A Geek Leader Podcast - inspiring technical and creative leaders around the world

About Klaas CEOs turn to Klaas when they need an unbiased peer who uniquely understands the lonely burden of leadership and the complexity of a today’s technology driven business. He brings a unique blend of expertise gained from engineering, corporate finance, and executive leadership roles. Klaas is usually called on to map out a clear path forward when there are no easy decisions. He has set strategies for scaling teams during 10x growth as well as downsizing when needed. Klaas has led companies through both buy and sell sides of M&A, in startups and public companies. He brings accountability in leadership teams through data-driven clarity. Above all Klaas is a versatile advisor, toggling between strategy and execution. CEOs rely on Klaas when ambiguity looms, leveraging his rational approach and proven frameworks. During his free time Klaas relaxes with online racing and strategy games. Sundays are for NFL. Today We Talked About Klaas’s background Agile and Scrum CTO leadership Keeping the lights on (BAU) How Technology drives the business forward Trends in Technology Is there a Fax Machine?? What is the role of the CEO? Digital Transformation Culture People come in to do a good job… have faith and trust in people How do you make their life better? Develop people Output is valuable Career perspective Your Job of CTO Learn to talk to other leaders Football? Connect with Klaas LinkedIn Website Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Ken Kenneth K. Boyer combines a lifelong love of cars and engineering with a career focused on management and supply chain. He’s the Fisher designated professor of operations and business analytics at Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University./ He was coeditor-in-chief of the Journal of Operations Management, and served on the faculty at Michigan State and DePaul universities. Boyer is a member of the Academy of Management, Production and Operations Management Society, and the Decision Sciences Institute. Recently, he visited Vietnam to study Vinfast’s rise. He’s published numerous academic articles and two books. His latest is The Electric Vehicle Revolution: Five Visionaries Leading the Charge. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, and currently drives a Tesla Model 3. Learn more at gearschange.com. Today We Talked About EVs Henry Ford Willingness to Change Ability to Profit Transform the Supply Change 5 Visionaries and their stories What’s next for EVs Connect with Ken LinkedIn Book Website X Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Itamar Itamar Friedman is the CEO and Co-Founder of Qodo, a company dedicated to enhancing code integrity. Under his leadership, Qodo specializes in generating automated tests, providing code explanations, and conducting thorough code reviews. Their groundbreaking research in generating code solutions for competitive programming challenges has even outperformed Google DeepMind. Today We Talked About Itamar’s background AI TDD – Test Driven Development Machine Learning Hardware vs Software Verification Code Integrity Future of Software Development and QA “No fear from a good conflict” Connect with Itamar LinkedIn Website X Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Eric Eric Müller is the VP of Engineering and CISO at Presence, where he has led engineering teams and supported automated processes to deliver high-quality digital products for the past decade. With over 20 years of experience in engineering and security, Eric has worked across various industries including banking, social media, B2B, retail, fashion, and online gaming. His extensive background includes significant roles at Wells Fargo Bank, Charles Schwab, Razorfish, and Mekanism, where he delivered award-winning projects for clients such as Samsung, eBay, and DKNY. At Presence, Eric fosters empathetic leadership and transparent communication to build resilient, high-performing tech teams. An advocate for healthy agency-client collaboration, Eric involves partners early and often in the development process. His experience has proven that stronger client relationships result in better products. Beyond his professional achievements, Eric is an amateur photographer and baking enthusiast who loves discussing security. Today We Talk About Eric’s background What is Empathetic Leadership Teams? Ron Lichty Therapy – EAP Programs Empathy Generosity No Person is an Island… we can’t do it on our own Connect With Eric LinkedIn Website Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About John John Conafay is a US Air Force Veteran and the CEO and Co-Founder of Integrate, building program management software with a systems engineering approach for the world’s most ambitious machines. Previously he was an early employee at three space unicorns – Head of BD at ABL Space Systems, was one of the first ten employees at Astranis, and Interned at Spire Global early on. He also worked at the Office of the CFO NASA Headquarters while at BryceTech and was a Director of Business Development at Spaceflight. Today We Talked About John’s background Collaboration Accountability Trust and Transparency Growth Pushing people Passion Connect with John LinkedIn Website Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Maximillian Maximillian Naza is a prominent figure in the tech industry with a rich background in computer science, software engineering, and technology strategy. Having worked with leading companies such as T-Mobile, Google, and Kleiner Perkins, he founded PasciVite, a data-driven creative agency that leverages data analytics and artificial intelligence to give businesses a competitive edge. Maximillian is known for his ability to bridge the gap between traditional industries and digital innovation, particularly in the entertainment sector, where he advocates for the integration of AI to enhance creativity. A frequent speaker, he offers insights into the intersection of technology, business, and innovation, drawing from his diverse experiences to mentor and inspire. Today We Talked About Background Freelancing into a business Delegation Asking 1000’s of questions Build Relationships AI Brainstorming with Generative AI Automation Hope Records   Connect with Maximillian LinkedIn Website PasciVite Hope Records Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Douglas Squirrel creates constructive conflict to achieve astonishing productivity gains. His intensive coaching and advisory work gives executives and their teams the tools to create and align on business goals, discard good ideas that don’t fit the strategy, and deliver high-impact, customer-visible results. For instance, companies using his Insanely Profitable Tech methods deliver new software to customers every single day, with constant learning and improvement that keeps them way ahead of the competition. Squirrel has transformed product lines, company cultures, and technical skills at over 300 organizations on every continent except Antarctica, in industries from finance to biotech to music and many more. He co-authored the book Agile Conversations and has recently released Squirrel’s Tech Radar, a simple method for assessing any technology organization in under two hours with no background in tech required. Learn more about Squirrel at https://douglassquirrel.com, and check out his community of thousands of executives learning together at https://squirrelsquadron.com. Or feel free to ring him anytime on the Squirrel-Phone, +44 777 3794 491; you’ll probably reach him at his home in Frogholt, England, where he lives in a timber-framed cottage built in the year 1450. Today We Talked About Getting Fired Empire building Don’t grab a sledgehammer Listening Genuine Question Carefully Plan interactions Say what you See TDD for People Build Trust in the first 5-10 minutes by following the steps. One-on-Ones Practice in controlled environments Using your kids as graders Using Zoom or ChatGPT for help Bridge the gap of communication Betterisms Build Relationships Take a Field Trip or a ride along   Connect with Douglas Website Book X LinkedIn   Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Alan ALAN E. NELSON, Ed.D. is a leadership development specialist, trainer, speaker, and Lecturer of Management at the Naval Postgraduate School (www.nps.edu). He previously taught at USC, UCI, LMU, and Pepperdine. Dr. Nelson founded KidLead Academy, the world’s first online course to train parents how to develop their child’s leadership potential (www.kidlead.com). He also founded LeadYoung Training Systems, designing organizational leadership curricula for 3-23-year-olds (www.LeadYoungTraining.com). He is the author of 40 books and over 200 articles on personal growth and leadership and the founder of KidLead Inc., a nonprofit focusing on young leader development. Alan has a doctorate (Ed.D.) in leadership from the University of San Diego. During the first half of his life, he was an entrepreneurial leader in the social sector. In midlife, he concluded that leadership development could have a better return on investment by focusing on leaders while they’re moldable, not moldy. Since 2008, Alan’s been a pioneer in young leader development, designing age-n-stage curricula for 3-23-year-olds. Dr. Nelson has traveled to a variety of countries to train people with his curricula, along with interacting with 1000s of preteens and teens, as part of his research. Today We Talked About Alan’s background Parenting similarities to managing Kid leadership Work and home life Skills kids need for leadership Persuasive skills Treating Kids like Leaders Don’t underestimate your children 5 Star Boss Connect with Alan Website LinkedIn Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Jeff Jeff is a a leading voice and thought leader on customer centric product development. He helps organizations build better products and executives build the cultures that build better products. He is the co-author of the award-winning book Lean UX (now in it’s 3rd edition) and the Harvard Business Review Press book Sense & Respond. In 2020 he published the critically aclaimed book, Forever Employable. Starting off as a software designer then product manager and finally entrepreneur, Jeff now works as a keynote speaker, trainer, coach, and board advisor helping companies put the customer in the century of every decision. Most recently Jeff co-authored Who Does What By How Much?, his 5th book and 3rd with co-author Josh Seiden. This new book is the how-to guide for implementing Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) in every organization. Today We Talk About Jeff’s background Early Days of the Web UX Customer Centric Product Development Continuous Development Definition of Done Outcomes as a measure of success What are OKRs Measure what Matters Definition of Success How will we know when we get there No Features, no solutions, no tasks Metrics Everything should be about the customer Experimenting What do engaged customers do Awareness, Usage, Engagement and Satisfaction…boo OKRs must have actions and Take a Field Trip – Get out of the building. Connect with Jeff LinkedIn Website Book Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

About Dominic Dominic is a creative, goal-driven marketing leader that’s dedicated his career to the translation industry. Dominic brings proficiency in global marketing, demand generation, and go-to-market strategies as the Director of Marketing at MotionPoint. MotionPoint is a managed translation platform that delivers concierge-level, end-to-end translation to meet the needs of brands across desired languages and local markets. MotionPoint’s concierge-level managed translation service has led the industry for 22 years. Today We Talked About Dominic’s background Journey at MotionPoint Visa’s, Green cards, etc. Languages AI / Machine Learning “More people got rich selling shovels during the gold rush, than they did from finding gold.” Leaders are Fulcrums Empathy Start with Why Don’t Walk the Plank   Connect with Dominic LinkedIn Website Leave me a tip $ Click here to Donate to the show I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!