DevReady Podcast

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, our hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis are joined by Guy Brunsdon, Founder and Managing Director of Sazoma Systems. Guy is a technologist and a product leader with global experience—from Silicon Valley (USA) to Cambridge (UK) to Australia. In this episode of the podcast, Guy talks to our hosts about his extensive networking and product management career and how he strives to help people discover and create cutting-edge products, services, and solutions from conception to launch that solve their most critical customer problems. Topics Covered: Background in Networking Product Management Sales-led growth as opposed to product-led growth Challenges faced The secret to Cisco’s success Don’t find a solution that fits a problem Focus on the discovery process Why do products and digital transformations fail? Jobs Theory Systems Thinking Important Time Stamps: Guy’s Background and Learnings in Networking (0:56 – 4:38) Entering the start-up space with Context Relevant (12:41 – 13:40) Going back to Cisco (13:41 – 15:13) Australia and product management (15:15 – 16:45) Challenges when launching products (17:18 – 22:09) What led to Cisco’s success? (24:30 – 26:03) Move from a problem space to a solution space (26:56 – 28:14) Why do products and digital transformations fail? (30:20 – 36:07) Systems Thinking (43:16 – 47:38) Follow & Subscribe to the DevReady Podcast: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aerionTech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aeri... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aeriontech/ Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/36XdTFQ Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2uaqDvt YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AerionAuTech

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, our hosts, Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis, are joined by Stuart Thornton, Founder of heros.xyz, a membership club of athletes and fans committed to inspiring and investing in each other. Listen in to understand Stuart’s journey—of how he co-founded hoolah (now Shopback), Asia’s omnichannel ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ ecosystem headquartered in Singapore, and how he then went on to found heros.xyz. Topics Covered • Stuart’s background and how hoolah was founded • What are the elements for a start-up? • How to form the right team at the right time? • Understanding merchant engagement models • Need for MVP • Value of communicaton in a team • How heros.xyz was founded Important Time Stamps • Setting up the ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ ecosystem (1:51 – 5:12) • The Start-Up Allure (5:13 – 7:38) • Working With the Right People at the Right Time (9:08 – 12:33) • The Sales Process (15:21 – 19:09) • How to Build Traction (20:51 – 22:47) • We Made a Sale in 10 minutes (22:48 – 25:00) • Value Communication in the Team (31:21 - 33:05) • How heros.xyz came to be? (33:17 – 39:32) Follow & Subscribe to the DevReady Podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aerionTech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aeri... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aeriontech/ Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/36XdTFQ Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/2Uz6CLL Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2uaqDvt

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, our hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis are joined by Jordan Green, President Emeritus/Founder of Melbourne Angels. Jordan has spent decades focusing on doing things that have never been done before and is passionate about investing in a future driven by creative and responsible technology development. In this episode, he talks about what fuels his work and how he realizes his vision through action, leadership, investment, education, and collaboration. Topics Covered • What fascinates Jordan about the start-ups. • Introducing cutting-edge technology in the market. • How investment works. • How Jordan started Angel Investment in Australia. • What matters when investing in a start-up. • What motivates Jordan. • Jordan’s advice to start-up founders. Important Time Stamps • It is exciting to be living in a world of constant change (1:06 - 3:13) • Use cases of introducing technology in the market (2:22 - 9:39) • Introduction of new technology (9:49 - 11:17) • No one wants to be the first to take a risk (16:24 – 19:00) • How Angel Investment started in Australia (19:01 - 23:07) • Jordan's investment thesis (26:35 - 33:34) • What keeps Jordan going? (40:02 - 40:50) • Jordan’s advice for start-up founders (43:04 – 49:44) Follow & Subscribe to the DevReady Podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aerionTech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aerion-technologies Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aerion_tech/ Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/36XdTFQ Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/2Uz6CLL Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2uaqDvt

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, our hosts, Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis, are joined by Neville Christie, Future Maker at STEEP Renaissance. In this episode, he talks about STEEP Renaissance and the need to change mindsets and practice gratitude. Neville has been an entrepreneur since the age of 12. During his 69 years in innovation, entrepreneurship, and research, he always found that the biggest problems in the world are the source of the most significant opportunities. When in 2018, he sat down and spent time researching the social, technological, economic, ecological, and political trends, and he came up with two firm conclusions: 1. The decade will see substantial structural changes in the social, technological, economic, ecological, and political fabric 2. As a result of the changes, most nations will experience 40 tsunami-like events (pandemic, recession, financial crisis, war, changes in supply chains across the world, among others) Topics Covered • With chaos come opportunities • What is the STEEP Renaissance? • Importance of changing the mindset • Need to practice gratitude • Need to form communities • Importance of understanding values Impoortant Time Stamps • A decade of great destruction and great opportunities (2:02 – 4:58) • Need to reinvent (5:03 – 5:53) • How STEEP Renaissance came into being (5:55 – 7:28) • What is the STEEP Renaissance? (10:35 – 15:00) • Need to change the mindset (15:03 – 19:56) • Psychology of gratitude (19:57 – 22:02) • The power of communities (23:53 – 26:35) • Advice for those entering business (32:09 – 35:42) Follow & Subscribe to the DevReady Podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aerionTech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aeri... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aeriontech/ Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/36XdTFQ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AerionAuTech Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2uaqDvt Previous DevReady Epiosde with Neville: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50rcY0qb4DY&t=291s

In this fun episode of the DevReady Podcast, our hosts, Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis are joined by Rex Kelly, General Manager & Manager of Marketing and Sales at Aerion Technologies. The conversation centers around the parallels that can be drawn between business and the movie in the spotlight for this edition of the Podcast—Ocean’s 11. Danny Ocean assembled an A-Team in the movie. And there’s so much to learn from the movie if you are a start-up founder or the owner of a business. Read Anthony's article here 👉https://aerion.com.au/blog/movie-business/how-to-assemble-the-right-team-like-danny-ocean/ Follow & Subscribe to the DevReady Podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aerionTech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aeri... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aeriontech/ Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/36XdTFQ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AerionAuTech Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2uaqDvt

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, our hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis talk to Rick Maré, CEO and Co-Founder of SHAZAMME, and Nicole Clarke, Co-Founder of SHAZAMME about how they created the Canva of recruitment websites. The episode is about all things business and how a business can be grown and scaled. Topics Covered: · How Shazamme came into being · Catering to the needs of the recruitment industry · Different silos of clients · Offering services that no one else offers · Challenges faced and lessons learned · Evolution from the first MVP to now · Benefits of operating in a niche market Important Time Stamps: · The Rolls Royce Solution for Recruitment (4:32 – 5:03) · SHAZAMME and the Use of Cutting-Edge Tech (5:10 – 5:58) · What Sets SHAZAMME apart from Competitors (6:00 – 11:11) · Lessons Learned (15:09 – 20:08) · Benefits of Low Code, No Code (27:50 – 28:59) · MVP is crucial (29:01 – 32:45) · Benefits of Operating in a Niche Market (32:51 – 36:26) Follow & Subscribe to the DevReady Podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aerionTech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aerion-technologies Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aerion_tech/ Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/36XdTFQ Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/2Uz6CLL Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2uaqDvt

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, our hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis talk to Mark Luhovy, Founder & Principal at BioEnginuity, which provides strategic digital healthcare & biotech consulting. Listen in as the conversation takes us through Mark’s medical career, the possibilities in the digital health space, his start-up experience, and the exciting world of robotics. Mark has spent most of his career in the medical device sector. Towards the end of his medical school journey, he decided not to pursue additional clinical training. Instead, he rolled up a lot of his experience into his own consulting business, which is what BioEnginuity. And since 2018, he has been doing really several different consulting projects with clients as large as Johnsons & Johnsons but also small as emerging medical health companies in the digital health space. When working in the US, Mark fell in love with the practical side of engineering: from product design to product implementation to sales. To him, it brought together the best of both worlds: sound fundamentals of a scientific discipline and the actuality of making tangible things. Topics Covered • Mark’s career in the medical sector • Foray into the digital health space • Possibilities for start-ups in digital health • Surviving a major failure • The highs and lows of running a start-up • Challenges faced • Key Learnings • The exciting world of Robotics Time Stamps • Foray into the digital health space (2:51 – 4:57) • Possibilities for start-ups in digital health (4:59 – 6:39) • Why do start-ups fail? (8:27 – 11:42) • The start-up experience is a roller coaster (15:34 – 17:43) • Roadblocks along the way (17:44 – 20:25) • Key learnings (24:03 – 25:42) • Exciting world of Robotics (29:29 – 31:55) • Connect with Mark (39:25 – 40:51) Follow & Subscribe to the DevReady Podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aerionTech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aerion-technologies Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aerion_tech/ Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/36XdTFQ Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/2Uz6CLL Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2uaqDvt

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, our hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis sit with Kavita Nadan, Co-Founder & Director at Locumate. In this episode, the discussion centres around the platform, how it has evolved since its launch and what are the plans moving ahead. With Locumate, Locums can find the perfect shifts, get paid on time, and get access to additional educational resources to help them grow their career as Pharmacists. Something that Kavita has always been passionate about has been helping the students. She shares how, as a student herself, she did not have the answers and thinks that through platforms like hers, she can help students look beyond the obvious. She wants to invest in students because they are the future. If we don’t start at that student level and get them passionate about the opportunities, they will not be passionate about it down the track. Topics Covered • Working in the community • Career opportunities for students • Locumate: from idea to execution • Listen to your customers • Opportunities in the Pharmaceutical Industry • Learnings Time Stamps • Working in the community (2:50 – 3:21) • Students and career in Pharmacy (6:47 – 9:15) • How Locumate was conceptualized (9:20 – 15:00) • The execution of Locumate (16:21 – 19:28) • Listening to your customers (23:53 – 24:33) • Different opportunities (27:33 – 28:17) • Key learnings (29:20 – 32:33) Follow & Subscribe to the DevReady Podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aerionTech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aerion-technologies Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aerion_tech/ Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/36XdTFQ Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/2Uz6CLL Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2uaqDvt

For this episode of the DevReady Podcast, our hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis welcome Stewart Marshall, Senior IT Executive, SaaS and Commercial Software Advisor, Best Selling Author. Stewart talks about what drives him and how he wants to help purposeful businesses yield better outcomes. He also talks about his upcoming book, Kick Some SaaS: The leader’s guide to purposeful software and global impact. A third-time guest to the podcast, Mr. SaaS thinks that the industry is seeing interesting changes and a difference in the world can be made with software. He calls software the great leveler and says that everyone has an equal opportunity to make the world a better place. Topics Covered • Delivering better value • The chicken and team member analogy • Articulating value as a vendor • Calculating and communicating value to customers • Undercutting in SaaS • Understanding the outcome Time Stamps • Delivering better value (5:38 – 6:27) • The chicken story (6:58 – 8:37) • What happens when good people leave? (8:39 – 9:47) • Articulating value as a vendor (12:30 – 13:46) • Calculating and communicating value to customers (13:47 – 17:15) • Understanding the value of your business (28:15 – 30:31) Follow & Subscribe to the DevReady Podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aerionTech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aerion-technologies Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aerion_tech/ Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/36XdTFQ Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/2Uz6CLL Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2uaqDvt

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, our hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis are joined by Philippe Guichard, an Industrial Designer and a serial entrepreneur. Philippe is the Founder, Creative Director & Manager at D2 Designs and Development, an industrial design studio based in Melbourne, where the team helps businesses simplify and de-risk hardware ventures. In this episode, we learn about Philippe’s journey, his three steps methodology and designing for the triple line (people, planet, profit). Topics Covered The triggers for becoming a designer A good design needs to be invisible Challenges faced Three Steps Design Methodology Designing for the Triple Bottom Line Considering the impact on the planet Time Stamps Journey from France to Australia (10:15 – 14:04) A good design is an invisible design (14:37 – 16:44) How to design physical products? (17:59 – 22:45) Talk to the market (25:27 – 28:14) Three Steps Methodology (31:29 – 36:20) Designing for the Triple Bottom Line (36:33 – 39:02) Considering the impact on the planet (40:41 – 46:02) Follow & Subscribe to the DevReady Podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aerionTech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aeri... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aerion_tech/ Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/36XdTFQ Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/2Uz6CLL Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2uaqDvt

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, our hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis chat with The Dung An, Co-CEO/CTO at adash, a platform that connects accomplished food creators with their right audience. Listen in as the three of them talk about the journey of creating the platform from ideation to delivery, the challenges faced along the way, and what it takes to make one’s mark in the world of start-ups. Topics Covered: Getting Investors Networking with like-minded people Envisioning a start-up Challenges faced Follow & Subscribe to the DevReady Podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aerionTech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aerion-technologies Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aerion_tech/ Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/36XdTFQ Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/2Uz6CLL Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2uaqDvt

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, our hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis chat with Jeremy Streten, CEO at Business Legal Lifecycle. Jeremy is a returning guest to the podcast as he was also featured on the 54th episode of the DevReady Podcast and talked about legal agility in developing tech. In this episode, he brings to the listeners, information on an educational platform where he helps businesses assess where they stand and how they can grow by educating them on thirteen business phases (conception, startup, initial clients, bringing on employees, protecting intellectual property, maximizing business and bringing in investors, expansion, estate planning, investing in property, litigation and dispute resolution, sale of whole or part of the business or listing on the stock exchange, retirement, and insolvency and winding up) Topics Covered • Legal education for business owners • Business Legal Lifecycle (BLL) Course • Lack of agreements as a major concern • Free Business legal lifecycle assessment Follow & Subscribe to the DevReady Podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aerionTech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aeri... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aerion_tech/ Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/36XdTFQ Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/2Uz6CLL Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2uaqDvt

Our guest in this episode of the DevReady Podcast is Ann Pocock, Marketing Strategy Consultant, Marketing Coach and Executive Coach for high growth businesses at Kinetic Effect. She joins our hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis as the episode explores how purpose-built and tailor-made coaching and marketing consulting could help unleash the potential in not just an individual but also his/her organization. The key is to focus on one’s strengths and align the mission with the core values. Brand positioning and value proposition are critical to any business. Having a clear message helps you across all touchpoints, right from the very first version of your website to your proposal deck to the phone calls that you have to make, the pitch deck that you might want to do on a sales call, how you work the room in a networking event, the list goes on and on. The emphasis here is to say the right things to the right people in a right place and at the right time.

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis talk to Judy Celmins, who is not just a marketing genius and a startup mentor but also hosts her own podcast, ThriveableBiz Podcast. Judy was, in fact, DevReady Podcast’s first-ever guest and she comes back to the podcast to talk about her book ‘Marketing = Customer + Heart’. The book is not just a book on marketing, it’s a way of doing business and you want to get your copy asap. (Note: 100% of the profit from the book would go to helping a Ukrainian family). Here are some of Judy’s insights: · Understand that marketing applies to pretty much every segment of any business · Create the customer · Ask the right questions · Understand what is missing from competitors’ product/service · Understand the specific customer needs first and then focus on creating · Continue to evolve with the change in the market

Join the hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis in this episode of the DevReady Podcast as they have an insightful conversation with Tim Bishop, CEO and Founder of NXT LVL Group, a people-performance business that builds high-performance leaders and teams. Tim has donned many hats but the one thing that he has always been passionate about is helping people and businesses take themselves to the next level. Talking about his life’s Marvel-esque arch, Tim recounts how he who grew up in Papua New Guinea ended up having a military career where he held positions of leadership and was told he had a knack for lighting a fire in people and getting them focused. He calls the military the place where he was forged—a place where he learned who he was and who he wasn’t. It was there that he became passionate about human excellence and high performance. He understood that what he enjoyed the most was helping and serving people. That is what drove him to build two successful companies and to impact 1000s.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, 2022, the host of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew Romeo talked to Yupin Robson, Director of OBSID Pty Ltd and Edify Medical Pty Ltd. Edify Medical is a company based in Australia that creates a digital ecosystem designed to break barriers of language, cost and access to information for health care providers across the globe. Listen in as the two discuss Yupin’s journey and how it impacts not just the health care professionals but countless individuals across the globe. Topics Covered: · Need to Communicate · Be Solution Oriented · Equity Split and Exit Strategy · Women Entrepreneurs and Access to Capital · Radical Generosity · Owning the IP

This episode of the DevReady Podcast features Matthew Whyatt, Co-Founder and Technology Sales Specialist at Tech Torque Systems—the first integrated, purpose-built, precision growth system for the tech sector. Listen to the conversation as host, Andrew Romeo and Matthew talk about how tech businesses can be better positioned to sell more products and benefit more people. Topics Covered: · Marketing Fuels the Sales Engine · Building a Team of Talented People with Specific Roles · Challenges When Selling and Marketing · B2B and B2C Marketing Strategies · 3 Key Areas for Growth (Branding, Marketing, Conversion) · How to Engage Customers

This episode of the DevReady Podcast, features Greg Smith, Founder & CEO, of Send Handwritten along with the hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis. Greg is a Customer Experience Expert and in this episode, he shares with us all how a remarkable and memorable marketing campaign is designed and delivered to tell the customer that you care. Customers want a tool that is the most cost-effective, easy to understand, and simple to implement so that it can be implemented the day before and ROI got on a coming day. People remember experiences and that’s what the company provides. Topics Covered: · How to Stand Out in the Crowd · Using Humor to Create Impact · The Memorable Marketing Blueprint · Know When to Iterate and Pivot · Build Human Relationships

Simon Madden joins hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis in this episode of the DevReady Podcast. Simon is the Founder of Simon Madden Consulting and now helps organizations understand what it takes to achieve a sustained high-performance culture. The ability to ‘get good and stay good’ is vital for success, as per Simon. Many people become successful and then they get comfortable there. Simon says that it is important to realise that the work still remains—there needs to be continuous improvement. Topics Covered: · What is That Extra Thing That You Are Doing? · Learning from Mistakes · People are the Best Resource · CARE (Consideration, Affirmation, Respect and Empathy) · Differences between Leadership and Management · Qualities of a Great Leader

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis talk to Robert Coorey, Co-Founder ArchiStar and Chris Clark, Head of Consulting at Archistar. Archistar creates cutting-edge technology that revolutionises the way property professionals plan, design, and build and in this episode the hosts and the guests interact about how technology has transformed the ways of finding property and development sites and how there are limitless possibilities of leveraging data to meet the goals of the end-users. Developing a property is a task that can take a toll on anyone—from finding sites to assessing the needs to actually designing and building—a lot of resources are needed. Robert talks about how Archistar helps people do that in a matter of minutes—the customers are helped with finding sites and when doing due diligence; they are even given access to some real-time building designs to show exactly what will fit on that block of land in conjunction with the local government rules. Topics Covered: · Bringing Value to the Marketplace · From a Humble MVP to Catering to Growing Needs · Evolution of a Team · Doing Too Much Too Quickly · Niche Userbase

Ever since AIP Technology was set up, Stephen and his co-founders, have had a goal of catering to the needs of the customers. Multiple plugins and their unique features often make the job of maintenance of WordPress a challenging issue—it is much like finding a needle in a haystack. But having realized that WordPress powers around a third of the internet, Stephen believes that aiming to solve the problem for the customers have been worthwhile. In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, our hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis talk to Stephen Wilson Downey, CEO & Founder of AIP Technology. AIP’s technology automates website maintenance, keeps sites up-to-date and secure, and identifies and fixes bugs so that customers can utilize their time elsewhere. Listen in as the three of them talk about the endless possibilities that the world of WordPress has to offer and how customers’ needs and requirements are of utmost importance. Topics Covered: · Possibilities in Website Maintenance · Finding Solution to a Unique Problem · Building a Team and Having Enough Funds · Focusing on the Needs of the Customer

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis talk to Surge Singh, Co-Founder of Locumate, a platform, the aim of which is to create a community dedicated to Locums in Australia. Listen in to this insightful conversation to learn more about the platform that is looking to bring about the much-needed technological disruption in the pharmaceutical industry to ensure that Locums can find the perfect shifts, get paid on time and get access to additional educational resources to help them grow their career as pharmacists. Topics Covered: · How Locumate Built a Transactional Platform for Locums and Pharmacists? · How to Balance Domain and Technical Expertise? · Building a Product and Developing a Business around it. · Creating a Feedback Loop with End Users. · The Key to Stick to Your Core Values. · The Best Way to Find a Great Tech Partner.

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis have an insightful conversation with Alan Smithson, Co-Founder at MetaVRse which is a proprietary, code-optional web platform that makes it easy to create and share interactive 3D experiences instantly. Know of the iconic performance by the French DJ and pioneer of electronic music, Jean Michel Jarre on the 31st of December, 2020 where he performed live in a 3D visual reconstruction of the emblem of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris? Well, that immersive event that was available on the social VR platform VRChat, accessible via a personal computer or in virtual reality for those who have a VR headset was made possible courtesy of Alan and his team. Topics Covered: · Touch Screen Technology · Virtual Reality · Overcoming Challenges Faced · Building World-Firsts · Working in Training and Marketing · Creating Value · Being Creative

This episode of the DevReady Podcast, features hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis with Nathalie Taquet, CEO & Founder at eBottli & Bottli. While the former company provides all information about the bottles (description of the winemaker, the origin of the bottle...) for B2C and all tracking and traceability of the bottles (statistics, strategic marketing, counterfeiting, geolocation…) for B2B, the latter connects customers to small vineyards with unique batches. Listen in while the three of them talk about technology and the digitization of processes in wineries. Use of technology being the core of the business, Nathalie feels that there is a disconnect between start-ups and IT. She emphasizes that their role is to bridge the divide and make sure that real data is used for the proof of concept to ensure that better solutions are not only developed but also optimized. From her experience, she highlights three key things to keep in mind when introducing a technological solution in any industry: 1. Listen to your customers: work with the potential customers and identify what they need 2. Make what they want to buy: don’t provide a solution that people don’t want to pay for 3. Make the journey simple: don’t add another step in the journey and make it complicated

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew Romeo is joined by Jodi Woelkerling, author of “World Class Leadership” and a trusted authority on building enduring, resilient cultures and building personal resilience and the two talk about change that technology can bring about within the workplace, the impact that it might have, and how to ensure that the change is positive for all concerned stakeholders. Jodi emphasizes that the modern workplace is filled with constant challenges, both for the business at large and for the individuals within the business, and resilience is a key component of effectively navigating these challenges. And because humans are fundamentally hard-wired to resist any kind of change, for any business, it is paramount that they manage the process of change so that neither the business nor the individuals in the business suffer. Topics Covered: · Building Resilience at Individual and Corporate Levels · Strategies for Staying Calm · Dealing with Technology Change · Need for Stakeholders to Accept Change · Engaging Stakeholders to Have a Positive Impact on Acceptance to Change · World-Class Leadership

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, hosts Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis talk to Mark McCormack, Co-Founder, Design Posse. Mark has had a pretty long and eventful career, from being in a cover band to designing digital strategies for various advertising agencies to supporting start-ups and innovation in entertainment-related technology—he has surely done it all. Having worked in different industries, Mark strongly believes that two things are key to success in any industry, no matter how disruptive a product or service is: 1. Ability to build networks 2. Ability to solve a problem Topics Covered: · Moving into the Software Industry from Music · Struggles of being the Pioneer · How to educate your customers · Taking Risks · Building effective Networks

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew Romeo sits with his coach, Alexandra Andrews, Managing Director and Executive Coach Director of My Personal Coach and over the duration of a little more than half an hour, they discuss the difference that getting the right coach can make to not just one’s business but also to one’s other projects and relationships. Many in the business are either driven by ego or are victims to paralysis by analysis, and Alex’s advice to those is, first and foremost, to work out the ‘Whys’: why are you making a certain business decision, why are you thinking a certain thing. She furthers, the key then is to never settle for the first answer because that is the ‘safe answer’, the filter that we all use, either knowingly or unknowingly. She emphasizes that there is a need to dig deeper and to keep on asking until one gets to that fundamental, heartfelt ‘Why’. Topics Covered: · Overcoming ‘Paralysis by Analysis · The Process of Building a Happy-Team · Understanding Team Dynamics · Right People for the Right Roles · Assessing and Reflecting

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew Romeo sits with Amanda Fay, Founder & CEO, The Pitch Portal, a platform through which she helps connect business ideas and opportunities with expert service providers who have the skills to make them fly. During the course of the episode, the two cover a lot of ground: connect between venture capitalists and startups; vetting of experts and also the pitches, tools used by The Pitch Portal to ensure an efficient and effective support system; access to information and mentors early on in the startup journey, among others. While the three tools (the lab, the interface, and my pitch) have been put to use since The Pitch Portal was set up, the survey tool is a new addition and would help startups and businesses have a much-rounded idea of their goals before putting in all they’ve got into something that might or might not yield the returns they seek. Having seen people lose everything in the startup journey, Amanda’s goal was to expand the support economy and make profits along the way—basically, a win-win for all parties involved. Topics Covered: · The life of venture capitalists and startups · The process of vetting the experts · Tools used by the Pitch Portal · The importance of flexible payment arrangements for service providers · How to vet the pitches

Andrew starts by adding on to the topics of the previous podcasts and how the book and game can be used as a diagnostic tool to try and discover what blocks our creativity. By using a crime scene investigation, he wants users to play detectives to hide behind safe characters to try and work out what the things that block creativity are. He believes that understanding the blockers to creativity is a pre-requisite for creative thinking. Having left the listeners with a question to ponder over: ‘Why are children not CEOs of companies when they are great at creative thinking?’, he answers the same by saying that children might be great at creative thinking but they are not good at critical thinking—a balance of which is needed to run successful businesses. While creative thinking is the thinking we do when we generate ideas, critical thinking is the thinking we do when we judge those ideas. He believes the problem here lies in the fact that not many people have both. Topics Covered - If children are so creative why are they not the CEOs of companies? - The ability to think both creatively and critically. - Connecting two seeming unrelated things to create something that is spectacularly creative. - Prototyping and implementation. - Playing the devils' advocate. - Importance of embracing diversity

On this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew and Anthony continue their conversation with Andrew Grant, Director of Tirian International Consultancy, and co-author of ‘Who Killed Creativity?... And How Can We Get it Back?' and ‘The Innovation Race’. Andrew talks about how our workplaces are not built to foster creativity and are in fact characterized by blockers. So, in order to deal with the blockers of creativity, the suspects as he calls them, he and his team developed a game, not necessarily a competitive game, but one with a theme and a metaphor that people can hide behind so that they have a safe place to talk about some of the issues they are facing. Topics Covered - Need to set up an environment that encourages creative thinking - How to use the CSI board-game and digital-game to understand creativity blockers - How to ask the right questions and find ambiguity within the questions - How to ideate, brainstorm and map out creative ideas - How to connect seemingly distant things and find solution to a wicked problem - How to figure out what works and then implement it

On this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew and Anthony talk to Andrew Grant, Director of Tirian International Consultancy, and co-author of ‘Who Killed Creativity?... And How Can We Get it Back?' A keynote presenter at TEDx (HK), in this episode of the podcast, he talks about what kills creativity and how to get it back, much along the lines of his acclaimed book. Andrew talks about his being in the business for over 2 decades along with his partner, Gaia Gates and how they started in Asia working with cross cultural teams, expats and locals. Both of them often got invited to attend conferences and soon discovered that such gatherings were very boring in the mornings with lots of keynote talks and childish in the afternoons with silly team building games and everyone getting drunk. Thinking that continuing to do so was a waste of people’s money, they came up with lots of creative ideas on how to make the mornings more interactive and afternoon sessions more intelligent. That got them started on the importance of how creativity can help solve problems. That’s what later went from being the contents of a book to workshops to a game around who killed creativity. (To find the CSI Board-game, go to https://whokilledcreativity.com/game-board/intro-game/) When researching on why people would want to read yet another book on creativity, they came to a conclusion that the actual issue of what’s blocking people’s creativity was something that wasn’t explored. There was no diagnostic tool to explore one’s journey from childhood to adulthood and to fill that gap they partnered with a neuroscientist and psychologist to try and really understand all that was going on inside a person’s brain, and from that was born the book-‘Who Killed Creativity?... And How Can We Get it Back?' Andrew then goes to explain why he decided to use the metaphor of a crime scene where creativity is killed. That’s what makes the book memorable; these questions: who killed creativity, with what weapon, and how do we get it back? In the book, the authors basically, distil it down to seven key suspects. (To read more on the suspects, go to https://whokilledcreativity.com/articles/csi-7-suspects/) The Control Crew The Fear Family The Pressure Pack The Insulation Clique The Apathy Clan The Narrow-Minded Mob The Pessimism Posse The essence of the podcast being that creativity doesn’t happen magically over a hack-a-thon, that people first need to be aware of the fact that there’s much in their culture and environment that can block creativity, and use this diagnostic tool allows people to talk about issues in a safe environment. Topics Covered: - Need for creativity in the workplace. - The memorable concept of who killed creativity, with what weapon and how to get it back. - Difference between creativity in the artistic sense and business sense. - Why does creativity decrease as one grows up? - The seven suspects that block creativity - The growing importance of creativity in the workplace as AI becomes more prevalent. - How to foster creativity?

We often don’t know where a “gut decision” comes from, but the feeling is unmistakable. This episode of DevReady demystifies that little voice in the back of our heads that can so influence our choices, for good or ill. Sunil Godse explains why we should listen, but not without doing the work to understand fully the elements of intuition. As an “Intuitionologist,” he has learned to decode the many ways in which life experience impacts our brains and shapes a whole spectrum of decisions, particularly in the realm of business. An author, branding expert, coach and consultant, Sunil has devoted thousands of hours to researching the neuroscience behind the reflexive choices we make. He traces the roots of trust and shares real-world case studies that reveal the influence of powerful subliminal signalling, including: ○Experiential Intuition ○Situational Intuition ○Relational Intuition ○Creative Intuition When properly leveraged, intuition (and the trust upon which it is based) can transform entrepreneurial ventures, employee morale and customer experience alike. Sunil takes us from his early career path (often dictated by influences that didn’t align with his gut) through the many examples of intuition as a tool for honouring core values and building sound relationships based on self-awareness and understanding. Enjoy the many “knowledge bombs” Sunil has to share in this episode, including additional reading and further resources. Topics Covered: - What differentiates entrepreneurial success from failure? - Follow your instinct. - 4 types of intuitive signalling that impact decision-making. - How to define your signals?

On this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew and Anthony sit down with David Pillinger, a serial entrepreneur who took his experience running a surfboard company and transitioned it into managing multiple software companies. David started out making and selling surfboards when he left school early, eventually launching an online real estate company called Property Gallery and then a software company called Safesoft in 2018. David now heads up his software as a service company, Venture Capital Exchange (VCEX). Throughout their conversation, David tells Anthony and Andrew about how he started VCEX and the practical side of running the company technology-wise. Together the three discuss how David sources talent from LinkedIn, David’s motivations for getting up and continuing to innovate every day, and how the internet is changing the way we do business. David believes that anything is possible for anyone—a mindset he draws from his own life and struggling with school, only to go on to become a successful business owner. The episode wraps up with a look at where David sees himself in five to ten years, and how leaders have to be constantly looking out for “icebergs” on the horizon that could hinder their progress and continued innovation. David’s childlike wonder at opening up the “present” under the Christmas tree that is waking up every day serves as a motivation for all entrepreneurs and innovators alike to keep moving forward. Topics Covered: •The story of surfboard seller turned to software innovator. •How do some regulations tend to make expanding software technology harder? •How David developed the technology platforms for his different businesses. •Building the best team.

On this episode of the DevReady podcast, Andrew engages Leigh Eggins, founder of the Million Dollar Business Club, in a fascinating exploration of holistic coaching. In what amounts to a paradigm shift, Leigh asks clients to reconsider assumptions and dig around in the shadows to unearth self-limiting beliefs. The result? Tremendous growth not only from a business perspective but in myriad other aspects of life. “At the end of the day, it is a person running the business,” says Leigh, “and if that person’s not performing at their best then the business won’t be performing at its best.” Makes sense! The question is: How do we get there? Leigh shares some of the tools he recommends to clients, including out-of-the-box ideas like meditation and “heart set.” If you’re ready to break with received wisdom and get comfortable being uncomfortable, then this is the episode for you. It’s all too easy to get “addicted” to outmoded systems or patterns of thoughts long overdue for re-examination and change. But we don’t have to stay locked into counterproductive stressors or false beliefs. Leigh and Andrew share tips and illuminate a path towards not only business success but also personal growth and fulfilling life. Topics Covered: ●Leigh unspools how he came to his coaching philosophy. ●How to get out of our comfort zones? ●What is heart-set and how does heart-set affects brain function and outcome? ●When stress goes up, intelligence goes down. ●Leigh shares the art and science behind a transformational tool “Smile-Posture-Breath/Thank-Trust-Receive.”

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew and Anthony interviewed Rashid Kotwal, a sales coach and mentor, about how companies can optimize their teams for proficiency and profitability. Through his consulting firm, Revealed Resources, Rashid is sharing lessons gleaned over 30 years. He has over his career executed complex deals, bringing to bear expertise in both tech engineering and identifying key patterns of human behaviour. While technologists love to sell technology, Rashid explains that it’s “a huge mistake” to shift the focus away from what is ultimately the heart of solution selling: Making the business case. Sales cycles can be short or long, but in all cases, it’s important to identify the right decision-makers, articulate their pain points and propose a strategic response. Enjoy this fascinating conversation about all things sales. Rashid Kotwal provides a template, explaining what it takes to set the stage for your company’s long-term growth and bottom-line numbers that will keep improving … year over year. Topics Covered: ●The importance of buy-in. ●The art of identifying opportunities and key players to accelerate sales cycles. ● Marketing and sales: Two sides of the same coin. ●Are salespeople born not made? ● The 3 pillars to growth ●Go to strategies for engaging stakeholders, locating pain points and creating a win-win-win scenario that closes sales.

On this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew and Anthony speak with Nicola Steel, IT recruiting expert and founder of JJP Talent Solutions. During the conversation, Nicola shares her knowledge about how to bring your talent scouting resources in-house to build high-performing teams. At the heart of building good teams are the people themselves. In order to build a high performing team, you need to attract high performing people. But what a lot of companies get wrong is that they don’t have their own values nailed down first. The best teams are driven by values and principles, so you must design the values of the company as early as possible. If you have the foundation of principled people, your teams will be set up for success. Nicola believes in the power of a people-first attitude. When companies place the emphasis on their own people first and their fears, their personalities, their strengths, they will be much more capable of guiding their teams through to victory. Topics Covered: ●How High-performing teams are values-driven. ●Why being people-first is better than numbers first. ●Creating psychological safety. ●How to celebrate wins as a team. ●Why remote work needs to be looked at on an individual basis. ●The rise of Zoom fatigue.

On this episode of the DevReady Podcast, we talked to Jonathan Callinan, business coach, co-founder and marketing strategist at the Online Business Accelerator. Jonathan discusses the subscription economy, why trust is better than “tribe”, and why you should be building your own communities. Human behaviour and the world at large is moving toward lifestyles that favour a subscription model for consumer services, it only makes sense that all businesses that want to survive need to think about how to build that into their business plan. At the heart of Jonathan’s message is the idea that people are drawn into opportunities for networking and community. He explains to us that because of this, your brands are more likely to succeed if they feel they are part of a community. Topics Covered: ●What underpins successful subscriptions. ●People ultimately want to be connected in the community. ●Trade tribe for trust to be connected to like-minded people. ●Why businesses should be trying to create their own communities. ●The challenges of transitioning a free community to a high-value paid service. ●How to build communities around a target audience.

On this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew and Anthony speak with Matt Wolach, SaaS expert and former guest on the show. During the conversation, Matt explains his philosophy behind The Perfect DEAL process and how to successfully scale SaaS platforms. The key to a successful sales model is that it is easy to understand and easy to transfer to someone new. Matt talks about how a lot of early wins in the software space are a direct result of the passion of the founders, which is not a bad thing. But that passion isn’t easily transferred to new hires. This is where the simplicity of the perfect deal process comes in. A repeatable process helps the sales team to grow seamlessly. Matt explains that the DEAL stands for four key things that must happen on a sales call in order to close. He boasts a 63% close rate on his team after using the Perfect DEAL strategy. The process is not intuitive, Matt repeats, but it is worth the time to help your SaaS companies really grow. Topics Covered: ●The Perfect DEAL helps you sell and scale SaaS companies. ●Why existing sales models need to be moulded to fit SaaS. ●A repeatable process to scale your business. ●Getting prospects to feel bad enough about the problems that they want to fix them. ●Cater your SaaS products to specific customer needs and you’ll win. ●How to demonstrate expertise in your niche

In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew and Anthony welcome Kate Tiller, Chief Brand Officer at A Perfect Space. Identifying a niche within the entertainment industry, this experienced startup founder set out to develop a searchable database that eliminates much of the legwork involved in scouting film locations. But as with so many startup origin stories, there have been some painful lessons learned along the way to delivering this invaluable service to production teams across North America, Australia and Europe. Kate generously shares her experience with bringing A Perfect Space from conception to execution, including the disappointments she suffered after partnering (more than once) with tech developers who made promises on which they couldn’t deliver. Short of industry regulation to ensure that coders perform to standard, it’s up to entrepreneurs to protect their vision and the large sums required to turn an innovative idea into a robust web-based solution. Kate explains why both business and tech sides need to be in sync with clear communication, accountability and mutually understood milestones. A Perfect Place couldn’t have realized its potential without a clearly defined, disciplined development framework – something Kate has learned is most efficiently established by hiring an effective CTO from the outset. While A Perfect Space caters to a very specific sector, the lessons Kate has learned in building out, debugging and populating her platform are universally applicable. With candor and humor, she shares the journey to realizing her vision for “the google of location scouting” -- a searchable database designed to drastically reduce the travel, expense and spade work associated with identifying far-flung locales for all manner of film and television productions. Join Andrew and Anthony in exploring with Kate the many ways in which technologists and entrepreneurs must intersect on the way to turning a business dream into reality. Topics Covered: ●The challenges associated with scouting locations. ●How specifically A Perfect Space streamlines the scouting process. ●Supporting tech is essential to deliver a disruptive vision. ●Millions of dollars lost and overstating of tech developers. ●Why Big-picture entrepreneurial goals are important. ● The value in creating a hierarchy of needs within a business model. ● Defining and targeting a given market drives the tech tools deployed to reach it.

Launched in 2013, linkfluencer started initially as a service – an online course that helped users optimize business marketing and development resources available through LinkedIn. But ultimately Alex found that his customers required something beyond a three-step mentoring program. They craved community, long-term strategy and, most importantly, support implementing sales plans and measuring for results. After identifying this pain point, Alex partnered with an experienced software developer to design Jayla, a powerful platform that helps SMEs and corporates manage marketing and sales opportunities generated through LinkedIn. This episode of DevReady explores how Alex Pirouz has transformed an entrepreneurial idea from an online service into an end-to-end solution. Topics Covered: ●Optimizing LinkedIn: How linkfluencer morphed from a service to a scalable software. ●The importance of metrics. ●Why 99% of entrepreneurs “suck at execution”. ●How a non-tech founder approached the development/build-out of his Jayla application.

On this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew and Anthony talk to Neel Bhattacharya, commercial software strategist and SaaS extraordinaire. During the conversation, Neel describes what makes CX (or customer experience) unique from UX in the SaaS space, and why businesses should even care. To understand how customers experience brands, businesses use a variety of tools to gather meaningful data. This data can then be used to help shape the whole range of customer experience, from tone in an email to the color of an app icon. Customer experience plays a large part in customer retention, so businesses are keen to pay attention to the methods they can use to boost customer experience. The customer survey is a popular metric for gauging customer experience. Questionnaires are infinitely customizable and simple to use for startups. These surveys also help to establish what are known as personas. Personas help an organization with the planning process. In the process, Neel says, they fix the marketing messages. In other words, businesses use personas to direct marketing campaigns, and if they are ineffective, they can use personas to figure out why. Topics Covered: ● The differences between UX and CX. ● Understanding how customers experience our brands? ● Customer service vs customer experience. ● Key metrics to measure customer experience. ● The Net Promoter Score as a useful CX metric. ● Persona trees.

On this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew and Anthony talk to Ronsley Vaz, founder and Chief Energy Officer at Amplify. During the conversation, Ronsley describes many of the ways that podcasting has helped his business and improved his own quality of life. In the way of business podcasting, Ronsley explains that understanding who your market is is critical, and it won’t help to send the right message to the wrong audience, so locking in your target is key to business success. This even extends to product launches, which we should use to learn instead of making a profit. “It hurts the ego to have a failed launch, but you can learn so much and not hurt the bank account,” Ronsley says, speaking to the power of embracing failure. Ronsley als talks briefly about why he thinks podcasting is intrinsically beneficial. He says that the institutions of education didn’t teach us to raise our voices, so there is some trepidation that comes along with this. But at its core, podcasting is about the power of the human voice—a power that we are evolutionarily predisposed to—and how it can help lift the voices of the unheard and give volume to the silenced. In a way, podcasts help amplify. Toward the end, Ronsley describes what Amplify actually does, which involves bringing the right podcasts to the right people to amplify them. He hopes everyone interested in podcasting could find out how to use it as a platform to share their stories and build in connection with one another, because there’s nothing more rewarding. Topics Covered: ●The science of creativity. ●The value adds of podcasting. ●How people make use of podcasting within their businesses. ●Reusing content versus intentional volumes. ●Why the Agile methodology works. ●Finding the proper MVP for your business design. ●What we owe to the freedoms of our ancestors.

On this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew and Anthony sit down with former editor-in-chief and current content strategy entrepreneur Robyn Foyster to talk all things thought leadership. Robyn is the founder of InProfile, a thought leadership agency that helps clients curate their online presence through a specialized content strategy. In the current climate of personal brands and 24/7 news, we’re all thought leaders, no matter the size of our audience. Robyn believes having a strategy behind the content you put out into the world is key to attracting followers to your corner of the internet. Content has changed so much in the past 25 years, but as a former journalist and editor-in-chief, Robyn says she still uses that “gut feeling” instinct to guide content strategy and keep followers engaged. The thing is, we’re all the editors and publishers of our own personal content brands, but just because we have that power, doesn’t mean we know how to wield it—that’s where Robyn and her team come in. The episode wraps up with the three discussing how much is too much to share when curating your online brand, and the importance of creating consistent content for your audience. In the past, getting on the sofa for a talk show interview was the surest way to get your message out there, now we all have the ability to share our story through personalized social media channels. That power is available to us, but to truly become a thought leader in the online space, we have to create a consistent and engaging content strategy that compels people to stick around to hear what we have to say. Topics Covered: •Why Robyn started InProfile •How thought leadership is changing marketing •How to become a thought leader? •The strengths of LinkedIn •Tools to create weekly content •Being the publisher and editor of your own content •How content has changed in the last 25 years •Personal branding versus business branding and the crossover •Creating content to become a thought leader •Creating consistent content for your audience

On this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew and Anthony talk to Stewart Marshall, commercial software strategist and SaaS extraordinaire. Stewart covers everything from using software to solve problems and implementation. He says that most people just want their problems solved, but devs need to think about it in the context of the system as a whole. As a SaaS expert, Stewart also joins the podcast to talk about some of the hurdles that software services overcome in the developmental stages as well as in going to market. This is Stewart’s guide to developing a business plan for any startup itching to deliver a tech solution: 1.Articulate the problem. 2.Understand whose problem it is. Get it to a point where you can walk up to a person and say “here’s the problem we have and here’s how we’re going to solve it.” Then you have a business. But remember that technology on its own is not a solution but merely a tool. A key takeaway from this episode is Stewart’s advice to founders about incorporating technology. He says it’s like looking at a jigsaw puzzle. The commercial side of the business will look at the picture, but the technical side will look at the pieces and how they fit together. When they work together, you get a really good outcome. Topics Covered: ●How COVID has forced digitization on Australia? ●SaaS experts today and what they have to offer. ●Smart marketing to your target audience. ●Software is only a tool. ●Mistrust in the technology sphere because of pricing structure. ●The AI arms race of the future. ●The distinction between customer needs and the customer wants. ●Why UX & UI are inherently complicated? ●Need to be inquisitive?

On this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew and Anthony speak with Julie Starovoitova, People Experience Lead at PaperCut Software. Over the course of the conversation, Julie describes some of the key initiatives she has helped launch toward building high-performing teams. Some of these strategies include: 1. Making sure that all your values and principles are actually lived. This even informs performance reviews. 2. Job-swapping helps team members understand each others’ roles. Julie also shares how PaperCut’s performance review questions reflect a desire to build high-performing teams. The four questions for a PaperCut performance review (adopted from Deloitte): 1.General performance and cultural fitness 2.Performance around values and principles 3.Risk of low performance question 4.If at risk of leaving, what should be done to keep them. Topics Covered: ●Controlling growing teams. ●Successes in transitioning to a remote work platform. ●Seeing team members adapt to working from home. ●What high-performing culture means. ●Investing in teams as pivotal to growth. ●“Anyone can talk to anyone” as a principle. ●Bringing transparency and openness to decisions like promotion. ●Real-life scenarios are more accurate than abstract performance reviews. ●Codifying the essence of your business.

On this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew and Anthony talk to Darryl Carr, enterprise architect and professional community builder. During their conversation, Darryl talks about enterprise architecture and how business can architect solutions that deliver results and scale to profit. Darryl describes how he understands systems and community architecture. He talks about how businesses should work with architects early on in the development process to have them inform all stages. Architects can help businesses plan a software solution that will actually deliver value, empower investors, and scale. Among his most poignant pieces of advice is that understanding architecture is ultimately about scale. A key takeaway from this episode is that businesses primarily need to concern themselves with creating solutions for real problems. A common problem with tech startups is that they try to create solutions for problems that don’t really exist. Avoid this trap by listening to your clients. Give them your honest ear that will allow you to hear their problems for what they are, empowering your team to develop solutions that affect meaningful change. And that’s the bottom line. Deliver value at the end of the day. Topics Covered: ●How architecture fits into the agile movement. ●Don’t launch straight into the technology. ●Non-functional requirements. ●How to architect to scale your solutions. ●Advice for building a tight tech team. ●Your main goal should be to create value. ●We need to find problems that actually need solving. ●Why communicating drive and passion matters. Key Quotes: ❏“Architects help you make sure, when you’re building something, that it’s built well, that it will run well and that it will scale well.” (4:20) ❏“Involve your architects as early as possible.” (6:15) ❏“Architecting a platform, really, is understanding the scale.” (9:30) ❏“Pivot toward something you can validate in the real world.” (19:45) ❏“You can impact and create more value by listening.” (22:10) ❏“What you really want to convey is how passionate you are about the problem you’re solving.” (27:50)

Our guest on this episode of the DevReady Podcast is Tom Dawkins, CEO and Co-Founder of StartSomeGood, the leading home of cause-driven crowdfunding, innovative partnerships and social entrepreneur education. Before StartSomeGood, Tom founded Australian youth non-profit Vibewire, was the first Social Media Director at Ashoka in Washington DC and was the founding Director of the Australian Changemakers Festival. Tom’s varied experience and journey to where he is now has taught him valuable lessons but also gave him the insight he needs to better support the next generation of social entrepreneurs. His passion for innovation and sustainable impact is the basis behind StartSomeGood and has helped countless people find success along the way. Tom’s journey to a career that didn’t exist when he started out was full of risk but his optimistic attitude and adherence to his vision and purpose has helped him to achieve significant goals. As an early adapter and innovator, he wasn’t deterred by technology he didn’t understand but learned the value of key partnerships and how to leverage them to get to where you want to be. At the end of the day, Tom’s desire to help others better create social change is inspiring and truly accessible. Throughout this conversation he shares useful advice and combines it with tangible action steps, connecting anyone wanting to pursue their ideas with the tools they need to make it happen. Topics Covered: •How seemingly random events and opportunities paved the way for Tom’s career path •Becoming a crowdfunding entrepreneur before it existed •Youth empowerment is tokenistic, haphazard and deeply biased towards wealth. •Tom’s path as an early adapter and innovator •Building technological companies as a non-tech person •Focus on equipping people •Success stories from the platform •What inspires people to give and invest Key Quotes: •“My whole life purpose is to try and build… a better democracy and to me that means one where people can participate in making things happen.” (1:22) •“The heart of democracy is not an election. It's every other day of the year; how we participate, how we make a difference, how we create the future that we want (1:43) •“Today you shouldn't know what you want [to do] because the thing you want to be probably doesn't exist yet.” (2:36) •“Create spaces where people can engage in conversation, can share their stories and perspectives, and hopefully come up with new ideas and ways to collaborate together to create a better future.” (8:32) •“I'm an early adapter and so I'm constantly scanning what's around me and then wondering how that might be relevant for the things I care about. (13:00) •“People are always looking for that big idea that fresh idea that they can come out of their own mind, but sometimes we can take a concept that's in one market or another country and then bring it into a different space and create something new and innovative.” (14:58) •“Paying for innovation means paying for failure. The only way you get innovation is by trying stuff that may or may not work and along the way there is risk.” (17:35) •“Burnout is actually one of the great sources of failure for startups.” (34:46) •“One of the things we pitch with crowdfunding is; it's not just an alternative source of capital, it's a source of validation that then helps you get the capital.” (40:39)

Episode 55 - Growing Your Tech Business with Zachary Kohler by Aerion Technologies

Our guest on this episode of the DevReady Podcast is Jeremy Streten, founder of “Business Legal Life Cycle”, a business focused on making legal advice accessible to business owners. Jeremy briefly started out his career in IT before pivoting to become a lawyer about 17 years ago. After several years in the industry, Jeremy realized that many lawyers tend to speak with their clients in unnecessarily complicated ways that are not helpful to average people who do not have legal training. He saw an opportunity for building a bridge between business owners and helpful legal advice and he sought out a developer to help him create the infrastructure. The basis for the BLL assessment came from Jeremy’s outline of the 13 business phases, which eventually became his book entitled “The Business Legal Life Cycle.” During the creation of the first version of the Business Legal Life Cycle software, Jeremy experienced plenty of miscommunications with the developer he had hired. This solidified in his mind the necessity for a tech partner and also for the implementation of proper documentation at the beginning of all client and employment relationships. When it came time to work on version 2.0, Jeremy reached out to a Mastermind group that he was a part of in the U.S. and met an interested developer there who eventually became his business partner. He says that having a tech partner continually involved in the business and the evolution of the tech being used is a crucial part of the business. Topics Covered: •Many lawyers aren’t very helpful because they don’t speak plain English to their clients. •How Jeremy’s legal background helped prepare him to fill in this gap between business owners and proper legal advice. •Keeping in mind what you want to do in the future. •Setting up your documentation the right way from the start. •Finding the right developer and building out the tech. •How miscommunications can lead to misaligned expectations and outcomes. •Changing the targeting of the product based on feedback. •Having a larger purpose: to make legal advice accessible to business owners. Key Quotes •“It’s to help business owners generally to know what they need to do from a legal perspective.” (1:10) •“People change. Money changes people.” (6:04) •“Every business evolves over time, and if you’re not evolving then you’re probably going backward.” (19:25) •“You get what you pay for.” (25:11)

On this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew and Anthony sit down with Xsellus founder and SaaS enthusiast, Matt Wolach. Matt has been into SaaS for about 15 years. On the podcast, Matt shares his insights into how to develop a SaaS company, how to market it to the right people, and how to scale to something big—even in a world dominated by cloud services. Matt argues that people are usually missing one or more of the four pillars of scaling your SaaS company. He developed these pillars as follows: 1.Attract—This is where you guarantee you bring the right people in. 2.Engage—It doesn't matter how you do this, but you need to find a way to engage your customers in a meaningful way. 3.Close—Once you’ve spent the money attracting and engaging them, you need to close the deal. Focus on emotion. 4.Scale—We need to be able to repeat this. Beyond this, Matt shares key details about what actually works when thinking about attracting and engaging the people who will really allow your company to flourish. Key takeaways from this episode are that you need to figure out how to remove barriers to your product (both on entry and exit), and that there is a way to use emotion to create buy-in that transforms into real conversion. Matt says the emotional language is about getting people to see services applied to their very own situations. Get them talking about themselves to understand the real emotional value. Topics Covered: ●SaaS businesses. ●Methods to scale a SaaS business. ●Steps to attract customers for expansion. ●Why you need to pounce. ●How to remove barriers to entry (so you can close). ●Understanding the middle ground. Key Quotes: ❏“I help other software founders to not go through those early-stage struggles that I went through.” (3:00) ❏“It’s really hard to find anything that’s not server-based now.” (4:45) ❏“Whether or not you do it, your information is still there.” (6:00) ❏“Everyone is so used to being pitched at for some new software tool.” (7:30) ❏“We, as founders, still have conversations with our market.” (9:20) ❏“Competitors will come.” (18:00) ❏“Free trials are not your closers. Free trials are not your closers.” (21:00) ❏“Never make it hard for someone to hand you money.” (26:15) ❏“If they’re not a good fit, don’t make it hard for them to transition out.” (29:30) ❏“People get emotional about themselves, about their own world.” (31:50) ❏“They kind of sell themselves.” (34:20) ❏“Hire three; fire two.” (36:30) ❏“If you have the right process, it’s all about reining them in.” (39:45)