Ep. 118, AI Is Like Salt
Underserved
In Underserved #118 we interview Andrew Heffernan. Andrew grew up believing he wanted to be an engineer. After dabbling in civil and plastics, he found his way into the tech industry via customer support at Constant Contact. The company thrived and provided Andrew advancement into development, where he discovered that the hardest part of the job could be getting all the humans to work in concert. We discuss working with fellow Underserved guest Erik Dasque, what happens when you 10x your staff, and the double-edged sword of SalesForce. Links: Andrew on LinkedIn:
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Ep. 117, CIO Steering Digital Innovation
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Episode #117 of Underserved features our guest Sree Kancharla. It looked like Sree was on track toward a math PhD and teaching, but a tech career blossomed instead. Sree was involved with many projects ahead of their time, including iterative deployment and Google Glass. We talk about innovating in the digital realm and product vs. service companies. For more information: – Volunteer Organization - Empowering Women in Technology - Mentoring in LA
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Ep. 116, No Laughing Matter
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Kurt Iverson is featured in Episode #116 of Underserved. Kurt offered to build a website for a budding comedian in exchange for free show tickets. While not a great monetary deal, the experience and connections ended up paying huge dividends. Kurt parlayed this into development gigs for interactive firms, The Federal Reserve, and Garmin. We talk deploying with Disney, user empathy, and George Brett. Links: – dear Hollywood friends that are on a mission to help Holocaust survivors and all those suffering from the effects of war – one of my oldest friends in comedy and someone who...
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Ep. 115, Fight for Simplicity
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Dom Scandinaro is our guest for Episode #115 of Underserved. Dom enjoyed building computers with his Dad and taking an entrepreneurial angle with their shared venture. As a young track star, a scholarship offer made his college choice for him. Luckily the CS program at Wheeling was fun and UI-focused, which has led to a career in front-end development, mobile development, and now management as a CTO. We discuss who makes a cameo on Cameo, Luxury Garage Sale, and prototyping with Francisco the Fox. Links: Black Girls Code: Cameo for Business: Cameo Kids: Francisco the...
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Ep. 114, Unicorn Cavalry
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Philosophy major Jason "Mac" Macauley found his way into the industry via content moderation. He caught the coding bug when he realized that his love of logic translated well. He aimed to be an "Employee number less than 10" at a startup, cash out, and teach philosophy. After a few years, he came to terms with being a professional software developer and aimed for the next challenge - managing people. We talk about working yourself out of a job, outcome-driven sales approaches, and why golf is not a game of perfect. Links: My Coaching Firm - LinkedIn - Blog - Great Dog - ...
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Ep. 113, Continuation Bet
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Season 10 of Underserved kicks off with our guest, Rob Salvador. Rob's late teens were spent on a computer, but playing multi-table online poker tournaments, not coding. The DOJ shut down online poker, forcing Rob to pivot. His dad's construction company proved fertile ground for learning the industry's challenges. Rob has parlayed this into a business that optimizes supply chains using AI, lowering costs and raising the success rate of construction projects. Links Rob on LinkedIn: Rob on X(Twitter): Digibuild: Poker’s Black Friday:
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Ep. 112, The Value of Hustle
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Season 9 concludes with Episode #112 featuring Michael Dane. It took a formative solo photography trip to the UK for Michael to find himself and his potential. After discovering what he was good at and the Internet, he was off and running with his brother Abe and Hearst Media. This led to a career in data and business intelligence, often having to sell management and clients why those are so valuable. Also discussed - handling motorcycles at speed, that time he worked for Senator Ted Kennedy, and avoiding downtime when it costs $750,000 per hour. Story on my wife's struggle with Myalgic...
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Ep. 111, Head in the Clouds
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Episode #111 of Underserved features Drew Schillinger. Early on Grandpa Jack wanted to teach Drew programming, but mom didn't want him inside glued to the computer. Drew eventually found his way between chair and keyboard, first teaching and later practicing as a developer. A memorable stint at Cartoon Network's Adult Swim gave him experience as an entertainer and a technical architect. We also talk mindsets, getting an MBS, and Bugs Bunny meeting ChatGPT. Links for show notes Drew Rap From my time on Adult Swim’s FishCenter Web No more interactive desktop, but...
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Ep. 110, View Source
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Ep. 110 of Underserved features Rob Larsen. Rob was around for the glory days of the web when you could "view source" on a webpage to learn how to do something new via imitation. At the same time, he was involved in local magazines, writing about film after a stint at Emerson. Rob learned quickly that writing code paid better than writing prose, and leaned into front-end development for several years. This has led him to become one of the foremost thought leaders in the area, publishing several books and managing popular open-source projects. Hear how his love of art, travel, and graffiti has...
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Ep. 109, Cactus Dude
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Kevin "Cactus Dude" Kreucher is our guest for Episode #109 of Underserved. Kevin is another unique story - going from a client of a treatment center to running its IT operations. Kevin got a tour of MSPs after that and built out his Rolodex steadily to support all facets of IT. Nowadays Kevin considers his phone his greatest tool, being able to tap his network to get any job done. Also covered - exotic succulents, friending every CIO in Orange County on LinkedIn, and a memorable Chick-fil-A drive-through call. Links: Kevin on LinkedIn: Northgate Market: Grocery Outlet: Crazy4Cactus...
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