Best Work: Recent Episodes
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The Best Work podcast hosts conversations between Ben (Co-founder and CEO of cord) and Founders, CTO's, Software Engineers and people in tech who are all navigating their own working journey.
Finding our best work is often a hidden journey, uncovered through an ongoing conversation with ourselves and the world around us. Every one of these episodes is packed with timeless ideas you can apply to your own life - so you too can find your best work.
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In this conversation, Ben speaks to Kimeshan Naidoo, the CTO at BX, and former co-founder and CTO at UniBuddy. They explore stress, health, meditation, stoic beliefs, and the philosophies that guide Kimeshan’s working life.
In this conversation, Ben speaks to Mike Fisher, the (outgoing) CTO at Etsy.
Mike and Ben discuss why he sees high-performing teams as “accountability communities”. Why grounding our identity firmly in our job title is misguided. How he’s found the courage to ask critical questions of himself and his peers. Why his career has been defined more by running towards things he loves than away from things. And why scrutiny is important to his work.
Mike has built multiple consequential companies - and through his insights - it is clear why he is so well regarded.
In this conversation, Ben speaks to David Heinemeier Hansson, the creator of Ruby on Rails - and Co-owner & CTO of 37signals - the company behind Basecamp and Hey.com.
They explore David’s past and it’s influence on his work. Why he finds meaning by pushing himself harder. Stoicism and its continuing influence on David’s life. How to externalise factors beyond our control. How to work through adversity. The differences between loyalty and obligation. The meaning of legacy, and much more.
It makes for the type of conversation Ben wishes he'd had years ago, and one he won’t forget.
In this conversation Ben speaks to the Founder and Chief CTO Coach at CTO Craft, Andy Skipper. Andy was previously the CTO at MADE.com, Lumitrix and Comic Relief before founding CTO Craft.
After finding himself in a CTO role at a pre-product startup almost by accident, Andy had his first experience of burnout. Experiences like this early on in his career seem to have fuelled Andy to look for opportunities that save people from similar circumstances, highlighting red flags to people early so they don’t have to learn through experience.
They discuss self-awareness, Andy’s early influences and the value of professional coaching, as well as Andy’s own experience with chronic illness and how that’s affected how he uses his energy effectively.
Andy has a deep care for individuals, learning from environments where he wasn’t able to access the support he needed to grow. He now places a lot of focus on helping to improve the individuals within a team, not the entire unit, putting more emphasis on a coaching style of leadership, driven by empathy.
Their conversation is highly personal - and by going so deep - they uncover truths all of us experience - but don’t articulate.
Multiple people recommended Ben speak to Andy - and after listening - he thinks you’ll see why
In this conversation, Ben speaks to Sara Stephens, CTO & Co-founder at Rest Less.
Her own story is a distinctive one, which has seen her uproot herself geographically throughout her life. Sara speaks in detail about the process of self re-invention that accompanies each of these shifts. And she shares how she realised that other needs besides her financial ones could be satisfied through work.
Rest Less is a digital community for people in their 50s and 60s, with support on a range of topics including work and careers. As such, it is unsurprising that the impact, and irrationality, of ageism at work is one area on which Sara shares her insight during their discussion - one that many of us over look.
In this conversation, Ben speaks to Min Ong. Min is the ex CTO at nate and now an Engineering Manager at WeTransfer.
They discuss how Min transitioned from an IC role to a managerial one - a move that was not straight forward. They talk through the challenges associated with changing your place of work, and the importance of creating environments where people can safely reflect.
At every step, Min accepts the challenge of being true to her intrinsic long-term motivators - and their conversation is a deep dive into the mind of someone not willing to sacrifice what matters to them.
In this conversation, Ben speaks to Kate Pljaskovova, Founder and CEO of Fair HQ.
Ben and Kate discuss how work and a career take shape - and use her own experience as the backdrop. In an interesting turn of events, having begun as a nanny, she stumbled into working for the start-up the child’s father was building … and then didn't look back from there.
They reflect on the importance of patterns, in our cultures and our memories, and reflect on the influence of our parents. Kate talks about why she feels able to step “outside of the box” in a way that others can’t - and she reflects on becoming a mother.
Kate’s expectations of work, are defined above all by freedom, learning, autonomy and this sense of adventure. She makes big career decisions based on learning and excitement, not opportunity cost - and it makes for one of the most free-flowing conversations to date.
In this conversation, Ben speaks to the Founder and CTO at Cordless, Irina Bednova. Irina is an experienced Software Engineer, having led payments and operations at Monzo before leaving to join EF and found Cordless.
Irina is beautifully, and brutally, honest. She approaches taboo subjects like being money-motivated with a refreshing honesty that make the counterintuitive feelings we associate with them wash away with clear logic.
They talk though independence and how we can understand and respect our own limits when applying ourselves to work, and the safety nets we can build into our professional lives so that we engage with it in the long run. They also talk the psychological battle of fundraising and more.
Irina communicates with such truth and honesty - that her prolonged self-reflection makes it easier for us to frame how we view our own work..
In this conversation, Ben speaks to Charlene Hunter, CEO & Founder of Coding Black Females. Coding Black Females is a nonprofit organisation who support Black female developers by providing networking events and learning opportunities.
Charlene talks Ben through the incredible story of how she founded CBF. She talks about the fact that opportunities that seem to just “fall into our lap” are often the result of years of dreaming and painstaking planning; and that big, “risky” decisions can be made in a risk-averse way.
Charlene talks about the barriers to entry for black women into technology, both in terms of how lots of companies sometimes think about recruiting, and how would-be engineers pigeon-hole themselves.
And fascinatingly, Charlene describes herself, and perceives her work at CBF, as an exact mix of the careers of both her parents. They talk about the influence that parents, and grandparents, have on us as individuals, as well as the way in which inspiring figures are often people who stood for something bigger than themselves.
In this conversation, Ben speaks to Olov Eriksson, Chief Product Officer at Pleo. Their conversation focuses on the intersection between relationships and decision-making.
They discuss how Olov prioritises inputs over outputs. He explains how to use and understand your emotions to make big professional decisions. And they discuss the topic of fear; how it can drive us, hinder us, and help us navigate our working journey.
In this conversation, Ben speaks to Stefan Boronea, Co-founder and CTO of Proportunity.
Stefan discusses why it’s now a commonplace thing in western society for people to want, and experience, several different careers over the course of their lives, and why the degree of choice afforded to us is both a blessing and a curse.
They discuss the management of our most precious resource, time, and how doing it successfully amounts to fulfilment in our working life. Stefan explores the human tendency to over-estimate risk, and its implications on our choice of work. Finally, their conversation touches on why we should all aim to be an outlier, and how self-knowledge is a critical part of identifying the optimal path for ourselves.
In this conversation, Ben speaks to Tim Chong, Co-founder and CEO at Yonder. Tim’s story bucks the trend, culturally and personally. Tim has a unique awareness of what he calls his ‘mental itches’ - inclinations that he treats as seeds - giving them the time and space to take root.
They discuss why there is never a binary moment where people realise they’ve “made it,”. Why our best work doesn’t have to be limited to a small number of skilled professions. They discuss how boredom while volunteering and a “road to Damascus” moment shaped Tim’s view, and gave him the niggling feeling that led Tim to found Yonder.
Tim also discusses how he has previously defined his own best work extrinsically rather than intrinsically, and how a consciously-defined “Plan Z” allows him to view risk from a fresh perspective.
In this conversation Ben speaks to Daniel Svonava. Daniel is a Co-Founder of Superlinked. Daniel was previously a Senior Software Engineer at Google before founding Primeflow at the CTO.
He splits his time between the ‘manic creation’ of being an executor, and the quiet contemplation that comes with thinking about wider strategy and career goals. Based in Switzerland, Daniel shares how location can be ones of the aspects that affects not only the life we lead outside of work, but also the macro level of how we work.
They also discuss the rewards of ‘going deep’ into learning and the natural feedback loops that form from repeating this process, as well as how we can make work more of a game, incorporating aspects of play into how we approach problems.
Their conversation also covers how we can stay aligned to the visions we set for our careers, and how we can measure our journey along that path, in both the near and long term.
In this conversation, Ben speaks to Ben Phillips, co-founder and CTO of Thread.
They approach a wide range of topics, from Stoic philosophy to mental health, relationships, sleep, burnout, learning, decision making and others - which makes their conversation distinctly in-depth and, at times, deeply introspective.
In detail, they discuss the role of death and how we can use it to cultivate resilience in ourselves. How to use mental frameworks to find the benefit of hindsight in advance. And how Ben has developed outstanding professional relationships - like the one with his Co-founder - now onto their second company - and 16th year together.
Ben openly shares his experience of burnout. How a combination of obsessive learning and lack of sleep meant that … after an all-hands meeting late one Friday- Ben sought found support from the people and services around him.
The conversation is so wide-ranging, and so natural, in part because they've been through similar experiences. The lessons Ben has learnt have been hard at times. Yet hearing from Ben, you get the sense that he’s opened his heart to the toughest moments - to soak in every part of his experience. The full tapestry of life as a founder is complex - and as a result - difficult, illuminating and unique. Ben’s story so far reveals truths we can all relate to and learn from.
In this conversation Ben speaks to Maksym Schipka, the CTO at Vortexa. Maksym has spent his career working in cybersecurity and was previously the CTO at Clearswift.
Maksym details his journey of optimisation, from focussing on survival after leaving home and studying at University, to concentrating on learning and becoming a CTO.
They discuss circles of influence, status and the journey of change that happens throughout our careers, as well as working to make yourself redundant as a leader.
Maksym’s attitude towards having purpose, and the constituent parts that create purpose, have allowed him to focus on what will bring him happiness through work, but also in his life outside of it.
In this conversation, Ben speaks to Afiya Chohollo, VP of Engineering & Technical Program Management at Onfido.
They discuss why specialists and generalists are complementary to one another, as well as the concept of multi-potentiality. Afiya explains the Einstellung effect, and why being more generalist often gives us an advantage when it comes to problem-solving.
Afiya delineates two psychological drivers in her life: positive forces like curiosity, problem-solving and inspiring leaders, and forms of hardship, as well as being underestimated and the imposter syndrome that results. This set of drivers leads Afiya to be intensely competitive with herself which, paradoxically, has enabled her to outperform her doubters over the years.
She also describes a model she calls “the cone of uncertainty,” which she uses to approach decision-making and to inform how involved she gets with her teams’ planning.
In this conversation, Ben speaks to Albara Hakami, VP of Payments and Founding Team Member at Corpay One. Albara has always been driven by an intense curiosity, which has led to him living a digital nomadic lifestyle and founding companies in multiple industries.
As a result, he approaches work with a unique perspective. He talks to Ben about the way in which focussing on topics he’s passionate about helps him to grow professionally and personally, and the way in which he uses his principles to guide and tame his inner child.
They discuss how to balance making big decisions with clarity whilst receiving the input of others, and why learning is one of the most important principles that Albara considers when making the final call. They also discuss the extrinsic and intrinsic motivations that have guided his unique journey, as well as how our environments work to shape these motivations into habits.
In this conversation, Ben speaks to Claire Donald, VP of Engineering at MOO.
Claire’s career trajectory has seen her work in the army, HP, and the civil service, as well as contracting, before joining her current organisation - all alongside balancing the demands of motherhood. She has a comprehensive knowledge of different working styles and cultures, and a refreshing honesty and openness about how to navigate these.
Ben and Claire's conversation touches on how motherhood has helped Claire in her own working life, as well as the challenges of taking a pay cut. She talks with candour about her experience of burnout, and about its causes and the signs that, in hindsight, showed she was suffering from it.
They discuss Claire’s own managerial toolkit, which is centred around generalism and empathy, as well as the future of workplace culture as the professional world emerges from the aftermath of the pandemic.
In this conversation, Ben speaks to Stephen Whitworth, co-founder and CEO of incident.io. Stephen began his career at Hailo, Co-founded Ravelin and joined Monzo early on. Since starting incident with Pete and Chris, Stephen has gone on to raise over £34 million dollars at the date of this recording, from notable people like Monzo’s Co-founders Tom Blomfield and Jonas Templestein, Monzo’s lead investor Eileen Burbidge - the CEO of GoCardless Hiroki Takeuchi, the CTO of Loom Vinay Hiremath, Instagram’s co-founder Mike Kieger - and a seed and Series A Led by Index Ventures.
Yet, the conversation touches on very little of that. They explore Stephens personal journey. How he discovered Engineering. The way he approaches the ambiguity of his work. How cross pollination between different disciplines provide him with unique insights and how the sense of freedom engineering has given him - has led him.
Stephen talks Ben through a model for augmenting quantitative data with our gut feel in decision-making, and Stephen talks with candour about why effective prioritization is, by necessity, a painful process.
In this conversation Ben speaks to Usman Bashir, Head of Engineering at WorldPay. They talk about the emotional journey to continual improvement.
In this conversation Ben speaks to James Carey, VP of Engineering at Paradine. They talk about how values alignment, mission clarity and learning from burnout shape our work.
In this conversation Ben speaks to Tom Szirtes, co-founder and CTO at BODYSWAPS. They talk about happenstance and purposefulness on the road to our best work.
In this conversation, Ben speaks to Ahmed Ahres, Founding Engineer at Heron Data. Ahmed knew from early on that he wanted to one day found his own company, and his career choices - from joining Revolut, finishing his education early, and joining Heron Data early in the company’s own journey, have been steered by a clear focus on this ultimate goal.
Ahmed discusses how to make decisions with clarity as opposed to certainty, and how one of the most important realisations in his own career path has been to focus on people who inspire him, rather than focus narrowly on technical or professional fields when choosing where to work.
In this conversation, Ben speaks to Jonathan Cutrell. Jonathan is the former Director of Technology at PBS and now works at Guild Education as an Engineering manager. Jonathan also hosts his own podcast, Developer Tea, which has over 13 million downloads.
Their conversation discusses why focusing on shorter timeframes and the day-to-day has a bigger impact on our lives than the long term. They cover the use of ‘why’ in defining how we compare ourselves to others, how we grow and how we find meaning in work.
In this conversation, Ben speaks to Sean Gabriel, the Director of Delivery at Red Badger.
Sean previously worked at Microsoft for 8 years as a Program Manager, before beginning his journey at Red Badger as a Senior Delivery Lead.
Sean shares his insights on systems and system thinking - how one node in a network can vastly change its effectiveness, regardless of whether it’s a network of things or people. They also talk through how feedback loops affect the work we do and how we improve, while grounding these ways of thinking in our approach to assessing our current working conditions.
In this episode, Ben talks to Youssef Ahres, the former Director of Data Science at Instagram. They talk about how he found work at Instagram by accident.
In this episode, Ben talks to Ines Elloumi, a Senior Product Manager at Amazon. They talk about jumping into the unknown and the joys of exploration.
In this episode, Ben talks to George Bevis, founder and former CEO of Tide. They talk about how personal circumstances, natural curiosity and depth of courage can guide our working choices.
In this episode, Ben talks to Brad Jayakody, Director of Engineering at Motorway. They talk about the non-linear path to leading Engineering teams of 250+.
In this episode, Ben talks to David Kadavy, host of the “Love Your Work” podcast and best-selling author of The Heart to Start and Design for Hackers. They talk about how to cultivate curiosity and find work using systems.
In this episode, Ben talks to Máté Gulyás, CEO of Datapao. They talk about creating your own luck and navigating a world of shifting priorities as a high-achiever.
In this episode, Ben talks to Evgeny Shadchnev, founder and former CEO of Makers Academy. They talk about understanding and becoming your deepest inclinations.
In this episode, Ben talks to Germán Bencci, founder and CEO of Code Your Future. They talk about unearthing the cultural infrastructure we take for granted that enables our best work
In this episode, Ben speaks to Sasha, the Co-founder and CEO at Unitary. They talk through how to achieve success without a long-term plan.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Chris, the Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer at Lollipop. They discuss finding meaningful connections while staying true to ourselves.
In this eipsode, Ben speaks to the Co-Founder & CEO at CONNECT Care, Issa. They discuss Issa's journey from Oxford to Harvard to CEO, and distinguishing between passions and our sense of duty.
In this episode, Ben speaks to the Co-Founder & CEO at NearSt, Nick. They discuss career decision making, finding compromises and becoming a CEO.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Marta, the Chief Technology Officer at Bloom & Wild. They talk through how learning and freedom create a thriving mental state.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Mithi, the Co-Founder & CEO at Harper. They discuss where biological structures appear in pursuit of our best work.
In this episode, Ben speaks to the CEO & Co-Founder at Tomorrow's Education, Christian. They discuss the habits that develop your self-understanding.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Emma, an Engineering Manager at accuRx. They discuss how a chronic health issue led to greater purpose and Accurx.
In this eipsode, Ben speaks to the Head of Infrastructure at Fresha, Issac. They discuss how to use simple Metaphors to make difficult decisions and finding the optimal environment for growth.
In this episode, Ben speaks to VP of Engineering at simpleclub, José. They talk through how to time departures, and find our sphere of freedom.
In this episode, Ben speaks to the CEO of Loomly and Sendible, Katelyn. They discuss knowing when to take the medium path and differentiating between the external and the internal.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Megan, the Co-founder & CEO at Anansi Technology. They discuss how to align ourselves, our rhythms and our goals in order to find our niche.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Operations Lead at Lightning Reach, Rhiannon. They discuss transitioning from corporates to charities, switching from on-site to remote work, and the differences between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Founder & CEO at Rebank, Juan. They discuss allocating time and the hidden drivers of decision-making that influence the work we choose.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Senior Platform Engineer at Unibuddy, Nicolas. They discuss finding work with high standards and doing less interviews at a higher quality.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Founder & CEO at Trove Collective, Max. They discuss the 6 key elements of decision-making and how to pen the chapters for a well-written life.
In this episode, Ben has a second conversation with Dave, the CTO at MindGym. They explore skills gaps, imposter syndrome, burn-out, stress, personal growth and accountability.
In this episode, Ben speaks to the CTO at MindGym, Dave. They discuss growing through the funnel and how to let candour lead you to the right place.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Maria, the Head of Product at Spill. They discuss becoming the shape of your work and how therapy, self-knowledge, and love guide our biggest decisions.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Katie, the Head of Product and Data at Lightdash. They discuss the rewards of introspection, Katie's journey to becoming a Data Scientist, working at Monzo and knowing enough about yourself to say no.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Co-founder and CEO at Timworks, Ben Marcilhacy. They discuss Ben's journey from Harvard to Google to CEO and how being punched in the guts and prioritising the long-term defines our best work.
In this episode, Ben speaks to CTO at Founders Factory, Paul. They discuss motivations, impact, how Paul found work, when to give up and navigating the here-and-now with the bigger picture in mind.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Emma, the VP of Product & Tech at Multiverse, They discuss mental models for finding work and how to simultaneously evaluate yourself and your working environment.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Co-founder and COO of Kitt, Lucy. They discuss how to progress through problems and how start-up life is centred on finding answers to the key questions.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Product Lead, Sophie. They discuss how the grass is greener where you water it and how to be intentional when finding work.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Co-founder and CEO of Compose, Rami. They discuss Rami's journey from refugee to Founder, his entrepreneurial roots, when to pivot, founding a start-up and doing your best work.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Founder of The Vendry, Daphne. They talk about the mantras Daphne uses as a founder and how dirt, new chapters and embracing stress can define your working life.
In this episode, Ben speaks to former CTO at Medipredict, Alexandra. They talk about how Alexandra became a CTO, combining multiple disciplines and the role luck plays in finding work.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Software Engineer, Wojciech. They talk about how to harness your intuition and make better decisions about work.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Software Engineer Andrew for the second time in a Q&A style session. They discuss states of flow, and what types of work unlock purpose and meaning.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Software Engineer, Andrew. They discuss growth and work and how to pursue both personal growth and your best work.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Senior Sofware Engineer, Elijah. They talk about the relationship between work and self, and the interconnected nature of work and life.
In this episode, Ben speaks to Senior Back-End Engineer, Sacha. They talk about Sacha's volatile addiction to work and finding work as a tangential thinker.