The Tech Exec Podcast with Aviv Ben-Yosef

Phil Karlton said, "There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and naming things." In this episode, I'm not going to be talking about cache invalidation, but about the art of naming parts of your organization correctly. How can names rob teams of agency? Or be used as a weapon by others in the company? And is Galadriel a good name for a team? Tune in to find out. Grab a...

Does being an executive necessarily mean that you have to manage a sizable organization in your company? In this episode, I share examples of the LEAP responsibilities that define tech executives and how a different mixture of them can help you go down the right career path. And that's all in six minutes! Grab a copy of my new book, The Tech Executive Operating System . Subscribe to the best newsl...

Too often, we're treating work planning the wrong way around. Rather than letting the effort estimates control the conversation, we should use time to our advantage. Check out the concept of value boxing and how it can improve your R&D ROI in this week's episode. Grab a copy of my new book, The Tech Executive Operating System . Subscribe to the best newsletter for tech executives . For any que...

At different points in time, every engineer tends more towards the tech or the product ends of the spectrum. In this episode, I cover this concept from The Tech Executive Operating System and talk about the healthy composition for your organization. Product Mastery Growing Growth Mindsets Grab a copy of The Tech Executive Operating System . Subscribe to the best newsletter for tech executives onli...

Summer's here. Let's use it to flesh out some patches and hacks in your organization. In this episode, I discuss the vacation test and the hall test, which I regularly use with my clients to evaluate whether they are operating as genuine executives. Two tests in seven minutes. Let's get to it! Default responses and guidelines Grab a copy of my book, The Tech Executive Operating System . Subscribe...

I say at the beginning of episodes that I'm helping you triple impact-per-engineer. What does it mean, actually? Let's break down the holy grail of the 10x engineer and picture together what you should be after. Grab a copy of my book, The Tech Executive Operating System . Subscribe to the best newsletter for tech executives . For any questions or comments, reach out to me directly: aviv@avivbenyo...

Sprucing up your organization's innovation quotient and lubricating your serendipity by introducing some entropy. This week on the Tech Exec Podcast, we cover a hiring crutch that you might not be aware of and the adverse effects it can have on your team in the long term. Grab a free sample chapter of my book, The Tech Executive Operating System . Subscribe to the best newsletter for tech executiv...

Here's an impactful tactic with an incredible ROI to make your management team better: Let's take what works well for other professions and do it for management as well! This week, I share an example of "leveling the bar" across your leadership staff. Get my book, The Tech Executive Operating System . Subscribe to the best newsletter for tech executives . For any questions or comments, reach out t...

Let's talk about your personal role in what is going on around you. Our gut instinct is to distance ourselves from issues and problems. "The CEO is capricious," "Product is unprofessional," and "the team is burned out." I pity people who go through entire careers like this, sitting there and pointing fingers. In pretty much every company I've worked with, people had more agency than they realized...

Celebrating the 100th episode with 100 lessons picked from the previous episodes. Thank you to the tens of thousands of listeners worldwide for your support. Let me know which of these lessons is your favorite! A lot of these lessons are covered at length in my book, The Tech Executive Operating System . Subscribe to the best newsletter for tech executives . For any questions or comments, reach ou...

Join me to hear the story about the VP that knew it all, except for how to use his knowledge. This short episode is about researching ourselves out needlessly. I believe it's the first episode where I ask you to unsubscribe! Get my book:  The Tech Executive Operating System . Subscribe to my newsletter, the best one for tech executives . Reach out to me directly with questions/comments: aviv@avivb...

Wondering what an algorithm I read about as a teenager has to do with your day-to-day as an executive? This week I enlighten you with how feedback might get lost in the way and how that can lead to chafing away at the trust that is core to the work relationships in your organization. Subscribe to the best newsletter for tech executives and get a free sample chapter of The Tech Executive Operating...

Are you making your team's creativity muscles slow atrophy? Are you genuinely proud of the fact you had a two-day hackathon this year? In this week's episode, I talk about what my clients call "the bonanza"—the concept of regular intermissions that turn creativity from buzzword to habit. Sign up for my free webinar: Did You Just Waste a Good Crisis? Hackathons are a Hack Intermissions blog post Ge...

Let's take someone with no experience and put them in charge of mission-critical systems. Did I make you cringe? Then this episode's the one for you. The experience pressure cooker allows us to accelerate the team's growth dramatically, and it just so happens that you likely have all that it takes to implement it. Check out my free webinar: Did You Just Waste a Good Crisis? The Tech Executive Oper...

Do you have a team of managers focusing on success, or do you have a zoo exhibiting all different types of management possible? Successfully bringing your team to the next level requires a management team that you can rely on. That rarely happens without the effort to define the role of management in your company or with the typical hodgepodge types of "leadership" in startups. In this episode, I...

Is your organization just one big happy family? You know it isn't. Unfortunately, however, more and more leaders are using this false language, which ends up being treated as lip service and eroding trust or making people misaligned. In this episode, I talk about establishing organizational debt and trying to work around it.  Grab a copy of The Tech Executive Operating System . Subscribe to the be...

Are you playing find the loophole whenever you are presented with a new idea? Executives often default to the patterns of thinking that served them well in their hands-on days but have become a burden. How should you adjust your thinking to enable an abundance mindset? Check out this week's short episode.  Get the book: The Tech Executive Operating System . Subscribe to the best newsletter for tec...

Life's too short for average. Yet, it seems like we're letting ourselves get out of bed every day to lead an average team and get average results. Let's stop it. Unlock the keys to a team that's an impact powerhouse with my book, The Tech Executive Operating System . Subscribe to the best newsletter for tech executives .  For any questions or comments, reach out to me directly: aviv@avivbenyosef.c...

Principal and staff engineers are so 2020. Are you cultivating product engineers? To forge a world-class engineering team, you should help your best people become attuned with what really matters. In this quick episode, I share three tips to set you off on the right path. Product Mastery episode Grab a copy of The Tech Executive Operating System Subscribe to the best newsletter for tech executives...

Are you idly waiting for little issues to become emergencies, or are you striking preemptively where needed? Leadership involves the art of assessing and taking the right sorts of risks. Nevertheless, effective risk management sometimes involves ensuring the risk doesn't manifest. In this episode, I cover the art of counterstrikes. Grab a copy of my book, The Tech Executive Operating System . Subs...

Let's make a bias we're all suffering from more explicit. We tend to hold others to different standards. That can cause some work relationships to suffer needlessly, and it can also harm personal growth. By understanding the theory of relativity (no equations in this episode), you can unlock better accountability and cooperation. All that in a short episode! Developer First Tech Leadership Confere...

What lessons can you learn from the onboarding Best Buy's CEO arranged for himself? And how does that connect your personal operating system when leading an engineering org to excellence? That's what this week's episode is all about. Grab a copy of The Tech Executive Operating System or a free sample chapter here .    Subscribe to the best newsletter for tech executives . For any question or comme...

Time is a crucial part of making fine wine. But also in running your organization. The theory of relativity has taught us that we can experience time differently. That can happen in your org even without approaching the speed of light, and you should be aware of its effect. That and more in this week's episode! Grab copies of The Tech Executive Operating System  before the early-bird benefits run...

Do you know that awkward feeling when there's silence? Do you often rush to fill it? Stop it. Shut up! Grab your early-bird copies of The Tech Executive Operating System. Subscribe to the best newsletter for tech executives . For any questions or comments, reach out to me directly: aviv@avivbenyosef.com   

🎉  A special celebratory episode: The Tech Executive Operating System is coming out this week! In this quick episode, I answer a frequently asked question: why did I write it?? Also, I share how you can get free videos, webinars, workshops, and even coaching with me by purchasing the book. The Tech Executive Operating System early purchase benefits Amazon pre-order link Subscribe to the best news...