GeekWire

It doesn't always come naturally to us, as cynical reporters, but every Thanksgiving week on the GeekWire Podcast, it's our tradition to take a step back and take stock of the positive things in technology, business, and science.

This year's installment offers several reminders of the technologies that we might take for granted, gradual advancements that we incorporate into our lives over time, to the point that we suddenly can't remember what we did without them: automated scoring for sports pools among friends; remote printing over the internet; natural language processing; language translation; mobile ticketing; and drone photography; to name a few. 

We hear from several readers and listeners about what they're grateful for right now, including robotic process automation, continued advocacy for diversity in tech, and support networks for startup founders.

In a contrarian twist this year, GeekWire's John Cook also talks about some of the silver linings in these cloudy economic times, including a return to more realistic (and potentially realizable) valuations for tech startups. We're also seeing a silver lining in the job market right now, as layoffs open up the market for hiring by smaller companies.

And in an even more contrarian view, John shares why he's thankful for ... Elon Musk! Be sure to listen to his reasoning before getting out your pitchforks.

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Amazon became the latest tech giant to make layoffs in its corporate workforce this week in the face of the economic downturn, but the manner in which the plan unfolded left some employees scratching their heads, at best.

Foreshadowed in a Nov. 10 Wall Street Journal report foreshadowing cutbacks in Amazon's devices division, the scope became clear with a New York Times report Nov. 14, saying that the company planned to lay off about 10,000 corporate and tech workers. But that number was an approximation, not a precise count or a specific target, because Amazon is leaving the decisions to leaders in its divisions.

It also took couple days for Amazon to officially acknowledge the layoffs, with a memo from Devices and Services chief Dave Limp, and later from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, explaining that the job cuts could extend into next year. 

The reaction was a mix of frustration, fear, uncertainty, and also acceptance, as GeekWire reporter Kurt Schlosser discovered when he visited the Amazon campus in Seattle this week. Kurt joins us to share what he saw and heard.

Also this week: the impact of the downturn on high-tech real estate brokerage Redfin, and our thoughts on a potential collaboration between Jeff Bezos and Jay-Z. 

Share your perspective for next week's show: What are you thankful for in tech? Is there a technology that has changed your life, your job, or your company for the better this year? Or a trend in the economy or the industry that you're especially grateful to see? Send a message or a voice memo with your thoughts to [email protected] for a chance to be included in next week's episode.

With GeekWire co-founders John Cook and Todd Bishop.

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The year was 2011, Facebook was serving a mere 600 million users, and Mark Zuckerberg was making his pitch to a crowd of prospective hires inside the company's office near Pike Place Market — explaining why the social network had chosen Seattle for its first remote engineering hub.

"We were like, alright, at some point, we should probably think about opening up offices in other places," he said. "And we figured that Seattle would be a good starting place, because it's culturally pretty similar to the Bay Area, pretty close by. ... It's the same time zone. So it's easier to schedule time to hang out and talk with folks."

Originally an experiment, it quickly became much more than that.

"We've been totally overwhelmed with awesome folks we've had the opportunity to talk to, from Microsoft, Amazon, Google, different startups here," he said. "And it's just really impressive. It has definitely blown away our expectations for how quickly we were going to be able to find good people."

The trend only continued from there. In the decade that followed, Facebook grew to more than 8,000 people across numerous offices in the Seattle area, as the company grew to reach nearly 3 billion users across the globe, and dramatically expanded its footprint under the Meta umbrella ... until this week.

On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we discuss Zuckerberg's decision to cut 11,000 jobs, or 13% of Meta's workforce; examine the company's growth in the Seattle region as an emblem of Silicon Valley's global ambitions; and consider the new realities of popular tech business models in the face of the economic downturn.

With GeekWire co-founders John Cook and Todd Bishop.

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Amazon has grown dramatically over the past decade, surpassing 1.5 million employees and extending its reach into nearly every corner of commerce and society. But now, the turbulent economy is forcing the tech giant to make a series of difficult decisions, cutting back in many areas while making strategic bets in others.

It’s far from alone in facing these decisions. However, with its reach across e-commerce, physical retail, cloud computing, robotics, AI, transportation, logistics, and many other areas, Amazon is a microcosm of the larger economy. That makes it worth examining not just for its own future but for the broader implications.

On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we take a closer look at the forces influencing Amazon’s business, and how the company is responding.

See this GeekWire post for more information and related links. 

With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook.

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Fully autonomous vehicles are closer to commonplace than you might expect, as cars and big rigs gain the ability to operate safely on our streets and highways.

As one of the pioneers in the field, Chris Urmson has been there from the beginning, competing in the landmark DARPA Grand Challenge before going on to lead Google’s self-driving car initiative.

Now he’s following through on the vision as the CEO of Aurora, which is developing self-driving technology for use by a variety of car and truck makers.

On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we're playing highlights from our conversation with Urmson at the recent GeekWire Summit.

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Edited by Curt Milton.

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Can the online world move from the digital equivalent of medieval times to a new era of civilization?That was the question on Charlie Bell’s mind when the veteran engineering leader decided to leave Amazon after more than 23 years and join Microsoft to lead its $15 billion cybersecurity business, taking on what he described as “one of the greatest challenges of our time.” 

More than a year into that quest, Bell joined us recently at the GeekWire Summit for a status report — sharing insights on the state of digital security, and the potential for progress in the years ahead. 

On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we're featuring highlights from Bell's conversation on stage with GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop.

Special Coverage: GeekWire Summit 2022.

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This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we hear the pitches made by four startup CEOs in the 32 seconds it takes to get to the top of Seattle's historic Smith Tower, on their way to winning their respective episodes on this season of GeekWire's Elevator Pitch series.

It's a preview of the upcoming season finale, in which each of the four will make a final pitch at the GeekWire Summit next week, live on stage.

• Episode 1 winner: Amina Moreau, CEO of Radious, an online marketplace that turns houses, apartments and other residential properties into workspaces, rentable by the day.
• Episode 2 winner: Devin Miller, co-founder and CEO of SecureSave, a purpose built emergency savings solution designed to help people feel and be financially secure.
• Episode 3 winner: Erin Quick, co-founder and CEO of PairTree, a service that provides tools, resources and support to navigate and simplify the process of adoption.
• Episode 4 winner: Katherine Sizov, CEO & co-founder of Strella Biotechnology, creators of sensing technology that predicts the ripeness of produce.

More: GeekWire Elevator Pitch Season 3, and the GeekWire Summit, Oct. 6-7.

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Hybrid work is here to stay, but some big changes are needed to make it work.

That was the message from Microsoft this week as the tech giant presented the results of a new study showing a disconnect in the perceptions of productivity between workers and leaders at companies around the world.

Meanwhile, the number of meetings for many workers has soared since the beginning of the pandemic, in what appears to be the new normal at many companies. But there has also been a significant rise in multi-tasking during those meetings, as distractions threaten to undermine communication and productivity.

That's our first topic on the GeekWire Podcast this week, as we go over some of the takeaways from Microsoft's study and preview the upcoming GeekWire Summit, where the future of work will be a recurring theme.

Then we turn to the next generation of smartphones, and to the next generation of smartphone users. John Cook provides an update on his efforts to ensure that his 12-year-old adopts his first smartphone in a healthy and sustainable way, and offers Todd Bishop some tips for a parallel situation in my own household.

Finally, we talk about John's initial experience with the iPhone 14, his first new smartphone in several years, and spend a little time doing some remedial tech support in the process.

Edited and produced by Curt Milton

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Business, government and environmental leaders from Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia met at the U.S.-Canada border this week to discuss the next steps in the quest to become the world's first sustainable mega-region.

The Cascadia 2050 Vision conference was led by former Washington state governor Chris Gregoire, the CEO of Challenge Seattle and the co-chair of the steering committee for the Cascadia Innovation Corridor, a cross-border initiative that brings together leaders from Washington state, Oregon and British Columbia. Gregoire joins us on this episode to discuss the key innovations and funding initiatives that make her optimistic about the prospects for achieving long-term climate goals. 

• Boston Consulting Group report: How the Cascadia Innovation Corridor can serve as a global model for sustainable growth
• Cascadia Daily News: Cascadia 2050 Vision conference brings together international leaders
• Bill Gates encouraged by U.S. climate initiatives as ‘mega-region’ grapples with long-term challenges
• Microsoft’s outgoing environmental chief reflects on bold actions and navigating ‘hiccups’

Hosted by GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop; edited and produced by Curt Milton.

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Our guest this week is Ryan Calo, a University of Washington law professor who specializes in areas including privacy, artificial intelligence and robots. He's one of the organizers of We Robot, an annual conference where scholars and practitioners discuss legal and policy questions relating to robots and artificial intelligence. It's taking place this year at the University of Washington from Sept. 14-16.  

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