Catalyst

Paul was once a believer in creating small startups within large organizations. But after years in the tech industry, he’s changed his mind. This week Paul and Rich discuss internal startups and why they’re often just not possible. After all, one key ingredient is existential risk — without that, can you call it a startup?   Links:  Postlight’s Catalyst Whitepaper Why There’s No Such Thing as a ‘S...

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 Postlight’s help t...

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 — it’s not. They share why it’s more important to clean up your existing problems instead of implementing new, sparkly technologies to solve them. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Pr...

Scaling your business is exciting, but it can also be scary and anxiety-inducing. This week, Paul and Rich share lessons they’ve 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 See Privacy Policy...

Black Girl Ventures began with a tipi in Shelly Bell’s 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:...

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 York’s vaccine website. He breaks down the design barriers causing accessibility issues and offers fixes to reduce friction in the process. Links:  NY Vaccination Website See Privacy Po...

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...

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 pu...

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 we’ll all be headed there in the future.   Links:  Matt Mullenweg Twitter  Automattic  WooCommerce  Simplenote ...

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is North America’s 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 S...

It’s 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 Ele...

A little while back we made gentle fun of Google’s hamburger menu. Well, Google responded! This week Paul and Rich sit down with Google’s 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 it’s vital to promote diversity in your teams. Also, Ben shares what it’s like designing product at such a la...

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 Postlight’s New Whitep...

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.  Lin...

What happens when software eats the world? Industry veterans Paul Ford and Rich Ziade chat with their friends about technology, design, and business from a distinctly East Coast point of view. Decades of experience inform their no-BS, quick-witted patter about what digital transformation really means. Created by Postlight, the digital product studio they co-founded in New York City. See Privacy Po...

If you’ve ever struggled to build software in a large organization, you know how many obstacles can get in the way. To help you through the process, look no further than Catalyst, Postlight’s new whitepaper. This week Paul and Rich discuss the whitepaper and the different organizational aspects of shipping software that are often overlooked.  Be sure to join us on November 12 at our live (remote)...

Postlight is going to Kindergarten! It’s been a wild ride these past five years and we’ve learned a lot. This week we share some useful lessons that we’ve learned since our inception. We talk about the importance of being generous, keeping your contracts short, keeping your employees happy and never forgetting that revenue comes first. Here’s to five more happy years!  Links:  Postlight - Driven B...

Flying is all about giving up control, trusting your instruments and staying the course. This week Paul and Rich break down the similarities between piloting a plane and piloting a company. We talk about the concept of instrument flying and explain why navigating cross winds in a plane is not so different from an agency navigating their business. Links:  Microsoft Flight Simulator See Privacy Poli...

As someone who has worked both in Silicon Valley and in The White House, Jason Goldman has a unique perspective on tech regulation. This week he shares his thoughts on the rise of monolithic social media platforms and how they’ve been used to advance political agendas and promote hate. He shares what he’s learned about regulation while working in the White House and reminds us that there’s hope in...

It feels like every week a new software as a service project management tool pops up. This week we discuss if these spreadsheet-like project management tools can act as a good template for shipping products. We discuss the power dynamics related to project management and talk about whether these notification driven tools are actually effective or if they are instead just a bit annoying.   Links: ...

This week Paul & Rich discuss what’s in a name, or more specifically a job description. We read some recent job postings and try to understand how tech culture got to the point of needing DevSecOps and Happiness Engineers. We talk about how the industry creates specialized skills and share our experience evolving within our own jobs.  Links:  Techmeme  Memeorandom  Mediagazer  WeSmirch See Pri...

It’s 2020. You can buy just about anything on your phone, you can do banking on your phone, so why can’t you vote on your phone? This week, Paul & Rich discuss the various security concerns that could come with online voting. We talk about the possible vulnerabilities in an online system and the danger of removing the people, checks and balances that come with traditional voting. Most importan...

  Microsoft used to be all about Windows but in recent years we’ve seen a huge transformation in the company. They went from thinking monolithically to branching out and making new connections with users on several different devices. This week we break down how Microsoft’s failures and new leadership led to a more diversified list of products and how humility helped them move forward.  Links:  Wre...

We’ve been seeing a lot of questionable data being thrown around recently — think Trump’s interview with Jonathan Swan. As the election approaches, we can’t help but notice how data is being used to manipulate people. This week we dive into conspiracy thinking and talk about how tech today is being used to spread what were once fringe opinions to the masses.  Links:  The Paranoid Style in American...

There are two types of tech stakeholders, the detente and the dreamer. One is more reactive and is just trying to keep the peace while the other loves the possibility and potential in innovating. So which is best? Do you focus on stability and mitigating risk or do you make big bold moves? This week we discuss these two types of stakeholders and talk about the best ways to pitch software investmen...