Scaling Tech - The Blueprint for Successful Tech Teams

Does process change need to be super complicated? Does change work best when it comes from within a team rather than an external influence? And how can we improve conversations around process change from being less inference-based to more data-driven? All these questions are raised as we hear 'the chicken story' from Brian Guthrie in today's episode of Scaling Tech, which explores how a synchronis...

What does transparency in technology look like? What should be hidden, what should not, and what are the expectations? Today's guest is Josh Tatum, the Co-Founder of Carputty (auto financing, reinvented). Josh has been a driving force in the consumer finance and technology industry for the better part of two decades and brings a wealth of educated opinion and insight to the topic of transparency....

How do you tell if you have burnout? Are there key milestones that you should look out for on the way down? And are there healthy indicators to celebrate your recovery?  Aldric Giacomoni has been a member of the New York Tech scene for over 15 years and is an old friend and colleague of host Debbie Madden. He also suffered recently from burnout, and in today's episode of Scaling Tech, he's ca...

How do you balance technical proficiency with stakeholder goals? Who talks to whom, and who owns the process as you build out your product management teams while showing your stakeholders their much-needed ROI?  These are some of the challenges Rob Wisniewski has faced over the years as a CTO who has specialized in helping companies scale while automating their big idea.  Rob Wisniewski...

What are the skills you take when you go from being CTO to head of business operations – and what are the new skills you acquire? And how can a company benefit from having a former CTO looking at its systems and processes?  Nick Rockwell is currently the EVP for Strategy and Operations at Fastly, having transitioned from within the company as CTO. Before that, Nick was CTO at The New York Tim...

Performance Management! Why is it more important now than ever? And how can you make it a top priority in your organization? In increasingly volatile times, is it worth replacing that person on the team who's giving you 20% less than the next candidate could? And when is a good time to do performance reviews? Cat Miller is the CTO of Flatiron Health, leading an organization of over 400 technologis...

What is it like to take seven months and interview literally hundreds of founders and co-founders of businesses before taking your next job as a CTO?  This is the fascinating story of JP Grace, a seasoned engineering leader who's paved his way in the tech industry with his ability to drive business growth and positive change. JP Grace is the current CTO of Endear, where he's assisting omnicha...

Which is better: onshore versus offshore hiring? This is an important consideration in today's hybrid world. To answer this question, Scaling Tech's Debbie Madden has brought in Joe Burgess: someone who's tried both approaches in recent months. Joe Burgess started his career as a software developer and teacher at Flatiron School, after which he transitioned into leading teams of data scientists, e...

How do we think about innovation? And then, how do we scale it? Matt Holford is a Senior Director of Engineering at Etsy and a technology leader who's had quite a storied career working as a musician and in various creative digital service agencies. As such, he has a unique perspective on how to frame scaling innovation. How do we give staff the space for idea generation? And then, how do we valid...

How can we be a good partner when we buy from a vendor? How do we, as the customer, get good at providing feedback? As we partner with the right SaaS companies, how do we get the most out of those partnerships right out of the gate?  On today's episode of Scaling Tech, I am by Ian Lotinsky, a product and team builder who is the CTO at Great Minds, an online ed-tech business. Ian is answering...

Who do we look to as we try to implement stage-appropriate processes within our tech company? Is it the Googles and LinkedIns for their HR and staff incentive policies, or is there a better way to 'right size' our process challenges? Don Neufeld is the VPE Coach (Vice President Engineering), who offers leadership and performance coaching for VPEs, CTOs, and other engineering leaders. What makes Do...

LLM fluency: what is it, why do tech teams need it, and why should we care about it? LLM transformation is the new digital transformation, and Dan Mason, a principal at Stride Consulting, is today's guest to help us understand all we need to know about Large Language Model transformation. Dan is a prolific product and engineering team leader who's led teams and products at ESPN, People Magazine, V...

How do we build systems that improve the way we interact with media and with each other? Truth versus Lies when it comes to content authenticity is today's timely topic and I have brought in Andy Parsons, the Senior Director of the Content Authenticity Initiative at Adobe, to consult! There is a scientific curiosity for tech leaders around how we discern 'truth' from 'lies' in the media. Especiall...

How do tech leaders learn to lead without blame? Today's guest is Diana Larsen, a truly dynamic and inspirational woman who works with global organizations designing high-performance work systems, and innovating team effectiveness – a theme that is top of mind for most businesses these days.  We are chatting about the Agile Fluency model, how Diana supports business leaders in their transitio...

How do we visualize systems to improve product development? And where are the bounds of that system? Today I'm chatting with Rob O'Brien about process mapping, value stream mapping, and more.  Rob is Principal Product Manager at Stride Consulting and has over ten years of product management experience that he brings to this conversation. Rob frames the debate for us by defining the 'socio-tec...

What comes first: the outcome or the output? Today I'm chatting to Josh Seiden about one of my favorite topics: outcomes over outputs. Josh is actually the author of a book with that exact title, Outcomes over Output: Why customer behavior is the key metric for business success . Josh is also the co-author of Lean UX: Designing Great Products with Agile Teams , and Sense and Respond: How Successfu...

Mike is the CTO at Greenhouse, the hiring operating system for people-first companies that enables fair and equitable hiring. And today, he's in conversation with me about how to expand customer segmentation after you've hit your product market fit.  Mike wrote his first lines of code at Greenhouse 11 years ago, and he's continued to grow with the company. There's a lot to learn from Mike as...

Are you part of a tech team that is searching for constant and continuous improvement to get better in your business every quarter, every year, and with every software or product launch? Have you had the term 'OKR' bandied about as you try to decide on your company's Outcomes and Key Results? Jeff Gothelf is the co-author of Lean UX: Designing Great Products with Agile Teams , and Sense and Respon...

Are you a CTO, Chief Product Officer, or Tech leader? Have you been missing all the good things – the passion, the curiosity, the innovation, and the camaraderie – that came from tech conferences since the pandemic took its toll on live events? If so, fear not! I am here to bring the tech industry to your home.  I'm Debbie Madden, a serial tech entrepreneur and the host of Scaling Tech . Each...

Are you a CTO, Chief Product Officer or Tech leader? Then this one's for you: If there was one tool that would help you learn best practices and avoid top mistakes so that you can achieve your goals, would you consider that tool? If you answered "yes," this is the tool you've been looking for. Debbie Madden is a serial tech entrepreneur. She is well known for helping teams scale in ways that resul...