Constant Variables

Clifton Manneh is on a mission to teach 100,000 youth how to code through his company Konduct Coach Learning, an edtech platform where youth and professionals gain employable skills and enhance their professional development. He joins the show to chat about how his mom's cooking influenced his passion for community-based learning, the lessons he learned as a solo-entrepreneur, and the impact he hopes Konduct Coach Learning will have on the community.

Ever been hosed by a developer? It's an unfortunate story we hear time and time again. Understanding the high-level milestones associated with most development projects can give you confidence in knowing your project is on the right track. In this episode, Tim chats about the tangible assets you should expect to receive at each development stage, along with a fair pace for completing each stage.

With a proliferation of low code/no code development tools on the market, these platforms can be an attractive option for businesses looking to build an app quickly without the use of an experienced software developer. But these tools have their limitations. Tim chats about the benefits and challenges of this development approach to help businesses determine if low code/no code apps are the right solution for their project.

Audio is booming, and as more organizations recognize its value, a proliferation of podcasting tools, platforms, and shows are hitting the market every day, making a highly-accessible medium feel intimidating to noobs. Founder & CEO of Matriarch Digital Media Twila Dang is no stranger to the power of audio, and she joins the show to share how simple it is to get started with podcasting, with just a cellphone and a plan. Twila gets into the weeds of how businesses can be successful with podcasting and the doors that open when you make something you're proud of.

Think your email's private? Think again. Big tech email providers use your data as a way to get rich. But it doesn't have to be this way. Fastmail CEO Bron Gondwana joins the show from the Land Down Under to chat about why "free" email isn't free. Bron explains how email is the biggest social network in the world that isn't ephemeral, why building digital products should align with your moral values, and how open source and open standards benefit all.

Every week, millions of people come online for the first time, and how they use technology plays into the future of tech. Heading into 2021, we're looking at how we can use tech to work together to continue to make everyone's lives better. In this episode, Rob and Tim come together for their annual chat about technology trends for the coming year, from the breakup of tech giants, the next stage of autonomous vehicles, and machine learning in healthcare, to ultimately where companies will be investing when it comes to tech in 2021.

Building a company comes with a learning curve for any entrepreneur. Building an app-based company as a non-technical entrepreneur can make that learning curve sharper. Mike Jackson, founder of The Premium Experience, joins the show to discuss his experience building a tech based business as a solo, non-technical founder and how it prepared him for the launch of his next company, Black Tech Talent. Mike shares what he wishes he'd known when he first had an idea and didn't know where to start, how he pivoted his focus when the global pandemic shut down his company's growth plans, and how he's opening doors by educating different viewpoints on hiring Black talent.

Murphy's law of "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong" doesn't exclude software development (unfortunately). In this episode, Tim outlines common risks associated with app development and how to get on the same page as your development team to have systems in place to mitigate them.

With experience building two tech-based companies from the ground up, serial entrepreneur Eric Martell has gathered an impressive collection of analogies around succeeding in the startup space. He joins the show to chat about building his recent venture Pear Commerce, marrying product philosophy with business philosophy, hiring people who buy into your mission, investing in repeat customers over acquiring new ones, and using tech to scale, before finally nerding out with Tim over database tech.

One of the first development decisions you'll make when building an app is whether to build on a native platform or a hybrid platform. In this episode, Tim gets into best use cases for hybrid and native apps, along with each platform's limitations, so you can decide the best approach for your project.