The Tech Trek

Jay Chia, cofounder of Eventual, joins the show to unpack what real empowerment looks like inside a fast growing startup. Most people confuse empowerment with initiative, but Jay explains how trust, vulnerability, and accountability work together to turn good teams into self directed ones. If you are scaling a startup or leading a growing engineering team, this conversation explores the human side of leadership, when to let go, when to step in, and how to help your team grow without losing alignment.

What You’ll Learn

• Why initiative and empowerment are different and how that distinction shapes your company culture

• How to build trust so early employees can take ownership without constant oversight

• Why vulnerability is the key to honest feedback and deeper one on ones

• How to build a culture of experimentation that rewards progress, not perfection

• When to intervene as a leader versus when to let your team learn through mistakes

Timestamped Highlights

03:20 The difference between taking initiative and true empowerment, and why fixing bugs is not ownership

08:39 Using vulnerability to turn one on ones into real conversations

12:20 Building an experimentation culture inspired by research driven teams

17:53 How much room to give before stepping in, balancing trust, skill, and risk

21:41 Why letting new managers bring their own cultural imprint can strengthen your company

A Line That Sticks

“Empowerment is handing off the monkey. It is not just fixing the problem, it is owning the plan, asking for resources, and having the mandate to execute.”

Practical Advice for Leaders

• Start one on ones by being open first so your team feels safe to share what is really happening

• Lower the barrier to experimentation and let people test ideas early. Progress beats polish

• Build rituals, not just processes. Repetition creates trust and space for feedback

• Encourage a mindset of asking for forgiveness, not permission. Autonomy grows from trust

Keep the Conversation Going

If this episode made you rethink how you empower your team, share it with another founder or manager who is building through similar challenges. Follow The Tech Trek for more conversations at the intersection of people, impact, and technology.

Rohan Kodialam, cofounder and CEO of Sphinx, is building AI agents that treat data as its own language—one most models and humans still fail to understand. In this episode, he unpacks why data science has lagged behind software engineering, how AI can finally close the gap between business questions and answers, and what happens when small teams gain the analytical power of a thousand person quant desk.

What You'll Learn

• How AI models that actually see data can unlock insights traditional transformers miss

• Why enterprises must rethink dashboards and embrace real time ad hoc analysis

• Where AI truly saves the most time across the data lifecycle and why modeling is not the hardest part

• How decoupling statistics from business context gives teams freedom to focus on strategy and creativity

• Why success in data science now means reclaiming human creativity while automating repetitive work

Timestamped Highlights

[01:44] Why data is fundamentally different from text and code and why most AI models struggle with it

[06:39] The cultural problem with ad hoc being a dirty word in enterprises and why that mindset is changing

[11:09] Where AI tools actually fit into the data science workflow

[17:09] How to measure success when using an AI data scientist

[21:04] What happens when a small team gains the data firepower of a hedge fund quant operation

[24:37] Why bad data science is worse than none and why quality matters more than hype

A Thought That Stuck With Us

“We are cutting the time to completion by 20x, 40x, even 50x and that remaining human review is not a bottleneck. It is the feature that keeps AI accountable.”

Worth Following

Connect with Rohan Kodialam on X (@KodialamRo) or LinkedIn and learn more about Sphinx AI and how they are transforming enterprise data science.

If This Resonated

Share this with someone in the data world who is tired of waiting weeks for insights that should take minutes. Follow The Tech Trek for more conversations about how people and technology create lasting impact.

Karl Alomar, Managing Partner at M13 and former COO of DigitalOcean, joins The Tech Trek to share how being an operator changes the way you invest. He explains why M13 was built to be a truly founder-first VC firm—one that acts early, helps proactively, and builds deep relationships rooted in empathy and experience. From spotting great founders to balancing instinct and data, this episode explores how venture capital can drive better outcomes when it focuses on people as much as product.

Key Takeaways

• The most effective VCs act before problems surface, shaping a founder’s path rather than reacting to it.

• Founder–market fit often comes down to whether someone is a specialist with deep expertise or an athlete who can adapt fast.

• Empathy built through years of operating experience creates trust that fuels honest conversations and better decisions.

• Great founders lead with vision—they can inspire, recruit, and align teams behind a clear story of what’s possible.

• Even the best instincts and pattern recognition can’t outplay timing, luck, and market shifts—but reflection and learning can.

Timestamped Highlights

(01:20) How being an operator shaped Karl’s approach to venture capital

(06:48) The three kinds of investors—and why empathy gives operators an edge

(09:54) Creating a safe space where founders can share problems without fear

(14:13) Identifying “athletes” and “specialists” when evaluating founders

(20:33) Pattern matching, instincts, and the role of luck in investing

(23:50) What M13 learns from postmortems on both wins and misses

A Line That Stuck

“To do it the right way, you have to be a proactive investor, not a reactive one.”

Pro Tips

Karl suggests founders build relationships with investors who understand their world and seek out those who can help them see around corners—not just react when things break.

Call to Action

If this episode resonated, follow The Tech Trek on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and connect with Amir Bormand on LinkedIn for more conversations at the intersection of people, impact, and technology.

In this episode of The Tech Trek, Amir sits down with Michi Kono, CTO of Garner Health, to unpack what it really takes to scale engineering leadership inside a fast growing startup. Michi shares how he balances structure and speed, why formalizing processes too early can slow innovation, and how “the Garner way” blends lessons from big tech with first principles thinking. This is a conversation about leadership maturity, cultural design, and building systems that evolve with your company’s growth.

Key Takeaways

• Leadership scale comes from knowing when to formalize processes, not just how.

• “Six months is never”: waiting on fixes usually means they will never happen.

• Feedback is a gift, and it is on leaders to create the safety for it to flow upward.

• Borrowing from big tech only works when you adapt the principles, not the playbook.

• Engineering leaders should measure success by business outcomes, not just delivery speed.

Timestamped Highlights

01:46 The first signals Michi looked for when stepping into the CTO role

03:49 Turning ad hoc collaboration into structured dependency management

06:36 Why delaying operational fixes is a silent killer for scaling teams

08:38 Building standards only when they solve real, visible problems

12:13 The art of forecasting leadership hiring and team design

14:54 Lessons borrowed from Meta, Stripe, and Capital One, and when not to use them

17:31 Defining “the Garner way” through first principles

20:59 Judging engineering performance through business impact

25:00 Creating true psychological safety for feedback across all levels

A Line That Stuck

“If we can’t execute on the roadmap that lets us actually build a successful business, then I failed as a leader. There are no excuses.”

Pro Tips

When you inherit a growing engineering organization, start by mapping dependencies, not hierarchies. Clarity around how teams interact is more valuable than adding headcount too early.

Call to Action

Enjoyed this episode? Follow The Tech Trek on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and connect with Amir on LinkedIn for more conversations on scaling teams, leadership, and engineering culture.

Vibe coding isn’t just a new buzzword—it’s a complete shift in how engineering teams build, ship, and think. Zach Wills, Director of Engineering at Luxury Presence, joins to share how his team is rewriting the rules of software delivery using AI-assisted workflows. From Greenfield experiments to Brownfield transformations, Zach breaks down the frameworks, lessons, and mindset shifts reshaping what it means to be an engineer.

Key Takeaways

Why vibe coding feels less like automation and more like a new management skill for engineers

The real differences between Greenfield and Brownfield AI-assisted projects—and how to avoid the biggest traps

How “trusting the autonomous loop” became a core principle for speed and quality

The cultural shift that happens when developers stop typing every line of code

Why teams that embrace AI early will outpace their competition, not replace their people

Timestamped Highlights

02:20 — The moment vibe coding clicked and how it compressed days of work into hours

06:45 — Testing AI in a five-year-old codebase with tens of thousands of commits

10:45 — Engineers are becoming more like managers of autonomous agents

14:40 — The hidden emotional impact of giving up “manual” coding

17:30 — Inside Zach’s eight-rule framework for productive AI workflows

25:25 — Why SDLC as we know it is breaking apart—and what replaces it

30:00 — Why fearing AI misses the point entirely

Memorable Line

“If AI can do something I was doing yesterday, I never want to do that thing again. My value comes from what only I can do.”

Pro Tip

Start small but think organizationally. Train your engineers to lead AI, not just use it. The biggest unlock isn’t speed—it’s mindset.

Call to Action

If this conversation sparked new ideas about how your team could work smarter, follow The Tech Trek wherever you listen and connect with Amir on LinkedIn for more behind-the-scenes insights.

From a farm in Adelaide to the front lines of AI-powered personalization.

Tullie Murrell, CEO and co-founder of Shaped, shares how he went from researcher to founder and built a platform helping businesses deliver the kind of intelligent recommendations once reserved for big tech.

We explore the mindset shifts, technical leaps, and founder lessons that shaped his path—from Meta’s AI labs to democratizing personalization for everyone else.

Key Takeaways

• The best founders know when to trade technical depth for go-to-market mastery. Tullie learned that 70% of startup success lives outside the codebase.

• Real personalization is no longer just for Meta, Amazon, or TikTok—new model architectures are closing the gap for everyone.

• Flexibility early in your career opens unexpected doors. Choosing Meta over Google gave Tullie room to explore and evolve.

• AI research isn’t just about papers—it’s about transforming how people experience products and decisions in real time.

• The future of personalization sits at the intersection of generation and intent—content created and adapted for each individual moment.

Timestamped Highlights

00:35 — What Shaped does and how it’s redefining AI-driven recommendations

03:00 — From a farm in Australia to computer science and a path to Silicon Valley

07:30 — Why joining Meta offered more freedom than Google

13:25 — The insight that sparked Shaped: how Meta’s personalization drove massive engagement

19:00 — Leaving Big Tech, embracing discomfort, and starting over as a founder

22:45 — The moment he realized go-to-market mattered more than code

29:00 — How new AI breakthroughs are rewriting what’s possible in personalization

33:55 — Real-time generation meets personalization: where we’re headed next

A standout moment

“Most founders think success is 70% product and 30% go-to-market. I learned it’s the other way around.”

Pro Tip

If you’re a technical founder, study go-to-market strategy as hard as you studied your first programming language. It’s the difference between a great product and a great company.

Call to Action

If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a founder or engineer exploring their next leap. Subscribe to The Tech Trek on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and follow Amir on LinkedIn for more conversations at the edge of tech, leadership, and innovation.

Jason Eubanks, Co-Founder and CEO of Aurasell, shares the path that led him from a small town in rural Ohio to building one of the most ambitious AI-driven CRM platforms on the market. His journey reveals how limited opportunity can spark relentless ambition and how early lessons in persistence shaped the mindset of a founder willing to take on giants.

Key Takeaways

• A clear purpose often starts from simple beginnings that demand creativity and discipline.

• The hardest experiences can build the confidence to face uncertainty without fear.

• Great products are born when you question accepted norms and rebuild from first principles.

• Growth happens when you move before comfort arrives.

• Progress depends on focusing on the next meaningful step rather than the entire mountain ahead.

Timestamped Highlights

[01:49] Growing up in a small Ohio town where college was rare

[05:58] Discovering technology after realizing civil engineering wasn’t the right fit

[11:17] Researching careers in a library and choosing a future in tech and sales

[17:16] Early family struggles that shaped resilience and perspective

[22:57] Building Aurasell to challenge entrenched enterprise software

[26:57] The lesson every ambitious professional needs to hear about taking risks early

A Line That Stuck

“I’ve already seen what it’s like to lose everything. So when you’ve been there, the idea of taking a big risk doesn’t feel so scary anymore.”

Pro Tips

Seek situations that stretch you. Every challenge adds another layer of experience that will serve you later.

Call to Action

If this story pushed you to think differently about risk and growth, follow the show for more founder conversations that reveal what it takes to build something lasting in tech.

Some companies thrive while others quietly lose their edge.

For Tanay Kothari, CEO of Wispr Flow, the difference comes down to one idea: people are your responsibility.

In this conversation, Tanay shares how that realization changed everything about the way he leads. From early missteps as a young manager to building a company rooted in empathy and accountability, he shows that the strongest cultures are designed with intention, not left to chance.

You’ll come away with a practical look at how to build a team that performs at a high level because they feel valued and trusted.

Inside the Conversation
Tanay explains how he built systems that make empathy operational. He spends time understanding each person’s strengths, shapes feedback and growth paths around them, and invests in training people managers who can multiply impact. He also shares why he still keeps a founder’s eye on product quality, customer connection, and hiring as the company grows.

Takeaways
• Culture doesn’t scale on its own, it must be built with care
• Empathy can drive performance without lowering expectations
• The three areas Tanay never delegates as a founder
• How to recognize when a culture is truly working
• What happens when leaders trade control for curiosity

Timestamped Highlights
00:43 The mission behind Wispr Flow and the future of voice technology

01:50 Why treating people as your responsibility changes everything

03:39 Building around individual strengths and learning styles

06:23 The importance of developing great managers

10:35 Small but powerful signals of a thriving culture

12:41 The lesson that reshaped Tanay’s approach to leadership

15:50 Turning frustration into growth and creating top performers1

9:30 Interviewing for passion, not just technical skill

21:58 The three things a founder should never hand off

A line that says it all
Culture isn’t a vibe, it’s a decision you make every single day.

Call to Action
Great companies are built by leaders who care as much as they execute. Follow The Tech Trek for conversations that help you grow as both.

Crypto follows patterns—just like every major wave of innovation. In this episode, Brad Holden of Protocol VC breaks down what really drives those cycles, how investors separate substance from hype, and where crypto and AI are beginning to converge.

From evaluating early founders to understanding when to double down or step back, Brad shares how top VCs navigate frontier tech markets and what makes a company endure beyond the hype cycle.

Key Takeaways

• Crypto’s ups and downs follow predictable adoption cycles—and understanding that rhythm matters.

• Founders who focus on real problems, not hype, stand out in crowded markets.

• AI and blockchain are intersecting through decentralized compute and data transparency.

• Great founders show conviction, grit, and self-awareness—qualities investors notice immediately.

• The strongest pitches come from founders who lead with their own vision, not what investors want to hear.

Timestamped Highlights

01:20 — Why crypto moves in repeating cycles and what drives each one

03:40 — How blockchain transparency helps investors see real traction

06:00 — Evaluating crypto startups: solving problems vs. chasing novelty

10:49 — How blockchain complements and verifies AI

13:05 — The hidden risk of building around hype

15:53 — Why over-customizing your pitch can backfire

17:50 — How top VCs view pivots and founder adaptability

25:28 — The traits that signal long-term founder success

A line worth remembering

“Being too early is just another way of being wrong—but betting on the right founder can make up for almost anything.”

Call to Action

If you want to understand where crypto and AI actually intersect—and what real investors look for behind the scenes—follow The Tech Trek on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and join the conversation on LinkedIn.

Edward Khoury, CTO at Jump, joins Amir to unpack what it really means to lean into discomfort as AI transforms engineering. From redefining craftsmanship in the age of AI-generated code to helping teams evolve their skill sets, Edward shares how he’s creating space for experimentation without losing focus on delivery, culture, or shareholder value.

This is a conversation about leadership in motion—where the future of engineering isn’t just about writing code faster, but about reshaping how teams learn, build, and think.

Key Takeaways

• Why leaders must intentionally give engineers time and space to experiment with AI tools

• How to balance individual learning with organizational goals and KPIs

• The rise of the “product-focused engineer” and what it means for the next generation of builders

• Why platform engineering is becoming critical for scaling AI adoption

• How embracing discomfort leads to resilience and competitive advantage

Timestamped Highlights

1:29 — What “leaning into an uncomfortable world” means for engineers today

3:40 — Creating space for experimentation while keeping delivery on track

6:06 — Balancing freedom to explore with standardization and shared learning

8:34 — Navigating the fear that AI will replace engineering roles

14:11 — How productivity gains will shift bottlenecks from engineering to product

20:31 — Teaching engineers to think like product owners

23:45 — Why user adoption will become the next big challenge as development accelerates

26:58 — How AI tooling is already shaping hiring plans and org design

One Idea That Stuck

“You can’t push everyone through the door—you just have to open it.”

Pro Tips

Edward suggests pairing engineers with product partners earlier in the process—not after specs are written—to help them understand business context and build stronger product intuition.

Call to Action

If this episode made you think differently about leadership in engineering, share it with a teammate who’s navigating AI adoption. Subscribe to The Tech Trek on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and follow Amir on LinkedIn for more conversations with the builders shaping the future of tech.