Pressing Matters

Emilia David comes from a long line of journalists. Her late mother, in fact, was a well-known and controversial Filipino political columnist. Her writing helped usher in women's reproductive rights in one of the world's most religiously conservative countries. So it was no surprise that Amelia got into journalism. Tech journalism, particularly AI, and in the United States, well, that's a much longer story. 

Emilia joined us to tell that story, how she uses AI to help determine what is and is not a fit for her VentureBeat audience, and to talk about her unapologetic love for enterprise tech for this episode of Pressing Matters from Big Valley Marketing, the podcast that brings you conversations with the top media and influencers in B2B Tech. I'm Dave Reddy, head of Big Valley Marketing's Media Influencers Practice, and I'm your host. Through research and good old-fashioned relationship building, we've identified B2B Tech's top 200 media and influencers, including Emilia. 

Here's our chat with Emilia. Enjoy.

In more than three decades covering technology, John Swartz has met a lot of people: engineers, journalists, CEOs, and he's got a story for all of them. As a student at San Jose State, he was part of a newspaper staff that was led by AP's Mike Lidke and included at least a half dozen other pioneers in tech journalism. As a reporter for 17 years at USA Today, he witnessed online advertising's slow but inevitable impact on a once major newspaper. And as a reporter today at TechStrong Group, he's covering AI from a skeptical but hopeful perspective. 

John joined us to tell us about his engineer father's influence on his career, the good old days of tech trades, and just a few of the stories he has about all those people he's met over the years for this episode of Pressing Matters from Big Valley Marketing, the podcast that brings you conversations with the top media and influencers in B2B Tech. I'm Dave Reddy, head of Big Valley Marketing's Media and Influencers practice, and I'm your host. Through research and good old-fashioned relationship building, we've identified B2B Tech's top 200 media and influencers, including John. Here's our chat with John. Enjoy.

Back when Maribel Lopez left Forrester and became an independent analyst in 2008, she was taking a great risk. Independent analysts were not the force they are today. Social media was just getting going, blogs were still in their infancy, and podcasts were still called online videos. 

But today, in part because of Maribel's pioneering work in the field, independent B2B tech analysts thrive. And Maribel is a great example. Yes, she still does great analysis, now largely on the AI market, but she blogs, contributes articles to various outlets, and has her own successful podcast, the AI with Maribel Lopez. She's also a road warrior, spending upwards of 25 weeks a year at tech conferences in the US, Canada, and EMEA. 

Nonetheless, she somehow found the time to join us to discuss the evolution of the analyst space over the past three decades, her approach to choosing projects, and how she got rid of that pesky Boston accent for this fourth season premiere episode of Pressing Matters from Big Valley Marketing, the podcast that brings you conversations with the top media and influencers in B2B Tech. I'm Dave Reddy, Head of Big Valley Marketing's Media and Influencers Practice, and I'm your host. Through research and good old-fashioned relationship building, we've identified B2B Tech's top 200 media and influencers, including Maribel. 

Here's our chat with Maribel. Enjoy.

We all know the internet has significantly impacted media's business model over the past three decades, and the conventional wisdom is that AI will do the same. Many believe it will replace reporters, lead to computer-generated news stories, increase misinformation, produce more fake news, and generally make a struggling industry even worse. But what if the opposite is true? What if AI can free up reporters' time to do the kind of deep reporting they used to do? What if AI can lead to more, not less, human creativity in journalism and beyond? What if AI tools could be used to reduce bias and filter out untrustworthy sources? What if AI actually is the technology that saves journalism? 

Okay, I might be pushing it with that last point. But these other questions are definitely worth discussing. In fact, we had that very discussion with Fred Vogelstein of CrazyStupidTech and Michael Nuñez of VentureBeat for this special third-anniversary episode of Pressing Matters from Big Valley Marketing—the podcast that features conversations with top media figures and influencers in B2B Tech. 

I'm Dave Reddy, Head of Big Valley Marketing's Media and Influencers Practice, and your host. Through research and good old-fashioned relationship building, we've identified B2B Tech's Top 200 Media and Influencers, including Michael and Fred. Here's our conversation with Michael and Fred. Enjoy. 

Whatever stodgy image you have in your mind of the typical finance news reporter, I guarantee it isn't Allie Garfinkle. And yet still relatively early in her career, Allie has established herself as one of the best in that business with a resume that includes Forbes, The Deal, Yahoo Finance, and of course Fortune, where she serves as senior finance reporter, co-chair of Fortune Brainstorm Tech, the lead writer for Fortune Termsheet, their VC newsletter, and now the host of the Termsheet podcast, which debuted in July. 

Despite all that, Allie actually wanted to be in theater. She's an accomplished alto. She's also a scuba diver and a free diver who finds spirituality in the ocean. And we didn't even have time to discuss her love of magic and pipe organs. Allie joined us to discuss her Miami upbringing, which probably explains a lot, where venture capital is heading other than AI, and of course, to preview Fortune Brainstorm Tech, which takes place in Utah in early September. 

For this episode of Pressing Matters from Big Valley Marketing, the podcast that brings you conversations with the top media and influencers in B2B tech. I'm Dave Reddy, head of Big Valley Marketing's media and influencers practice, and I'm your host. Through research and good old-fashioned relationship building, we've identified B2B tech's top 200 media and influencers, including Allie. Here's our chat with Allie. Enjoy.

This week, we're highlighting another great podcast, Misadventures in Marketing, that is produced by our friends at the American Marketing Association San Francisco (AMASF).

In this, the 4th episode of Misadventures in Marketing, hosts Steve Haney and Peter Farago dive into the fun-filled world of corporate messaging, start-up style. They discuss the importance of creating a messaging house, understanding customer pain points, and the iterative nature of the process. The conversation highlights the significance of crafting compelling messaging that resonates with customers’ worries and pain points, focusing on three core pillars, and the role of repetition in delivery. Corporate messaging, product positioning, and visual identity all play a role in defining even an early-stage tech company’s success.

Annie Saunders has been a tech journalist for several years now, but her diverse career background, local news, commodities, food, had her questioning why we'd even invite her on this show. No need to question yourself, Annie. Generalists make great tech journalists, as is evidenced by the reporting on AI, EV transportation, and climate tech for Morning Brew's Tech Brew, where Annie serves as editor. 

She's a lifelong Pittsburgher – seriously, it's the only place she's ever lived or will live, she tells us. Annie told us that her Yinzer dowry, which is a great phrase, was getting Steelers season tickets from her dad after she got married. She grew up 30 miles outside Pittsburgh, ran the school paper at the University of Pittsburgh, and spent five years on the editing desk at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Yinzer, indeed. 

Now, aside from Pittsburgh, Annie joined us to talk about the woeful state of local journalism, her vision for Morning Brew, and how her career is her way of fulfilling her late mother's legacy for this episode of Pressing Matters from Big Valley Marketing, the podcast that brings you conversations with the top media and influencers in B2B tech. I'm Dave Reddy, head of Big Valley Marketing's media and influencers practice, and I'm your host. 

Through research and good old-fashioned relationship building, we've identified B2B Tech's top 200 media and influencers, including Annie. Here's our chat with Annie. Enjoy. Annie, thanks so much for being on the podcast. Really appreciate your time.

Julie Bort has been in tech journalism long enough to have had not one, but two tenures of 13 plus years – first at Network World and then at Business Insider, now editor of VCs and startups at TechCrunch. You might be surprised to learn that one of the most prolific voices in B2B Tech reporting nearly became a teacher, and you'll definitely be surprised to hear that she and her husband gave it a go at being scuba bums (her term) on the island of Maui. 

Julie joined us to talk about tech culture, the year she spent diving off the coast of Hawaii, and where she thinks tech startups are headed for this episode of Pressing Matters from Big Valley Marketing, the podcast that brings you conversations with the top media and influencers in B2B tech. I'm Dave Reddy, head of Big Valley Marketing's Media and Influencers Practice, and I'm your host. Through research and good old-fashioned relationship building, we've identified B2B Tech's, top 200 media and influencers, including Julie. Here's our chat with Julie, enjoy.

Jeremy Owens just landed a new gig as the latest editor in chief of the San Francisco Business Times. In this market, that's a minor miracle. Jeremy joined us to talk about that change, his early plans for the outlet's mission, and why he thinks San Francisco is the New Orleans of the West. 

That's a new one for this episode of Pressing Matters from Big Valley Marketing, the podcast that brings you conversations with the top media and influencers in B2B Tech. I'm Dave Reddy, head of Big Valley Marketing's Media and Influencers Practice, and I'm your host. Through research and good old-fashioned relationship building, we've identified B2B tech's top 200 media and influencers, including Jeremy. Here's our chat with Jeremy. Enjoy. 

Are you ready for RSA 2025? Matt Kapko of CyberScoop is, and he definitely doesn't want to hear about AI, although he and I–and everyone listening to the podcast today–all know he will. In addition to AI, Matt joined us to talk about his early days singing in a punk rock band in Orange County, his time in a string of hyperlocal newspapers, and more of what he expects from RSA for our annual conference preview episode of Pressing Matters from Big Valley Marketing, the podcast that brings you conversations with the top media and influencers in B2B tech. 

I'm Dave Reddy, head of Big Valley Marketing's Media and Influencers Practice, and I'm your host. Through research and good old-fashioned relationship building, we have identified B2B tech's, top 200 media and influencers, including Matt. Here's our chat with Matt. Enjoy. Matt, thanks so much for joining us on the pod today. We're about a week out from RSA, and I know everyone's getting excited about the show.