As the Co-Founders of Postlight, Paul and Rich dont often hack away and engineer anymore. This week though, Rich shares a little side project hes been working on. He breaks down why hes programming in Python and shares his realization that although the languages may change, the problems stay the same. Links: Flask Frozen Flask Flutter What is Code? - Paul Ford...
Throughout his engineering career, Andrew Childs used his fair share of project management tools. None of them felt quite right, so he quit his job and built his own Clubhouse.io. Andrew joins Paul and Rich to discuss why the tool has become so popular at Postlight, and how its managed to survive in such a crowded project management marketplace. Links: Clubhouse.io Whimsical Mural Dont Let the Backlog Drive Your Product - Rich Ziade...
Michael Shane began his career as a classical musician, and now hes Director of Digital Strategy at Postlight. This week, Michael takes Paul and Rich on his journey from the orchestra to the land of tech. He shares what he's learned along the way from what makes a great digital strategist to why strategy isnt the same as sales and gives tips on how to write a proposal that will win over any audience.
When youre a small but growing company, sometimes the best people to learn from are the big fish in your industry pond the friendly ones that dont eat you. This week Paul and Rich speak with Tracey Zimmerman, President and CEO of Robots & Pencils, a digital innovation firm working on similar projects as Postlight but at double the size. They compare notes with Tracey on what makes a successful innovator, how to build the right teams for your clients, and how to scale your organizational culture....
This week Paul and Rich are joined by a new Postlight team member, Director of Product Management Vicky Volvovski. Vicky talks all things product management and breaks down the differences between agency work and product org work. She also shares the six things she looks for when hiring product managers and gives Paul and Rich some solicited feedback. Links: Postlight Careers
This week Paul and Rich respond to a mailbag question! A listener reached out seeking advice on how best to deliver a project pitch to higher-ups at a company. From keeping your presentation short to showing up with deliverables, Paul and Rich break down the best ways to make your idea land with the C-suite.
What does Facebooks Oversight Board actually do? This week Paul and Rich discuss the immense power that the Oversight Board holds. They talk about what type of oversight should exist and whether the current measures are enough. Also, Rich gets to flex his law degree breaking down the difficulties of translating policy into product. Links: Drudge Report Techmeme Facebooks Oversight Board...
Hindsight is 20/20. This week Paul and Rich look back at Postlights beginnings. Knowing what they know now, they share insights on what they wish theyd done when founding the company. From embracing marketing to betting more chips on design, they reflect on some of the things they missed.
After over a year away, Paul and Rich are vaccinated and back in the office. From the Postlight recording studio, they discuss their experience of returning to the office overwhelming at first, but ultimately a refreshing reset. They also reflect on the importance of in-person work for effective communication, connection, and planning for the future. Links: Postlight - Digital Transformation for the MTA
It feels like every week theres a new tech trend thats being touted as the next big thing: from the Internet of Things to augmented reality to machine learning. This week Paul and Rich break down some of these trends and tell you if and when you should worry about adopting them. Links: Ghost
In the past year the world saw the development and distribution of the COVID vaccine. This week Paul and Rich share what they observed in watching this process. We talk about how, like the vaccine, with software, you need to be able to take something very complex and make it available to the masses. Links: Plex Server Django CMS Digital Transformation for the MTA - Postlight...
Why discuss only one topic when you can discuss three! This week Paul and Rich dig into three unrelated but important topics that theyve had top of mind. They share musings on going back to the office and break down Natural Language Processing (NLP). Then Paul reveals what he learned from watching a two-hour presentation by Salesforce. Links: Salesforce Einstein Postlight - Work...
Ever wonder how (or why) certain emoji get made? Look no further than Jennifer Daniel, Googles Chair of the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee the team that brings new emoji to life. Jennifer gives a brief emoji history lesson and explains how her work creating emoji is surprisingly akin to journalism. She also breaks down the emoji creation and selection process and gives a sneak peek into next years releases. Links: Jennifer Daniel - Twitter Unicode Consortium Draft Emoji Candidates Emoji Kitchen Noto...
Whens the right time to adapt? This week Paul and Rich discuss how companies adjust to changing times and risks. They consider whether you need a culture of fear in a company to force change, or if innovation can come from a positive and aspirational place. Links: Postlight Case Studies
Tim Meaney returns to the Postlight Podcast, and hes ready to talk DeFi. This week Paul, Rich, and Tim have a heated discussion about new trends in blockchain and cryptocurrencies. They draw parallels between crypto and conspiracy theories, and Tim explains why the protocols around DeFi are something we should be looking at beyond its current financial applications. Links: Tim Meaney - Twitter SageSure SETI@home Dapp.com The Brickhouse...
In this second live Catalyst event, Paul and Rich discuss how to pitch your project to all types of stakeholders. They also delve into the tools and methods you can use to gain consensus in the room and talk about the persuasive power of good design. Links: Catalyst Whitepaper Catalyst Live! Part 1: Turning Chaos Into Your North Star...
Paul was once a believer in creating small startups within large organizations. But after years in the tech industry, hes changed his mind. This week Paul and Rich discuss internal startups and why theyre often just not possible. After all, one key ingredient is existential risk without that, can you call it a startup? Links: Postlights Catalyst Whitepaper Why Theres No Such Thing as a Startup Within a Big Company - Hunter Walk Baking Your Layercake - Paul Ford...
As both a medical practitioner and a patient, Lyfebulb founder Dr. Karin Hehenberger knows a thing or two about living with chronic disease. As a young girl, she was diagnosed with diabetes and went on to earn her M.D. and a doctorate studying health complications around the disease. This week, Karin joins Paul and Gina to talk about Lyfebulb the online platform she built with Postlights help to empower those living with chronic disease. Links: Catalyst Lyfebulb TransplantLyfe Dr. Karin Hehenber...
These days, artificial intelligence is being sold as the solution to all of your technological problems. But is spending time and energy on AI systems worth it? According to Paul and Rich its not. They share why its more important to clean up your existing problems instead of implementing new, sparkly technologies to solve them.
Scaling your business is exciting, but it can also be scary and anxiety-inducing. This week, Paul and Rich share lessons theyve learned in five years growing Postlight from managing business owner anxiety to learning to let go and trust others. They also discuss the importance of building your business to be much bigger than its founders. Links: Lynda.com Catalyst Whitepaper
Black Girl Ventures began with a tipi in Shelly Bells living room and a call to a psychic in California. Shelly Bell chats with Paul and Gina about how she went from building that tipi to building a platform that has now funded over 100 Black and Brown woman-led businesses. Shelly also shares what goes into a strong investor pitch and talks about the importance of giving honest feedback. Links: Black Girl Ventures SheRaise Kai XR...
The goal of the vaccine rollout is to first protect the most vulnerable in society. But what happens when the system keeps out those who need it most? Rich walks us through his frustrating experience navigating New Yorks vaccine website. He breaks down the design barriers causing accessibility issues and offers fixes to reduce friction in the process. Links: NY Vaccination Website
The pandemic has made people crave simple, digestible information even when the information they need is not-so-simple. This week, Rich and Paul draw similarities to technology and the conspiracy theories that have mastered messaging and used it to spread harmful misinformation. How can we counter it? Tell a clear, simple story and tell it again and again. Links: QAnon Gov. Cuomo shows off festive turkey mask for Thanksgiving...
Technology is an accelerator that helps people share ideas and connect. But last week, people in power used that same accelerator to harm others. Likely too little too late but banning Trump from social platforms hugely impacts the spread of misinformation. This week, Paul and Rich break down the four hacks that contributed to dangerous conspiracy theories and discuss the laws that need to be put into place to protect the future. Links: Live Event : Should Twitter Delete Donald Trump Regulating ...
Since its beginning, WordPress has won the hearts and computers of millions. This week Paul and Gina are joined by WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg as he talks about the expansion of WordPress and his love for open source. He shares controversial opinions on open source and explains why well all be headed there in the future. Links: Matt Mullenweg Twitter Automattic WooCommerce Simplenote Yoast Chromium Gutenberg...
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is North Americas most expansive mass transit system and Postlight partnered to take it digital. This week, Gina Trapani and Chris LoSacco discuss shipping such a large and sprawling project, from the importance of engaging with stakeholders to furthering team leadership opportunities along the way. All aboard! Links: MTA Case Study - Postlight
Its been a rough year but the web still has Easter eggs, and tech is not all evil. This week, Paul and Rich briefly ignore 2020 to focus on the Pleasant Internet Things that bring them joy. From their favorite sites to their favorite tech, they share a few insights to help finish the year on a high note. Links: Waxy.org Archive.org OldNYC.org Poolside FM Electoral-vote.com New York Times Election Distractor...
A little while back we made gentle fun of Googles hamburger menu. Well, Google responded! This week Paul and Rich sit down with Googles Senior Director of Product Management, Ben Wilson, to discuss the hamburger menu and so much more. We chat about the importance of good research and why its vital to promote diversity in your teams. Also, Ben shares what its like designing product at such a large scale think trillions of API calls a day. Links: Active Assist Ben Wilson - Twitter Google Duplex De...
In October, we released Catalyst, a Postlight whitepaper on driving digital transformation within an organization. This week we release the audio from our first of a four part presentation series on Catalyst. In this first live recording, we explain the importance of defining your mission, we share some industry trends and we answer all of your questions. Links: Introducing Postlights New Whitepaper: Catalyst Postlight - Careers...
A little while back Mailchimp approached Postight for some help. They wanted to improve their developer experience and rebrand their APIs. This week we are joined by two Postlight employees, Liz Tan and Adam Pash, who helped make that happen. They share their reflections on the process and talk about what it was like doing design and content strategy for such a well known and beloved company. Links: Introducing Mailchimp Developer Introducing Postlights New Whitepaper: Catalyst Say This Three Ti...
