The Story of Software

Niall Twomey is the CTO and Co-Founder of Fenergo, one of Ireland’s tech unicorns. Niall is here to share some context about the story of Fenergo and how the business has gained success since 2008.

Scaling a Tech Company Internationally:

In order to keep scaling, businesses need to embrace change and take completely different approaches at different stages of a company’s growth. The needs and the mindset in a startup is completely different to the needs and the mindset of a scale up company.

Starting with a single team of developers, Niall Twomey and his Co-founders have been scaling Fenergo into the FinTech powerhouse that it is today, spanning across multiple continents, with operations worldwide.  Find out how they approached and continue approaching culture, hiring and fundraising at different phases of growth.

Some of the topics covered include:

• How to win the first customers
• Lessons learned in scaling a tech company
• How to approach & what to look for in investors
• The evolving people needs of a business

Listen to the Story of Software on any podcast platform of your choice.

The Story of Software Podcast is produced by Zartis. We hope you enjoy listening to this tech podcast and feel free to share any feedback with us: [email protected]

On this week's episode, our podcast host, Padraig Coffey, was invited to join another podcast called Design Talk (dot IE) by Allen Higgins. 

Listen to this episode to find out where design happens within consulting services and in what forms. 

Design Talk (dot IE) is a podcast about design in-the-wild: 
The good, the beautiful, and the useful.

Uncover the essence of design, the backstory to the design of objects and technologies, and how we manage design initiatives. This podcast is for anyone who cares about the things we make and use, and digital things in particular. After all, we are all involved in some way with designs and designing.

Listen to The Story of Software on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Deezer, & any other podcast platform of your choice.

The Story of Software Podcast is produced by Zartis. We hope you enjoy listening to this tech podcast and feel free to share any feedback with us: [email protected]

Ivo Krka, and Tihomir Lolic, Co-founders at Sportening, share their experience building a successful product in the competitive sports industry.

Ivo Krka and Tihomir Lolic lead the tech and product teams at Sportening, a startup that is building a social network where sports fanatics can join a community of fellow minded fans. Through Sportening, fans talk sports with other fans, find informative, fun, and entertaining content, and build meaningful connections with each other.

A Digital Platform for the Sports Community:

In this episode, we dive into the challenges and opportunities of disrupting the seemingly crowded sports industry. Through the experiences of our guests, we also look into the differences between working at a multinational company and growing a local startup. 

Some of the topics covered include:

• The challenges around choosing the right tech stack.
• The competitive global market for top tech talent.
• The complexity of product-market fit.
• Empowering employee ownership

Listen to The Story of Software on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Deezer, & any other podcast platform of your choice.

The Story of Software Podcast is produced by Zartis. We hope you enjoy listening to this tech podcast and feel free to share any feedback with us: [email protected]

May Piamenta, Co-founder & CEO at Vee, shares her experiences as an entrepreneur in the volunteering space.

May Piamenta, Co-founder and CEO of Vee, founded Vee together with her two partners, Gil and Avi, with the goal of making social impact simpler than ever. Before founding Vee in 2019, she led a global nonprofit team, where she managed 10 million volunteers in over 32 countries. All the work was done manually, and she found existing technological solutions to be enterprise-oriented and difficult to use. So, May decided to act. 

As the world’s most innovative volunteering platform, Vee empowers everybody to act on their values. The platform includes a marketplace of verified volunteering opportunities and all the tools needed to manage volunteering activities for both nonprofits and companies alike.  

Volunteering Platforms and Technologies:

In this episode, we dive into the different challenges and opportunities in the non-profit sector, as well as growing a company in such a challenging industry.

Some of the topics covered include:

• The value that companies focused on social impact can bring in bad times
• The challenges of growing a non-profit business through fundraising
• Growing and operating a company as a young, female entrepreneur 
• Hiring the right people to carry the right values forward

Listen to The Story of Software on:

Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Deezer, & any other podcast platform of your choice.

The Story of Software Podcast is produced by Zartis. We hope you enjoy listening to this tech podcast and feel free to share any feedback with us: [email protected]

On this episode of the Story of Software podcast, Didier Caroff, VP of Engineering at Akeneo, shares his insights on structuring and restructuring engineering teams as tech departments grow.

Didier is the VP of Engineering at Akeneo, a global leader in product experience management. Akeneo helps merchants and brands deliver customer experiences across all sales channels, including eCommerce, mobile, print, and retail points of sale to global brands such as Sephora, Fossil, Shop.com, and Auchan. 

How to Structure Engineering Teams:

As software departments grow, the requirements and processes needed to sustain a solid team structure also change. How a 10 person software team works and communicates is vastly different from a 50 or 100 person team. So, what are the ideal conditions and structure to create a productive engineering team?

Some of the topics covered in this episode include:

• Ideal engineering team structures for startups and scaleups
• Quality assurance within autonomous squads
• Team structures that maximise engineer satisfaction
• Common mistakes when structuring engineering teams

You can find The Story of Software podcast on any podcast platform of your choice.

The Story of Software Podcast is produced by Zartis. We hope you enjoy listening to this tech podcast and feel free to share any feedback with us: [email protected]

Ron Danenberg, CTO & Co-founder of Kolleno, joins our podcast to talk about growing a company from single to multiplayer & building software collaboratively.

Ron Danenberg is the Co-founder and CTO at Kolleno, a company on a mission to help businesses streamline credit control and collections. Kolleno automates key credit control functions and uses intelligent omnichannel communications to recover outstanding payments. 

Growing A Business and A Team:

We’ve all heard the odds, 9 out of 10 startups fail. With so much pressure on entrepreneurs to succeed, how can a one or two-person team excel and grow sustainably? What are some of the early-stage considerations and decisions that make a difference?

Some of the topics covered in this episode include:

• The benefits of an entrepreneurial mindset.
• The importance of the initial idea and team selection.
• The challenges and opportunities within the first years of growth.
• How to interview & hire team members consciously. 

You can find The Story of Software podcast on any  podcast platform of your choice.

The Story of Software Podcast is produced by Zartis. We hope you enjoy listening to this tech podcast and feel free to share any feedback with us: [email protected]

Marco Hülsmann, Chief Operations and Technology Officer at MyPostcard.com, joins us to talk about business resilience and shares his insights on keeping your company alive when the world changes.

Marco is Chief Operations & Technology Officer at MyPostcard.com, one of Germany’s fastest-growing technology companies. MyPostcard is made up of an international team passionately and creatively upholding the postcard tradition in the digital age. 

From a global pandemic to geopolitical issues, the past few years have shown us that you need to have a resilient business model, and a unified team mindset to keep thriving. From various business considerations and strategies to promoting resilience and productivity within your teams - there are many decisions to be made that will determine how your business performs during uncertain times.

Some of the topics covered in the episode include:

• How to build business resilience in uncertain times
• Change management within software teams
• Tips on supporting team productivity & morale
• Leadership advice for today’s businesses

You can find The Story of Software podcast on any podcast platform of your choice.

The Story of Software Podcast is produced by Zartis. We hope you enjoy listening to this tech podcast and feel free to share any feedback with us: [email protected]

Samantha Mountford, CTO at Feast It, joins our podcast to talk about the current status of the events industry & technology’s role in enabling in-person events.

Samantha Mountford has decades of experience in the IT industry and has led software teams within various companies. She is currently the CTO at Feast It, the UK’s leading event booking platform, where you can book the perfect suppliers for your wedding, private party, festival, or work event.

The verdict is out. Most people have had enough of Zoom events and want to get back to in-person events where they can interact with their friends or colleagues in a meaningful way. The events industry, which suffered during Covid lockdowns, is predicted to make a huge comeback, unsurprisingly, large amounts of events and festivals have already been postponed to future dates to be held in person again. 

What is the role of technology in making these events a reality? And what solutions does it offer to event planners when it comes to choosing providers and saving time?

Some of the topics covered include:

• Covid and the rise of online events.
• The trends in online events vs real-life events.
• The technologies behind big scale events.
• How software can speed up event planning.

You can find The Story of Software podcast on any  podcast platform of your choice.

The Story of Software Podcast is produced by Zartis. We hope you enjoy listening to this tech podcast and feel free to share any feedback with us: [email protected]

Daniel White, CEO and Co-founder of Signol, helps us understand how we can influence behavioural patterns within ourselves and our companies.

Daniel White is the Co-Founder and CEO at Signol, a software platform that draws on insights from behavioural economics to encourage employees to make more efficient decisions. Signol provides users with actions and feedback through multiple communication channels, as well as data analysis for those in management positions. 

Developing Greener Habits:

Today, most people are to some degree aware of the actions needed to be more environmentally conscious. However, why do we find it difficult to make a change? Is there a way that technology can motivate us to take better actions and become greener? 

If so, can we apply these incentives at a company level and prompt larger groups of people to take climate action?

Some of the topics covered in this episode include:

• Can we incentivize employees to change behaviours?
• How technology can be used to influence behavioural habits.
• What are the incentives that people react positively to?
• Ensuring the well-being of team members.

You can find The Story of Software podcast on any podcast platform of your choice.

The Story of Software Podcast is produced by Zartis. We hope you enjoy listening to this tech podcast and feel free to share any feedback with us: [email protected]

Nina Mannheimer, Co-founder of Klim, joins us to share her experience of setting up and scaling a company that caters to a growing sustainability initiative - regenerative agriculture.

Nina Mannheimer is the Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Klim, a company enabling farmers to transition to regenerative agriculture at scale by assisting them via a digital companion. Klim is creating a movement with brands, consumers, and farmers to transform the current industrial farming system into a more sustainable one.

Building Sustainable Businesses:

Building a business that offers tangible and sustainable solutions to tackle the climate crisis is tricky. From investment models that do not consider how sustainable businesses work, to the technological challenges of transforming nature into a digital product; there is a lot for startups to figure out. So, how should one go about building a successful business in the sustainability space that can stand the test of time?

Some of the topics covered in this episode include:

• Regenerative agriculture and its advantages
• Developing a business model focused on sustainability
• The business challenges of attracting investment in the field of sustainability
• The technological challenges involved in sustainability initiatives
• Hiring and managing teams for the right cause

You can find the Story of Software podcast on any podcast platform of your choice.

The Story of Software Podcast is produced by Zartis. We hope you enjoy listening to this tech podcast and feel free to share any feedback with us: [email protected]