Catalyst Podcast

Apologize later: Renowned tech journalist and writer Steven Levy chats about his new book, Facebook: The Inside Story, which peers behind the scenes at the biggest social media monolith of our day. Levy breaks down how he convinced Facebook to give him inside access, what was happening there during the 2016 election, and why Mark Zuckerberg loves Caesar Augustus so much. Caution, books spoilers ahead! Links:  Steven Levy  Hackers - Steven Levy  The Perfect Thing - Steven Levy  Backchannel - WIRED Sandra Upson - WIRED The Devastating Decline of a Brilliant Young Coder - WIRED  Facebook: The Inside Story - Steven Levy Carlyle Group  In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works and Shapes Our Lives - Steven Levy  The Social Network - IMDB Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell  Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer that Changes Everything - Steven Levy See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Paul and Rich have a follow up discussion about Marc Andreessen’s newest article and ask the important question: How can we connect and empower people to create crucial tools for society when the industry has become so transactional? Are we able to create necessary social momentum when there’s no money involved? Paul puts out a plea for Postlight to create a software development kit for education at a platform level. It remains to be seen if VCs are ready to shift their focus to do the same. (Perhaps that’s an idea for Marc Andreessen to think about!)   Links ‘It’s Time To Build’ by Marc Andreessen Marc Andreessen Andreessen Horowitz React Bell Labs Xerox Parc Khan Academy The Last Dance Class Dojo Google Classroom  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There’s a reason to expect criticism: Paul and Rich dig into the newest article from VC Marc Andreessen. In it, Andreessen exhorts Americans to innovate and blames our lack of preparation for the pandemic on a lack of desire to do so. We reflect on the current state of America and how apparent the holes in our social governance have become since COVID-19 (especially the education system). Is there a world where VC and startups can help us improve these old systems? Has social policy towards more privatization led us towards the wrong things being optimized? We look to other innovations that have come from crises and ask: How can you install that startup-style motivation outside of commercial profit? (Spoiler: Marc Andreessen doesn’t have the answer!) Links: “It’s Time to Build” by Marc Andreessen Andreesen Horowitz Marc Andreesen  José Andrés  José Andrés Wants To Feed The World Through The Pandemic See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Brand Safety: Parse.ly founders Andrew Montalenti and Sachin Kamdar chat about their analytics platform and share the content trends they are following during the global pandemic. They discuss how publishers and media outlets are being impacted by COVID-19, and the myriad ways that advertising and brand safety are changing. They also share how to give clarity to clients in a time of uncertainty: with the insights of analytics. Links:  Andrew Montalenti  Sachin Kumdar - Twitter Parse.ly  Facebook Netflix  NPR Gannett  Lee Enterprises Berkshire Hathaway  Parse.ly Content Conversions  Vox  The Atlantic  The New York Times  Toyota  Twitter  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Scripted Interactions: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul, Rich, and Gina chat about ways to keep your team focused and on track when working remotely. How do you create urgency to make sure things get done? How can you keep people focused during remote calls? They discuss the need for clear communication and accountability, and share some tools to help structure meetings and interactions in a digital-first work world.  Links:  Gina Trapani  Cheer on Netflix  Tiger King on Netflix  Campfire  Navigator  Second LifeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This isn’t remote, this is pandemic: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich chat with friend and client Tim Meaney about when things could return to normal and if they should return to normal. We reflect on some of the positive changes that have come from this pandemic, like more time with family and getting rid of inefficiencies. We also talk about the importance of resilience and of course, the hit documentary series Tiger King. Links:  Coronavirus chic: Top sales up, bottom down at Walmart - Global News  Tim Meaney - SageSure  The Evolution of Software - Track Changes Podcast  Zoom  Facetime  Kind Bar  Andrew Cuomo - Wikipedia  Tiger King - Netflix  Smart Home: 10 Tips for Working Remotely - Track Changes Podcast  Google cancels its infamous April Fools’ jokes this year - The Verge  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Excelsior: In this episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich discuss the new Apple-Google contact tracing app aimed at tracking the spread of COVID. We explain what contact tracing is and how the app works. We chat about the potential difficulties of onboarding these types of apps and whether the app will be able to help the most vulnerable. We also discuss how we can best combine technology with good old fashioned testing.  Links:  Dyson  Andrew Cuomo  Video, B-Roll, Audio, & Rush Transcript - Governor Cuomo Returns Ventilators  Apple  Google  What is contact tracing? - The Verge  Papa Johns  Steve Jobs  Eric Schmidt  Zoom  Amazon  Facebook Google Home  Amazon Alexa Nest  Wemo  Motorola  CNN  Clay Shirky - Twitter  CVS  Walgreens Trump tweets prompt speculation he could fire Fausi - The Guardian  WhatsAppSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Priorities as a leader: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich sit down to discuss how the pandemic is impacting business and mental health. Priorities are changing, so what comes first? In juggling health, family, and work, it’s important to give employees space and empathy. But work can be a welcome distraction from the news and rising COVID-19 numbers. Links:  Yeti Nano  Screen Time Linux Windows 8  Windows 10  HP Pavilion Candy Crush  Chrome  Zoom Remember Jade Helm 15, the controversial military exercise? It’s over - The Washington Post See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Grind: This week on Track Changes, Paul and Rich chat with Postlight’s Head of Engineering Jeremy Mack about all things video games. Jeremy teaches us about current video game trends. We learn about loot boxes, battle passes, pay-to-win games and the controversy surrounding these types of monetization. We also get some great indie game recommendations and chat about the future of gaming. Warning for anyone playing the game Journey, this episode contains some spoilers.  Links:  PlayStation 4 Jeremy Mack - Twitter  Atari  Nintendo  Ultima Online  World Of Warcraft  Super Mario Brothers  Civilization  Age of Empire SimCity PlayStation 4 Pro  FIFA  EA Activision  Ubisoft  Call of Duty  NBA Playgrounds 2  NBA Jam  Stardew Valley  Harvest Moon  Dead Cells  Steam  Nintendo Switch  Journey  Wii U  Twitch Black Desert Online  Fortnite  Half-Life: Alyx  Half-Life 2  Oculus QuestSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Specify like a caveman: This week on Track Changes, Paul and Rich are joined by Gina Trapani, a managing partner at Postlight, to talk about statements of work (SOWs). We chat about Postlight’s unique SOW process. We talk about why we base our approach on trust and relationships rather than just time and money. We also talk about managing risk, what to do when someone oversteps their original demands and Paul gives some tips on how to make the SOW writing process easier. Hint: write like a caveman.  Links:  Gina Trapani  React Native  Org Mode  Google Analytics Facebook Twitter Github  LinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.