On Path - SoundSage

Here are some relevant links from the conversation:

Semir on LinkedIn
union4digital
Clari

Show notes:

Growing up in a village in central Switzerland
What prompted a move to London?
Working in social care to welcome refugees
Landing a job at Accenture
Key learnings from consulting
Least favorite aspects of consulting
union4digital: a bucket for all things outside of daily work
Semir's take on side hustles
Discovering pre-sales and solution engineering
Life at Salesforce
What makes a good manager?
Leading a team remotely
Deciding between email and Slack
Joining Clari through a cold message to the CEO
Sales kick-off in 2022
Leveraging LinkedIn
Posting consistently
Prompts to overcome a blank page
Advice for his previous self

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Here are some relevant links from the conversation:

Patricia Bleiker on LinkedIn.
Open Systems
Scandit
Thalwil, on the shores of Lake Zurich

Show notes:

2:02 How working from home is going
4:47 Working remotely: we're all on the same level
5:19 Growing up in Thalwil
10:05 Discovering Zurich
10:54 An extended trip to South America
20:23 Gaining practical experience while studying
22:20 Intensity of the Bachelors degree at ETH
27:19 Internships
31:16 Joining Open Systems
36:57 A second masters + getting into product marketing
43:14 Continual learning
47:18 Joining Scandit
51:25 Advice for her younger self

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Here are some relevant links from the conversation:

Jennine Heller on LinkedIn
JHellerCoaching.com

Show notes:

1:08 How life is two years into the pandemic
2:50 Growing up at a half Jewish, half Puerto Rican household
4:33 Studying Computer Science
7:05 Getting a job
9:16 A love for art
10:19 Becoming a teacher in Malawi
15:42 Staying in touch with family and friends
17:49 The pre-internet, pre-smartphone experience
18:57 Meeting her husband over ultimate frisbee
21:14 Staring a company
23:13 Selling her company
26:07 The highs and lows of launching a venture
27:39 Soft skills
29:12 Finding her calling as an executive coach
34:01 Coaching line managers vs managers of managers
35:33 When do leaders look for a coach?
37:33 What does a successful coaching engagement look like?
40:48 The highs and lows of coaching
43:55 Advice to herself when starting

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Here are some relevant links from the conversation:

Andy Raskin on LinkedIn
Andy Raskin on Medium (lots of great articles here, including the one linked below)
The Greatest Sales Deck I've Ever Seen by Andy Raskin
The Bigger Narrative (Andy's podcast on strategic narrative)
Chill Beefs (Andy's podcast celebrating pet peeves)
Victoria Zenoff (Andy's career coach)

Show notes:

2:02 Chill Beefs - Andy's new podcast
3:39 The many roles Andy has had
4:13 Getting interested in Japan
6:06 Working for Apple in Tokyo in the 90s
9:36 Miso soup
10:50 Lucky socks, lucky underwear
11:43 Becoming a writer
13:20 Interviewing Marc Benioff
16:10 Product Manager at Skype
19:51 Moving into product marketing
23:43 Free agent
28:02 Feeling nervous before a new engagement
30:32 Productizing your offering as a consultant
32:42 The sales deck is the story
34:38 The Bigger Narrative podcast
37:47 How Andy came up with the intro sequence
41:03 The next season (coming out soon)
42:17 Why Andy invests in a career coach
44:13 20 years with his career coach

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Here are some relevant links from the conversation:

Jon Rooney on LinkedIn
Scott Guthrie

Show notes:

1:30 Crash course in programming
3:05 Considering careers outside academia
3:21 Andersen Consulting
5:38 Instilling discipline at on-boarding
6:58 An outsider in tech?
8:37 Not even rocket science is rocket science
10:09 What's changed about learning new topics
11:23 Tech trainings for non-tech teams
12:00 San Francisco at the peak of the dot-com bubble
15:35 Monetizing the long-tail
16:48 Mass layoffs
20:19 Working on Windows Azure
22:15 Server and Tools at Microsoft
23:07 "Don't monetize the developers, get them loving your stack"
24:24 The transition from on-premises to cloud
28:11 Product Managers doing product marketing
30:06 Joining Splunk
33:18 Brought in to be the developer marketing person
34:05 Internal moves and promotions
38:10 Leading product marketing
39:48 Hypergrowth: like a new company every year
41:07 Zigging when everyone else is zagging
44:25 From 80 to 1200 quota-carrying sales reps
45:21 New Relic comes calling
51:19 Joining Oracle
53:15 A remote on-boarding
54:01 Early-stage startup or enterprise?

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Here are some relevant links from the conversation:

Sherryl Manalo on LinkedIn
Women @ Microsoft Switzerland

Show notes:

1:26 Demo fail
3:39 Early childhood in the Philippines
5:41 Moving to Nigeria
9:15 Falling sick
10:40 Adapting to a new reality
11:45 Another move to Ausria
13:33 Navigating the Austrian school system
15:25 Starting a PhD in Physics
16:13 Learning German
17:13 Discovering coding
21:36 Lessons in economics
24:18 The challenges of small business
26:42 Joining Microsoft
29:07 Intrapreneurship within Microsoft
30:47 Sherryl's day-to-day work today
32:06 Role model growing up
35:01 Women in tech
37:17 Rapid-fire questions

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Here are some relevant links from the conversation:

Nelson Haung on LinkedIn
Conan O’Brien Needs A Frien‪d‬ on Apple Podcasts
The Dave Chang Show on Apple Podcasts

Show notes:

1:28 Nelson's last name
2:55 Growing up in Mountain View
6:20 Was working in tech a foregone conclusion?
8:29 Visiting Cisco in the early days
10:36 Why Electrical Engineering at UC Davis?
14:49 Background of Sales Engineering peers
15:50 Deciding to do an MBA
17:13 Highlights of the MBA
19:46 Would Nelson still do an MBA now?
21:17 Highlights from Salesforce
25:52 Why return to the Bay Area?
26:23 Leading marketing at Zinier
27:42 Joining as the first marketer
30:00 Key factors when hiring
31:25 Large tech company or startup?
33:57 What to look for in a manager?
36:20 Why take a sabbatical?
39:39 The reaction of friends and family
41:16 What next professionally for Nelson?
43:21 Nelson's favorite product-led companies
45:25 Rapid-fire questions
51:43 A love of surfing

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Here are some relevant links from the conversation:

Braze.com where Sunny currently leads Global SMB
Sunny on LinkedIn
Omar Johnson on Wikipedia
Pedro Martínez on Wikipedia
Knowledge Project podcast

Show notes:

2:02 Most memorable presentation
4:36 Immigrating to the United States
6:06 Being a Boston sports fan
7:35 Chance event that led to studying at WPI
11:47 Joining GE as an aeronautical engineer
13:47 Decision to pursue an MBA
17:56 Why Harvard?
20:42 Challenging moments as a founder CEO
26:19 The many roles of a founder CEO
27:33 Emotional experience of being acquired
30:08 Why marketing?
33:31 How would you explain product marketing?
37:12 What skills Sunny looks for when hiring Product Marketers
40:46 Sunny's recent promotion
43:59 Role models growing up
46:21 Becoming a father
48:39 Pivotal moments and best decisions
51:26 Rapid fire questions

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Here are some relevant links from the conversation:

Jonathan Moffett (a.k.a. Sugarfoot) playing Smooth Criminal on the drums
Usain Bolt in the 2011 World Championship Semi Finals (the key part is from minute 1:00 to 2:00)

Show notes:

2:54 My semi-deportation from the United States
4:41 How moving often helped me deal with the sudden move
6:56 Comfortable with being an outsider
7:33 Where am I from?
7:48 What brought me to Switzerland
9:37 My work at startups
10:06 My shift from computer science to marketing
11:28 Marketing to software developers
12:57 Why I started the On Path podcast
16:10 A quote that shapes my view on careers
18:05 Who I look to for inspiration
21:33 How I integrate inspiration into my life
22:54 Creative pursuits: conceptualization vs execution
25:18 My family and the inspiration I get from them
28:40 My #1 travel recommendation
30:38 What I would want in an 80th birthday toast

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Here are some relevant links from the conversation:

siilo.com where Drashti currently leads marketing and brand
Drashti Patel on LinkedIn
First Round Review by First Round Capital
"Today's CMO" article on Google Think

Show notes:

1:05 Interning at Tom's shoes
3:19 Transition from individual contributor to manager
5:03 How Drashti explains her role
6:06 What is product marketing?
7:26 Product marketing at Microsoft
10:51 Drashti's process for nailing down brand
15:23 What shaped Drashti growing up?
16:19 Favorite book as a child
17:11 Moving from the US to the Netherlands
18:56 Work-life balance
20:01 How Drashti landed her job at Microsoft
23:24 Bootcamp at Microsoft
25:50 Still in touch with bootcamp mates
26:37 Takeaways from her time at Microsoft
27:53 Moving to an agency then startups
33:00 In-person vs virtual conferences
35:25 Influential people in Drashti's career
37:44 How to go about seeking a mentor
39:00 What she used to insist on that she's now flexible about
40:42 What she used to be flexible about that she now insists on
41:48 Life now as compared to envisioned a decade ago
44:15 Can she believe she's in Amsterdam?
43:48 Collecting hobbies as a hobby
46:04 Writing a children's book: Hamsterdam
46:48 What would a perfect day look like?
48:49 Drasthi's preferred tea
49:28 A bicycle work desk
50:34 Recommended blogs and reading

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Here are some relevant links from the conversation:

Shikha's food blog: shikhalamode.com
One of Shikha's on-demand webinars for Slack
Shikha's online pastry classes
Shikha on LinkedIn

Show notes:

1:18 Swimming with sharks
2:42 What is product marketing?
4:36 What skills are needed to be a great product marketer?
6:17 Growing up in the Bay Area
7:55 How Shikha keeps in touch with people
9:42 Slack as a personal communication tool?
10:20 From a food blog to working in tech
12:56 Shikha's favorite pastry recipe
13:55 Working at high-growth ventures: Uber, Dropbox, Slack
14:39 Working in restaurants
15:49 Internal opportunities
17:14 Building internal relationships
17:42 Screen-free interaction
19:33 Influential people in Shikha's life
20:41 Great managers
21:29 How is life different than envisioned 10 years ago?
22:17 What Shikha doesn't compromise on anymore
24:06 Specific aspects of company culture
25:16 The impact of virtual on company culture
26:55 Important life lessons
28:43 Juggling being a professional pastry chef with a career in tech
30:32 Saying no to things to create time
31:52 Calendar blocks
32:50 Road trip from California to Vermont
36:20 Virtual pastry classes

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Here are some relevant links from the conversation:

Bridgewater Associates
Ray Dalio
Principles by Ray Dalio
Young, Gifted, and Non-dominant
CORE at Columbia
ABRA, a cryptocurrency startup
Richard Feynman
Rachel Syme, a writer

Show notes:

1:29 100+ hours of user interviews
2:49 Interviewing a Bletchley park code breaker
4:11 How payments in the US differ from Europe
5:32 What is Bridgewater Associates?
7:09 The culture at Bridgewater
8:23 Discovering blind spots
14:42 Building product at Bridgewater
18:16 How Kevin landed his position
21:19 Growing up in Southern California
21:39 Kevin's love of reading
27:20 Kevin's first job working with city's Community and Parks Dept.
28:42 Co-founding Young, Gifted, and Non-Dominant
32:27 Serving as President of CORE at Columbia University
38:38 How Kevin plans to make future career decisions
40:25 "Seek out the counter-cultural. Live out your counter narrative. And dare to imagine better."
44:41 Kevin's perfect day