Catalyst

Good design often goes unnoticed, but not for Scott Berkun. In his new book, How Design Makes the World, Scott delves into how both good and bad design affect our daily lives. On this episode, Scott lays out the big questions you must ask about your users: Who do you design for, and why? And how do you avoid unintended harm when designing products? Links:  Scott Berkun  How Design Makes The World  Scott Berkun TwitterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The modern global economy has been built on relatively stable markets, so what happens now that stability is no longer a constant? Paul and Rich ask the big questions about our economic systems: Why is it so difficult to coordinate at scale? What is the best way to optimize a supply chain? And how can we meet everyone’s needs? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Creating a sensation: Jordan Mechner built his first video game in high school, sourcing info from books (there was no internet); a few years later, he concocted the hit game Prince of Persia in his dorm room. On the podcast, Jordan shares an inside look into his new book and chronicles the time he spent building a genre-defining game: his creative process, inspiration for his work, and insights about building games then vs. now.  Links:  Atari 400  Timex Sinclair Doom  Karateka  Jordan Mechner  Stripe Press  The Making of the Prince of Persia - Jordan Mechner  Apple II Breakout  Asteroids  Broderbund Software  Apple Galaxian  Choplifter  Danny Gorlin  Minecraft Templar Comic BookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Shared Crisis: When a stressed client comes to you with an urgent request, it's hard not to panic. The tight deadlines may seem daunting but there are ways to mitigate the crisis. Paul and Rich share their insights on how to lessen stress, limit expectations, and simplify processes to get a product shipped quickly. Some pro tips: take a breath, create a sense of shared responsibility, reduce risk, and don’t forget to sleep!  Links:  McKinsey Airtable  Squarespace  Wix  Booz Allen  Zoho Writer  SAP  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Apologize later: Renowned tech journalist and writer Steven Levy chats about his new book, Facebook: The Inside Story, which peers behind the scenes at the biggest social media monolith of our day. Levy breaks down how he convinced Facebook to give him inside access, what was happening there during the 2016 election, and why Mark Zuckerberg loves Caesar Augustus so much. Caution, books spoilers ahead! Links:  Steven Levy  Hackers - Steven Levy  The Perfect Thing - Steven Levy  Backchannel - WIRED Sandra Upson - WIRED The Devastating Decline of a Brilliant Young Coder - WIRED  Facebook: The Inside Story - Steven Levy Carlyle Group  In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works and Shapes Our Lives - Steven Levy  The Social Network - IMDB Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell  Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer that Changes Everything - Steven Levy See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Paul and Rich have a follow up discussion about Marc Andreessen’s newest article and ask the important question: How can we connect and empower people to create crucial tools for society when the industry has become so transactional? Are we able to create necessary social momentum when there’s no money involved? Paul puts out a plea for Postlight to create a software development kit for education at a platform level. It remains to be seen if VCs are ready to shift their focus to do the same. (Perhaps that’s an idea for Marc Andreessen to think about!)   Links ‘It’s Time To Build’ by Marc Andreessen Marc Andreessen Andreessen Horowitz React Bell Labs Xerox Parc Khan Academy The Last Dance Class Dojo Google Classroom  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There’s a reason to expect criticism: Paul and Rich dig into the newest article from VC Marc Andreessen. In it, Andreessen exhorts Americans to innovate and blames our lack of preparation for the pandemic on a lack of desire to do so. We reflect on the current state of America and how apparent the holes in our social governance have become since COVID-19 (especially the education system). Is there a world where VC and startups can help us improve these old systems? Has social policy towards more privatization led us towards the wrong things being optimized? We look to other innovations that have come from crises and ask: How can you install that startup-style motivation outside of commercial profit? (Spoiler: Marc Andreessen doesn’t have the answer!) Links: “It’s Time to Build” by Marc Andreessen Andreesen Horowitz Marc Andreesen  José Andrés  José Andrés Wants To Feed The World Through The Pandemic See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Brand Safety: Parse.ly founders Andrew Montalenti and Sachin Kamdar chat about their analytics platform and share the content trends they are following during the global pandemic. They discuss how publishers and media outlets are being impacted by COVID-19, and the myriad ways that advertising and brand safety are changing. They also share how to give clarity to clients in a time of uncertainty: with the insights of analytics. Links:  Andrew Montalenti  Sachin Kumdar - Twitter Parse.ly  Facebook Netflix  NPR Gannett  Lee Enterprises Berkshire Hathaway  Parse.ly Content Conversions  Vox  The Atlantic  The New York Times  Toyota  Twitter  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Scripted Interactions: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul, Rich, and Gina chat about ways to keep your team focused and on track when working remotely. How do you create urgency to make sure things get done? How can you keep people focused during remote calls? They discuss the need for clear communication and accountability, and share some tools to help structure meetings and interactions in a digital-first work world.  Links:  Gina Trapani  Cheer on Netflix  Tiger King on Netflix  Campfire  Navigator  Second LifeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This isn’t remote, this is pandemic: On this week’s episode of Track Changes, Paul and Rich chat with friend and client Tim Meaney about when things could return to normal and if they should return to normal. We reflect on some of the positive changes that have come from this pandemic, like more time with family and getting rid of inefficiencies. We also talk about the importance of resilience and of course, the hit documentary series Tiger King. Links:  Coronavirus chic: Top sales up, bottom down at Walmart - Global News  Tim Meaney - SageSure  The Evolution of Software - Track Changes Podcast  Zoom  Facetime  Kind Bar  Andrew Cuomo - Wikipedia  Tiger King - Netflix  Smart Home: 10 Tips for Working Remotely - Track Changes Podcast  Google cancels its infamous April Fools’ jokes this year - The Verge  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.