The Tech Trek

What you’ll learn:

Benefits of incorporating security earlier in the process

Balancing between business and security goals

Avoid looking for the “unicorn” hires

Meet: Eiwe Lingefors leads Director of Engineering, Cybersecurity & Platform at Teachable, an edtech company that enables independent professionals to turn experience and know-how into thriving businesses.

If you have any questions for Eiwe, please feel free to reach out via:

https://twitter.com/alienswede

https://www.linkedin.com/in/eiwelingefors/

I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand). Please send me a message if you would like me to cover certain topics with future guests.

What you’ll learn:

Leading with empathy in managing your team

Making sure to allocate time to prioritize learning

Meet: Nathan Wan is the Director of Machine Learning Platform at Freenome where he leads a team of researchers and engineers building a blood test to detect early-stage cancer. He believes that technology is most powerful when applied to the hardest problems we face not just as individuals, but as a society. Prior to Freenome, he led teams at Google for the Speech Recognition and Shopping Express projects. Nathan holds BS degrees in Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

If you have any questions for Nathan, please feel free to reach out via:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nwan1

I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand). Please send me a message if you would like me to cover certain topics with future guests.

What you’ll learn:

Moving from a non-traditional degree program into data and machine learning

Stubbornness as a superpower (sticking to a problem is key)

Improving the hiring process by understanding the limitations of using a data-driven hiring process

Meet: George London is the Director of Engineering at Survata and the Co-Organizer of the San Francisco PyData Meetup Group. He has over a decade of experience as an entrepreneur, engineer, and manager working to help businesses use data to make better decisions.

If you have any questions for George, please feel free to reach out via:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgelondon/

https://twitter.com/rogueleaderr

I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand). Please send me a message if you would like me to cover certain topics with future guests.

What you’ll learn:

Looking at the number of merges to evaluate team velocity

Reducing wait times during code reviews

Software is getting cheaper to make and faster to deliver

Meet: Ben Garvey heads up the team building the next generation of financial management software at Betterment for Advisors. Previously, he led world-class SAAS data engineering teams at RJMetrics, Magento Commerce, and Adobe. He holds a computer science degree from American University and likes charts, maybe a little too much.

If you have any questions for Ben, please feel free to reach out via Twitter:

https://twitter.com/bengarvey

I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand). Please send me a message if you would like me to cover certain topics with future guests.

What you’ll learn:

Using stand-downs to check-in at the end of the day

Clarifying expectations and establishing a clear technical ladder

Doubling down on creating communication channels within the team

Meet: Myles Guanzon is a servant engineering leader with a strong passion for data-driven, lean product development, Myles comes from a non-traditional engineering background. His career started in DevOps with server management and progressed by learning web development and co-founding a design agency to develop web applications for clients, including NASA. Today as the VP of Engineering at Omada Health, Myles leads the B2C teams that are responsible for engaging its members into lifelong health.

If you have any questions for Myles, please feel free to reach out via LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/myles-guanzon-9ab50020/

I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand). Please send me a message if you would like me to cover certain topics with future guests.

What you’ll learn:

Focusing on predictability rather than velocity

How the code base’s complexity can affect estimation

Balancing the effect of technology change on the team

David references the following book:

Nicole Forsgren’s book: Accelerate

Meet: David Kaplan is the head of engineering at Policygenius, the nation’s leading online insurance marketplace. David has been an engineering leader for over a decade as a VP of Engineering at Yodle (Acquired by Web.com), a Senior Manager at Bloomberg L.P., and the co-founder of Helioscene, which was a SaaS startup in the video production space.

If you have any questions for David, please feel free to reach out via LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/davebkaplan/

I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand). Please send me a message if you would like me to cover certain topics with future guests.

What you’ll learn:

Inversion of talent vs seniority

Hiring is not all about the hard skills

Focusing on employees motivations for the long term benefit to the company

Meet: David Relyea received a Ph.D. in physics from Princeton in 2003. He has worked in the defense sector, ad tech, fintech, and cybersecurity, largely in the areas of machine learning and optimization. He is currently Director of Data Science at BlackBerry.

If you have any questions for David, please feel free to reach out via LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-relyea-44120557/

I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand). Please send me a message if you would like me to cover certain topics with future guests.

What you’ll learn:

Growing security awareness and maturity

Starting with a security framework in mind

Cybersecurity is an accessible field (moving past the myth)

Meet: Ryan Weeks - As Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Ryan is responsible for directing and managing Datto's Information Security program. Ryan spent 11 years securing enterprise applications, systems, and sensitive customer financial data at FactSet Research Systems, where he orchestrated all facets of the global information security program. Ryan holds a B.S. in Computer Information Systems from Ithaca College, an M.S. in Information Assurance from Northeastern University, and has industry security certifications including the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and the Certified Information Security Manager (CISM).

If you have any questions for Ryan, please feel free to reach out via LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanweeks/

I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand). Please send me a message if you would like me to cover certain topics with future guests.

What you’ll learn:

Challenges in moving to CI/CD

What is continuous testing?

The new skills required for people in testing

Meet: Liliya Frye is a Technology Leader and a Manager of Quality Assurance Engineering with over 20 years of experience in IT. She is very enthusiastic about digital product quality, security, cloud computing, and leadership. She is naturally curious and loves the continuous process of learning, as well as sharing her knowledge with others. She is a Leader of OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) San Fernando Valley Chapter and a part of the planning committee of AppSec California security conferences.

Liliya authored the following articles:

1. Leaders who deliver  vs. Leaders who destroy 

2. How to Get Hired: Encoded Secrets of Hiring Managers 

3. Focusing on Customers in Agile SDLC with 80/20 Rule 

4. CI/CD/CT - Shift-Left and Shift-Right with Automated Continuous Testing 

If you have any questions for Liliya, please feel free to reach out via LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/liliyafrye/

I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand). Please send me a message if you would like me to cover certain topics with future guests.

What you’ll learn:

Being curious, staying curious

Servant leadership style

Pushing for opportunities to grow

Meet: I am an experienced technologist with over 10 years of experience in the Internet industry. I've worked with companies that build and distribute web applications internally within an organization as well as externally to users around the world. I've seen the industry grow and advance greatly over the past decade and the technical knowledge I've gathered, helps me to be successful at building any web application of any scale. I am also a very experienced people manager who has coached many engineers and helped them to grow both their technical skills as well as their leadership traits to elevate their careers to the next level.

If you have any questions for Andy, please feel free to reach out via LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andylu821/

I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirbormand (Amir Bormand). Please send me a message if you would like me to cover certain topics with future guests.