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The Tech Trek
By ElevanoTechnology
The Tech Trek episodes
- Managing in a fast growing environment
In this episode, Selim Onal, the Director of Engineering at Ladder Life, talks about managing in a fast-growing environment.
- Challenges involved in managing rapid growth.
- Being intentional in the people systems you implement.
- The power of “putting people first”
- Balancing a people-first culture with delivery.
- People systems should support career growth
- Benefits of hiring non-traditional people
- How do internships prepare you for your career?
About today’s guest: see below ⬇️
Selim Onal was born in Istanbul, Turkey. He graduated from Sabancı University with a major in Computer Science and Engineering in 2008. He then moved to the US to do a Ph.D. in Computational Biology at Brown University, but left his Ph.D. and joined Oracle in June 2010. After working at Oracle for one year, he worked at Google Search from June 2011 to January 2016 and at Palantir from January 2016 to June 2017. He joined Quip, Salesforce in July 2017 and worked at Quip until May 2022. He joined Ladder Life Insurance as a director of engineering in May 2022.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/selimonal/
https://www.facebook.com/selimonal
___
Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player.
Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com
Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests?
Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)
28 min - Building a high-performing engineering culture
In this episode, Claude Jones, an engineering leader, talks about how to build a high-performing team. At the time of this recording, Claude was the SVP of Engineering at Strava.
Key takeaways:
- How to ramp up as a new leader?
- Tips for planning smooth transitions.
- Learn how to scale engineering teams.
- Steps to build a high-performance culture
- What is envisioned as engineering excellence?
- Strategy to measure the progress of your team
- Ways to evaluate team performance.
- 3 tips to becoming a great team leader.
- What should be the end goal of a leader?
About today’s guest:
Claude Jones is a seasoned technical leader with over 20 years of experience. He has a passion for creating opportunities to help others succeed. And for over a decade, his life’s mission has been to encourage, inspire, and motivate others through his words and actions.
In his spare time, Claude runs the Elevate Foundation (http://elevate.foundation), an organization he started focused on giving back to the community by helping others in need.
The Practical Leadership Guy (http://thepracticalleadershipguy.com) offers services for motivational speaking, life coaching, and his leadership thoughts on common sense leadership techniques through his blog, encouraging others to be the best they can be.
He is also the CEO of San Diego Tech Hub (http://sandiegotechhub.com), an organization focused on connecting businesses, organizations, and individuals, leveraging their resources, passions, and talents to build a stronger San Diego tech community through collaboration.
Recently, Claude created a series of children’s picture books to foster the development of leadership skills in children ages 5-8, helping them cultivate a mindset of equity and inclusion. More information on the series can be found at https://astrothemonster.com
Contact:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudejones/
practicalleadershipguy.com
___
Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player.
Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com
Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests?
Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)
26 min - Establishing a Data Governance Strategy
In this episode, Mike Bennett, Head of Data Governance at Bayer Crop Science, discusses starting and growing a data governance strategy.
Key takeaways:
- Access and control
- Touches on security and compliance
- Compliance is just one aspect of governance
- Treat data as a physical product
- Start with a minimal process, then evolve and mature it
- Embracing data privacy as it’s not going away
- Build an adaptive model
About today’s guest:
Mike Bennett
Head of Data Governance, Bayer Crop Science
An accomplished leader with extensive experience across multiple technical disciplines, biotechnology, and digital agriculture. Proven ability to define vision and strategy through implementation, spanning various business models from Silicon Valley start-ups to Global-500, multidivisional corporations. Bayer Science and Technology Fellow recognized for contributions to digital agriculture and early gene sequencing technologies.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelsbennett
___
Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player.
Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com
Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests?
Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)
30 min - Data Protection and Privacy Strategy
In this episode, Omar Turner, Managing Director of Cloud Security at Microsoft, discusses data privacy and protection.
Key takeaways:
- Data protection and privacy
- Evaluating smaller vs. big companies
- Stakeholder buy-in
- Data protection/privacy divergence from security
- Classifying data
- Privacy defines who has access
- Being aware of the data you have
- Understanding data sovereignty
About today’s guest: Omar A. Turner is a Managing Director of Cloud Security for Microsoft. He brings over 25 years of experience supporting, deploying, architecting, and securing solutions for startups and globally recognized organizations. He holds numerous certifications, including the CISSP, CCSP, CRISC, CISA, CDPSE, and CISM, and holds B.S. degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science. Omar is passionate about cybersecurity enablement and training and career mentoring for those looking to start their journey in the fantastic and important field of cloud security.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omarturner/
___
Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player.
Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com
Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests?
Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)
20 min - Strategies for frontline managers
In this podcast, Eddie Flaisler, Head of Products Engineering at Lob, talks about managerial strategies for frontline managers.
- What frontline managers do
- Making sure the team is delivering high business value
- Conveying the problem statement, not the strategy
- Balancing constraints and business priorities
- Delegation Strategies for Leaders and Managers
- Importance of asking the right questions
- A key to delegation is people that can resolve dependencies and break down tasks
About today’s guest: Eddie Flaisler heads Products Engineering at Lob - A YC-backed API company. Lob revolutionizes direct mail by introducing intelligence and sustainability to one of the traditional industries. Eddie has had a longstanding diverse career in engineering. He served as Box's head of Enterprise Engineering, was a leader in Security and Compliance Engineering at Uber, spearheaded the development of Video Network Management and Transcoding products at Harmonic, and even dabbled in money transfers to federal prison facilities. Eddie led teams in Israel, the US, India, Japan, Mexico, Poland, and Ukraine. He is an avid cook and a new paw-rent to a 4-month-old pug.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddie-flaisler-660a9039/
___
Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player.
Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com
Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests?
Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)
33 min - Your engineering team’s mental health
In this episode, Kevin Dotzenrod, VP of Engineering at Total Expert, talks about the mental health of your team’s individual contributors.
- Dealing with Impostor syndrome.
- Being as fearless as possible when you are starting off
- How do you manage your first-time manager
- Balancing of Empathy and Accountability
- Managing managers on their responsibilities
- Helping people flourish in a new environment
- What triggers imposter syndrome?
- Adjusting different learning styles
- How to develop a culture of meritocracy
About today’s guest: Kevin brings over 20 years of software development, technical architecture, and engineering expertise to Total Expert. He has led engineering and technology teams at some of the most recognized companies in finance and retail, including Target, Amazon, and Dow Jones, most recently serving as Director of Engineering at Target. There, he led a series of strategic initiatives in supply chain and store technology.
In his new role as VP of Engineering, Kevin will lead the Total Expert engineering team as it scales product architecture to a high-throughput enterprise system. By focusing on process development and long-term architecture management, Kevin will support the rapid growth of the Total Expert platform and the team surrounding it.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-dotzenrod-7931a41/
___
Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player.
Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com
Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests?
Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)
30 min - Solving congestion problems
In this episode, Balaji Prabhakar, co-founder of Clockwork and Professor of Computer Science at Stanford, discusses congestion problems in data centers and real-life congestion issues.
- Challenges when dealing with network congestion within cloud infrastructures.
- What does it mean to build out a system of accurate clocks?
- Understanding the package switching networking and distributor systems.
- Creating fair transactions (first come, first serve)
- Uses cases for highly accurate clocks
- How do to evaluate and solve congestion problems?
About today’s guest: Balaji Prabhakar is VMWare Founders Professor of Computer Science and a faculty member in the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and, by courtesy, in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. His research interests are computer networks, notably in Data Center Networks and Cloud Computing Platforms. His work spans network algorithms, congestion control protocols, and stochastic network theory. He has also worked on Societal Networks, where he has developed "nudge engines" to incentivize commuters to travel in off-peak times so that congestion, fuel, and pollution costs are reduced.
Balaji has been a Terman Fellow at Stanford University and a Fellow of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, IEEE, and ACM. He has received the NSF CAREER Award, the Erlang Prize from the INFORMS Applied Probability Society, the Rollo Davidson Prize was given to young Statisticians and Probabilists, and he delivered the Lunteren Lectures of the Dutch Operations Research Society. He is the inaugural recipient of the IEEE Innovation in Societal Infrastructure Award, which recognizes "significant technological achievements and contributions to the establishment, development, and proliferation of innovative societal infrastructure systems." He has received the IEEE Koji Kobayashi Award for his work on Computer Networks and the ACM Sigmetrics Award for his work on Stochastic Network Theory. He is a co-recipient of a few best paper and test of time awards In 2011, he co-founded Urban Engines (acquired by Google in 2016) and is currently on leave at Clockwork.io where he is co-founder and CEO.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/balaji-prabhakar-45426bb7/
___
Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player.
Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com
Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests?
Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)
38 min - Impacts on engineering team productivity
In this episode, Karim Fanous, VP Engineering @ strongDM, talks about the impacts on an engineering team's productivity.
Key Takeaways:
- Impacts on productivity for the team
- Context switching between interviewing and development
- Importance of Having a repeatable and objective process
- Challenges in onbarding process for newly hired engineers.
- Understanding the people retention process.
___About today’s guest: Karim Fanous
https://www.linkedin.com/in/karimfan/
Link to article: https://karimfanous.substack.com/p/scaling-an-engineering-team-will
Karim is the VP of Engineering at strongDM. Before that, he was in similar roles at startups like Qumulo and Dremio. Karim also spent 10 years at Microsoft.
___
Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player.
Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com
Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests?
Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)
28 min - Tips to help Founders find a coach
In this episode, Beth Scheer, Talent Partner at Homebrew, talks about the drivers for hiring a coach and what to look out for while going through the process.
Key Takeaways:
- Why would a founder should look for a coach?
- Big commitment to hiring a coach
- Make sure you do a reference check with people the coach has worked with the right questions are a must.
- A good coach for someone else might not be the right coach for you
- How to interview a coach
- Costs of hiring a coach
- Red Flags to look for when hiring a coach
About today’s guest:
At Homebrew, Beth Scheer works closely with founders and their executive team members as an advisor on all things Talent-related, including recruiting, diversity & inclusion, compensation, onboarding, and people operations. Before Homebrew, Beth spent 5+ years at Salesforce leading executive search, sales leadership search and the sales growth/professional services recruiting teams. Before that, she built the Google AdSense team in 2003 and then spent 6 years hiring for business operations, corporate communications, and various engineering teams. She is a proud graduate of The Colorado College with a BS in Psychology.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethscheer/
___
Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player.
Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com
Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests?
Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)
23 min - How to Structure Your Engineering Team to Scale
In this episode, Jeremy Eastwood, the Head of Engineering at DroneDeploy, talks about velocity and adding processes as your team grows.
Key Takeaways:
- Metric to measure velocity
- Reconciling struggles
- Experimenting while using guardrails
- Devote an engineer to reliability during each sprint
- Making sure there is an expected result when experimenting
- When to sit back and let the team execute
- Definition of done and compliance
- Seeing the whole field and providing feedback to your managers
About today’s guest: Jeremy Eastwood is the Head of Engineering at DroneDeploy. Jeremy oversees the talented engineering org at DroneDeploy and aspects of its core product offering, including mobile applications, cloud platform and infrastructure, computer vision engine, and 3rd party ecosystem. He was one of the first hires at DroneDeploy and has been a part of the growth from a seed-stage startup to the market leader in digital reality capture, with over 250 employees and offices worldwide.
Before DroneDeploy, Jeremy worked in research on the design of jet engines and holds a Ph.D. in aerodynamics from the University of Cambridge. Outside work, he enjoys hiking around the Bay Area with his family.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-eastwood/
___
Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Tech Trek, and we would appreciate it if you would take a minute to rate and review us on your favorite podcast player.
Want to learn more about us? Head over at https://www.elevano.com
Have questions or want to cover specific topics with our future guests?
Please message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand)
32 min
About The Tech Trek
From the publisher's feed
The Tech Trek is a podcast about how founders, operators, and technology leaders build and scale technology companies.
Each episode explores the decisions behind building products, teams, and technical organizations, with conversations spanning engineering, AI, data, product, hiring, leadership, and growth.
Guests share what they are building, what they are learning, and how they are navigating the challenges that come with turning technology into a successful company.