The Innovators Studio with Phil McKinney

For this week’s podcast, I’m turning the tables on reporters. Usually, I’m the one getting interviewed by the press. But for this weeks podcast, I interviewed Robert Scoble. Why? Well, in his own way, he has innovated the way people deliver news and how technology evangelists can be active parts of a company to help get the word out directly to the consumers. He is probably best known for his Scobelizer blog that he started while working at Microsoft. Since then, he launchedFastCompany.tv and is currently working at Rackspace and working “to build a new community of people fanatical about tech startups, calledbuilding43.com.”

Over the course of the podcast, we cover a wide range of topics including…

* The cycles of jobs in Silicon Valley.

* Helping his mother build Apple II computers as a child.

* Working as an employee at HP while in high school, plugging components into motherboards.

* Robert’s time in junior college and his stalking of Steve Wozniak

* Robert’s time at Microsoft.

* His thoughts at some of the trends that you should be keeping your eyes on.

* … and more …

You may not realize it, but the work of Bob Metcalfe affects many aspects of your life. Whether it’s how you collaborate with co-workers, share data between all the devices in your house – or just want to host a LAN party, Bob’s work is everywhere.

In 1973, at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, he invented Ethernet, the local-area networking (LAN) standard on which he shares four patents.  Since then, he founded the 3Com Corporation, helmed IDG’s InfoWorld and currently serves as the General Partner of Polaris Ventures.

When the opportunity presented itself, I jumped at the chance to  interview Bob as part of the interview series with individuals who have created killer innovations. What proceeds is a fascinating chat that covers the gamut including…

* Working on the Xerox Palo Alto, what is considered the first personal computer, and networking them together.

* The origins of Ethernet

* What it was like in the early days of Silicon Valley

* The origins of 3Com and banking on the future of Ethernet.

* Talking about Metcalf’s Law and the value of one’s network.