GeekWire

Remote work is putting productivity and innovation at risk. That was one of the conclusions of a peer-reviewed study of more than 61,000 Microsoft employees, published this week, and it’s our first topic this week. We talk about the workplace dynamics that are creating the situation, and explain why the implications go far beyond Microsoft’s workforce as the COVID-19 Delta variant push...

GeekWire's Mike Lewis talks with U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat who represents the 7th Congressional District in Washington state, including Amazon’s hometown of Seattle. Rep. Jayapal is also the Vice Chair of the House Antitrust Subcommittee, and the author of a bill that aims to prevent what it calls monopolistic practices by big tech companies including Amazon. In additio...

A global pandemic might seem like the wrong time to pursue a new startup idea, given all the uncertainties, but in many ways, the timing couldn't be better. That's one of the insights from our GeekWire Podcast conversation this week with Seattle-area entrepreneur and investor Shirish Nadkarni , author of the book From Startup to Exit: An Insider’s Guide to Launching and Scaling your Tech Bus...

President Joe Biden brought together top executives from the nation's biggest technology, financial services and energy companies this week to address the growing challenge of cybersecurity , speaking to tech leaders including Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Apple CEO Tim Cook. "The federal government can't meet this challenge alone," Biden said in his public remarks to open...

The last 18 months have been an audio-visual adventure, requiring many of us to improve and refine our at-home tech setups for virtual meetings and remote work.  And just when we thought we'd figured it out, we were hit with a new scenario entirely: hybrid work, with some people together in the office, and others dialing in from home. Getting things to work seamlessly in these situations is n...

An online marketplace that helps to facilitate trade between marijuana sellers and buyers will soon see its own stock traded on the Nasdaq . Another that connects pet owners with walkers, boarders and other caregivers just posted its first earnings as a publicly traded company . And a 3-year-old Redmond-based biotech company with a mere 25 employees just raised $80 million its stock market debut....

Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman joins us on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast to discuss the latest twists in the housing market; delays in returning to the office; the role of climate in real estate; how technology is changing homebuying; and the impact of remote work and migration on Seattle and other big U.S. cities. In some ways, "it's our employees who are deciding where Redfin's headquarters are...

When Microsoft announced its acquisition of LinkedIn for more than $26 billion five years ago , there was lots of skepticism, and for good reason. After all, Microsoft was a company known for taking huge write-downs when its biggest acquisitions (aQuantive, Nokia, etc.) failed to live up to expectations. But that was then, and after becoming the new leader of the venerable software giant, Microsof...

This is a special presentation of Day 2, GeekWire's podcast about everything Amazon. For more episodes, see geekwire.com/day2 or subscribe to Day 2 in Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts ,  Spotify  or wherever you listen. Direct retail sales are poised to represent less than half of Amazon's business for the first time in its history — a fundamental shift that reflects the e-co...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees recently that the company's long-term goal is to "bring the metaverse to life" — helping to create an interconnected world of physical, virtual and augmented reality spaces that will reshape the way we work, interact with each other, create new things, and generally experience life. So how exactly will Facebook approach such an audacious plan?&nbsp...

A new report details extensive gender and racial inequities in Washington state's technology workforce, and makes a series of recommendations to address them. Among the recommendations: creating state-supported worker-owned co-ops for independent and contract workers; establishing a state startup fund to support women and people of color in the technology industry; and broadening the focus of the...

Sir Richard Branson added new fuel to the billionaire space race July 11 when he and his Virgin Galactic crewmates floated in suborbital space.  "To all you kids down there, I was once a child with a dream, looking up to the stars," Branson said before unbuckling. "Now, I'm an adult in a spaceship with lots of other wonderful adults, looking down to a beautiful, beautiful Earth. For the...

Jeff Wilke did something unusual when he left his role as Amazon's Worldwide Consumer CEO in March, after more than two decades with the company: he learned to code in the Python programming language. "I had lots of computer scientists that were working for me and the organization, and I was heavily involved in a bunch of architectural decisions, but I hadn't written code in years," he explained....

Boone Langston is an accomplished LEGO builder from the Portland, Ore., area who shares his creations with the world at BooneBuilds.com and on his Boone Builds YouTube channel. He also runs a virtual Boone's Build Camp for kids and adults. After working as an IT support specialist and videographer early in his career, he became a fan favorite in 2020 as one half of the team Mark and Boone, a.k.a....

Another day, another deal. Keeping up with the flurry of acquisitions, IPOs, SPACs and venture capital these days is no easy task. In fact,  IPO dollar volume for 2021 has already reached $171 billion, surpassing the record totals of last year. Same goes for mergers and acquisitions, with record levels of deal activity tracked for 2021. The money is certainly flowing. Washington state now boa...

This week we're presenting a special episode of our Day 2 podcast about everything Amazon, going behind-the-scenes of the New York Times investigation into the company's warehouse HR practices. Subscribe to Day 2 in Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts ,  Spotify  or wherever you listen. Amazon’s direct workforce rose by 500,000 people in 2020 — that’s half a million...

Our guest on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast is Mark Nelson, who was named Tableau Software president and CEO in March. He filled a vacancy created when his predecessor, Adam Selipsky, was named CEO of Amazon Web Services , taking over for Andy Jassy, who is succeeding Jeff Bezos as Amazon CEO. We get to know Nelson on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, talking about his background and lea...

The pandemic had a seismic impact on in-person meetings and events, requiring organizers and attendees to adjust to a whole new reality. The aftermath could prove even trickier, creating a hybrid audience, with some people attending virtually and others in the flesh.  That's one takeaway from our conversation with Allie Magyar, the CEO of Hubb , a Vancouver, Wash.-based company that makes tec...

Amazon's agreement to acquire MGM for $8.45 billion has all the makings of a great script, combining a Hollywood icon with an Internet powerhouse. But will this unlikely pairing be a giant blockbuster or a massive flop? Joining us to assess the situation on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast is Sam Blake , a reporter who covers entertainment and media for dot. LA , the technology news site for S...

The 2021 virtual GeekWire Awards were held this week, recognizing the top companies, innovators, entrepreneurs and technologies in the Pacific Northwest, as nominated and chosen by the GeekWire community —  along with  celebrity cameos. On this special episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we’re featuring highlights from a behind-the-scenes conversation with former Docker and Conc...

The pandemic upended education in extraordinary ways, and shed new light on the social, economic and racial disparities in schools and communities across the country. But how can teachers, students, parents, schools and the system as a whole apply lessons learned from the past 18 months to ultimately end up in a better place? On this special episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we look ahead with a gr...

Reports of the death of coastal cities are greatly overblown. At least that’s the view of renowned urbanist and author Richard Florida who spoke earlier this week with GeekWire contributing editor Monica Nickelsburg about the future of cities as part of the annual Crosscut Festival . “I am just amazed at the amount of gloom and doom pessimism,” said Florida, adding that any out-o...

This week's show is a special presentation of GeekWire's newest podcast, Day 2, about everything Amazon, analyzing the company's record quarterly results and looking ahead to what's next. To hear more episodes, subscribe to Day 2  in any podcast app. Year-over-year quarterly growth of 44% would be significant for any company, but when the numbers were already this big, it starts to qualify as...

Here’s what we’re talking about on the GeekWire Podcast this week: Washington state is poised to make a significant change in how its citizens gain access to the internet. Gov. Jay Inslee has indicated he’ll sign two pieces of legislation that, for the first time, will allow municipalities to set up their own direct-to-consumer broadband services. We discuss why this is a big dea...

It's one of the hottest topics in tech, but despite broad agreement about the importance of online privacy, the United States has yet to pass comprehensive, modern, federal legislation that addresses the issue. U.S. Rep Suzan DelBene, a Democrat from Washington state, wants to change that. "Technology has created incredible new opportunities, but our laws have not kept up," she says. "So it is inc...