Tech for Non-Techies

There is plenty of hype about AI, but most organisations are still using old precesses to make decisions. We are  in the  Between Times : " after AI's clear promise and before its transformational impact, " as described in the book  Power and Prediction: the disruptive economics of Artificial Intelligence .  In this episode, Professor Joshua Gans, one of the book's co-authors explains why organisa...

Why do you keep checking your phone, even when you're trying not to? It's because the apps on your phone use the Hook Model. described by Nir Eyal in his book  Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products . To learn how apps like Instagram, LinkedIn and Vivino keep us coming back to our screens, listen to this episode. Learning notes from this episode: Habits are behaviours done with little or no c...

As the tech sector lays off employees, there is still plenty of opportunity to be a Digital Leader.  Playing the long game is making use of the opportunities you have in front of you today, while keeping your eye on the future.  Here are three ways to become a digital leader today: Work in the digital team of a traditional business: Some traditional businesses also have innovative tech-like enviro...

Cloud computing powers most of the digital services you use today. Listen to this podcast episode to learn what it is and why it matters. Learning notes from this episode: The cloud computing is expecting huge growth : the total cloud computing market is estimated to be reach $1,614 by 2030 from $545 billion in 2022, according to Precedence Research . Before the advent of cloud computing, technolo...

To lead in the Digital Age, you need a network of developer friends. They can help you understand the latest tech trends and decipher jargon. But to build the right network, you need to act intentionally. Don't just hunt down anybody who has ever taken a python course. There are two types of developers: managers and specialists. All developers start off as coders, but as they progress in their car...

To succeed in today's economy, you simply have to speak tech. But, if nobody knows about your new digital skills, you won't become a digital leader. This is why,  to go from traditional business manager to digital leader, you need to actively work on changing your professional image. Here are three hacks to help you change perceptions today:   1) Update your LinkedIn profile For senior level oppor...

To be digitally savvy, follow the 30% rule – this is the minimum threshold that gives us just enough digital literacy to thrive in the tech age, says Professor Paul Leonardi. "To have digital transformation in your company,  you don't need to know how to code, but you need to know enough about coding to be dangerous.  This means being able to talk to the people in your organisation who are working...

If you want to have a great career today, you simply have to Speak Tech. But, taking courses is not enough. You must combine learning with smart actions to make your investment pay off. Here are five action steps you can take today to thrive in the Tech Age: Get involved with a tech start-up : if you have specialist expertise, offer to become an advisor to a start-up so you can learn how digital i...

"The business strategies employed by highly successful start-ups and the career strategies employed by highly successful individuals are strikingly similar,"  says Reid Hoffman in his book  The Startup of You . VC premise 1: technology is a tool that solves a problem Ask yourself: what problems is your industry facing now? What problems are you dealing with on day-to-day basis? VC Premise 2: the p...

Software updates can have weird unintended consequences that the company doesn't even know about. Existing features that worked perfectly can stop working, leading to lost revenues and annoyed customers. Listen to this episode to learn why this happens and  how non-technical leaders deal with it  when it does. Learning notes from this episode: A developer could write a line of code to affect one o...

Technology is a tool, not an end in itself. The quickest way to bridge the gap between tech and business teams is to relate business outcomes to technology.  Learning notes from this episode: In  every company, you always have two sides : the people who  make  the product, and the people who  sell  the product. The aim of both sides is to grow the business , but they solve the same problem using d...

"Successful entrepreneurs don't have better ideas, they have a better process,"  says Eric Reis in  The Lean Start-Up . To learn how to innovate with speed, listen to this week's episode. Learning notes from this episode: " A start-up is a human institution designed to create a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty,"  says Reis. Do not to apply your corporate experience to...

When investing in Deep Tech, remember that technology is just a tool, not an end in itself. Understanding who will use it and why is key to becoming smart money. Learning notes from this episode: When investing in any business, you must  consider these questions : What problem are you solving? Who are you solving it for? Are they willing and able to pay for it? Understand what stage of the innovat...

Great technology is not enough to build a successful business. You need customers who understand its benefits, and are willing to pay for them. This is why storytelling is a key part of commercialising innovation. Lauren Xandra , Head of Marketing at Two Sigma Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in deep tech, talks about her role in building successful tech businesses and how she transition...

Companies like Deep Mind fascinate investors and innovators, but what is a deep tech company really and how does it differ from other types of tech firms? Listen to this episode to find out. Learning notes from this episode: Deep Tech is a sub-sector of the technology sector where the emphasis is on tangible engineering innovation or scientific advances and discoveries.  It includes artificial int...

The porn industry is behind many of the innovations that drive e-commerce and the consumer internet today. If you want to know what new trend is going to be the hottest thing in tech, the makers of smut probably have the answer. Learning notes from this episode: The adult industry pioneered  streaming video ,  tracking devices  and online  credit card transactions. Even before the advent of the in...

A tech start-up begins its life with a tiny team. The founders are either technical or tech savvy, but as the company scales its team has to change.  Learn about the three stages of start-up team growth here. Learning notes from this episode: At stage 1 , the start-up is focussed on building its first product and getting the first customers. The  team is usually tiny , and  each team member is eit...

The biggest difference between business to business and consumer facing ventures is how they grow. The growth curve and costs of B2B vs B2C growth is what surprises (and sinks) many start-ups. Learning notes from this episode: Consumer to business start-ups growth through paid marketing. If you launch a consumer app on the Apple App Store, expect to pay around 40% of the money you raise on Faceboo...

Conferences are full of speakers saying that the latest tech will change the world, but that often leaves smart people even more confused. Knowing about trends is irrelevant if you don't know what to do about them. To learn how to cut through the tech hype, listen to this episode with Andrew Grill, the  Actionable Futurist . Andrew began his career as an engineer, became a Global Managing Partner...

To lead in the Digital Age, you need to become a Digital Collaborator. The best way to learn anything quickly is to put yourself in a situation where not doing it isn't an option. Listen to this episode to learn what you can do to start collaborating with tech teams and take your career to the next level. Learning notes from this episode: If you work in a corporate, set up a weekly meeting with te...

Some problems that annoy you daily could be solved by AI, but most business teams don't know that because they've never discussed them with a technologist. Listen to this episode with Dr Catherine Breslin, a machine learning scientist with a PhD from Cambridge, to learn how to make the most of the AI revolution. Dr Breslin  was one of the first people to work on Amazon Alexa and today leaders King...

To become SMART MONEY as an investor, founder or corporate innovator, you have to know what questions to ask about a product. This helps you spot signs of early success or early warning.  Listen to this episode to learn what questions to ask and how to link product innovation to business strategy.  Learning notes from this episode: The questions fall into three buckets: How do my  best customers b...

Even the smartest professionals who don't have backgrounds in digital businesses make the same mistakes when it comes to tech start-ups. They often want vanity metrics, as opposed to what truly matters, and because they don't know how a tech product gets made, they don't know how to properly evaluate an opportunity.  In this episode you'll learn 3 core tech concepts and how they apply to early sta...

Listen to what happened when Apple forgot a key market and how to avoid the same mistake. When product teams consist of entirely white males, they make products for white males. When non-technical professionals learn to Speak Tech, you get better products, happier customers & better profits. Learning notes from this episode: While there are plenty of  programs to get minorities into STEM , they  w...

"One of the most common types of advice we give at Y Combinator is to do things that don't scale," says Paul Graham, Y Combinator founder. Recruiting users manually and getting feedback is what lets you build a scalable product. Learning notes from this episode: "The most common unscalable thing founders have to do at the start is to recruit users manually . Nearly all startups have to. You can't...