the NIST Cybersecurity Framework)…
The Tech TrekPeter Fishman: Complexities of modern data platforms
What you’ll learn: Managing the complexities of the modern data platform Balancing between hiring for the right data skill Breaking out roles by areas of…
The Tech TrekCassio Goldschmidt: Security is a business enabler
What you’ll learn: Security shifting left Taking security from afterthought to active participant Keeping up with the pace of change in security Meet: Cassio…
The Tech TrekAddressing the security challenges of Shadow IT with Cassio Goldschmidt, CISO at ServiceTitan (Part 1)
Meet: Cassio Goldschmidt is regarded as an internationally recognized, award-winning security expert. With more than 20 years of experience, Mr. Goldschmidt…
The Tech TrekEnterprises are becoming more customer-centric, with more data, we need more clarity, and data quality is a journey with Michael Remyn, Director Salesforce Product Management
Meet: Michael Remyn is a product management executive who is passionate about creating intuitive user experiences within enterprise software. As a Director of…
The Tech TrekModernization of master data management and the changing complexity of data projects with Mike Arbitman, Senior Director, Technology Organization Data and Analytics at Medidata
Meet: Mike Arbitman, Senior Director, Technology Organization Data and Analytics at Medidata, a technology leader skilled at defining, building, improving, and…
The Tech TrekWorking for an engineering org where the CTO still checks in code and looking for transferable skills in hiring DevOps and Security engineers with Mark Shasha, Head of Security at Braze
Meet: Mark Shasha is the Head of Security at Braze. He is a career security professional specializing in enterprise application and infrastructure security…
The Tech TrekLeveraging his military management experience and transitioning from the military to the private sector with Chris Ham, Engineering Operations Manager at Novantas.
Meet: Chris Ham is the Engineering Operations Manager and Chief of Staff to the CTO at Novantas. He is responsible for DevOps, Cloud/on-prem implementation and…
The Tech TrekCulturally additive hires, hiring people for the right context, and adjusting to a fully distributed engineer org with Maria Latushkin, CTO at Omada Health.
Meet: Maria Latushkin is responsible for leading Omada Health’s technology vision and team. Prior to joining Omada Health and moving to the healthcare space…