Hello Blink Show

Overview
In this episode of the Hello Blink Show, Harris and Shawn interview electronics engineer, Chris Gammell. Chris shares his insights into how he manages his clients and education for his businesses. Chris works as a hardware engineering consultant designing boards for clients as well as teaching through workshops and YouTube videos. He is a co-host of the Amp Hour Electronics Podcast and organizes several Meetups, such as the Hardware Happy Hour in Chicago.

Listeners will hear Chris's advice as he delves into his wisdom from his principal companies, including getting initial clients for consulting, billing, and managing his time.

One Powerful Quotation

• 3:10 - Chris: “When it comes down to it, I usually say you know get your name out there somehow…it could be a YouTube channel, it could be a Twitter account, it could be a wide range of things, but it has to basically be as what I say is who thinks of you as the second person to call…if you can start to build those second connections, that is the most powerful thing you can do.” --

Key Topics

• 1:18 - Shawn opens the show by asking Chris about his background and why he wanted to start his own consulting business. 
• 2:36 - Chris goes into how he acquires clients and why he believes you should build that second connection.
• 5:05 - Chris explains his hourly billing and deliverable process. Check out Website - Steve Friedl's Tech Tips: So you want to be a consult-ant…?.
• 6:22 - Chris shares his latest workings with RF/firmware as part of his consulting expertise. 
• 7:21 - Shawn inquires with Chris about finding tutors for learning about RF/firmware. 
• 9:56 - Harris asks Chris his thoughts about diversifying in the areas of his personal brand.
• 13:43 - Shawn curiously asks Chris how he transitioned himself into managing contract work with his other roles. 
• 18:07 - Shawn shares the sentiments with Chris and asks why he avoids academia learning.
• 23:02 - Chris expresses his intrinsic motivation and how he likes to freestyle his work. He also describes how this lead to the creation of the Hackaday Supercon from Maker Faire. 
• 29:00 - Chris agrees with Harris’ remarks on the rise of hardware and explains why he believes sensor technology is the future. 
• 30:20 - Shawn and Chris discuss designing neural networks for anomaly detection and machine learning on microcontrollers. 
• 35:00 - Chris shares how his inbound client leads come from his podcast and referrals. He notes how this process is more open ended and conducive for his business. 
• 36:44 - Shawn asks a follow up question to Chris on how often he declines client leads and manages their interests. 
• 39:03 - Harris inquires with Chris on if he has experimented with value based pricing for projects. Chris delves into why that strategy is more applicable to software than hardware by proof of the end customer value. 
• 43:13 - Harris asks if Chris believes in strategic advising and selling prototype hardware sets the tone for lead generation. 
• 55:53 - Shawn and Harris wrap up the show, and Chris shares his contact information to listeners. 

List of Resources
Website - The Amp Hour Electronics Podcast
Website - Contextual Electronics
Website - Analog Life LLC.
Website - Steve Friedl's Tech Tips: So you want to be a consult-ant…?
Book - The Start Up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career - Reid Hoffman
Website - ABB
Website - Supplyframe
Website - Hologram
LinkedIn - Brock LaMeres
LinkedIn - Thomas Lee
Website - Hackaday Superconference
Website - Maker Faire
Website - Tiny ML
Website - Embedded FM - A Little Bit of Human Knowledge With Daniel Situnayake
LinkedIn - Daniel Situnayake
Website - OpenMV Camera
Website - The Engineering Commons
Book - Value-Based Fees by Alan Weiss
Article - Saas Pricing by Patrick McKenzie
Website - Tindie
LinkedIn - Ryan Cousins
Website - Krtkl
Website - Punch Through
Website - KiCad Forum
Website - Hardware Happy Hour

Guest Information
Chris Gammell is an electrical engineer, podcaster and consultant from Chicago, IL. He has over 15 years of experience in the electronics industry, working for companies in the industrial, silicon, communications, and test and measurement space. Chris runs the following ventures:

• Full time consultant for Analog Life LLC, where he creates designs for clients ranging from learning platforms to connected sensor networks.
• Co-host (along with Dave Jones of the EEVblog) of The Amp Hour, a weekly show discussing trends throughout the modern electronics design industry. 
• Instructor and owner of Contextual Electronics, which focuses on teaching electronics design skills for beginners to intermediate students.

LinkedIn
Twitter
Website
YouTube

Host Contact Information
shawnhymel.com
kennyconsultinggroup.com
LinkedIn - Shawn Hymel
LinkedIn - Harris Kenny
Twitter - Shawn Hymel
Twitter - Harris Kenny

License Information
“Hello Blink Show” by Kenny Consulting Group, LLC and Skal Risa, LLC is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Intro and outro song is “Routine” by Amine Maxwell is licensed under CC BY 3.0

Special Guest: Chris Gammell.

Overview
Pariss Athena is the creator of the #BlackTechTwitter community and founder of Black Tech Pipeline, which helps connect Black technologists with companies looking for employees. She shares her story of growing and managing an online community and how she is turning that into a business.

Pariss also provides some great tips on steps companies can take to diversify their applicant pool when hiring engineers and developers. 

One Powerful Quotation

•  26:00 – Pariss: “If I’m unsure about something, [I] don’t agree to it. Tell people you’ll think about it and get back to them. If you don’t want to do it, don’t do it. You don’t have to feel pressured to do things you’re not ready for.”

Key Topics

• 0:40 - Pariss talks about launching Black Tech Pipeline, which grew out of the #BlackTechTwitter community and serves to open more opportunities for Black technologists. The site offers a job board for applicants as well as profiles for companies to be more transparent about their commitment to diversity and inclusion.
• 3:37 - Haris asks Pariss how she keeps her platform to be centered on the job candidate.
• 5:40 - Pariss talks about how she’s working with others to build out the website.
• 8:00 - Haris and Shawn commend Pariss on her social media presence and ask how she keeps an authentic voice on Twitter.
• 9:10 - Shawn asks Pariss about what skills prepared her to launch Black Tech Pipeline. Pariss gives great advice on learning how to say “no.”
• 10:54 - Pariss talks about how interactions with people changed as her Twitter following grew.
• 14:17 - Haris asks Pariss which platforms she used to grow her following. She says that Twitter was her main platform and she got lucky with the timing of the #BlackTechTwitter movement. 
• 16:59 - Shawn asks Pariss what companies, especially tech startups, can do to make sure diversity and inclusion are baked into their founding. Pariss recommends that companies engage with various online communities, such as the #BlackTechTwitter community, to build relationships with more diverse groups of potential employees.
• 19:58 - Pariss, Shawn, and Haris talk about how a more diverse design team can create better products. Haris mentions that engineers and companies should reach out to diverse groups of people to test their products.
• 27:10 - Shawn asks Pariss about which other social platforms she uses to manage her community.
• 29:09 - Pariss and Haris talk about their experiences using Basecamp to manage projects..

List of Resources
Black Tech Pipeline
Black Tech Twitter

Guest Information
Creator of #BlackTechTwitter and Founder of Black Tech Pipeline.

 Twitter

Host Contact Information
shawnhymel.com
kennyconsultinggroup.com
LinkedIn - Shawn Hymel
LinkedIn - Harris Kenny
Twitter - Shawn Hymel
Twitter - Harris Kenny

License Information
“Hello Blink Show” by Kenny Consulting Group, LLC and Skal Risa, LLC is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Intro and outro song is “Routine” by Amine Maxwell is licensed under CC BY 3.0

Special Guest: Pariss Athena.

Overview

Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) are the pages displayed by various search engines when a user searches for a particular word or phrase. When creating content as part of your inbound marketing strategy, you’ll want to employ various Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques to have your page rank higher in search engine results. You can use SERP rankings to measure the effectiveness of your content and SEO techniques.

In this episode, Harris and Shawn discuss how founders and marketers can use SERP as an important metric to measure the performance of content against particular keywords. They begin by talking about the need to understand a product’s niche and audience before moving into various SEO and SERP tips and tools.

One Powerful Quotation

•  30:10 – Shawn: “You employ all of your good SEO techniques to make [your content] rank more highly, and then you use SERP to measure how well your page [performs in search results].”

Key Topics

• 1:00 – Harris and Shawn talk about life events and various work projects. Shawn mentions that he’s working on a collaboration project with @Odd_Jayy and @glowascii.
• 4:20 - Shawn gives tips on how to find time to read books.
• 9:00 - Shawn gives a definition for Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) and why it offers a better metric than Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
• 11:45 - Harris asks about good versus bad (trickery) SEO.
• 14:00 - Shawn defines SERP, which is an indication of where your site shows up in search engine results when a user searches for particular keywords
• 16:15 - Harris talks about Google’s new shopping tab
• 17:15 - Harris and Shawn talk about how product search engines within a site (e.g. Amazon’s search) differs from broader search engines, like Google.
• 19:00 - Shawn mentions a recent development where people are receiving random packages containing seeds. It turns out that this is a part of a scam to boost Amazon reviews for vendors.
• 21:08 - Harris and Shawn give their perspectives on running traditional outbound marketing techniques, such as running Google or Facebook ads.
• 23:52 - Shawn recounts his experiences creating content for SparkFun and how successful it was at driving pageviews.
• 25:40 - Shawn talks about creating content to maximize SERP number. Namely, “evergreen” content that continues to draw users for years after posting offers some of the best SERP value.
• 29:53 - Shawn describes how SEO can be used to boost SERP.
• 30:30 - Harris and Shawn give reasons for why they’re using Binho, LLC as an example of how to create evergreen content for a niche audience.
• 31:01 - Shawn describes the importance of patience with inbound marketing.
• 33:20 - Harris talks about reusing and distributing content.
• 34:27 - Shawn talks about why voice and video should (probably) not be your primary content for inbound marketing (at this point in time). Most search engines still prioritize written content, so written content should be your focus.
• 39:03 - Harris introduces his new project: Intro CRM.
• 41:11 - Shawn helps Harris brainstorm ideas for evergreen content that could be created to drive traffic to his new service.
• 49:58 - Shawn mentions that Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest tool can be very helpful for discovering keywords, creating article titles, and analyzing people’s search patterns.
• 51:29 - Shawn introduces the concept of pillar content, which is a collection of related articles that link to each other and all pages link back to a single, important piece of content.
• 56:22 - Harris asks what would be good content if your audience doesn’t know the right words or jargon to use (i.e. they don’t know what a “host adapter” or “CRM” is).
• 1:02:23 - Shawn talks about setting your expectations when competing with content from large companies.
• 1:03:05 - Harris stresses the importance of having a good, differentiated product to start with.
• 1:06:52 - Harris and Shawn talk about how to market products that may not have all the features you hoped for on launch.
• 1:09:21 - Shawn recommends the book The Innovator’s Dilemma to learn about how to create products that serve a niche well.
• 1:11:11 - Shawn talks about the importance of needing to market your product while you’re developing it and recommends the book Content, Inc. to assist in this journey.
• 1:13:50 - Shawn talks about his experiences creating pillar content and measuring SERP. He recommends the tool Serposcope to automatically report the SERP rankings of your site versus various keywords on a daily basis.
• 1:17:34 - Harris asks Shawn about the tools he uses to measure SEO and SERP. Shawn lists Neil Patel’s SEO Analyzer and Rank Math SEO for WordPress in addition to the previously mentioned tools.
• 1:19:29 - Harris talks about his poor experience working with an outsourced SEO firm.
• 1:20:26 - Harris and Shawn talk about the skills required to create good content and why building trust is so important.
• 1:22:02 - Harris and Shawn talk about how to create content that’s relevant to your audience. Shawn recommends the book Youtility for learning how to create valuable, relevant content.

List of Resources

• Rework
• Sapiens
• Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest tool
• The Innovator’s Dilemma
• Serposcope
• Neil Patel’s SEO Analyzer
• Rank Math SEO for WordPress
• Youtility

Host Contact Information

 shawnhymel.com
kennyconsultinggroup.com
LinkedIn - Shawn Hymel
LinkedIn - Harris Kenny
Twitter - Shawn Hymel
Twitter - Harris Kenny

License Information

 “Hello Blink Show” by Kenny Consulting Group, LLC and Skal Risa, LLC is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Intro and outro song is “Routine” by Amine Maxwell is licensed under CC BY 3.0

Overview
On this episode of the Hello Blink Show, we welcome Jermaine Murray as our special guest to discuss best hiring practices for a company and how a startup can go about recruiting top talent. We ask Jermaine about his experiences that led to founding his own recruiting firm, JupiterHR, and about his role at TandemLaunch.

Additionally, Jermaine tells us about his personal experiences growing up and how early experiences with STEM can help keep kids, especially minorities, interested in tech.

One Powerful Quotation

• 56:23 – Jermaine: “How you manage your business is how you manage your relationships with your customers, your employees, and with your investors.”

Key Topics

• 1:28 - Jermaine talks about his work as a recruiter.
• 2:27 - Shawn asks Jermaine about TandemLaunch, a startup incubator in Montreal.
• 7:09 - Jermaine discusses running his own business, JupiterHR, and how he focuses on recruiting members of the Black community into tech jobs
• 9:15 - Shawn asks Jermaine about his inspiration for starting JupiterHR
• 12:47 - Jermaine talks about how his experiences led him to helping companies recruit talent and create a more diverse workforce
• 16:08 - Jermaine expresses how education (formal and informal) can help create a safe culture at work and curb microaggressions
• 19:38 - Jermaine mentions that the 2020 goal for JupiterHR is to help 100 Black jobseekers find employment with tech companies.
• 20:47 - Harris asks Jermaine about his thoughts on companies being more deliberate to hire from a diverse pool of applicants.
• 23:31 - Jermaine discusses the need for a better education system for low-income communities in the United States and Canada and how that can help with diversity in STEM.
• 25:04 - Harris and Jermaine talk about the importance of cultivating a safe work culture
• 30:51 - Shawn and Jermaine talk about how accountability starts at the top of an organization when it comes to creating a workplace culture
• 31:00 - Shawn asks Jermaine what companies can do to attract top and diverse talent
• 35:41 - Shawn and Jermaine talk about how a small company can compete with large companies when it comes to attracting talent 
• 37:10 - Jermaine talks about his podcast, the “Launch” by TandemLaunch, which focuses on running startup companies
• 40:23 - Shawn asks Jermaine what steps companies can take to get a more diverse set of applicants when posting a job opening
• 42:30 - Jermaine talks about how companies can donate to and volunteer at organizations that help with social causes, such as introduction STEM to low-income schools
• 48:24 - Harris asks Jermaine what smaller companies can do to show that they care about diversity.
• 50:37 - Jermaine shares his experiences growing up and how he emotionally connects to the Black Lives Matter movement and protests

List of Resources
TandemLaunch
JupiterHR
The Launch podcast

Guest Contact Information
Jermaine is a Career Strategist and Talent Recruiter working at a Startup Incubator in Montreal. With a specialization in Technology. Jermaine has helped over 200 people find new employment in the last three years through his company, JupiterHR. Jermaine currently serves on the board for ICON Talent partners, a non-profit, dedicated to helping companies redefine their Recruitment and Hiring process with regards to EDI.

Twitter
LinkedIn
Website
 

Host Contact Information
shawnhymel.com
kennyconsultinggroup.com
LinkedIn - Shawn Hymel
LinkedIn - Harris Kenny
Twitter - Shawn Hymel
Twitter - Harris Kenny

License Information
“Hello Blink Show” by Kenny Consulting Group, LLC and Skal Risa, LLC is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Intro and outro song is “Routine” by Amine Maxwell is licensed under CC BY 3.0
Special Guest: Jermaine L. Murray.

Overview
We welcome to the show Kia Roberts, who worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn and the Director of Investigations for the National Football League (NFL) and founded her own company, Triangle Investigations.

Triangle Investigations performs third party investigations for companies into allegations of misconduct, including sexual harassment, discrimination, and bullying. Kia talks about why she founded the company, successes she’s had, and what the future of company culture and human resources will look like. We also ask for her opinions on how new and established companies can create and manage a healthy and positive culture..

One Powerful Quotation

•  21:33 - Kia: “Employees are in a position right now where they’re making demands and they’re being heard, and I think at this point, there’s going to have to be follow-through.”

Key Topics

• 0:48 - Harris asks Kia about how her career prepared her to start her own business.
• 2:30 - Shawn asks Kia what the most difficult steps were for her when starting a business.
• 3:00 - Kia talks about using an external marketing firm to help with client acquisition.
• 4:10 - Kia describes how Triangle Investigations works to investigate workplace misconduct, including sexual harassment, descrimination, bullying, etc.
• 6:25 - Kia talks about how her job at the District Attorney’s office prepared her for launching her own business and how she overcame the hurdles of client acquisition.
• 7:15 - Harris asks Kia about how she’s integrating technology, specifically Triangle’s Telli platform, into her work as an investigator.
• 9:54 - Shawn asks Kia how the Telli smartphone app works.
• 11:30 - Kia discusses how her app helps inform decisions in the rest of her company
• 13:45 - Harris mentions how Kia’s app fills a need and then asks Kia how she is funding her business. Kia responds that she is bootstrapping her efforts.
• 15:26 - Harris asks Kia her opinions on what steps someone in a hostile work environment should take to address problems.
• 18:00 - Kia discusses what happens when companies do not address misconduct.
• 23:30 - Shawn asks Kia about what kinds of symptoms might appear if misconduct goes unnoticed or unreported in a company.
• 25:12 - Shawn then asks what might companies do to maintain best practices around minimizing and addressing misconduct.
• 26:04 - Kia mentions the “No Jerk Policy.” See below for a book recommendation.
• 27:00 - Shawn asks how a company can enforce misconduct rules.
• 29:15 - Shawn shares his experience with diversity (or lack thereof) in the tech world.
• 31:09 - Kia and Harris talk about how fighting discrimination needs to be at the top of the list of priorities for CEOs.
• 35:15 - Kia and Harris discuss how Triangle Investigations provides a level of risk management for other companies.
• 36:00 - Shawn asks Kia how she recommends new companies go about establishing a healthy, inclusive work culture.
• 37:51 - Shawn asks Kia for book recommendations. She recommends Book Yourself Solid.
• 38:48 - Harris asks Kia where people can find out more about Triangle Investigations and how they can follow her on social media.
• 40:03 - Kia talks about things businesses should avoid doing and what are proactive steps they can take to address misconduct.
• 42:09 - Harris talks about the effect Glassdoor reviews can have on a company.
• 44:00 - Kia discusses how nonprofits can be affected by negative Glassdoor reviews.
• 45:55 - Shawn talks about how mission statements should include what companies do for their employees along with what they provide for customers and shareholders.
• 47:30 - Harris and Shawn discuss the potential pitfalls of focusing on growth rather than sustainability.
• 48:40 - Harris asks Kia for advice on how people in leadership positions can better hold each other accountable rather than adopting a defensive posture to maintain the status quo.
• 52:22 - Kia tells the story of how a pastry shop in New Orleans had to shut down because of a string of sexual harassment lawsuits.
• 53:44 - Kia shares how she got the idea for Triangle Investigations.

List of Resources

• Triangle Investigations
• Triangle Investigations’ services and Telli app
• How To Manage Workplace Misconduct Issues For Remote Employees
• Book: No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One that Isn’t
• Book: Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling 
• Book: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t

Guest Information
I am the Founder and Principal of Triangle Investigations. Triangle Investigations is a group of lawyers and expert investigators performing misconduct (sexual harassment, discrimination, bullying) investigations within workplaces, schools, and other organizations. Prior to founding Triangle, I was the first-ever Director of Investigations for the NFL, where I conducted investigations into NFL players and employees accused of violating the NFL's Code of Conduct. Prior to the NFL, I spent approximately a decade as a prosecutor in the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, finishing my time there as a homicide prosecutor. I received from law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School, and my undergraduate degree from Duke University. I am a native of New Orleans, and currently live in Brooklyn with my husband and our two small children.

Twitter
LinkedIn
Website

Host Contact Information
shawnhymel.com
kennyconsultinggroup.com
LinkedIn - Shawn Hymel
LinkedIn - Harris Kenny
Twitter - Shawn Hymel
Twitter - Harris Kenny

License Information
“Hello Blink Show” by Kenny Consulting Group, LLC and Skal Risa, LLC is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Intro and outro song is “Routine” by Amine Maxwell is licensed under CC BY 3.0

Special Guest: Kia Roberts.

Overview
In this episode of the Hello Blink Show, Harris and Shawn interview firmware developer, hardware designer, technical writer, and community leader, Kattni Rembor. Kattni shares her insights into how she engages followers and educates her peers. Listeners will hear her advice as she delves into her experience with Adafruit and the process involved with fostering a community on learning CircuitPython. 

Listen after the closing credits for an update on CircuitPython and how people have been integrating it into finished products!

One Powerful Quotation

• 36:00: “I think it’s a huge part of growing a community is being open to changes and open to possibilities because, if you are rigid about things and you expect everything to fall within a certain scope, you’re either going to drive people away or you’re going to have a really bad day.” 

Key Topics

• 1:03: Shawn opens the show and asks Kattni about her story with working at Adafruit Industries. She mentions how she became involved writing libraries which led to creating communities for teaching and learning. 
• 6:00: Kattni shares how she started with no programming/electronics experience and has become a self-taught engineer, developer, and community leader.
• 7:17: Kattni highlights her inspiration for wanting to work with electronics.
• 10:43: Kattni responds to Harris’ commentary on the tangible results produced from one’s work. 
• 11:22: Shawn and Kattni discuss using Circuit Python versus Arduino. The two compare its programming application for educating users. 
• 17:18: Harris relays a question to Kattni from a listener on her thoughts on the balance between using Circuit Python for education over finished products and how this will change over time. 
• 20:45: Harris asks another a question to Kattni from a listener on adding support for RISC-V as a prioritized, developer tool for educational consideration on Circuit Python. 
• 22:14: Shawn and Kattni discuss how Circuit Python supports specific development boards.
• 23:29: Kattni gives her perspective on what it means to have a developer community for Circuit Python.
• 26:02: Kattni talks about the forums she uses for collaboration including Discord and GitHub.
• 27:27: Kattni describes the free form structure of their forums with admins, moderators, and helpers that reinforce positive feedback and build better relationships. 
• 29:43: Kattni notes that these positions consist of Adafruit employees and members that are active in the public channels. 
• 31:26: Shawn and Kattni reminisce about old bulletin board forums and how moderation teams were made up of volunteer members based on their posts. Kattni adds the one difference with their community help is the quality of the member’s contribution dictates their position. 
• 33:10: Harris, Shawn, and Kattni openly talk about planning a community and go about creating an environment that is open, safe, and non-toxic. 
• 45:11: Kattni answers Shawn’s question on when to restructure your channel setup and curate a community that is adaptable to your audience. 
• 46:47: Harris and Shawn wrap up the show and ask Kattni how they advertise and recruit members. 
• 50:19 (Post-Show): Harris, Shawn, and Kattni address the commercialization of products using Circuit Python. 

List of Resources
Website - Adafruit Industries
Website - Circuit Python
Website - Ardruino
Website - GitHub
Website - Discord

Guest Information
Kattni works as an embedded software developer, hardware designer, technical writer, and open source community leader contracting with Adafruit. She is proud to be a woman in tech. Her journey creating things began at an early age in her dad’s extensive workshop in the basement. Kattni’s foray into the world of open source, electronics, and programming began in July 2017 — that her desk has become a mess of wires and circuit boards is still unbelievably exciting. In the rest of her life, she is a maker, creator, programmer, photographer, one-time gardener, and loved partner. She is tolerated by two cats who continue to let her live with them.

GitHub
Twitter

Host Contact Information
shawnhymel.com
kennyconsultinggroup.com
LinkedIn - Shawn Hymel
LinkedIn - Harris Kenny
Twitter - Shawn Hymel
Twitter - Harris Kenny

License Information
“Hello Blink Show” by Kenny Consulting Group, LLC and Skal Risa, LLC is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Intro and outro song is “Routine” by Amine Maxwell is licensed under CC BY 3.0

Special Guest: Kattni Rembor.

Overview
We welcome to the show historian and invention lover, Anton Howes. Anton recently released a book, Arts and Minds: How the Royal Society of Arts Changed a Nation, about how the Royal Society of the Arts encouraged invention and innovation during the Industrial revolution. As a result, we are excited to ask him about his thoughts on innovation culture and the nature of inventions.

Additionally, Anton shares his findings on inventions that appear to occur later than they should have (“behind the times”), such as the popular tabletop game, Dungeons and Dragons, and the role of government in incentivizing invention. We also talk about pirates.

Please note that this interview was recorded on May 4, 2020.

One Powerful Quotation

•  11:15 - Anton: “If you can prove prior art--that you’ve done something before--then if someone takes a patent for the same thing, you’ve got very public proof that they can’t sue you for infringement.”

Key Topics

• 1:00 - Harris asks Anton about how societies and governments can incentivize innovation. Anton discusses his book, Arts and Minds: How the Royal Society of Arts Changed a Nation and how a similar approach might be used to help people find a cure for COVID-19.
• 7:25 - Shawn asks Anton his opinion on patents: are they good or bad? Anton says that a diverse incentive system is probably the best.
• 10:30 - Anton talks about how an invention prize can be used to both maintain open source as well as legally protect the inventor from having their creation copied or stolen by proof of prior art.
• 12:05 - Harris asks Anton about why some inventions seem to be “behind the times.” Anton theorizes that people get stuck in their ways, and so some innovations and inventions seem to take a long time. 
• 16:22 - Shawn mentions a Reddit discussion about Anton’s Dungeons and Dragons blog post. Anton talks about the importance of constraints on invention.
• 18:15 - Anton talks about other inventions that seem to have been created too late, such as semaphore flags and the flying shuttle.
• 21:00 - Anton talks about Britain’s promigration policy to attract inventors during the Industrial Revolution.
• 25:40 - Anton discusses how location matters for inventors to be inspired and work effectively.
• 27:54 - Shawn asks Anton about how inventors flourished during the Industrial Revolution.
• 30:00 - Anton talks about the role of the government to incentivize invention in the Industrial Revolution.
• 32:57 - Anton gives his thoughts on how society can cultivate a culture of invention.
• 36:56 - Anton shares his personal inventors and invention stories.
• 39:36 - Pirates!
• 41:30 - Harris asks Anton if invention is ultimately good for society and humankind.
• 45:07 - Shawn asks Anton to clarify the “promigration” term.

List of Resources
Book - Arts and Minds: How the Royal Society of Arts Changed a Nation by Anton Howes
Blog Post - Innovation: Eyes on the Prize by Anton Howes
Blog Post - Age of Invention: Where be Dragons? - Why did it take so long for people to create Dungeons and Dragons?
The Adventure Zone podcast - Inspiration for Anton to write about the invention of D&D
Reddit discussion about Anton’s D&D blog post
Anton Howes’s Age of Invention weekly newsletter

Guest Information
Historian of invention. Has just written a book on the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. Currently writing a book on the causes of the acceleration of innovation during the British Industrial Revolution.

Substack
Twitter
LinkedIn

Host Contact Information
shawnhymel.com
kennyconsultinggroup.com
LinkedIn - Shawn Hymel
LinkedIn - Harris Kenny
Twitter - Shawn Hymel
Twitter - Harris Kenny

License Information
“Hello Blink Show” by Kenny Consulting Group, LLC and Skal Risa, LLC is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Intro and outro song is “Routine” by Amine Maxwell is licensed under CC BY 3.0

Special Guest: Anton Howes.

Overview
In this episode of the Hello Blink Show, Harris and Shawn interview business banker, Saira Rahman. Saira shares her insights in how she advises her clients. 

Specifically, Saira discusses broader topics including why financial management is important and what a bank can do for your business legally. 

One Powerful Quotation

• 17:50: “As you grow, you’re going to want to branch out and have multiple relationships depending on what you need…It all depends on what your niche is and what you’re focused on and the level of knowledge that your banker has not only on your specific industry but also on the overall market.”

Key Topics

• 1:05: Harris opens the show by asking Saira about her background. 
• 2:14: Saira shares how she became a business banker with Alpine Bank. 
• 4:09: Shawn asks Saira about the charter of Alpine Bank. 
• 4:56: Shawn inquires if Saira enjoys her role at a smaller bank. 
• 6:12: Saira shares how she uses Twitter as a means to discussing important items and acquire information for her work. 
• 8:14: Harris asks Saira about her experience with the process of handling commercial clients and the Small Business Administration. 
• 11:16: Saira explains the difference between PPP, EIDLP, and small business loans. She describes the process involved and how they are applied. 
• 15:16: Harris remarks that small banks have been very responsive to loan grants. In turn, he asks Saira her opinion on why it matters what bank you choose. 
• 18:39: Shawn inquires with Saira about protected guarantees with a community bank. 
• 20:17: Saira shares what to research for in bank’s financial statements including their balance sheet, income statement, and loan loss reserve. 
• 22:41: Harris and Saira discuss how choosing a bank should be a considerate decision and personality fit. 
• 25:03: Harris asks Saira about the drawbacks in having only an online banking provider. 
• 27:44: Shawn and Saira talk about why you must have a separate banking account from your personal.
• 29:33: Saira explains the benefits of using a business credit card to streamline your taxes and help underwrite business loans. She also encourages listeners to work with a CPA. 
• 31:22: Saira notes the value of a business credit card based on the lowest fee and best perk available. 
• 33:49: Harris asks Saira her advise on increasing your financing needs based on capital structure and loan/line of credit requests. She also advises listeners to forecast their finances with a branch manager or accountant to plan out their goals accordingly. 
• 37:01: Saira remarks why it is important to have a continual conversation with your financial adviser through the up and downswings of your business. 
• 38:00: Saira shares what she thinks are the biggest mistakes small business owners make. 
• 40:55: Harris wraps up the show, and Saira shares her contact information. 

List of Resources
Website - SBA
Website - Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)

Guest Information
Saira worked for an outsource derivatives trade desk for 11 years after graduating from Case Western Reserve with a degree in Finance and Economics. By 2014, Saira had moved to Seattle and was running the west coast trade desks for 8 banks totaling more than $40b in assets, across 7 states. Last year, she jumped ship and joined the world of community banking at Alpine Bank. Now, she spends most of my time helping the greater Denver community and coming up with innovative ways to finance people's dreams.

Twitter
LinkedIn

Host Contact Information
shawnhymel.com
kennyconsultinggroup.com
LinkedIn - Shawn Hymel
LinkedIn - Harris Kenny
Twitter - Shawn Hymel
Twitter - Harris Kenny

License Information
“Hello Blink Show” by Kenny Consulting Group, LLC and Skal Risa, LLC is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Intro and outro song is “Routine” by Amine Maxwell is licensed under CC BY 3.0
Special Guest: Saira Rahman.

Overview
In this episode of the Hello Blink Show, Harris and Shawn interview engineering and programming expert, Michael Dominick. Mike shares his insights on how he operates his business, The Mad Botter, an automation development company focused on making distributed teams and remote work more efficient.

Specifically, Mike discusses his service platform for data analysis. Harris and Shawn talk about his success and ask questions ranging from business development experience to inbound marketing strategy. 

One Powerful Quotation

• 8:03 — Mike: “I would say the government is like the biggest, most bureaucratic enterprise customer you could possibly have, but there are advantages.”

Key Topics

• 0:59: Harris opens the show and asks Michael about the foundation for his company, The Mad Botter. 
• 2:35: Harris asks Michael about the customer types he serves. 
• 3:27: Shawn inquires with Michael about the comparison in business development with military and civilian operations. The two discuss the pros and cons of government contracting and why smaller entities partner with larger institutions. 
• 11:20: Mike advises that niche, proof of concept job proposals are the most widely available and act as a good source for referral opportunities. 
• 13:28: Shawn asks Michael and Harris if they have experienced backlash from working with government contractors. 
• 16:27: Michael describes his product offering Rabbot Automation as a service solution for data analysis among open source platforms. He also discusses his reason as to why he and his team developed Rabbot Automation. 
• 20:57: Michael talks about his niche audience and how he pivoted his inbound marketing strategy. 
• 24:56: Michael shares why Twitter is his favorite platform for business opportunities. 
• 29:07: Michael, Shawn, and Harris share their thoughts on using Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. They note how their content creation differs in response from audiences in each medium. 
• 36:53: Harris asks Michael his experience with how his business has dealt with working with these types of platforms in delivering their product services. 
• 39:50: Michael shares why Apple is the most difficult developer platform to work with. 
• 44:54: Michael explains how he monetizes from an open source platform. 
• 46:20: Shawn asks Michael why he chooses to use close source applications but offers open source as a library for his audience. 
• 51:22: Harris wraps up the show, and Michael shares his contact information. 

List of Resources

Facebook - The Mad Botter
Twitter - The Mad Botter
https://themadbotter.com/

Guest Information
Michael is the founder & CEO of The Mad Botter, a software development and consulting company in FL that focuses on software for aviation, aerospace and the agricultural market. He was also the host of Coder Radio on Jupiter Broadcasting for 7 years.

Twitter - Michael Dominick
Twitter - The Mike Dominick Show
Podcast
LinkedIn
Website

Host Contact Information
shawnhymel.com
kennyconsultinggroup.com
LinkedIn - Shawn Hymel
LinkedIn - Harris Kenny
Twitter - Shawn Hymel
Twitter - Harris Kenny

License Information
“Hello Blink Show” by Kenny Consulting Group, LLC and Skal Risa, LLC is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Intro and outro song is “Routine” by Amine Maxwell is licensed under CC BY 3.0

Special Guest: Michael Dominick.

Overview

In this episode of the Hello Blink Show, Harris and Shawn share tips and techniques on staying focused and productive throughout the day. Working from home can offer a great deal of flexibility, but it comes with the added responsibility of managing your own time. Finding motivation can be a tough challenge when family, chores, and social media vie for your attention.

Specifically, Harris discusses the importance of food and exercise over other time management techniques and Shawn weighs in regarding the necessity of rest. The two then give insights on various methods of managing a daily schedule and keeping to-do lists before concluding with some recommended reading material.

One Powerful Quotation

•  26:46 - Harris: “You can use Pomodoro...and whatever other kind of system you want, if you’re not giving your body the nutrients that it needs,...I don’t really care about the system [that you use].”

Key Topics

• 1:15 - Harris opens the show by talking about how he is helping his clients navigate the Coronavirus stimulus and loan programs as well as how he is working with the Make4Covid group in Colorado that is making personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers.
• 3:20 - Shawn discusses his recent machine learning project and making his Arduino course free.
• 7:30 - Shawn talks about motivation to work while at an office versus at home.
• 10:06 - Harris and Shawn talk about the illusion of looking busy in an office environment.
• 12:44 - Shawn discusses the problem with distractions and his own personal experiences in understanding his own daily rhythm.
• 15:31 - Harris gives an account of how he handles motivation throughout the day.
• 17:47 - Shawn talks about the importance of choosing and structuring tasks to keep focus.
• 19:07 - Shawn and Harris discuss how nutrition, exercise, caffeine, and alcohol affect focus and motivation. They conclude that diet, exercise, and sleep is more important than any time management program.
• 28:56 - Shawn discusses supplementing vitamins for helping with focus.
• 34:01 - A discussion about preventative medicine ensues.
• 36:51 - Shawn asks Harris about his experience with a nutritionist and how it might be better than going to a doctor.
• 39:58 - Shawn talks about the importance of getting rest, not just getting enough sleep but also taking time to deliberately abstain from work. Know how your body works! 
• 43:25 - Harris and Shawn discuss staying focused on a granular level: hour to hour. They share tips on various techniques ranging from calendar blocking, maintaining to-do lists, reminder apps, and personal Scrum.
• 51:56 - Shawn talks about utilizing ultradian rhythms to be more productive and stay focused throughout the workday.
• 53:23 - Harris and Shawn discuss the various merits and pitfalls of social media in their lines of work and how they affect productivity.
• 55:56 - Shawn introduces two competing schools of thought: should you use the morning to tackle easy tasks or hard projects first?

List of Resources

 Make4Covid
Making It podcast
Basecamp
Trello
Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Jeff Sutherland and JJ Sutherland
Michael Hyatt: Why You Should Never Start With Your Most Difficult Task
Brian Tracy: Eat That Frog!
Buffer
Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
Work Clean by Dan Charnas
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Host Contact Information

 shawnhymel.com
kennyconsultinggroup.com
LinkedIn - Shawn Hymel
LinkedIn - Harris Kenny
Twitter - Shawn Hymel
Twitter - Harris Kenny

License Information

 “Hello Blink Show” by Kenny Consulting Group, LLC and Skal Risa, LLC is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Intro and outro song is “Routine” by Amine Maxwell is licensed under CC BY 3.0