Louisa Barrett of Haught Codeworks tells us about how to become an effective junior developer. We also speak in depth about how to become a better teacher. Here's what to listen for:  01:54 - Who is a junior developer? 02:59 - How did you go from going to an art school to wanting to learn about code? 06:43 - How long did it take to become a junior developer? 08:14 - How comfortable were you when you first started working out of bootcamp? 09:16 - How well do you feel that the dev bootcamp prepared you for starting a job? 11:39 - Why is networking so important? 14:02 - Why is it so hard to find a mentor? 15:17 - What does a mentor help with? 21:27 - What is the difference between a helper and a teacher? 26:04 - How does one become a better teacher? 28:56 - Once you get out of a boot camp, what kind of companies are best to join? 36:18 - How to junior developers get off on the right foot? 37:48 - Why is pair programming important?

Louisa Barrett of Haught Codeworks tells us about how to become an effective junior developer. We also speak in depth about how to become a better teacher. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>01:54 - Who is a junior developer?</li> <li>02:59 - How did you go from going to an art school to wanting to learn about code?</li> <li>06:43 - How long did it take to become a junior developer?</li> <li>08:14 - How comfortable were you when you first started working out of bootcamp?</li> <li>09:16 - How well do you feel that the dev bootcamp prepared you for starting a job?</li> <li>11:39 - Why is networking so important?</li> <li>14:02 - Why is it so hard to find a mentor?</li> <li>15:17 - What does a mentor help with?</li> <li>21:27 - What is the difference between a helper and a teacher?</li> <li>26:04 - How does one become a better teacher?</li> <li>28:56 - Once you get out of a boot camp, what kind of companies are best to join?</li> <li>36:18 - How to junior developers get off on the right foot?</li> <li>37:48 - Why is pair programming important?</li></ul>

How to Become an Effective Junior Developer

Diana Smith of Segment tells us how to get the most out of our analytics tools. In the pursuit of trying to be data-driven, we have been conditioned to track everything. Diana tells us why this can be dangerous if we want to draw useful insights from our data. Here's what to listen for:  00:49 - What specifically are we talking about when we are talking about analytics in this context? 01:55 - What is the difference between user path and funnel tracking? 03:10 - Are there tools similar to Kissmetrics Path Report tool? 03:57 - If I’ve got my own database, why should I be using some sort of other analytics tool when I could just easily track events that happen on my database as it is? 05:43 - What events should I be tracking? 07:22 - When I set up what these events are, does it matter how I name them? 08:19 - What is the best naming convention? 09:14 - Why should I start only with just tracking a few events? 10:53 - What kind of info should I be putting in these properties? 13:16 - How do you connect and keep track of the who the referrer is? How does that work? 14:45 - How important are user demographics for data and tracking? 19:59 - How should I make use of the data that I’m collecting? 23:25 - Do you recommend that people create a bunch of accounts on these different sites and then choose one? How do you deal with the paradox of choice? 24:57 - What types of other analytics tools are out there? 26:33 - How do you decide which of these tools to use? What sort of questions should I be asking around “which one is right for me”? 31:54 - Are there any can-not-ignore metrics? 33:03 - How do I actually try and make a connection between the action that I’ve taken and the results that I’m seeing? 34:34 - Do you recommend waiting and focusing on qualitative things over quantitative? 36:42 - Is there a number you should be looking for in terms of when things should be statistically significant? 37:19 - In terms of doing the qualitative work that you talk about, and maybe trying to use quantitative data to make it match up with the qualitative data, or at least help … are there any specific strategies that you recommend for going out and getting that qualitative data? 38:51 - Let’s say that I am collecting enough data at this point. Even though I have a baseline for myself and my company, how do I know whether or not that’s a good baseline?

Diana Smith of Segment tells us how to get the most out of our analytics tools. In the pursuit of trying to be data-driven, we have been conditioned to track everything. Diana tells us why this can be dangerous if we want to draw useful insights from our data. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>00:49 - What specifically are we talking about when we are talking about analytics in this context?</li> <li>01:55 - What is the difference between user path and funnel tracking?</li> <li>03:10 - Are there tools similar to Kissmetrics Path Report tool?</li> <li>03:57 - If I’ve got my own database, why should I be using some sort of other analytics tool when I could just easily track events that happen on my database as it is?</li> <li>05:43 - What events should I be tracking?</li> <li>07:22 - When I set up what these events are, does it matter how I name them?</li> <li>08:19 - What is the best naming convention?</li> <li>09:14 - Why should I start only with just tracking a few events?</li> <li>10:53 - What kind of info should I be putting in these properties?</li> <li>13:16 - How do you connect and keep track of the who the referrer is? How does that work?</li> <li>14:45 - How important are user demographics for data and tracking?</li> <li>19:59 - How should I make use of the data that I’m collecting?</li> <li>23:25 - Do you recommend that people create a bunch of accounts on these different sites and then choose one? How do you deal with the paradox of choice?</li> <li>24:57 - What types of other analytics tools are out there?</li> <li>26:33 - How do you decide which of these tools to use? What sort of questions should I be asking around “which one is right for me”?</li> <li>31:54 - Are there any can-not-ignore metrics?</li> <li>33:03 - How do I actually try and make a connection between the action that I’ve taken and the results that I’m seeing?</li> <li>34:34 - Do you recommend waiting and focusing on qualitative things over quantitative?</li> <li>36:42 - Is there a number you should be looking for in terms of when things should be statistically significant?</li> <li>37:19 - In terms of doing the qualitative work that you talk about, and maybe trying to use quantitative data to make it match up with the qualitative data, or at least help … are there any specific strategies that you recommend for going out and getting that qualitative data?</li> <li>38:51 - Let’s say that I am collecting enough data at this point. Even though I have a baseline for myself and my company, how do I know whether or not that’s a good baseline?</li></ul>

Making the Most of Your Analytics

Sarah Doody, a UX designer, consultant, and writer, tells us how to build products with great user experiences. We will hear why user experience is far more important than design. Here's what to listen for:  00:46 - What is Sarah’s background in UX (User Experience)? 03:09 - What is the distinction between the experience and the interface? 05:53 - How do you create the ideal team at a startup? 10:53 - What is the distinction between experiential design and visual design? 13:14 - Which comes first: experiential design or visual design? 14:34 - What’s the process for evaluating the UX of an app? 19:01 - How do you get customers to use your product the way that it’s intended to be used? 20:22 - What mistakes do you see in the UX of an app once you are past the onboarding flow? 24:26 - How does user experience get compromised? 29:10 - How can you get back on track? 33:00 - How is product development like storytelling? 37:39 - What is a storyboard? 41:30 - Is a storyboard like a comic strip? 43:16 - How do you evaluate whether a developer is good or not at UX design?

Sarah Doody, a UX designer, consultant, and writer, tells us how to build products with great user experiences. We will hear why user experience is far more important than design. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>00:46 - What is Sarah’s background in UX (User Experience)?</li> <li>03:09 - What is the distinction between the experience and the interface?</li> <li>05:53 - How do you create the ideal team at a startup?</li> <li>10:53 - What is the distinction between experiential design and visual design?</li> <li>13:14 - Which comes first: experiential design or visual design?</li> <li>14:34 - What’s the process for evaluating the UX of an app?</li> <li>19:01 - How do you get customers to use your product the way that it’s intended to be used?</li> <li>20:22 - What mistakes do you see in the UX of an app once you are past the onboarding flow?</li> <li>24:26 - How does user experience get compromised?</li> <li>29:10 - How can you get back on track?</li> <li>33:00 - How is product development like storytelling?</li> <li>37:39 - What is a storyboard?</li> <li>41:30 - Is a storyboard like a comic strip?</li> <li>43:16 - How do you evaluate whether a developer is good or not at UX design?</li></ul>

How to Deliver a Successful User Experience

Ben Orenstein of Upcase tells us how to go from a junior to a senior developer. He reveals a number of things senior developers do that junior developers don't. Here's what to listen for:  02:34 - Would a degree in computer science benefit somebody who is interested in starting programming? 03:23 - How do you convince people that getting a computer science degree isn’t necessary? 08:41 - What is the path from zero to junior developer? 14:16 - How do you define what a junior developer is? 15:35 - What goals are junior developers making? 17:24 - How was Upcase started? What was the focus/goal? 19:43 - What might an intermediate developer be doing that a junior developer isn’t? 21:50 - What is the difference between TDD (test-driven development) and writing tests after you write your code? 26:15 - Where do you look for your first job? How do you go about getting hired? 30:01 - How do deal with impostor syndrome when applying for a job? 32:46 - What kind of qualities that you look for when making a hiring decision for junior developers? 33:55 - How can you create a work environment for junior developers that helps them get better? 35:33 - What did Ben mean by, “To become a better programmer, one should practice like a musician.”?

Ben Orenstein of Upcase tells us how to go from a junior to a senior developer. He reveals a number of things senior developers do that junior developers don't. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>02:34 - Would a degree in computer science benefit somebody who is interested in starting programming?</li> <li>03:23 - How do you convince people that getting a computer science degree isn’t necessary?</li> <li>08:41 - What is the path from zero to junior developer?</li> <li>14:16 - How do you define what a junior developer is?</li> <li>15:35 - What goals are junior developers making?</li> <li>17:24 - How was Upcase started? What was the focus/goal?</li> <li>19:43 - What might an intermediate developer be doing that a junior developer isn’t?</li> <li>21:50 - What is the difference between TDD (test-driven development) and writing tests after you write your code?</li> <li>26:15 - Where do you look for your first job? How do you go about getting hired?</li> <li>30:01 - How do deal with impostor syndrome when applying for a job?</li> <li>32:46 - What kind of qualities that you look for when making a hiring decision for junior developers?</li> <li>33:55 - How can you create a work environment for junior developers that helps them get better?</li> <li>35:33 - What did Ben mean by, “To become a better programmer, one should practice like a musician.”?</li></ul>

Going from Junior to Senior Developer

Lincoln Ritter, director of engineering at Animoto, shares how they use data to make more informed product decisions. Here's what to listen for:  02:01 What can we do with data? 04:21 Why should a company care about data and trends? 08:02 How can you become more data-driven? 12:28 How can you get more people involved in caring about data? 16:41 What are the tradeoffs when it comes to agility in software development? 18:29 How do you combat paralysis and help people on your team understand the data better? 20:58 Is data-supported a better term than data-driven? 22:50 What’s the difference between data engineering and data science? 24:59 How do you get data in the right format? 25:59 What kind of question might you have that requires information from multiple sources? 30:13 How do you decouple, consolidate, and keep data separate? 33:01 Do you think real-time data is necessary? 35:06 How would Animoto look at data and make a product decision? 39:04 When is split-testing useful and not useful?

Lincoln Ritter, director of engineering at Animoto, shares how they use data to make more informed product decisions. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>02:01 What can we do with data?</li> <li>04:21 Why should a company care about data and trends?</li> <li>08:02 How can you become more data-driven?</li> <li>12:28 How can you get more people involved in caring about data?</li> <li>16:41 What are the tradeoffs when it comes to agility in software development?</li> <li>18:29 How do you combat paralysis and help people on your team understand the data better?</li> <li>20:58 Is data-supported a better term than data-driven?</li> <li>22:50 What’s the difference between data engineering and data science?</li> <li>24:59 How do you get data in the right format?</li> <li>25:59 What kind of question might you have that requires information from multiple sources?</li> <li>30:13 How do you decouple, consolidate, and keep data separate?</li> <li>33:01 Do you think real-time data is necessary?</li> <li>35:06 How would Animoto look at data and make a product decision?</li> <li>39:04 When is split-testing useful and not useful?</li></ul>

Using Data to Make Informed Product Decisions

Abby Covert, author of How to Make Sense of Any Mess, teaches us about information architecture, a subject she strongly feels is a core life skill. She's seen people get fired over language and informs us that – quite obviously in hindsight – architecture is less expensive than design. Here's what to listen for:  00:44 What is information architecture? 01:52 How is information architecture used specifically in building software? 04:25 Is information architecture synonymous with customer development? 04:52 Is information architecture as a practice pervasive and can it be used in multiple contexts? 06:28 How do we make sure everybody’s on the same page? 10:24 What does deciding what language to use entail? 13:27 How do you get started with information architecture? 15:06 Does everybody on the team need to be involved in the information architecture/design process? 17:49 Are there a range of emotions/feelings about people’s involvement in architecture design? 19:34 What is meant by a “mess”? 20:53 How do you get customers involved in the information architecture process? 24:01 Why should you consider architecture before design? 25:18 How can we make sure we’re going about naming things properly?

Abby Covert, author of How to Make Sense of Any Mess, teaches us about information architecture, a subject she strongly feels is a core life skill. She's seen people get fired over language and informs us that – quite obviously in hindsight – architecture is less expensive than design. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>00:44 What is information architecture?</li> <li>01:52 How is information architecture used specifically in building software?</li> <li>04:25 Is information architecture synonymous with customer development?</li> <li>04:52 Is information architecture as a practice pervasive and can it be used in multiple contexts?</li> <li>06:28 How do we make sure everybody’s on the same page?</li> <li>10:24 What does deciding what language to use entail?</li> <li>13:27 How do you get started with information architecture?</li> <li>15:06 Does everybody on the team need to be involved in the information architecture/design process?</li> <li>17:49 Are there a range of emotions/feelings about people’s involvement in architecture design?</li> <li>19:34 What is meant by a “mess”?</li> <li>20:53 How do you get customers involved in the information architecture process?</li> <li>24:01 Why should you consider architecture before design?</li> <li>25:18 How can we make sure we’re going about naming things properly?</li></ul>

How to Do Information Architecture

Sven Lenaerts joins us to share his expertise on product design and user experience.  This conversation includes some thoughts on MVPs, when to hire a designer, and what a product person really does. Here's what to listen for:  00:46 What do you do as a product designer and UI/UX designer? 04:18 What should I figure out before I talk to a designer or developer about building a product? 07:01 What things can I do inexpensively that are lower-risk to see if building an app is the right solution for the problem I am trying to solve? 12:35 What are the biggest mistakes people make when trying to define their Minimum Viable Product (MVP)? 15:29 Should you do much experimentation before the product goes out into the wild? 17:53 What do you do when clients are including features in their MVP that they shouldn’t be? 21:22 How do you formulate conversations to make sure the vision of the product is realized? What do those conversations look like? 27:13 Does your vision document have a narrative start/finish to it? 31:17 What “expensive mistakes” can be made when building products? 34:58 Are there any qualities that would distinguish a good product person from a bad one? 38:38 What can I do if I want to stretch my skills and be a little risky without feeling like I’m putting a client at risk? 44:32 What do you do when you find yourself becoming cynical about product ideas and features? 50:06 What can I do to help a UI/UX design person do their best work?

Sven Lenaerts joins us to share his expertise on product design and user experience. This conversation includes some thoughts on MVPs, when to hire a designer, and what a product person really does. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>00:46 What do you do as a product designer and UI/UX designer?</li> <li>04:18 What should I figure out before I talk to a designer or developer about building a product?</li> <li>07:01 What things can I do inexpensively that are lower-risk to see if building an app is the right solution for the problem I am trying to solve?</li> <li>12:35 What are the biggest mistakes people make when trying to define their Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?</li> <li>15:29 Should you do much experimentation before the product goes out into the wild?</li> <li>17:53 What do you do when clients are including features in their MVP that they shouldn’t be?</li> <li>21:22 How do you formulate conversations to make sure the vision of the product is realized? What do those conversations look like?</li> <li>27:13 Does your vision document have a narrative start/finish to it?</li> <li>31:17 What “expensive mistakes” can be made when building products?</li> <li>34:58 Are there any qualities that would distinguish a good product person from a bad one?</li> <li>38:38 What can I do if I want to stretch my skills and be a little risky without feeling like I’m putting a client at risk?</li> <li>44:32 What do you do when you find yourself becoming cynical about product ideas and features?</li> <li>50:06 What can I do to help a UI/UX design person do their best work?</li></ul>

Product Design and User Experience

James Ward shares how the hosting landscape has changed for web applications over the years and how you can avoid some of his middle-of-the-night pager nightmares. Here's what to listen for:  00:47 What are the differences between hosting services? 05:19 What is a sysadmin? 07:14 What is the advantage of having people or a service do system administration for you? 09:23 What are some things that Heroku does for you that a lower-level server won’t? 13:36 Given all the choices out there, how do you think about where to host your application? 17:28 Why might one want to switch between servers? 21:58 What are container technologies and why do they matter? 24:42 What is virtualization? 26:44 Why are app servers fading away? 30:02 Are add-ons the way to think about services that are broken out? 32:06 Should startups use services like Heroku to start out or roll it yourself? 35:13 Why do people want to/think it’s easy to manage production systems themselves? 37:01 When should you begin thinking about the scalability of an app? 45:33 What is the right way to handle multithreading in Ruby? 48:12 What does “stateless” mean? Why should app servers be stateless?

James Ward shares how the hosting landscape has changed for web applications over the years and how you can avoid some of his middle-of-the-night pager nightmares. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>00:47 What are the differences between hosting services?</li> <li>05:19 What is a sysadmin?</li> <li>07:14 What is the advantage of having people or a service do system administration for you?</li> <li>09:23 What are some things that Heroku does for you that a lower-level server won’t?</li> <li>13:36 Given all the choices out there, how do you think about where to host your application?</li> <li>17:28 Why might one want to switch between servers?</li> <li>21:58 What are container technologies and why do they matter?</li> <li>24:42 What is virtualization?</li> <li>26:44 Why are app servers fading away?</li> <li>30:02 Are add-ons the way to think about services that are broken out?</li> <li>32:06 Should startups use services like Heroku to start out or roll it yourself?</li> <li>35:13 Why do people want to/think it’s easy to manage production systems themselves?</li> <li>37:01 When should you begin thinking about the scalability of an app?</li> <li>45:33 What is the right way to handle multithreading in Ruby?</li> <li>48:12 What does “stateless” mean? Why should app servers be stateless?</li></ul>

Modern Web Architecture Fundamentals

Jonathan Cornelissen tells us about DataCamp, the need for data scientists, and how to become one yourself. We also learn about some popular languages and libraries for analyzing data. Here's what to listen for:  00:43 What is the story behind DataCamp? 02:06 What is data science? 02:52 What kind of xdata is out there that can be analyzed? 04:46 Do I need a scientific or statistical background to work with data science? 05:26 Does DataCamp help establish a theoretical background? 06:21 Do only big companies need data science? 07:16 What is big data? 07:58 Can the term big data be used interchangeably with data science? 09:08 Do you need a “billion dollar budget” to build a data science team? What kind of people do I need to build that kind of team? 12:08 What is behind the shortage of data scientists? 12:48 What can a startup do to incorporate data science into their team? 13:45 What is meant by data savvy? 14:10 What do you do with the data once it’s collected? 14:50 What is cohort analysis? 15:42 Once users are segmented, what could you do at that point? 16:21 Are correlations the primary sort of analysis? 17:14 Are people trying to make causative claims out of correlative data? 18:23 What are some other examples of techniques in addition to correlation? 18:55 Are there any other interesting algorithms out there that people are using? 20:07 Are these analyses run offline or real-time? 20:37 What is the Spark framework? 21:10 What is the R language? 24:09 Where does R fit in in a company? 24:47 Is R being run by a human or is there also a sense of R running on the server to serve up recommendations? 25:30 Is R still evolving as a language? 25:58 Is there anything people should try to learn before trying to tackle R as a language? 26:52 Why learn a language like R? 28:27 Does R allow you the ability to communicate the insights that you’re getting from the data that you’ve analyzed to build a narrative to help the non-technical people on your team? 29:19 Is visualizing the data that we get back important to our understanding of that data? Why? 29:57 Does DataCamp help people visualize data? 30:51 Aside from R, what other tools are out there that a data scientist would use? 31:23 What is Hadoop? 33:09 What is the concept of MapReduce? 33:42 What is the mark of a good data scientist? 35:30 Why do you need domain expertise? 38:30 How are people becoming aware of data science? Where do these people start?

Jonathan Cornelissen tells us about DataCamp, the need for data scientists, and how to become one yourself. We also learn about some popular languages and libraries for analyzing data. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>00:43 What is the story behind DataCamp?</li> <li>02:06 What is data science?</li> <li>02:52 What kind of xdata is out there that can be analyzed?</li> <li>04:46 Do I need a scientific or statistical background to work with data science?</li> <li>05:26 Does DataCamp help establish a theoretical background?</li> <li>06:21 Do only big companies need data science?</li> <li>07:16 What is big data?</li> <li>07:58 Can the term big data be used interchangeably with data science?</li> <li>09:08 Do you need a “billion dollar budget” to build a data science team? What kind of people do I need to build that kind of team?</li> <li>12:08 What is behind the shortage of data scientists?</li> <li>12:48 What can a startup do to incorporate data science into their team?</li> <li>13:45 What is meant by data savvy?</li> <li>14:10 What do you do with the data once it’s collected?</li> <li>14:50 What is cohort analysis?</li> <li>15:42 Once users are segmented, what could you do at that point?</li> <li>16:21 Are correlations the primary sort of analysis?</li> <li>17:14 Are people trying to make causative claims out of correlative data?</li> <li>18:23 What are some other examples of techniques in addition to correlation?</li> <li>18:55 Are there any other interesting algorithms out there that people are using?</li> <li>20:07 Are these analyses run offline or real-time?</li> <li>20:37 What is the Spark framework?</li> <li>21:10 What is the R language?</li> <li>24:09 Where does R fit in in a company?</li> <li>24:47 Is R being run by a human or is there also a sense of R running on the server to serve up recommendations?</li> <li>25:30 Is R still evolving as a language?</li> <li>25:58 Is there anything people should try to learn before trying to tackle R as a language?</li> <li>26:52 Why learn a language like R?</li> <li>28:27 Does R allow you the ability to communicate the insights that you’re getting from the data that you’ve analyzed to build a narrative to help the non-technical people on your team?</li> <li>29:19 Is visualizing the data that we get back important to our understanding of that data? Why?</li> <li>29:57 Does DataCamp help people visualize data?</li> <li>30:51 Aside from R, what other tools are out there that a data scientist would use?</li> <li>31:23 What is Hadoop?</li> <li>33:09 What is the concept of MapReduce?</li> <li>33:42 What is the mark of a good data scientist?</li> <li>35:30 Why do you need domain expertise?</li> <li>38:30 How are people becoming aware of data science? Where do these people start?</li></ul>

The Rise of the Data Scientist

Jeff Patton, author of User Story Mapping, teaches us how to map user stories by focusing on the user's journey to an outcome. He shares his opinion on the notorious "MVP" and how he helped Gary Levitt build his MVP with Mad Mimi. Here's what to listen for:  00:49 What is a user story? 02:07 What does a user story look like? 02:57 When people refer to user stories do they mean the documentation around the conversations they’ve had? 03:44 Why is just having stories written down in a document not sufficient? 05:47 What is a good user story template? 09:17 What was the motivation for writing User Story Mapping? 11:44 Is the concept of a “map” about the narrative of a user’s journey? 17:36 How did Jeff help Gary from Mad Mimi get clarity on what he was doing? 20:54 Why were things taking longer for Gary when he came to you? 23:31 What does Jeff’s road mapping process look like? 26:47 What was it about Jeff and Gary’s conversation that took him from having a giant backlog to organizing user stories? 29:36 What is your definition of a “minimum viable product” (MVP)? 34:41 Why do you want to build something “less than minimal” before building the MVP? 39:34 Why is so difficult to put a time estimate on when software will be done? 44:53 What is meant by “scope doesn’t creep, understanding grows”?

Jeff Patton, author of User Story Mapping, teaches us how to map user stories by focusing on the user's journey to an outcome. He shares his opinion on the notorious "MVP" and how he helped Gary Levitt build his MVP with Mad Mimi. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>00:49 What is a user story?</li> <li>02:07 What does a user story look like?</li> <li>02:57 When people refer to user stories do they mean the documentation around the conversations they’ve had?</li> <li>03:44 Why is just having stories written down in a document not sufficient?</li> <li>05:47 What is a good user story template?</li> <li>09:17 What was the motivation for writing User Story Mapping?</li> <li>11:44 Is the concept of a “map” about the narrative of a user’s journey?</li> <li>17:36 How did Jeff help Gary from Mad Mimi get clarity on what he was doing?</li> <li>20:54 Why were things taking longer for Gary when he came to you?</li> <li>23:31 What does Jeff’s road mapping process look like?</li> <li>26:47 What was it about Jeff and Gary’s conversation that took him from having a giant backlog to organizing user stories?</li> <li>29:36 What is your definition of a “minimum viable product” (MVP)?</li> <li>34:41 Why do you want to build something “less than minimal” before building the MVP?</li> <li>39:34 Why is so difficult to put a time estimate on when software will be done?</li> <li>44:53 What is meant by “scope doesn’t creep, understanding grows”?</li></ul>

How to Do User Story Mapping

The Talking Code podcast contains short expert interviews that help you decode what developers are saying. We help non-technical founders, designers, project managers, or anyone who needs a 30,000 foot view of how to run a successful software company.

Michael Bernstein of Code Climate explains how to monitor your code's quality with static analysis. He tells us how you can maintain or improve quality over time, and what you can do to fix poor code. Here's what to listen for:  00:44 What is high quality code? 02:06 What is code that’s easy to read? 04:12 What is overly clever code? 06:44 What is the danger of overly clever code? 07:30 Is code able to document itself? 09:47 When do developers read code? 10:40 Why do people spend more time reading code than writing it? 12:42 What are some common qualities that make for lower-quality code? 15:09 What is a test? 16:50 What is modular code? 17:57 What is unmodular code? 18:37 What is static analysis? 20:56 What does a static analysis tool do? 21:34 What do I do when I receive a poor Code Climate score? 24:25 How do I prioritize changes to my codebase? 29:59 What are hot spots in Code Climate? 32:07 What does Code Climate’s test coverage feature do? 33:45 How do you determine how good your tests are? 34:51 What is a good unit test? 37:09 What is mob refactoring? 37:43 Can you do mob refactoring remotely?

Michael Bernstein of Code Climate explains how to monitor your code's quality with static analysis. He tells us how you can maintain or improve quality over time, and what you can do to fix poor code. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>00:44 What is high quality code?</li> <li>02:06 What is code that’s easy to read?</li> <li>04:12 What is overly clever code?</li> <li>06:44 What is the danger of overly clever code?</li> <li>07:30 Is code able to document itself?</li> <li>09:47 When do developers read code?</li> <li>10:40 Why do people spend more time reading code than writing it?</li> <li>12:42 What are some common qualities that make for lower-quality code?</li> <li>15:09 What is a test?</li> <li>16:50 What is modular code?</li> <li>17:57 What is unmodular code?</li> <li>18:37 What is static analysis?</li> <li>20:56 What does a static analysis tool do?</li> <li>21:34 What do I do when I receive a poor Code Climate score?</li> <li>24:25 How do I prioritize changes to my codebase?</li> <li>29:59 What are hot spots in Code Climate?</li> <li>32:07 What does Code Climate’s test coverage feature do?</li> <li>33:45 How do you determine how good your tests are?</li> <li>34:51 What is a good unit test?</li> <li>37:09 What is mob refactoring?</li> <li>37:43 Can you do mob refactoring remotely?</li></ul>

How to Keep Code Quality High

Anthony Thomas tells us how he made the leap from manufacturing to starting a tech team at Sticker Mule. He explains why your first developer is so critical to your founding team. Here's what to listen for:  00:51 What was your background prior to starting Sticker Mule? 01:39 What was the drive to go from manufacturing into starting Sticker Mule? 03:13 Did you see other companies doing what you wanted to do? 04:02 What was your co-founder’s background? 06:09 Did you start your company as a non-technical founder? 07:42 Should a non-technical person learn how to code? 10:35 Did you build any basic background in tech? 11:40 Are you able to empathize more with developers having learned something about software? 15:09 How did you build a technical team as a non-technical person? 16:56 What interested you about open source? 20:47 What do you think led your first developer to work with you? 22:39 Why did you think the first developer was so critical? 27:42 How are you able to evaluate a developer as a non-technical person? 29:41 How do you guide the roadmap for your team? 34:15 What’s an example of a time you wanted to do feature polish? 35:19 What are some of the biggest productivity killers for your development team? 36:16 What do you mean by incomplete and changing specs? 37:18 What has helped make your specs more concrete? 43:24 What challenges have you faced as you scaled your team? 46:27 What advice would you give Anthony prior to starting Sticker Mule?

Anthony Thomas tells us how he made the leap from manufacturing to starting a tech team at Sticker Mule. He explains why your first developer is so critical to your founding team. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>00:51 What was your background prior to starting Sticker Mule?</li> <li>01:39 What was the drive to go from manufacturing into starting Sticker Mule?</li> <li>03:13 Did you see other companies doing what you wanted to do?</li> <li>04:02 What was your co-founder’s background?</li> <li>06:09 Did you start your company as a non-technical founder?</li> <li>07:42 Should a non-technical person learn how to code?</li> <li>10:35 Did you build any basic background in tech?</li> <li>11:40 Are you able to empathize more with developers having learned something about software?</li> <li>15:09 How did you build a technical team as a non-technical person?</li> <li>16:56 What interested you about open source?</li> <li>20:47 What do you think led your first developer to work with you?</li> <li>22:39 Why did you think the first developer was so critical?</li> <li>27:42 How are you able to evaluate a developer as a non-technical person?</li> <li>29:41 How do you guide the roadmap for your team?</li> <li>34:15 What’s an example of a time you wanted to do feature polish?</li> <li>35:19 What are some of the biggest productivity killers for your development team?</li> <li>36:16 What do you mean by incomplete and changing specs?</li> <li>37:18 What has helped make your specs more concrete?</li> <li>43:24 What challenges have you faced as you scaled your team?</li> <li>46:27 What advice would you give Anthony prior to starting Sticker Mule?</li></ul>

Why Your First Developer is Critical

Tom Dale tells us about building modern web applications that are becoming increasingly like native apps. We discuss JavaScript frameworks like Ember and the future of the web. Here's what to listen for:  00:43 What is the difference between websites and web applications? 03:05 What is a single page web application? 07:39 How is the web different today with client-side interactivity? 10:21 What changes in the way the web works have paved the way for better web apps? 14:30 What do you see on the horizon for the web? 18:52 How is the extensible web manifesto playing out in practice? 21:46 What does it mean for developers that the browsers and standards are moving faster? 25:16 How do you think about the landscape of the various JavaScript frameworks? 29:43 How would you convince me to prefer convention over configuration? 34:14 How do you decide which framework to use? 41:35 Do you think progressive enhancement and unobtrusive JavaScript are still realistic? 52:50 What is the state of the URL in web applications right now? 53:31 What is routing? 55:22 What excites you about the future of Ember?

Tom Dale tells us about building modern web applications that are becoming increasingly like native apps. We discuss JavaScript frameworks like Ember and the future of the web. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>00:43 What is the difference between websites and web applications?</li> <li>03:05 What is a single page web application?</li> <li>07:39 How is the web different today with client-side interactivity?</li> <li>10:21 What changes in the way the web works have paved the way for better web apps?</li> <li>14:30 What do you see on the horizon for the web?</li> <li>18:52 How is the extensible web manifesto playing out in practice?</li> <li>21:46 What does it mean for developers that the browsers and standards are moving faster?</li> <li>25:16 How do you think about the landscape of the various JavaScript frameworks?</li> <li>29:43 How would you convince me to prefer convention over configuration?</li> <li>34:14 How do you decide which framework to use?</li> <li>41:35 Do you think progressive enhancement and unobtrusive JavaScript are still realistic?</li> <li>52:50 What is the state of the URL in web applications right now?</li> <li>53:31 What is routing?</li> <li>55:22 What excites you about the future of Ember?</li></ul>

Building Modern Web Applications

David Cramer tells us how to catch and fix critical errors that can affect your bottom line. We also discuss the key differences between exceptions and bugs, and how to handle errors gracefully. Here's what to listen for:  00:43 What is an exception? 01:21 What’s the difference between an exception and a bug? 01:56 What might a developer do to cause an exception? 02:30 What is the user’s experience when an exception occurs? 04:32 Do exceptions mean developers aren’t writing code well? 05:40 How can I become aware of the smaller errors that happen? 11:38 Why are logs bad? 12:49 If I can’t sift through logs as a developer, how is Sentry able to sift through it? 13:51 What information do you need to fix an error? 15:52 How do we reproduce bugs? 17:44 Is it possible to use information from bugs to improve automated tests? 18:43 What are my next steps after being notified about an error? 20:19 What are the other side effects you might see from errors? 24:16 Why is it not possible for Sentry to catch bugs? 26:05 What can we do to minimize the chance of exceptions occurring? 28:16 Are there any common things people should test for around exceptions? 30:06 Why do you think people don't do automated testing? 34:21 Are there any best practices on how to handle error display? 36:40 How does Sentry use Sentry to monitor Sentry?

David Cramer tells us how to catch and fix critical errors that can affect your bottom line. We also discuss the key differences between exceptions and bugs, and how to handle errors gracefully. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>00:43 What is an exception?</li> <li>01:21 What’s the difference between an exception and a bug?</li> <li>01:56 What might a developer do to cause an exception?</li> <li>02:30 What is the user’s experience when an exception occurs?</li> <li>04:32 Do exceptions mean developers aren’t writing code well?</li> <li>05:40 How can I become aware of the smaller errors that happen?</li> <li>11:38 Why are logs bad?</li> <li>12:49 If I can’t sift through logs as a developer, how is Sentry able to sift through it?</li> <li>13:51 What information do you need to fix an error?</li> <li>15:52 How do we reproduce bugs?</li> <li>17:44 Is it possible to use information from bugs to improve automated tests?</li> <li>18:43 What are my next steps after being notified about an error?</li> <li>20:19 What are the other side effects you might see from errors?</li> <li>24:16 Why is it not possible for Sentry to catch bugs?</li> <li>26:05 What can we do to minimize the chance of exceptions occurring?</li> <li>28:16 Are there any common things people should test for around exceptions?</li> <li>30:06 Why do you think people don't do automated testing?</li> <li>34:21 Are there any best practices on how to handle error display?</li> <li>36:40 How does Sentry use Sentry to monitor Sentry?</li></ul>

How to Fix Errors Quickly

Randy Rayess tells us when and how you should outsource development of your software, how to reduce your risk, and the way your team should think about feature prioritization. Here's what to listen for:  00:52 Why do companies outsource software development? 02:10 What’s the difference between companies that have technology as their core product and “tech-enabled” companies? 05:17 What should you look for in an outsourced development team? 08:03 Why are tools important to you? 09:19 Do you also look at hiring companies to see what tools they use? 11:13 Are there any particular tools that you recommend for remote teams? 14:52 What can I best do to prepare for my first meeting with a development shop? 17:21 How do I go from a high level overview to something I can hand over to developers? 20:13 What should people use to create mockups? 22:52 If you have user stories and flows, is that enough to get an estimate? 25:38 Is there a risk to the client of doing a fixed bid project? 28:45 As a client, what can I do to reduce my risk? 31:57 Should you focus on the critical path first? 36:36 When clients have bad experiences with outsourcing, where do things usually go wrong? 39:20 How do you address a problem that’s occurring with your outsourced team?

Randy Rayess tells us when and how you should outsource development of your software, how to reduce your risk, and the way your team should think about feature prioritization. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>00:52 Why do companies outsource software development?</li> <li>02:10 What’s the difference between companies that have technology as their core product and “tech-enabled” companies?</li> <li>05:17 What should you look for in an outsourced development team?</li> <li>08:03 Why are tools important to you?</li> <li>09:19 Do you also look at hiring companies to see what tools they use?</li> <li>11:13 Are there any particular tools that you recommend for remote teams?</li> <li>14:52 What can I best do to prepare for my first meeting with a development shop?</li> <li>17:21 How do I go from a high level overview to something I can hand over to developers?</li> <li>20:13 What should people use to create mockups?</li> <li>22:52 If you have user stories and flows, is that enough to get an estimate?</li> <li>25:38 Is there a risk to the client of doing a fixed bid project?</li> <li>28:45 As a client, what can I do to reduce my risk?</li> <li>31:57 Should you focus on the critical path first?</li> <li>36:36 When clients have bad experiences with outsourcing, where do things usually go wrong?</li> <li>39:20 How do you address a problem that’s occurring with your outsourced team?</li></ul>

When and How to Outsource Your Software Development

Brad Van Vugt and Matt Harris talk about transactional emails – how to send your users emails they'll act on at critical moments in your application's lifecycle. Here's what to listen for:   00:49 What is a transactional email and how is this different from a regular email?   01:26 Can you give me some examples of transactions?   01:56 How does a transactional email work?   02:49 Do you have some examples of what times transactional emails get sent?   03:53 Are transactional emails more personal than marketing emails?   04:43 In a lot of web apps emails are tucked away in code; what’s wrong with this?   05:47 What’s the difference between emails being owned by developers and the rest of the code?   08:35 What’s the difference between plain text and HTML emails?   09:55 How can you tell what emails perform better or worse?   11:00 How are you able to declare the winner of an A/B test?   15:25 If you were to open an email and you don’t have images turned on but they do click a link, do you go back and retroactively tag that email?   16:27 What separates great transactional emails?   19:18 What should you be using as the from address for your emails?   20:32 What’s the experience if I have a noreply transactional email in my inbox and I reply?   23:32 How do we maintain the ability to have emails get personal data from the application into email?   28:41 What is the nontechnical person able to customize?   29:51 Is your templating language pretty accessible to someone who’s nontechnical? 

Brad Van Vugt and Matt Harris talk about transactional emails – how to send your users emails they'll act on at critical moments in your application's lifecycle. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li> 00:49 What is a transactional email and how is this different from a regular email? </li> <li> 01:26 Can you give me some examples of transactions? </li> <li> 01:56 How does a transactional email work? </li> <li> 02:49 Do you have some examples of what times transactional emails get sent? </li> <li> 03:53 Are transactional emails more personal than marketing emails? </li> <li> 04:43 In a lot of web apps emails are tucked away in code; what’s wrong with this? </li> <li> 05:47 What’s the difference between emails being owned by developers and the rest of the code? </li> <li> 08:35 What’s the difference between plain text and HTML emails? </li> <li> 09:55 How can you tell what emails perform better or worse? </li> <li> 11:00 How are you able to declare the winner of an A/B test? </li> <li> 15:25 If you were to open an email and you don’t have images turned on but they do click a link, do you go back and retroactively tag that email? </li> <li> 16:27 What separates great transactional emails? </li> <li> 19:18 What should you be using as the from address for your emails? </li> <li> 20:32 What’s the experience if I have a noreply transactional email in my inbox and I reply? </li> <li> 23:32 How do we maintain the ability to have emails get personal data from the application into email? </li> <li> 28:41 What is the nontechnical person able to customize? </li> <li> 29:51 Is your templating language pretty accessible to someone who’s nontechnical? </li></ul>

How to Email Your Users at Critical Moments

Justine Jordan explains how your company should treat email, the difference between designing for email and the web, and what you can do to up your open rates. Here's what to listen for:  00:44 How are most people reading email today? 02:46 What are most companies doing to send email? 04:23 What’s the distinction between transactional and marketing email companies? 06:58 What are the downsides of building your own email platform? 08:35 What are the differences between Mailchimp and Mandrill? 11:30 Is designing an email the same thing as designing a web page? 14:10 What does it mean practically that email and web are different? 16:36 Why is that you might design an email and it looks great in Gmail but it looks completely different in Outlook? 20:20 How do you feel about automated CSS inlining? 22:53 What is responsive design, how does it work, and what does it mean for email? 25:57 Are there any challenges with non-integrated design and development teams where a designer is building an email to look a certain way and now a developer has to try to make it work on different devices? 29:45 What’s the experience difference between responsive and non-responsive emails? 32:57 What happens to my business if my emails look bad on mobile devices? 34:55 What are good takeaways for teams trying to make their emails look good everywhere? 36:25 As a startup, how much work should I be putting into my emails? 38:36 What can I do to support my developers in making email easier? 40:34 Can you share what Litmus does?

Justine Jordan explains how your company should treat email, the difference between designing for email and the web, and what you can do to up your open rates. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>00:44 How are most people reading email today?</li> <li>02:46 What are most companies doing to send email?</li> <li>04:23 What’s the distinction between transactional and marketing email companies?</li> <li>06:58 What are the downsides of building your own email platform?</li> <li>08:35 What are the differences between Mailchimp and Mandrill?</li> <li>11:30 Is designing an email the same thing as designing a web page?</li> <li>14:10 What does it mean practically that email and web are different?</li> <li>16:36 Why is that you might design an email and it looks great in Gmail but it looks completely different in Outlook?</li> <li>20:20 How do you feel about automated CSS inlining?</li> <li>22:53 What is responsive design, how does it work, and what does it mean for email?</li> <li>25:57 Are there any challenges with non-integrated design and development teams where a designer is building an email to look a certain way and now a developer has to try to make it work on different devices?</li> <li>29:45 What’s the experience difference between responsive and non-responsive emails?</li> <li>32:57 What happens to my business if my emails look bad on mobile devices?</li> <li>34:55 What are good takeaways for teams trying to make their emails look good everywhere?</li> <li>36:25 As a startup, how much work should I be putting into my emails?</li> <li>38:36 What can I do to support my developers in making email easier?</li> <li>40:34 Can you share what Litmus does?</li></ul>

Stop Treating Email Like the Web

Fred Stevens-Smith of Rainforest explains the need for quality assurance testing and how to actually do it in the resource constrained environment of a startup. Here's what to listen for:  4:06 What is quality assurance testing? 5:19 What are the main differences between an automated test and a QA test? 7:11 For those of us that have automated tests, do I still need QA tests run by hand? 11:41 What is the difference between an integration test and a unit test? 14:48 What is the Document Object Model (DOM)? 17:49 Who should be writing QA tests? 21:10 How do I shift my perspective from building things to breaking them? 23:33 Why is it problematic to leave QA for the last minute? 27:14 How thorough do our tests need to be? 30:23 What do you to minimize the cost of the time it takes to test? 39:30 How do you balance your team owning QA without getting distracted by building a QA team?

Fred Stevens-Smith of Rainforest explains the need for quality assurance testing and how to actually do it in the resource constrained environment of a startup. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>4:06 What is quality assurance testing?</li> <li>5:19 What are the main differences between an automated test and a QA test?</li> <li>7:11 For those of us that have automated tests, do I still need QA tests run by hand?</li> <li>11:41 What is the difference between an integration test and a unit test?</li> <li>14:48 What is the Document Object Model (DOM)?</li> <li>17:49 Who should be writing QA tests?</li> <li>21:10 How do I shift my perspective from building things to breaking them?</li> <li>23:33 Why is it problematic to leave QA for the last minute?</li> <li>27:14 How thorough do our tests need to be?</li> <li>30:23 What do you to minimize the cost of the time it takes to test?</li> <li>39:30 How do you balance your team owning QA without getting distracted by building a QA team?</li></ul>

How To Do Quality Assurance Testing

Jordan Gal of CartHook talks about how he found his technical co-founder, how he de-risked his app before building it, and the tension between business and technology requirements. Here's what to listen for:  2:17 How did CartHook get started? 4:04 How did you find your technical co-founder? 6:55 What stage was CartHook at when you looked for your technical founder? 8:06 What convinced you that you needed to work with someone in-house? 11:35 How was your relationship structured? 14:01 Was your job to just be the idea person? 17:26 What matters to a technical person being approached by a non-technical person? 22:03 What challenges do you face working remotely? 31:21 Should non-technical founders learn how to code? 33:55 How do you stay on the same page with product? 35:15 How do you balance technology and business requirements?

Jordan Gal of CartHook talks about how he found his technical co-founder, how he de-risked his app before building it, and the tension between business and technology requirements. Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>2:17 How did CartHook get started?</li> <li>4:04 How did you find your technical co-founder?</li> <li>6:55 What stage was CartHook at when you looked for your technical founder?</li> <li>8:06 What convinced you that you needed to work with someone in-house?</li> <li>11:35 How was your relationship structured?</li> <li>14:01 Was your job to just be the idea person?</li> <li>17:26 What matters to a technical person being approached by a non-technical person?</li> <li>22:03 What challenges do you face working remotely?</li> <li>31:21 Should non-technical founders learn how to code?</li> <li>33:55 How do you stay on the same page with product?</li> <li>35:15 How do you balance technology and business requirements?</li></ul>

Finding Your Technical Co-Founder

Dave Hoover on coding bootcamps and how immersive learning environments are helping to fix the developer talent shortage. Plus: should you learn to code? Here's what to listen for:  0:44 Why are software developers in such short supply? 3:01 How do developer boot camps help solve the talent shortage? 6:28 How do you onboard junior talent? 8:11 Should I go to a coding school? 11:45 How long does it take to become proficient as a software developer? 15:43 Should I learn how to code as a non-programmer? 21:58 How can I overcome a learning "hump"? 26:23 What's the mark of a great developer? 27:32 How can new developers effectively communicate technical concepts to non-technical team members? 29:53 Is there such a thing as a "10x engineer"? 32:51 What's the best work environment for a recent bootcamp graduate? 34:52 How can I support dev bootcamp graduates as an employer?

Dave Hoover on coding bootcamps and how immersive learning environments are helping to fix the developer talent shortage. Plus: should you learn to code? Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>0:44 Why are software developers in such short supply?</li> <li>3:01 How do developer boot camps help solve the talent shortage?</li> <li>6:28 How do you onboard junior talent?</li> <li>8:11 Should I go to a coding school?</li> <li>11:45 How long does it take to become proficient as a software developer?</li> <li>15:43 Should I learn how to code as a non-programmer?</li> <li>21:58 How can I overcome a learning "hump"?</li> <li>26:23 What's the mark of a great developer?</li> <li>27:32 How can new developers effectively communicate technical concepts to non-technical team members?</li> <li>29:53 Is there such a thing as a "10x engineer"?</li> <li>32:51 What's the best work environment for a recent bootcamp graduate?</li> <li>34:52 How can I support dev bootcamp graduates as an employer?</li></ul>

How to Fix the Developer Talent Shortage

Great interviewers - they ask solid questions and have brought some talented experts.

Great Podcast

As a project manager at a tech company, Talking Code is a really useful podcast!

Really useful

Talking Code

Basecamp's Ryan Singer on the difference between UI and UX, how to build meaningful solutions for problems and people, and what it means to "scratch the itch." Here's what to listen for:  0:40 What is user interface (UI) design? 3:14 Is focusing on user experience (UX) a distraction? 5:04 Who on the team is most responsible for UX? 5:49 Where should a person with just an idea begin? 6:59 How can a non-technical person judge design deliverables? 10:44 Are there any intermediate deliverables before having someone code up the product itself? 15:40 What questions can a first time founder ask themselves to get more clarity? 20:02 How do you mitigate risk in designing a product? 22:35 What do you do with user and stakeholder feedback? 24:59 What do you do when you feel as though what you’re building should be solving a pain, but it’s not? 27:48 Should I learn how to code?

Basecamp's Ryan Singer on the difference between UI and UX, how to build meaningful solutions for problems and people, and what it means to "scratch the itch." Here's what to listen for: <ul> <li>0:40 What is user interface (UI) design?</li> <li>3:14 Is focusing on user experience (UX) a distraction?</li> <li>5:04 Who on the team is most responsible for UX?</li> <li>5:49 Where should a person with just an idea begin?</li> <li>6:59 How can a non-technical person judge design deliverables?</li> <li>10:44 Are there any intermediate deliverables before having someone code up the product itself?</li> <li>15:40 What questions can a first time founder ask themselves to get more clarity?</li> <li>20:02 How do you mitigate risk in designing a product?</li> <li>22:35 What do you do with user and stakeholder feedback?</li> <li>24:59 What do you do when you feel as though what you’re building should be solving a pain, but it’s not?</li> <li>27:48 Should I learn how to code?</li></ul>

How to Build Meaningful Products

The best podcasts on investing. For anyone interested in the stories in the investing industry, whether it's an interview with Ray Dalio or Ed Thorp to the writer of The Big Short. This topic includes the most fascinating stories from all the best investors. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!

Best Investing Podcasts

The best podcast episodes on global issues affecting everyone. Covering topics such as the #metoo movement, climate change, the impact of technology and some of the biggest global issues facing us right now. For anyone interested in learning more about the world, and some of the issues we're facing, pick an episode below and start listening! Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!