Growth Podcast Episodes

Discover the collection of The Work Item podcast episodes with the Growth tag. Go to the Episodes page to listen to the latest releases, find interesting guests, or navigate through the history of the show.

#86 - The Only Real Way To Know Is To Talk To People - Asia Orangio (CEO, DemandMaven)

December 20, 2024

Today, I'm thrilled to be joined by Asia Orangio, the brain behind DemandMaven, a growth agency dedicated to helping SaaS companies and their founders reach new heights. Asia's unique approach blends data-driven strategies with deep empathy for customers, making her a sought-after expert - from bootstrapped businesses to some of the most established companies.

#85 - Building A Business From Python Expertise - Michael Kennedy (Founder, Talk Python Training)

November 14, 2024

If you are listening to this show, you have likely heard of a programming language called Python. And if you are a Python developer, you've likely heard of a podcast dedicated to this programming language - Talk Python To Me. It was started by none other than Michael Kennedy, a Python Software Foundation fellow who managed to turn his expertise into a viable bootstrapped business. In this show, we talk about ways to plan a training business from scratch, what tactics worked best to grow a podcast audience, and how to make sure that you have a viable idea before you quit your day job.

#83 - Don't Take The Easy Path - Jennifer Wong (Engineering Leader)

August 8, 2024

Jennifer Wong is a seasoned engineering manager who started her journey in civil engineering. The fast pace of the tech industry drew her in, and she stuck with it for years since making that call. In this episode, I chat with Jennifer about her transition from a non-traditional career path into software, reasons to take on management instead of being an individual contributor, and why taking the road less traveled in terms of career progression might just be the recipe for long-term growth and success.

#76 - Be OK Talking About Money, With Saron Yitbarek

April 8, 2024

One of the things that is a bit taboo to talk about, both in the tech industry and outside of it is money. People just aren't comfortable discussing openly the hard decisions that go into things like seeking funding, investing money into things that save you time, and scaling your own abilities with the help of, you guessed it, cold, hard, cash. Saron Yitbarek, entrepreneur extraordinaire behind CodeNewbie and podcasts such as Command Line Heroes, generously accepted my invitation to chat and talk about all these things, and more. And of course, we talk about Saron's latest project - Big Cash Money 2024, something for folks that want to max out their income beyond just their salary.

#73 - Put The Passion Aside And Go For The Market, with Rob Walling

February 12, 2024

If you’ve ever listened to Startups For The Rest Of Us (which, by the way, is approaching seven hundred episodes), you might already be familiar with the energetic host of the show - entrepreneur, bootstrapper, and podcaster extraordinaire Rob Walling. Rob and I chat about his early days as an employee, the transition from the more traditional path of working for someone to starting his own business, building MicroConf, and how the trifecta of skill, hard work, and luck can help folks be on a more predictable path to success.

#70 - Building a Career In Developer Tools, with Kenneth Auchenberg

December 31, 2023

Today, you're in for a treat as I sit down with Kenneth Auchenberg, a seasoned product manager - you might know him from his work at Microsoft on Visual Studio Code as well as on developer tools at Stripe. He is also a developer and overall a very nice person to know.

#69 - Product Management In The Era Of Generative AI, with Shyvee Shi

December 30, 2023

In today's episode, I sat down with Shyvee Shi, a seasoned product leader with a wealth of experience in steering products from conception to market success. Shyvee has been at the forefront of industry trends, contributing significantly to the evolution of product management practices.

#63 - Beyond Just Engineering Skills, with Adrienne Braganza Tacke

November 8, 2023

If you want to be intentional about your career and become a multidisciplinary professional, this conversation with Adrienne Tacke is for you.

#62 - Building Sustainable Practices, with Jason Fried

October 23, 2023

Jason Fried is the co-founder and CEO of 37signals, the company behind Basecamp and Hey. I chat with Jason about his path to entrepreneurship, the lack of value in a lot of meetings, and generally building sustainable practices that enable businesses and their employees to thrive.

#61 - Career Moats And Beyond, with Cedric Chin

October 9, 2023

In this episode, I am chatting with Cedric Chin - the founder of the CommonCog blog and business series. You might've read some of Cedric's writing on career moats before.