The Tech Blog Writer Podcast - Inspired Tech Startup Stories & Interviews With Tech Leaders, Entrepreneurs And Innovators

In July, Gartner introduced Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM). In practice, CTEM is a set of processes and capabilities that allow organizations to evaluate the accessibility, exposure and exploitability of all digital and physical assets. The objective of CTEM is to create an actionable security posture remediation and improvement plan that business executives can understand, and architecture teams can act on. Haggai Polak, CPO of Skybox Security discusses what this new process means for enterprise security. Haggai also shares how Skybox has observed the approach in practice to help organizations better understand how exposure management can help stay ahead of today's cybersecurity threats.

Simon Mellin and his friends founded Modern Milkman in 2018 to reduce waste while making sustainable choices convenient and accessible to all. Modern Milkman set out to tackle the problem of single-use plastic packaging and food waste to ultimately protect the environment by reinventing the milk round. In today's episode of Tech Talks Daily, Simon shares how his inspiration came after watching David Attenborough's 'Blue Planet' TV show and the global aim of cutting single-use plastics from ending up in the ocean in a trash area five times the size of France. I also learn more about how sustainability, supporting independent suppliers, farmers, and plastic waste reduction remain at the heart of his mission. But it's data and AI that make all this possible. We discuss how Modern Milkman uses technology to deliver on its mission and transform the consumer experience. I learn how critical it is for customers to have what they ordered on time and the key to execution is capturing all the data points and running li

Måns Ulvestam and his co-founders, Karl Rosander and Markus Ahlstrand, sold their shares in Acast to launch a new book, audio, and news platform, Sesamy. The platform allows users to buy only what they need, when they need it, and access it on any device or app through single purchases. In addition, no subscription is needed to access (and own) digital content. They've already rolled out in Sweden and Denmark, and have significant expansion plans in place. By using their own unique SmartID software, Sesamy can ensure a single-purchase option does not cannibalize existing subscription income. Instead, it creates an additional, incremental revenue stream to support publishers and provide consumers with flexible options in a time of considerable financial uncertainty. Sesamy have exciting upcoming plans for this software in the news/magazine sectors in particular. With inflation through the roof, and troubles ahead, the worst is arguably yet to come for those wedded to subscription models. It plausibly figures t

Greg Sloan, CFP®, CEPA, CPM™, is a Chief Purpose Officer and Co-Founder of Go Beyond. This People Development company combines Behavioral Science and Technology to improve well-being in the workplace. With over 25+ years of experience in financial services, Greg is a serial founder who discovered his purpose and wants to share the knowledge of how to achieve this same goal with others. He is a thought leader who centers his time and energy on purpose and people, focusing on purpose in the workplace, the future of work, and financial wellness. Go Beyond's mission is to create scalable, science-based tools and content that can be easily distributed worldwide to enable people to live better lives. They accomplish this by activating purpose in the workplace to help companies recruit, grow, and retain workers. Research shows that aligning company and personal goals improves productivity, retention, and overall wellness in the workplace. After consecutive pandemic years, employee burnout has become a ubiquitous pro

Businesses across the country are already cutting costs amid the looming recession. From hiring freezes to trimming headcount, difficult decisions are already being made. As customers and clients try to cancel and tighten contracts, Kraig Swensrud shares the hardest questions he's getting in the sales and renewals conversations right now, and how to handle them. Kraig has led two companies through acquisition and is now the CEO of Qualified, which just raise $95M for their Series C. Even with an average 4,000% ROI across customers, Kraig is still having to navigate customers trying to cut costs.

Arjun Rai, serial entrepreneur and founder of the crowdsource-funded HelloWoofy.com joins me on Tech Talks Daily to share his story. His passion for technology and helping entrepreneurs and small businesses compete with the unlimited marketing budgets of their corporate competitors through digital marketing and equity fundraising make him a perfect fit for the show. Arjun offers tips for anyone struggling to keep up with post creation, scheduling, integrations etc. For startup founders, he also shares his experiences with equity crowdfunding, scaling a startup and how to survive and thrive as a founder.

Sparkseeker is a new, healthy alternative to current social apps that combines humane data practices, emotional wellness, and social good in one video-centric platform. It's fully built and launched its crowdfunding campaign earlier this summer, and crowdfunding contributors will receive early access to the app's private beta testing phase. As more and more people look to social media to share and further the causes most important to them, Sparkseeker's unique, action-focused features make online advocacy easy. At the same time, Seekers (the app's term for users) can post freely about their everyday lives without worrying about anonymous comments or bots, thanks to the app's fully video-based model. In addition, Sparkseeker's use of responsible technology and neuroscience-supported features ensures a healthier Seeker experience without invasive data practices, harmful algorithms, or in-stream ads. Sparkseeker's Founder and CEO, Kalista Zackhariyas, shares her incredibly engaging story about building a new hea

Claire Vo, Chief Product Officer at Color, shares how she went from tech to healthcare. At Color, Claire leads the engineering, product management, data, and design teams to develop the company's population health platform, services, and technology. She joined Color from Optimizely, where she was Chief Product Officer, building enterprise-grade experimentation and progressive delivery products. After spending her entire career in tech, Claire made the jump into healthcare when she realized how the pandemic revealed just how inaccessible much of the U.S. health infrastructure is for people who need it most. The digital health industry boomed during the pandemic, with a proliferation of new services to address every part of the care ecosystem, but it also revealed just how inaccessible much of the U.S. health infrastructure is for people who need it most. Based on her current position at Color, a company focused on delivering a scalable public health infrastructure for millions, Claire discusses what it means t

François Candelon, Global Director of the BCG Henderson Institute – BCG's research think tank, joins me in a conversation about the growth of the many metaverses. Listen in as we talk about how the race is on to capture digital engagement. With 30 years in tech and as a global team leader analyzing the impact of the Metaverse through research, François discusses what metaverses actually exist and their purpose in shaping the future, from full-second digital lives (for work and play) to gaming communities and even crypto-centric marketplaces. We also talk about how organizations across industries can and must understand these rival metaverses before engaging. Finally, we look into who is winning the Metaverse and who the wild card contenders will be. About François Candelon: François Candelon is the Global Director of the BCG Henderson Institute, Boston Consulting Group's think tank dedicated to exploring and developing valuable new insights from business, technology, economics, and science by embracing the p

Research from Accenture found that most CEOs list becoming a sustainable and responsible business as a top priority, even at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, companies with higher sustainability performance also perform better financially than their peers. As meeting ESG benchmarks becomes a requirement, not simply a goal, Accenture recently shared its sustainability roadmap, including priorities, learnings, and best practices. I invited Accenture's internal global IT organization/Accenture CIO Penelope Prett to join me on Tech Talks Daily to discuss her strategy that focuses on three key pillars: Data: Sustainability commitments require greater access to sustainability data and environmental sustainability reporting tools that can identify trends in specific products or locations and build bridges to end goals. Cloud optimization: Optimizing migrations to the public cloud can reduce global carbon emissions by 59 million tons of CO2 annually. Accenture runs 95% of its infrastructure in the cloud

Venafi®, the inventor and leading provider of machine identity management, recently announced new research findings that evaluate the security impact of the increasing number of nation-state attacks and recent shifts in geopolitics. The survey of over 1,100 security decision-makers (SDMs) globally found that 66% of organizations have changed their cybersecurity strategy as a direct response to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, while nearly two-thirds (64%) suspect their organization has been either directly targeted or impacted by a nation-state cyberattack. I invited Kevin Bocek to join me on the podcast to discuss how cybersecurity has become intertwined with geopolitics, with state-backed hackers using cybercrime to advance their nation's wider political, economic, and military goals. I learn how everyone is a target, and unlike a kinetic warfare attack, only you can defend your business against nation-state cyberattacks. There is no cyber-Iron Dome or cyber-NORAD. Every CEO and board must recognize

Idit Levine, founder, and CEO of Solo.io, shares her inspirational tech startup story with me on Tech Talks Daily. Her journey took her from playing basketball professionally in her home country of Israel to founding Solo.io in 2017, the modern service connectivity company that's already valued at $1 billion! Idit shares with me the lessons she has learned along the way including how to scale as a CEO, hiring in the current market, and how to monetize open-source services.

Greg Gould is the COO of Dexioprotocol (DEXI), a crypto-based gaming company with several utilities. Their flagship product, DexiHunter, aims to be the "Pokemon Go" of cryptocurrency, and it allows players to earn crypto by hunting and collecting bounties around their cities. I invited Greg to join me on Tech Talks Daily to talk about Dexioprotocol and the worldwide adoption of crypto bounty hunting. We discuss how gaming is helping to get more people interested in cryptocurrencies and the future of blockchain, and we reflect on what's happening in the market.

Many B2B companies are struggling to truly innovate their operating models. As a result, leading companies in high-tech, industrial, medical device, and other B2B tech markets are hesitating to take the steps necessary to change how they build and deliver their solutions. They are carrying too much baggage―high labor costs, slow time to customer value, under-responsive sales and services―into a future that won't stand for it. That's true even though the technologies are available to enable the changes NOW. Digital Hesitation is a technology business book that examines why most B2B companies fail to reach the full potential of their digital transformation efforts. The authors join me on Tech Talks Daily to discuss how the book is written from the perspectives of a dozen experts who interact with and advise the world's top technology companies daily. About J.B. Wood J.B. Wood is president and CEO of the Technology & Services Industry Association (TSIA), the leading association for today's technology and ser

Four years ago, I spoke with Todd Olson, millionaire CEO and co-founder of software development platform Pendo - the man on a mission to elevate the world's experiences with software. The serial entrepreneur famously teamed up with product leaders and technologists from Red Hat, Cisco, and Google to launch Pendo in October 2013. Fast forward to 2022, and Pendo has gone on to raise $356 million in venture capital, land more than 2,300 customers, and employ 900 people across seven offices around the globe. Pendo also landed on the Forbes Cloud 100 and Inc. Best Workplaces lists for the fourth year in a row in 2021. Todd returns to Tech Talks Daly to share further insights around the recently released fourth annual State of Product Leadership Report. We explore trends impacting product management, the evolution of the Product Manager role, and how Europe is faring in terms of product-led digital transformation. Todd also talks about how he used his knowledge of the digital economy to help community banks meet su

One is the largest generation in the US, and the other is at the forefront of shaping expectations for brands — so how does marketing to Gen Z and millennials really work? Millennials, born between 1981-1996, make up 23% of the global population and 21% of the US population, meaning they are the largest demographic by age. Gen Z refers to people born between the mid to late '90s and the 2010s and is the most diverse generation in human history. Despite some being close in age, they vary significantly in the type of marketing that resonates with them. For example, Millennials are known for driving a perfect aesthetic, while Gen Z rejected the trend by actively trying to avoid it. This means that to appeal to both generations, businesses must strike the perfect balance of authentic and 'real' while also offering the same sense of aspiration. Carissa Flinders shares with me her insights on what technology each generation is using and how brands can leverage tech to better communicate with audiences. 

I have invited Mark Hughes from DXC technology to join me on Tech Talks Daily to share insights around best practices for securing complex IT environments. We also discuss cyber security approaches for fighting the enemy within and how to make cyber security a top priority for boards and CFOs. Finally, we dare to explore smart security in the metaverse, and Mark shares a few Cyber security tales from the trenches. About Mark: Mark Hughes is president of Security for DXC Technology. He is responsible for DXC's Security business including cyber defense, digital identity, secured infrastructure and security risk management. Mark joined DXC from BT, a world-leading global telecommunications provider, where he most recently served as chief executive of BT Security. He joined BT in 2002 and held a variety of senior appointments, including key government customer-facing roles. In 2013 Mark led the formation of BT Security, which has become a global leader with 3,000 cyber security experts across 15 security operatio

CBRE Group's Chief Digital and Technology Officer Sandeep Dave joins me on Tech Talks Daily Podcast to discuss how technology impacts the commercial real estate industry. I also learn more about how they recently piloted a program to test collaborative tools used in virtual worlds for onboarding, training, and hybrid work. About Sandeep Dave Sandeep Dave leads the company's digital strategy and execution globally. He and his team provide the technology capabilities and infrastructure to support CBRE and CBRE's clients and professionals across the globe. He is also a member of CBRE's Global Executive Committee. Prior to his current role, Dave served as Chief Digital and Technology Officer for CBRE's Global Workplace Solutions business with responsibility for digital enablement and transformation of the business. Prior to CBRE, Dave headed digital strategy and transformation for Citibank leading the firm's digital agenda across businesses and geographies globally. In his role, he helped Citi respond to digital

MailChimp recently decided to clamp down on crypto companies. Given the ramifications of this move for web3 projects, I invited Gerald Heydenreich of EtherMail on the podcast. We discuss how the first Web 3.0 email solution is setting the standard for anonymous and encrypted wallet-to-wallet communication. Think Gmail + MailChimp + Metamask and you have EtherMail. EtherMail recently closed a $3 million seed round, led by top Web3 investors Fabric Ventures and Greenfield One. Founded in Q4 2021 by serial entrepreneurs Shant Kevonian and Gerald Heydenreich, EtherMail is the first web3 tool to allow web3 companies to send rich, relevant content directly to their asset holders based on blockchain-synced real-time information.

When you stream your favorite songs on Spotify, the owners (rightsholders) of that music are eligible to receive money (royalties). On anotherblock, owners of music sell NFTs containing a share of the streaming royalty rights of your favorite songs. As an NFT owner, you will receive your share of the streaming royalties. anotherblock is a community of music lovers building music rights catalogs. The company was founded in 2021 by entrepreneurs Michel D. Traore, Sebastian Ljungberg, and Filip Strömsten. anotherblock was built upon the idea that accessing music rights should be easy and democratic. By connecting music rights to NFTs, anotherblock creates a smooth and easy way to both buy and sell music rights - a community of music lovers building music rights catalogs together with artists. Michel D. Traore joins me on Tech Talks Daily to talk about the story behind the company and improving the value of music by introducing it to a free and open market. I learn more about their mission to solve the instituti