The Blind Ambition with Jack Kelly

Gordon Wintrob, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Newfront Gordon co-founded Newfront, an insurance-technology startup and brokerage firm last publicly valued at $2.2 billion, but he did not start his career in insurance. We dig into his career from his days in college and how he pivoted from his electrical engineering and computer science studies to investment banking and then to the wor...

Christopher Garzon, Founder and CEO of Data Engineer Academy Christopher shares his Big Tech insider's perspective on the prospects for the data engineering profession. He reveals how companies like Amazon and Lyft hire data engineers and why they can't seem to get enough, which might make breaking into Big Tech easier than other roles. We also explore why he started Data Engineer Academy...

Jack Kelly and Rick Chen take on Andy Jassy's memo, which, among other things, ends remote work and calls for Amazon to "operate like the world's largest startup." We break down what that means, including Jassy's decision to create a "bureaucracy mailbox" for people to snitch on bureaucratic processes, a companywide reorganization to cut management layers, and a fiv...

With Blind Bytes, Jack Kelly and Rick Chen reveal insider tips about professional life, which you can use immediately to level up your career. In this episode, we take on why you didn't get the job despite acing the interview. Jack explains how interview cycles are set up at most companies and why a hiring manager, recruiter or HR team might take their sweet time with the process and the decis...

Christine Tao, Founder and CEO of Sounding Board Christine's career has been marked by some challenging economic climates. We look into how she persevered and ultimately landed an executive role at a startup. Christine generously shares the step-by-step process of how she identified and seized opportunities, how she developed into a leader along the way, and how her experience might be a good...

Jack Kelly and Rick Chen take on the ultimate question: "Should I stay, or should I go?" in response to some recent viral Blind discussions. We react to how many high-earning professionals feel financially stretched and falling behind and the paradox where million-dollar compensation packages still leave people feeling like they're living paycheck to paycheck. Jack and Rick explore t...

Jack Kelly and Rick Chen react to a viral Blind poll that found that 76% of Nvidia professionals claim to be millionaires, and 33% may have a net worth of $20 million or more as a result of Nvidia's incredible stock price appreciation since 2019. Rick reveals how much stock you might have gotten depending on when you joined Nvidia. Rick explains how stock-based compensation works and why emplo...

Jack Kelly and Rick Chen break down Goldman Sachs' latest planned layoffs of 1,300 to 1,800 people as part of its annual performance review process. We react to the mega investment bank's plans to "cull" its workforce and why so many Wall Street firms and banks have annual layoffs. Jack reflects on how the situation is exacerbated by the stigma associated with being labeled a so-...

Terence Bennett, CEO of DreamFactory Software Terence has long known he would join the U.S. Navy, but it was unclear what he might do after leaving the armed services. We explore his remarkable career journey, marked by different transitions: specialties within the Navy, military life to civilian life, and going from an individual contributor to becoming a startup COO and then CEO. Terence also sh...

Kyle Elliott, Founder of Kyle Elliott Consulting Kyle helps senior professionals and executives land their dream jobs at some of the hottest companies in Silicon Valley. We get Kyle to coach us on how to network—even when you feel like you have to start from zero—optimize your resume so that you can better compete against AI and the tens of thousands of other applicants, and how you can package yo...

Charles Beadnall, Chief Technology Officer at GoDaddy Charles was one of the early builders of the Internet. We learn how Turner Broadcasting, Yahoo!, and other tech companies influenced how he leads his engineering teams and the experimental and innovation-focused culture at GoDaddy today. Charles shares his insights into how technologists can use their problem-solving skills to hack faster promo...

Jack Kelly and Rick Chen react to Wall Street's 100-hour-plus workweeks and its culture of grinding out employees, especially in the junior ranks. We explore the compensation available and whether the money is worth the sacrificed weekends, social relationships and mental health. Jack also walks through all of the available functions and roles in the finance industry and why tech professionals...

Angie Hicks, Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer of Angi Angie shares the unlikely story of how she became an entrepreneur as a 22-year-old right out of college. We explore the origins of Angie's List, including how they created a marketplace startup before it became popular, why the company bears her name and the marketing tactics the company used to grow to attract venture capital funding...

Carlo di Florio, Global Advisory Leader at ACA Group Carlo spent a decade as a senior regulator, overseeing the financial services industry at the SEC and FINRA. He gives us a rare look into what it's like to be a regulator and how someone lands a role in these top jobs. He also shares the common scams and naughty things bankers, brokers, finance executives and traders might do. Carlo also tak...

Lynne Oldham, Chief People Officer at Stash Lynne made it as an HR executive through a circuitous route across companies, industries, and even countries. We tackle all of the different HR tropes out there, including whether HR is your enemy, how they might only serve executives or the companies, and how mass layoffs might happen. Lynne gives us a sneak peek into what it's like working in HR as...

Jeff Bogdan, Former Director, Learning & Development - Microsoft Windows at Microsoft Jeff began his career as a software engineer at Microsoft. We explore the company's culture in the '90s and discuss the launches of Windows 95, the Zune media player, and Windows Phone. Jeff shares what he learned from the failures and how they propelled him to new career opportunities, including a ne...

Gal Josefsberg, Vice President, Product and Operations - Cloud Platform at Guidewire Software Gal has seen it all as a product management executive. He walks us through what it is like to be a product owner at an early-stage startup, a more mature startup, and how an IPO or acquisition changes the role. We explore how to work with startup founders and CEOs, navigate egos and micromanagement, and w...

Jayesh Govindarajan, Senior Vice President, Salesforce AI at Salesforce Jayesh explains how AI is already changing how people work. We dig into how copilots work and how people are already using them to get better at their jobs and explore the new roles and career opportunities created. Finally, we explore how Salesforce hires professionals for its AI teams, which roles are needed, and how they al...

Jack Kelly and Rick Chen respond to Brittany Pietsch's viral LinkedIn status, revealing that she is still looking for a job nearly six months after recording herself as CloudFlare laid her off. We look into why HR and management teams like the impersonal layoff by video and how hiring managers and executives can do better. We also take on the hundreds of people who wished her well on social me...

Liz Young, Head of Investment Strategy at SoFi Liz's investment strategies and insights are sought the world over from CNBC, where she is a regular contributor on TV, to SoFi, where she leads the financial technology company's strategy function. We get the tactical low-down into how someone can break into a career on Wall Street, the experience needed to become an investment strategist, an...

Awa Kone, Global Head of Operations at Flutterwave Awa is a go-to expert for multinational corporations and multi-billion-dollar startups looking to expand worldwide, especially on the continent of Africa. In this exclusive episode, she reveals the top three secrets she's used to develop her career and the businesses she's scaled on a global stage. We dive into Swiss Re and Flutterwave&#39...

Rich Lesser, Global Chair of BCG Rich didn't start his career in management consulting. We explore how he decided to give up his plum engineering job at Procter & Gamble to join Boston Consulting Group as a consultant. He shares how he rose through the ranks at BCG over 35 years before ending up as CEO and a trusted advisor to CEOs, politicians, and other global influence-makers. We also g...

George Bezerra, Senior Vice President, Head of Data George explains how he transitioned from academia to industry and why earning a master's or PhD can help you unlock a career in data science or machine learning. We also get George to explain the difference between analytics, data science, machine learning and AI roles and why even companies and hiring managers get it wrong so often. He also...

Amit Bendov, Founder and CEO of Gong Amit is now the founder of a startup last publicly valued at more than $7 billion, but fundraising and getting the attention of investors and customers weren't always easy. We dig into the inspiration for Gong and how he persevered through the venture capitalists' many rejections in the early days. Amit also shares how Gong stood out in a crowded market...

Andrea Guerzoni, Global Vice Chair, Strategy and Transactions at EY Andrea, with more than 20 years of experience in taking companies public, advising CEOs and boards of directors about mergers and acquisitions, and helping orchestrate corporate spin-offs, explains how these IPOs and corporate deals really work. We also get a sneak peek into some of the advice he shares with executives, what his t...