Software Snack Bites

Ian Swanson, CEO of Protect AI, and Emilio Escobar, CISO of Datadog, discuss the importance of ML & AI security, emerging attack surfaces, MLSecOps, and LLMs use in adversarial and defensive security. They dive into the role of Protect AI in securing ML systems, the concept of MLSecOps, the difference between AI security and ML security, and the importance of data understanding and certification in ML and AI. They also explore enforcing policies, testing models for data security, and the use of AI tools in attack and defense strategies.

Jade Rubick is a Eng Advisor to multiple startups (23 and counting). He was previously Vice President Engineering at New Relic and has taken on interim VPE roles at multiple other startups over the years before he began solely focused on advising startups. In this episode, Jade joins us to cover common anti-patterns he sees in eng teams, how teams can better communicate, what hiring practices work well and how to think about structuring career paths for employees. Everything from hiring tips, to product & feature development, to adjusting to the current “do more with less” environment and common advice across all startups is covered in this episode. For anyone interested in learning how to run effective eng orgs, this is the episode for you.Where to Find Jade:* Twitter: https://twitter.com/JadeRubick* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaderubick/* Personal Website and Newsletter: https://www.rubick.com/Where to Find Shomik:* Twitter: https://twitter.com/shomikghosh21* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shomik-ghosh-a5a71319/* Software Snack Bites Newsletter: https://www.shomik.substack.com* Software Snack Bites Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google.In this episode, we cover:(00:49) - Jade’s Background(02:57) - When to Hire an Eng Leader & Common Anti-Patterns(09:47) - Career Paths for Eng Management and IC and How to Identify Who Is a Fit(17:13) - How Eng Teams Can Best Interface with Other Orgs(28:41) - Frameworks for Balancing Scalability and Speed with Delivering Product(34:58) - Adjusting and Operating in a Do More With Less Environment(39:50) - Common Repeated Advice from Working with 20+ Startups Over TimeShow Notes:* Playbook for Hiring Eng Managers* How to Solve Cross Team Priorities* High Trust and Low Trust OrganizationsHow to Subscribe:Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shomik.substack.com

Julia Schottenstein is a Product Lead at dbt and an active angel investor. Julia was previously a VC at NEA focused on software and data infrastructure. She joins us today to share learnings from product and VC, why analytics engineering is continuing to proliferate, and how dbt has been able to manage and grow the community over time. We dive into the data transformation and semantic layer and cover how dbt thinks about the open source and cloud products, managing feedback from all users to improve the product. We end with exciting trends for the future of data (hint LLMs are mentioned!).Where to Find Julia:* Twitter: https://twitter.com/j_schottenstein* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-schottenstein-25424318/* Analytics Engineering Podcast: https://roundup.getdbt.com/s/the-analytics-engineering-podcastWhere to Find Shomik:* Twitter: https://twitter.com/shomikghosh21* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shomik-ghosh-a5a71319/* Software Snack Bites Newsletter: https://www.shomik.substack.com* Software Snack Bites Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google.In this episode, we cover:(00:34) - Julia’s Background, Running Marathons, & Qatalyst’s Dominance(06:45) - How dbt Became Not Just a Product But an Identity for Practitioners(09:14) - What Does dbt Do?(11:41) - Comparing & Contrasting Software & Data Engineering Practices(14:01) - How dbt’s Community Started and Has Continued to Grow at Scale(19:04) - Why dbt is Unlikely to Move into the Visualization/BI Layer(20:35) - Text to Sql and LLMs Impact on Data Workflows(23:15) - Why Self Serve Data Assets in Companies is Hard to Achieve(24:50) - Analytics Engineering Trends(30:03) - What’s the Deal With the Modern Data Stack Today in It’s Evolution(32:07) - Transitioning from VC to Product(35:01) - Balancing OSS and Cloud Products(39:08) - Managing Rapidly Scaling Orgs(42:40) - Trends in Data That Julia is Excited About(44:56) - Favorite Technology and SnackHow to Subscribe:Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shomik.substack.com

Kiersten Gaffney, CMO of Codefresh and advisor to various companies, shares tactics for dev tools founders, content strategies, leveraging communities for go-to-market. Hiring insights, anecdotes from Mesosphere and CodeFresh, creating a sustainable content engine, marketing tactics for OSS vs proprietary companies, and the fallacy of focusing on leads only.

Dan Scheinman is a full-time Angel Investor and Board Member of Zoom, SentinelOne, and Arista Networks. He joins us today to share learnings about M&A from his time running Corp Dev at Cisco, backing multiple public companies from day one, and how public boards differ from private ones. There’s numerous anecdotes that Dan shares about how he finds outlier founders, how founders are able to succeed even when they’re building in already competitive markets, and tons of actionable advice for founders today on everything from focus to capital allocation to M&A decisions. Where to Find Dan:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danscheinman/* Twitter: https://twitter.com/dscheinmWhere to Find Shomik:* Twitter: https://twitter.com/shomikghosh21* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shomik-ghosh-a5a71319/* Software Snack Bites Newsletter: https://www.shomik.substack.com* Software Snack Bites Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google.In this episode, we cover:(00:56) - Dan’s Background & Stories About Cisco(07:28) - How Cisco Was Able to Effectively Execute M&A (59,000% return since IPO)(11:40) - Tips for When Founders Should Approach and Leverage M&A as an Acquiror(13:45) - Finding Outlier Founders from Day One(17:18) - SentinelOne, Zoom, Arista Founders Navigating and Succeeding in Already Crowded Markets(24:58) - Premature Scaling as the Biggest Risk in Early Startups(27:52) - Founder Transitions from Private to Public Markets(31:19) - Balancing Internal & External Comms and Where All Hands Fall Short(33:25) - Capital Allocation(38:30) - Being an Effective Board Member(42:51) - Why Focus is So Essential at the Pre/Early in Product Market Fit Stage(51:41) - Being a Value Investor in StartupsHow to Subscribe:Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shomik.substack.com

Phillip Carter is a Principal Product Manager at Honeycomb, which develops a software debugging product for distributed systems. Phillip recently published one of the most interesting blog posts I’ve read titled “All the Hard Stuff Nobody Talks About when Building Products with LLMs”. The post is excellent and everyone should give it a read. In this episode, we dive deep into what the hard stuff actually is, the pros and cons of Large Language Models (LLMs) and what teams need to think about when using LLMs in their products. We also talk about the real world results that come from shipping an LLM-enabled product, including the conversion increases that Honeycomb has seen as a result of Query Assistant and how the decision to use LLMs came about. For all the teams wondering how to use LLMs now, this is the episode for you.Where to Find Phillip:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillip-carter-4714a135/* Twitter: https://twitter.com/_cartermp * Personal Website: https://phillipcarter.dev/* Blog Post Referred to in Podcast: https://www.honeycomb.io/blog/hard-stuff-nobody-talks-about-llmWhere to Find Shomik:* Twitter: https://twitter.com/shomikghosh21* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shomik-ghosh-a5a71319/* Software Snack Bites Newsletter: https://www.shomik.substack.com* Software Snack Bites Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google.In this episode, we cover:(00:49) - Phillip’s Background and What Honeycomb Does(06:37) - How the Idea to Use LLMs for the Query Assistant Product Occurred(08:45) - Managing Context Windows and Token Counting(14:35) - Few Shot Prompting & Schema Context(16:32) - The Conversion Results from Using LLMs to Power a New UI(21:36) - Are LLMs Mainly Useful for Search & UI/UX(28:09) - Should Companies Have an “AI Strategy”(31:55) - Best Efforts Results for LLM Output(36:10) - Managing Direct Database Access for LLMs(40:51) - How Embeddings Can Help with Context Windows(44:31) - Guiding UI/UX Principles for LLM Features(47:52) - The Magic That LLM Features from a UI Perspective Can ProvideHow to Subscribe:Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shomik.substack.com

Julian Alvarez is the CEO & Co-Founder of Logixboard, which is enabling freight forwarders to deliver a modern, digital customer experience to their customers with the Logixboard platform. He joins us today to talk about how to understand customer pain points in a specific vertical and gives a detailed overview of the freight forwarding and supply chain industry. Julian covers how to build a vertical SaaS software company, how scaling in vertical SaaS is different from other industries, and what sort of integrations and technology aspects vertical SaaS software companies need to take into account. For any founders, investors, or generally people curious about Vertical SaaS and the supply chain industry, this is the episode for you.Where to Find Julian:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-alvarez-751943126/* Logixboard Website: https://logixboard.com/Where to Find Shomik:* Twitter: https://twitter.com/shomikghosh21* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shomik-ghosh-a5a71319/* Software Snack Bites Newsletter: https://www.shomik.substack.com* Software Snack Bites Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google.In this episode, we cover:(00:36) - Julian’s Background & Building in Different Industries(05:05) - How Julian Learned about the Freight Forwarding Industry(10:13) - Finding Product Market Fit and Rearchitecting the Product Early(13:26) - Overview of Supply Chain Industry(16:32) - Segmentation of the Freight Forwarding Industry(18:29) - Key Technology in the Freight Forwarding Space & The Visibility Challenge(20:53) - Enabling Digital Transformation in a Longstanding Industry(30:00) - Indirect Network Effects in a B2B2C Platform(34:32) - Customer Density in GTM for Vertical SaaS(36:39) - Hiring for Vertical SaaS and How to Do Knowledge Enablement (38:24) - Pros & Cons of Hiring Directly from Industry Expertise(40:29) - Biggest Challenge of Building a Vertical SaaS Company(43:51) - What Will a Single Pain of Glass Customer Experience Platform Across the Entire Supply Chain Look Like(45:33) - Favorite Technology/App(46:34) - Favorite SnackAdditional Show Notes:* Customer Stories of How Logixboard Helps Them Win Business* Specific Freight Forwarding Content from LogixboardHow to Subscribe:Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shomik.substack.com

Mia Wang is the M&A & Strategy Director at Cloudflare. Oren Falkowitz is the Co-Founder of Area 1 Security, a phishing security company, which was acquired by Cloudflare in April 2022. In this episode, Mia & Oren demystify the M&A process for startups (founders and employees) by discussing the real steps and decisions that both sides had to make as the acquisition was being contemplated and completed. Tactical advice is shared all along the way for founders to learn from in order to enable the smoothest M&A process possible in the future.Where to Find Mia:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miaywang/* Twitter: https://twitter.com/miawang__Where to Find Oren:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/orenjfalkowitz/* Twitter: https://twitter.com/orenfalkowitzWhere to Find Shomik:* Twitter: https://twitter.com/shomikghosh21* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shomik-ghosh-a5a71319/* Software Snack Bites Newsletter: https://www.shomik.substack.com* Software Snack Bites Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google.In this episode, we cover:(00:44) - Mia’s Background(02:24) - Oren’s Background(05:02) - Quick Primer on Ballistic Missile Trajectories and Telemetry (fun tangent)(06:57) - How Acquirers Approach the M&A Process(10:03) - Build vs Acquire Decision(11:39) - What Area 1 Security Does(13:42) - Starting a Phishing Security Company in an Already Crowded Market(15:43) - LLMs Impact on Phishing Security(18:48) - What Happens At and After the First Exploratory Call(25:34) - The Research & Initial Diligence Process of an Acquirer(29:31) - Balancing Regular Business and Acquisition Interest as the Target(33:43) - Getting to the Actual Price & Valuation(36:54) - Negotiating Price as the Target & Communicating Internally with Board & Teams and Externally with Customers(45:14) - Navigating Closing Conditions and Accelerating Delivering the Employees and Talent the Acquirer Expects to Bring Onboard(46:44) - Post Closing Integration(51:52) - Key Tip from Acquirer’s Perspective on Making M&A Go Smoothly(53:43) - Key Tip from Target’s Perspective on Making M&A Go Smoothly(54:47) - Fun Story on Cultural Fit and How Little Things MatterAdditional Show Notes:* Why Cloudflare Acquired Area 1 Security* Cloudflare Completes Acquisition of Area 1 Security* Area 1 Security Product Page within CloudflareHow to Subscribe:Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google or any podcast player. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shomik.substack.com

Kyle Poyar, Operating Partner at Openview, shares detailed tips on PLG motions, pricing & packaging, and product led sales & marketing strategies. The podcast covers case studies, reverse free trials, user experience in sales, software marketing approaches, churn reduction, different pricing models, and advice for founders implementing PLG strategies.

Seth Rosen is Head of Data Products at Snyk and previously Co-Founder of Topcoat Data, acquired by Snyk in March 2022. In this talk we cover, all things data, specifically diving into what the modern data stack is and the components that form it. We cover Seth’s experience working with customers of all sizes while he was running a data analytics consultancy, with tips for how companies can get value from data with a few core systems. Seth also explains what customer facing analytics enables and the path to achieving this. Finally, we dive into how LLMs may affect the data industry and future trends in data.Where to Find Seth:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sdrosen/* Twitter: https://twitter.com/sethrosenWhere to Find Shomik:* Twitter: https://twitter.com/shomikghosh21* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shomik-ghosh-a5a71319/* Software Snack Bites Newsletter: https://www.shomik.substack.com* Software Snack Bites Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google.In this episode, we cover:(00:44) - Seth’s Background(02:53) - Shifting from Product Management to Data(04:17) - What is a Data Model with a Specific E-Commerce Example(06:35) - Becoming a Data Comedian on Twitter(08:58) - How Data Teams Can Communicate Tradeoffs Between Urgency & Accuracy(12:07) - Learnings from Helping Customers Set Up Data Analytics Stacks(13:29) - What Made Looker Skyrocket(16:04) - Building Topcoat Data to Enable Embedded Analytics(19:13) - Why Snyk Uses Customer Facing Analytics(21:28) - The Challenges with Building & Managing Data Pipelines(24:50) - The 80/20 Rule in Data(26:15) - Pre-Modern Data Stack vs Post-Modern Data Stack(27:50) - Explaining the Components of the Modern Data Stack(31:00) - “Zero Copy” Trends in Data Warehouses(32:54) - LLMs Affect on Data Team Workflows(36:45) - What Seth Would Love to See Change About the Data Space(38:45) - Favorite Technology(39:35) - Favorite SnackAdditional Show Notes:* Seth’s AWS ReInvent Talk about how Snyk Built Customer Facing Analytics Using Snowflake and Topcoat Data* Seth’s Data Joke Heard Around the World* Building a Modern Data Stack in Under 40 MinutesHow to Subscribe:Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shomik.substack.com