The Blind Ambition with Jack Kelly

Larry Gadea, Founder and CEO of Envoy Larry has an untraditional background for a Silicon Valley CEO, including getting smuggled out of Romania to Germany before settling in Canada at the age of 3. We explore how his experience growing up led him to work at Google while a full-time student and how open-source projects opened doors for him. Next, we dive into the a-ha moment behind Envoy and its ubiquitous tablets seemingly in every startup and tech company's reception area. Jack and Rick then get a behind-the-scenes look into Envoy's culture and what Larry looks for when he's hiring. Don't miss our conversation about everything from what CEOs and managers mean when they say they like ambition to whether working in-office actually impacts your career and professional development prospects. http://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/xzg9q4h2

Michael Griffiths, Workforce Transformation Offering Leader at Deloitte Michael didn't always know he wanted to get into consulting. Before he rose through the ranks of strategy and management consulting, he was a London school teacher. We explore why developing skills has become more important than job titles and the promotions that make up the traditional career ladder in today's job market. Michael also breaks down some research to explain how the economy shifted to become so skills-based and focused. Finally, we look into the human condition and whether we really want to work. http://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/ue7qcrya

Mahe Bayireddi, Co-Founder and CEO of Phenom Mahe spells out how employers use artificial intelligence, machine learning and data to hire employees. He explains that job-seekers and other professionals should focus on highlighting their core competencies, skills and behaviors and dives into the tactics to stand out in the job application and job interview processes. We explore how some companies and industries are using automated interviews and what the deal is with video interviews. http://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/63osz4kh

Pato O'Ward, IndyCar Racer at The Arrow McLaren Team Pato O'Ward is one of the youngest motorsport athletes in the world at 23 years old. In this exclusive interview for Blind, he recalls how he became a professional race-car driver and what it was like getting started on a world stage at a young age. We then take a deep dive with Pato into the business of motorsport, including how drivers fund their travel, get hired by a motorsport team, find sponsors, and what the total compensation of a motorsport athlete is really like. http://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/4d8bj50n

Brad Porter, Founder and CEO of Collaborative Robotics Until recently, Brad was a vice president and distinguished engineer at Amazon, working on some of the internet giant's most ambitious projects like Amazon Prime Air, Amazon Prime Now and Amazon Robotics. We ask Brad to walk us through his career arc and how he became one of the few technologists in the tech industry to crack the "L10" distinguished engineer job level. After he shares his advice about how to reach the next step in your career, we look into what it's like to be a founder on the cutting-edge of technology, including the future of robotics and being a startup founder that has to raise venture capital, create a product roadmap from scratch, and build the foundations of a multi-generation business. http://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/esldqiw8

Jack Kelly and Rick Chen react to Elon Musk's rant about remote work and the white-collar professional. Musk thinks professionals who want to continue working remotely need to stop living in "La La Land" and get back into the office. We discuss whether he's right about working from home and why it might depend on your career level or tenure. Next, Rick recalls the early days of his career and why he thinks the "grunt" work really paid off. Jack tackles the shocking Blind poll that found almost half of all remote workers on Blind work four hours or less a day and shares his best tips for staying productive while at home. https://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/mhe5kscq https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-employees-call-elon-musk-hypocrite-remote-work-morally-work-2023-5 https://www.businessinsider.com/how-many-hours-work-day-productive-tech-workers-2023-4 https://www.teamblind.com/post/How-much-you-work-a-day-Sv1f1iJf

Donald Knight, Chief People Officer at Greenhouse Donald breaks down the questions that professionals should be asking in job interviews. We explore how to uncover a company's real culture, including their leadership team's approach to layoffs and other difficult decisions in tough times, what types of actions and behaviors they reward, and how people get promoted or recognized. Next, Donald explains how to be business-focused and demonstrate experience and impact like you're an executive. Finally, he outlines what job seekers should do to drive their careers forward. http://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/u8gfaswh

Fredrik Johnsson, Owner and President of Race of Champions Fredrik has never shied away from big, audacious goals. We explore how he conceptualized the Race of Champions, recruited the first athletes and secured the first venues for the first-of-its-kind motorsport event. Race of Champions pits the best racing and rally drivers from the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Formula 1, IndyCar, NASCAR, the World Rally Championship and more in a head-to-head race. Along the way, we dig into the turning points and decisions from his childhood to his early career that led to his present-day success as an entrepreneur and sports innovator. http://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/f79inztx

Jack Kelly and Rick Chen explore whether pay packages have decreased in the tech industry because of the recent high-profile layoffs at Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Salesforce and more. Notably, new, exclusive research from Blind shows that a majority of job-seeking software engineers in the U.S. are now willing to accept the same or lower pay in a new role. We dive into the data, run some numbers and explain how tech professionals can fight back against employers to improve their work life. Finally, Rick outlines the impact of the volatile stock market and economy on professionals' total compensation, and Jack shares some personal finance tips that could help professionals whose pay is now lower because of declining share prices or smaller restricted stock unit grants. https://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/mhe5kscq https://www.teamblind.com/blog/index.php/2023/05/22/2023-engineering-salary-expectations-report/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2023/05/22/why-white-collar-workers-are-losing-out-in-the-job-market/

Cai GoGwilt, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Ironclad Cai explains why professionals need to demonstrate integrity at work. He outlines how engineers and technologists can earn the trust of their teammates and how entrepreneurs can create better, more successful businesses through trust. We also explore how Cai and Ironclad discover a job seeker's integrity in the job interview process and how they wove it into Ironclad's company culture and business practices. http://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/omgz5dru