Phil is currently VP of Product & Engineering at Close.com, building a product people love and growing our SaaS business to be something great. Previously he spent two years leading the Engineering team at Quizlet, building study tools that millions of students relied upon. Phil has also interned at Google and Yahoo! as a software engineer, and did lots of freelance website design while at the University of Florida.
Co-founder of Brainhub, Matt describes himself as a “serial entrepreneur”. Throughout his career, Matt has developed several startups in Germany, wearing many hats- from a marketer to an IT Engineer and customer support specialist. As a host of the Better Tech Leadership podcast, Matt talks about growing successful businesses and the challenges of being a startup founder and investor.
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In this episode, Matt interviews Vance Rodgers, an engineering leader with a background in the U.S. Army Rangers, about balancing growth with efficiency. Vance shares insights from his military experience, including the importance of planning, measuring work, and continuous feedback loops. He also discusses his “first law of business,” which focuses on making the company money through revenue generation, operational efficiency, and risk management.
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In this episode, Herman Man discusses leading cross-functional teams and adapting frameworks to fit organizational goals. He shares insights from his experiences at Xero, Microsoft, and Bluevine, emphasizing the importance of questioning the status quo and focusing on first principles. Herman also touches on cultural differences in global teams and the impact of AI on the fintech industry, highlighting the need to solve customer problems effectively.
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In this episode, Leszek interviews Patrick Jørgensen about his career journey and leadership style. Patrick discusses his path from software engineering to co-founding Scaleup Finance. He shares insights on how his experiences as a professional fencer influence his approach to entrepreneurship, emphasizing focus, competition, and process over results.
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In this conversation, Matt and John Blythe discuss the challenges of transitioning between startups and larger organizations. John Blythe shares his experiences at Kyruus and Combined Curiosity, emphasizing the importance of understanding organizational culture and optimizing for different priorities. He also offers advice to leaders making similar career moves, highlighting the need to count the cost and align personal strengths with organizational needs.
