Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
About the show
A podcast about the design, development, and business of great software. Each week thoughtbot is joined by the people who build and nurture the products we love.
Episodes
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451: Product Strategy with Jordyn Bonds
December 1st, 2022 | Season 11 | 39 mins 29 secs
Jordyn Bonds is the Director of Product Strategy at thoughtbot. Jordyn helps companies validate new product opportunities and reach that first key milestone, from validating an early adopter market to creating a pitch deck to building a prototype, proof of concept, or an MVP launch.
Chad talks to Jordyn about what a Director of Product Strategy does, how Jordyn's career has evolved (She got to build madonna.com for the Confessions on the Dance Floor release and tour!!), and finding practices that keep you motivated and inspired to be working towards long-term, large goals.
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450: StoryFile with Heather Maio-Smith
November 23rd, 2022 | Season 11 | 35 mins 22 secs
Heather Maio-Smith is the Co-Founder, President, and Chief Visionary Officer at StoryFile, bringing global audiences an interactive ecosystem that records and preserves human conversations in a way that removes the traditional boundaries of time and space.
Victoria talks to Heather about why this product needed to exist in the world, supporting human connection and storytelling, and the journey to get funding, expand, and plan what's next for StoryFile.
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449: Welcome, Will Larry!
November 17th, 2022 | Season 11 | 35 mins 43 secs
Will Larry, Software Developer at thoughtbot, joins Giant Robots as host! 🎉
Will talks about how he got into tech, how everything is going so far at thoughtbot, interviewing at thoughtbot previously but not getting the job, and why he decided to interview again (and snagging the job!)
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448: AIEDC with Leonard S. Johnson
November 10th, 2022 | Season 11 | 53 mins 34 secs
Leonard S. Johnson is the Founder and CEO of AIEDC, a 5G Cloud Mobile App Maker and Service Provider with Machine Learning to help small and midsize businesses create their own iOS and Android mobile apps with no-code or low-code so they can engage and service their customer base, as well as provide front and back office digitization services for small businesses.
Victoria talks to Leonard about using artificial intelligence for good, bringing the power of AI to local economics, and truly democratizing AI.
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447: Gembah with Neil Macqueen
November 3rd, 2022 | Season 11 | 28 mins 57 secs
Neil Macqueen is a leading industrial designer with 78 patents to his name, having previously spent ten years at Dyson and is now the Head of Design at Gembah, the world's first global marketplace for product development.
Chad talks to Neil about being focused on industrial design or actual physical products as opposed to interfaces and digital products, working with designers and developers, and design to manufacture as a process.
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446: Plants and Perks with Chloe Sweden
October 27th, 2022 | Season 11 | 43 mins 22 secs
Chloe Sweden is the Founder and CEO of Plants and Perks, a service for rewarding employees with sustainable perks.
Chad talks to Chloe about supporting employees on plant-based sustainability journies by gifting free samples and high-value prizes, choosing a co-founder, and being strategic with the types of businesses they've approached.
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445: Classcraft with Shawn Young
October 20th, 2022 | Season 11 | 40 mins 58 secs
Shawn Young is the CEO and Co-Founder of Classcraft, an innovative platform that motivates students using the culture and mechanics of games.
Victoria talks to Shawn about edtech, behavior intervention, and the challenges he's faced with going from a homegrown tool to something big and out there in the world.
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444: Paddle with Daniëlle Keeven
October 13th, 2022 | Season 11 | 28 mins 26 secs
Daniëlle Keeven is VP of Finance at Paddle, the only complete payments infrastructure provider for SaaS companies.
Victoria talks to Daniëlle about helping companies with taxes while assuming the liability and risks associated with global tax compliance, financial literacy, and taking proactive measures and steps to manage cost effectively before it is required.
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443: Airbrake with Göran Sandahl
October 6th, 2022 | Season 11 | 22 mins 36 secs
Göran Sandahl is Director of Growth at Airbrake LogicMonitor, frictionless error monitoring and performance insights for your entire app stack.
Victoria talks to Göran about having a product-led growth engine, how Airbrake can help developers identify and solve errors and bugs in applications, and developing a product geared towards a specific segment of the market.
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442: Zedosh & The Attention Exchange with Guillaume Kendall
September 29th, 2022 | Season 11 | 36 mins 43 secs
Guillaume Kendall is the Founder of Zedosh and Attention Exchange, which is working to build a safe place for advertisers, publishers, and consumers to all benefit from fair access to human attention.
Chad talks with Guillaume about open banking, changing up who the beneficiaries of consumer attention and data are, and giving companies opportunities to advertise without interrupting consumers with ads.
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441: Creative Startups with Alice Loy
September 22nd, 2022 | Season 11 | 40 mins 47 secs
Alice Loy is a Founding Partner at DaVinci Ventures and the Co-Founder and CEO of Creative Startups, the leading global startup accelerator and company builder for design, food, immersive, and creative companies.
Victoria and Chad talk with Alice about what she means by creative companies, how much judgment she must pass as an investor with a love for the "weird and wonderful," and some of the challenges faced in bringing diversity to the rest of the accelerator world.
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440: The LGBTQ+ Family Connections Center with Joe Barb
September 15th, 2022 | Season 11 | 20 mins 49 secs
Joe Barb is Executive Director and Founder of LGBTQ+ Family Connections Center. They have a mission to strengthen and empower all youth, however they identify, to overcome obstacles by providing housing, supportive counseling, community education, and advocacy.
Victoria and Chad talk with Joe about identifying needs for the center, his own lived experience and connection to the LGBTQ+ community, and deciding what services to provide and evaluating which are most impactful.
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439: LOANHOOD with Lucy Hall
September 8th, 2022 | Season 11 | 31 mins 14 secs
Lucy Hall is the Co-Founder of LOANHOOD, an online fashion rental platform and community that allows users to loan inclusive, diverse, and creative styles for an affordable price.
Chad talks with Lucy about being a peer-to-peer fashion rental app, building a community, and reducing the impacts of the fashion industry on the planet and people by helping to create a sustainable future.
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438: Bright Ventures with Lenore Champagne Beirne
September 1st, 2022 | Season 11 | 24 mins 56 secs
Lenore Champagne Beirne is Founder and Managing Partner at Bright Ventures, a groundbreaking space for transformation in people, companies, and industries with coaching, capital, and community.
Chad talks with Lenore about being at the intersection of all three of those services, providing support for diverse entrepreneurs, and staying intentional about the kind of company and culture they're creating.
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437: Hello Prenup with Sarabeth Jaffe
August 25th, 2022 | Season 11 | 30 mins 40 secs
Sarabeth Jaffe is CTO and Co-Founder at HelloPrenup, the digital prenup platform designed to get couples on the same page.
Chad talks with Sarabeth about dogfooding her own product, completely starting over from a technical perspective using Bubble, a low-code/no-code platform, and appearing on the ABC hit series Shark Tank.
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436: Welcoming our new co-host Victoria Guido
August 18th, 2022 | Season 11 | 24 mins 58 secs
Victoria Guido is the new Associate Director of Business Development and DevOps Strategy at thoughtbot, and is joining Chad as co-host of the show!
Chad talks with Victoria about getting involved in DevOps work, transitioning to agile, moving away from her old community which was based on geography, and tips for people onboarding into a new role.