Catalyst

When you’re a small but growing company, sometimes the best people to learn from are the big fish in your industry pond — the friendly ones that don’t eat you. This week Paul and Rich speak with Tracey Zimmerman, President and CEO of Robots & Pencils, a digital innovation firm working on similar projects as Postlight but at double the size. They compare notes with Tracey on what makes a successful innovator, how to build the right teams for your clients, and how to scale your organizational culture. Links: Tracey Zimmerman Twitter Robots & PencilsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Paul and Rich are joined by a new Postlight team member, Director of Product Management Vicky Volvovski. Vicky talks all things product management and breaks down the differences between agency work and product org work. She also shares the six things she looks for when hiring product managers and gives Paul and Rich some solicited feedback.   Links: Postlight CareersSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Paul and Rich respond to a mailbag question! A listener reached out seeking advice on how best to deliver a project pitch to higher-ups at a company. From keeping your presentation short to showing up with deliverables, Paul and Rich break down the best ways to make your idea land with the C-suite.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What does Facebook’s Oversight Board actually do? This week Paul and Rich discuss the immense power that the Oversight Board holds. They talk about what type of oversight should exist and whether the current measures are enough. Also, Rich gets to flex his law degree breaking down the difficulties of translating policy into product.   Links:  Drudge Report  Techmeme  Facebook’s Oversight Board See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hindsight is 20/20. This week Paul and Rich look back at Postlight’s beginnings. Knowing what they know now, they share insights on what they wish they’d done when founding the company. From embracing marketing to betting more chips on design, they reflect on some of the things they missed.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After over a year away, Paul and Rich are vaccinated and back in the office. From the Postlight recording studio, they discuss their experience of returning to the office — overwhelming at first, but ultimately a refreshing reset. They also reflect on the importance of in-person work for effective communication, connection, and planning for the future. Links: Postlight - Digital Transformation for the MTASee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It feels like every week there’s a new tech trend that’s being touted as the next big thing: from the Internet of Things to augmented reality to machine learning. This week Paul and Rich break down some of these trends and tell you if and when you should worry about adopting them. Links:  GhostSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the past year the world saw the development and distribution of the COVID vaccine. This week Paul and Rich share what they observed in watching this process. We talk about how, like the vaccine, with software, you need to be able to take something very complex and make it available to the masses.  Links:  Plex Server  Django CMS   Digital Transformation for the MTA - Postlight See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Why discuss only one topic when you can discuss three! This week Paul and Rich dig into three unrelated but important topics that they’ve had top of mind. They share musings on going back to the office and break down Natural Language Processing (NLP). Then Paul reveals what he learned from watching a two-hour presentation by Salesforce. Links:  Salesforce Einstein  Postlight - WorkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ever wonder how (or why) certain emoji get made? Look no further than Jennifer Daniel, Google’s Chair of the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee — the team that brings new emoji to life. Jennifer gives a brief emoji history lesson and explains how her work creating emoji is surprisingly akin to journalism. She also breaks down the emoji creation and selection process and gives a sneak peek into next year’s releases. Links: Jennifer Daniel - Twitter Unicode Consortium  Draft Emoji Candidates Emoji Kitchen  Noto EmojiSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.