Going Deep with Aaron Watson

This interview has been split into two parts to make it more digestible.   Brendan Eich is an American technologist and creator of the JavaScript programming language. He is currently the CEO of Brave software, the next generation web browser. Brave loads major news sites 2 to 8 times faster than Chrome and Safari on mobile and is 2 times faster than Chrome on desktop.   If you liked this interview, check out the rest of my interviews with leaders in the blockchain and crypto space and my interview with Kevin Kelly about technological trends.

Mark Leslie was the founding Chairman and CEO of Veritas Software. During his tenure as CEO, the company went from 12 employees to 5,500 employees deployed globally, and from a revenue base of $95,000 per year to $1,500,000,000 per year. In 2000, Veritas was the 10th largest independent software company by revenue, third largest by market capitalization, and achieved the distinction of becoming a Fortune 1000 company.   From 1980 until 1990 he served as president and chief executive officer of two Silicon Valley high-tech start-up companies. His prior experience included sales management, sales executive, systems engineer, and OS programmer.   Mark Leslie is a successful retired entrepreneur and continues to be active in the Silicon Valley community.   Attend my one-day conference January 27th in Pittsburgh. Learn more here.   Connect with Mark LinkedIn Twitter   Resources The Sales Learning Curve by Mark Leslie & Charles A. Holloway   Subscribe

Darrin Grove, Truefit’s Founder and CEO, is a native Pittsburgher with a passion for innovation, technology, and values-based leadership.   Since its bootstrap beginnings in 1997, Truefit’s experience with new, disruptive technologies has positioned the company as a leader in helping entrepreneurs and organizations bring new software products to market quickly. Using their proprietary Idea Launch™ process, Darrin and the Truefit team guide clients through a proven path to create new and next generation software products. By involving a broad cross-section of company stakeholders, end users, and subject matter experts, Truefit helps product teams reduce risk and build confidence. Their principled approach and “start-up” mentality have proven to be an invaluable asset to companies looking for an entrepreneurial approach to software product development.   In addition to his work at Truefit, Darrin is dedicated to sharing his insight in innovation and entrepreneurship with the Pittsburgh community. He leads the Deal Flow Team for Software and Technology at BlueTree Allied Angels and advises start-up companies at the AlphaLab tech accelerator. He is also active on several non-profit boards to promote leadership, education, and urban renewal, and is a regular panelist and judge at events related to innovation.   Darrin’s Challenge; Think small. Focus on the small executions, pivots, and iterations that will move your work forward.   Never miss one of our best episodes by subscribing to the newsletter.   Resources Mentioned Lean Startup by Eric Reis Prospect The Sandler Way by John Rosso Good to Great by Jim Collins Agile Manifesto   Connect with Darrin LinkedIn Twitter Instagram Website   If you liked this interview, check out my other interviews with Pittsburgh entrepreneurs. Subscribe on iTunes | Stitcher |

“If the rust belt has come to define the hollowed out industries of the Midwest, in the next ten years the paper belt will come to define the paper-based industries from Washington DC to Boston. In DC, they print money, visas, and laws on paper. In Delaware, companies incorporate on paper. In NYC, they print media on paper. And in Boston Harvard and MIT print diplomas on paper. I am dedicated to lighting the paper belt on fire.”   That’s straight from Michael’s profile.   Before co-founding 1517 Fund, Michael Gibson was vice president for grants at the Thiel Foundation and a principal at Thiel Capital. For nearly five years working for Peter Thiel, he has contributed research to Peter’s global macro hedge fund, assisted in teaching a course at Stanford Law School on sovereignty and technological change, and helped run the Thiel Fellowship.   He serves on the board of the Seasteading Institute. Before his academic apostasy, he was working towards a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Oxford.   Attend my one-day conference January 27th in Pittsburgh. Learn more here.   Michael’s Challenge; 2017 is the 500th anniversary of the 95 theses. Write you own declaration and post it somewhere in public.   Connect with Michael Twitter LinkedIn Website info@1517.com   If you liked this interview, check out our most popular interviews. Subscribe on iTunes | Stitcher | Overcast | PodBay

Kenny Chen serves as the Program Director of Ascender, where he focuses his attention on curating and delivering innovation programs and building collaborative relationships with people and organizations throughout Pittsburgh, as well as nationally and internationally. This culminates each year with the Thrival Innovation + Music Festival, which brings together local and international influencers for multiple days of innovation-focused programs followed by a two-day outdoor music experience. On the side, Kenny is the co-founder of involveMINT, and serves on the boards for the Pittsburgh Entrepreneurs Forum and Social Venture Partners. Kenny was born in Madison, WI, raised in Las Vegas, NV, and graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Social Psychology. He has worked in several places around the world, including San Francisco, Washington DC, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. He came to Pittsburgh in 2014 for the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs, a transformative experience that quickly gave him a wide breadth of knowledge and a deep love for the city.   Attend my one-day conference January 27th in Pittsburgh. Learn more here.   Kenny’s Challenge; Intentionally seek out opportunities to interact with and learn from someone who doesn’t share your beliefs, views, or background.   Connect with Kenny LinkedIn Twitter Website   If you liked this interview, check out all my interviews with the people shaping the future of Pittsburgh. Subscribe on iTunes | Stitcher | Overcast | PodBay

Erik Voorhees, CEO of leading digital asset exchange ShapeShift.io, is among the top-recognized serial Bitcoin advocates and entrepreneurs, understanding Bitcoin as one of the most important inventions ever created by humanity. Erik's former project, the groundbreaking gaming phenomenon SatoshiDICE, was, at its peak, responsible for more than half of all Bitcoin transactions on Earth and popularized the concept of "provable fairness."   You should attend my one-day conference January 27th in Pittsburgh. Learn more here.   Erik’s Challenge; Get some Bitcoin and learn how to use it. Block explorer   Like my crypto episodes? Support the work! Ethereum: 0x1c5f5da1efad45078c41bceb18eb777099138e6b Bitcoin: 13RcQZnZM4Lx6bw37YVdiv6Uc2X5b7anF3   If you liked this interview, check out all of my blockchain and crypto related interviews. Subscribe on iTunes | Stitcher | Overcast | PodBay

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Mark joined WebKite in the summer of 2016 out of his excitement for the advertising technology space and the powerful products WebKite has developed to date. Machine learning and language technologies can do so much still to connect consumers to the products they need, and WebKite will continue to be a major player in that work.   When not at work, Mark can be found serving as his neighborhood’s borough councilman, an advisor to small and family-owned businesses, a sous chef for his lovely wife’s kitchen creations, and the kooky uncle to his cute niece Lindsey.   Mark is a Carnegie Mellon University graduate who has been working as the CEO of early-stage software companies for about five years. His first company, Student InTuition, merged to form Imagine Careers, Inc., a first-of-its-kind career discovery and engagement platform in the human capital space.   WebKite, Inc. is an advertising technology company leveraging machine learning to create the most efficient and specific advertising campaigns on the web. With PPC, Remarketing, and Display products across a number of sectors, we make your inventory soar!   Mark’s Challenge; Find a business in your local community and find a skill or service that could be useful to them.   Resources Google Adwords Certification   Never miss one of our best episodes by subscribing to the newsletter.   Connect with Mark Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Website   If you liked this interview, check out all of our interviews with the most influential people of Pittsburgh. Subscribe on iTunes | Stitcher | Overcast | PodBay

Barry Rabkin has over a decade of success founding, growing, and selling technology companies. An operational and strategic business leader, Barry's experience ranges from high growth, venture backed startups to Fortune 500 companies. He has also contributed to the development of over 100 successful physical and digital products.   Barry is proud to serve as Chief Marketing Officer of Identified Technologies, President of Hackers & Founders - PGH Chapter, Board Director of Jewish Family & Children's Services, He is also a guest Professor at Carnegie Mellon University and Strategist at Barry Brands Consulting where he advises and invests in many of the region's fastest growing start-ups.   Barry’s Challenge; Write out your do list for the day and systematically eliminate everything getting in the way of your primary goal.   Never miss one of our best episodes by subscribing to the newsletter.   Connect with Barry Twitter LinkedIn Website   If you liked this interview, check out episode 43 with Dick Zhang where we discuss Identified Technology for the first time, drone innovation, and entrepreneurship. Subscribe on iTunes | Stitcher | Overcast | PodBay

Today’s episode is a conversation about Truth and Love. Both are often missing from our daily interactions, and Kim Scott wants to fix that.   Here NYT and WSJ bestselling book Radical Candor covers the leadership and communication lessons she learned while working for Sheryl Sandberg & Sergey Brin and Google and with Steve Jobs at Apple.   Whether you are a leader, consultant, or employee, you will benefit from injecting more radical candor into your meetings and discussion.   Kim’s Challenge; Focus on soliciting radical candor from someone you works with   Book Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott   Never miss one of our best episodes by subscribing to the newsletter.   Connect with Kim Twitter Website   If you liked this interview, check out our other most popular episodes.   Subscribe on iTunes | Stitcher | Overcast | PodBay