Podcast Tech for Non-Techies by Sophia Matveeva Episodes

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	Title	Pub. Date	Duration
	221. How Paypal innovates	25 Sep 2024	00:36:26
Do you want to know how one of the world’s largest fintech companies stays on top? Paypal’s innovation strategy is actually simpler and cheaper than you probably think. Listen to this episode to learn how this $78 billion dollar business keeps coming up with new ideas, so you can steal their strategies for yourself. You will learn from Mike Todasco, who led global innovation at Paypal and is now a visiting fellow studying AI at the Sand Diego State University. Timestamps: 00:00 Innovation on a Budget 02:55 Constraints in Innovation 05:47 Creative Resource Management 08:56 Building a Culture of Innovation 12:14 Measurement of Innovation 15:08 Levels of Innovation 17:49 Defining a Culture of Innovation 20:52 Success Metrics in Innovation 24:01 Current Trends in Innovation 26:50 Resources for Aspiring Innovators For the transcript, go to - https://www.techfornontechies.co/blog/221-how-paypal-innovates FREE GUIDE: The Pragmatist’s Guide To Innovation (in business & in life) by Sophia Matveeva, supported by researchers from The University of Chicago Growth Through Innovation If your organisation wants to drive revenue through innovation, book a call with us here. Our workshops and innovation strategies have helped Constellation Brands, the Royal Bank of Canada and Oxford University.
	220. How 5 simple questions can solve your toughest problems	18 Sep 2024	00:15:51
Have you ever wondered why some people find smart innovative solutions to problems, and others stay stuck? In this episode, you'll learn you a simple technique that innovators use to make new products and solve business challenges. And you can also use this methodology for any area of your life, so listen up! You'll learn about the 5 whys process, hear two case studies for how to use it, and get guidelines for how to get started. Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 02:46 Five Whys Methodology 06:05 Applying the Five Whys: Bakery Example 08:51 Applying the Five Whys: App Development Example 12:01 Effective Use of the Five Whys 13:53 Conclusion For the transcript, go to: https://www.techfornontechies.co/blog/220-how-5-simple-questions-can-solve-your-toughest-problems For more career & tech lessons, subscribe to Tech for Non-Techies on: Apple Spotify YouTube Amazon Podcasts Stitcher Pandora Growth Through Innovation If your organisation wants to drive revenue through innovation, book a call with us here. Our workshops and innovation strategies have helped Constellation Brands, the Royal Bank of Canada and Oxford University.
	211. Technology Strategy for Business Leaders	10 Jul 2024	00:38:00
To succeed, corporates and start-ups must innovate. Learn how to manage technology strategy as a Business Leader from MBA professor Alberto Galasso. Professor Galasso teaches Strategic Management and Technology Strategy at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. He is the author of The Management of Innovation: Managing and Creating Technology Capital Timestamps: 02:18 Why Technology Strategy is important for Business Leaders 04:13 The Relationship Between Technology and Innovation 07:59 Tips for Becoming More Innovative 12:40 Case Study: CT Scanner Industry Crisis 15:04 Strategies for Addressing the Crisis 20:07 Balancing Technological Advancements and Value Creation 23:26 The Role of Intellectual Property and Data 27:43 Collaborative Approach to Innovation 31:37 Identifying Innovative Companies 35:21 Enhancing Personal Innovation Capabilities For more career & tech lessons, subscribe to Tech for Non-Techies on: Apple Spotify YouTube Amazon Podcasts Stitcher Pandora FREE COURSE 5 Tech Concepts Every Business Leader Needs To Know Say hi to Sophia on LinkedIn. Following us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter. For the transcript, go to: https://www.techfornontechies.co/blog/technology-strategy-for-business-leaders
	121. Five things you can do to thrive in the Tech Age	19 Oct 2022	00:17:57
If you want to have a great career today, you simply have to Speak Tech. But, taking courses is not enough. You must combine learning with smart actions to make your investment pay off. Here are five action steps you can take today to thrive in the Tech Age: Get involved with a tech start-up: if you have specialist expertise, offer to become an advisor to a start-up so you can learn how digital innovation works from the inside. For example, if you are a lawyer, offer your legal expertise in exchange for sitting in product meetings as an observer. Get involved with an accelerator: this is like point one, but instead of offering your expertise to a specific start-up, offer it to an organisation that helps start-ups. angel investment networks are also another useful route to follow here. Create your own tech focussed meet-ups: This is especially useful if you want to learn and build your network in a particular niche. For example, if you work in a real estate investment fund, host events with start-ups and corporate innovators who are inventing new products in this space. By being the moderator of these discussions, you grow your knowledge, build your network and expand your personal brand. Go to the innovation department or the product team and ask them what they are working on. One of my students did this. Juliet Eysenck was a journalist at the Telegraph Media Group in the UK. She built relationships with the digital product team and ended up pivoting her career to become a product leader. Listen episode 11. How to Transition into Product Management for Non-Techies with Juliet Eysenck to hear how she did it. Look at your existing LinkedIn connections, find people who are working in technology innovation and contact them. Remember, this contact does have to work in a tech company. They could be like Juliet, working on the digital side of a traditional business innovation. Ask these contacts to meet up so you can ask them about their work. You might make new friends or rekindle friendships, while building knowledge for your career. Join our next FREE training Thrive in the Tech Age! You will learn: The top mistake non-technical leaders make when it comes to tech Leadership case studies from Netflix & Microsoft How to combine tech & business skills to have a great career Live online: 26 October 2022, 12 pm EDT / 5 pm BST Join here. ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- Tech for Non-Techies clients Reach senior leadership positions in Big Tech firms Lead digital transformation in established businesses Create tech businesses as non-technical founders Pivot into careers in venture capital If you want to have a great career in the Digital Age, then APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL. What happens when you apply for a consultation call: Sophia and her team will look through your application. If they genuinely think Sophia could help you, you will get a link to her calendar. You will have a 20 – 30 minute call to discuss your goals and see if you are a good fit for each other. If we establish that Tech for Non-Techies courses + coaching could help you and believe we would enjoy working together, we will discuss a relevant approach to suit you. The aim of the call is not to sell you on anything that is not right for you. We both win if you get results, but we both lose if you don’t. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	120. Think like a Venture Capitalist to have a great career	11 Oct 2022	00:14:43
“The business strategies employed by highly successful start-ups and the career strategies employed by highly successful individuals are strikingly similar," says Reid Hoffman in his book The Startup of You. VC premise 1: technology is a tool that solves a problem Ask yourself: what problems is your industry facing now? What problems are you dealing with on day-to-day basis? VC Premise 2: the problem must be important enough to solve Even if the problem exists, it might not be important enough to solve. This is why, you need to think: where is the biggest money drain? Where is the biggest productivity drain? VC premise 3: Invest in the future, not in the now VCs are not investing in today. They are investing in years and even decades ahead. Let’s use the same approach to your career. Does your industry or the company you are working at look promising? Make a plan for how to adjust for future changes. Making a career change always takes longer than we want. VC premise 4: diversify your assets This means doing well in your current role well, and also getting involved with other projects. One of the best ways to do this is to get involved with start-ups, because this helps you understand how innovation works in practice and gives you fresh ideas. Resources mentioned in this episode: Speak Tech: the top 10 tech concepts for business leaders (FREE GUIDE) Non-Technical Founders Don’t Need to Cod‪e‬ - Sophia's podcast interview with Alexandra Zubko, 3 x tech founder 74. How I got to the top in tech - Sophia's podcast interview with Jennifery Byrne, ex CTO Microsoft US ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- Tech for Non-Techies clients Reach senior leadership positions in Big Tech firms Lead digital transformation in established businesses Create tech businesses as non-technical founders Pivot into careers in venture capital If you want to have a great career in the Digital Age, then APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL. What happens when you apply for a consultation call: Sophia and her team will look through your application. If they genuinely think Sophia could help you, you will get a link to her calendar.. You will have a 20 – 30 minute call to discuss your goals and see if you are a good fit for each other. If we establish that Tech for Non-Techies courses + coaching could help you and believe we would enjoy working together, we will discuss a relevant approach to suit you. The aim of the call is not to sell you on anything that is not right for you. We both win if you get results, but we both lose if you don’t. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	119. Why smart leaders expect the unexpected from software updates	05 Oct 2022	00:13:20
Software updates can have weird unintended consequences that the company doesn't even know about. Existing features that worked perfectly can stop working, leading to lost revenues and annoyed customers. Listen to this episode to learn why this happens and how non-technical leaders deal with it when it does. Learning notes from this episode: A developer could write a line of code to affect one outcome, and there could be a completely different unintended outcome that they don’t even know about it. When an app, site or algorithm gets complicated enough, these unintended consequences are more and more likely to happen. To prevent this, make sure that different people test the new version on different devices and browsers. In tech teams, this function is called Quality Assurance. Remember that these unintended consequences are inevitable. The key is to catch them early and correct course. Create a process for your users to quickly tell you if something goes wrong. The beauty of software products is that you can usually get rid of a bug in the system in the next release. The key is to find out about it in the first place. Resources mentioned in this episode: Speak Tech: the top 10 tech concepts for business leaders (FREE GUIDE) The Metaverse: And How it Will Revolutionize Everything by Matthew Ball ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	118. Four questions to link business goals to tech tools	28 Sep 2022	00:15:40
Technology is a tool, not an end in itself. The quickest way to bridge the gap between tech and business teams is to relate business outcomes to technology. Learning notes from this episode: In every company, you always have two sides: the people who make the product, and the people who sell the product. The aim of both sides is to grow the business, but they solve the same problem using different expertise. (It’s like Oceans 11, but legal) As a leader your job is not to know everything, but to set a vision and break it down into goals. You need to learn, but you also need to know when to stop. This is how non-technical founders build tech ventures and how corporate executives transform traditional organisations into digital leaders. One of the biggest reasons non-technical leaders struggle to collaborate with their technical counterparts is fear that they will not understand what the technologists are talking about. To solve, this, you need to learn to Speak Tech. A quick hack, even without knowing any tech concepts, is to relate business outcomes to technology. Most tech tools help companies achieve these four business aims: Reach scale Increase efficiency Increase customer satisfaction Improve security You can start learning how to become a Digital Leader today by asking your tech colleagues how their work impacts these four areas. Join our next FREE Training* on 28 September, 12 pm EDT / 5 pm BST* How To Speak Tech For Leaders Previous class attendees said: “Super helpful content that can be applied to a wider range of professions, presented in a fun, personable way.” “Love presenter's extensive knowledge and experience, and use of concrete examples to convey points” “Presenter brought energy, humor & clarity.” “The inspiration I needed to hear the stories of non-tech people getting involved in tech.” Sign up here. ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	117. Lessons from the Lean Start-Up by Eric Reis	21 Sep 2022	00:16:00
"Successful entrepreneurs don't have better ideas, they have a better process," says Eric Reis in The Lean Start-Up. To learn how to innovate with speed, listen to this week's episode. Learning notes from this episode: “A start-up is a human institution designed to create a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty,” says Reis. Do not to apply your corporate experience to start-ups. Corporates have: Departments A known business model A known problem Start-ups have: 3 people and a dog No proven business model A problem hypothesis To test new ideas in conditions of extreme uncertainty, follow the Build-Measure-Learn cycle. (Pictured here) This process is not only for tech products. Use it to invent new products and services, and if you get traction with existing tools, then consider investing in tech. If you do not have a technical background, you will not know how to build a product so you could measure and learn. This is why The Lean Start-Up is a great theoretical guide to innovation, but does not present a clear path to product for non-technical innovators. The Non-Technical Founder's Introduction To Tech course shows how to apply Build-Measure-Learn in practice. Join our next FREE Training* on 28 September, 12 pm EDT / 5 pm BST* How To Speak Tech For Leaders Previous class attendees said: “Super helpful content that can be applied to a wider range of professions, presented in a fun, personable way.” “Love presenter's extensive knowledge and experience, and use of concrete examples to convey points” “Presenter brought energy, humor & clarity.” “The inspiration I needed to hear the stories of non-tech people getting involved in tech.” Sign up here. ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	116. Introduction to Deep Tech investing	14 Sep 2022	00:16:53
When investing in Deep Tech, remember that technology is just a tool, not an end in itself. Understanding who will use it and why is key to becoming smart money. Learning notes from this episode: When investing in any business, you must consider these questions: What problem are you solving? Who are you solving it for? Are they willing and able to pay for it? Understand what stage of the innovation cycle the start-up is in. This will help you evaluate risk properly. For example, the first lab grown burgers were unaffordable for most people. The risk at that stage was not whether the product can be made, but whether it can be made at a cost that would allow wide scale sales. Get a technical expert to evaluate the start-up’s invention and help you understand their risk. Take note if no other deep tech investor is involved. This is what happened with Theranos. Prominent biotech VCs passed on the round because they had the expertise to know that what Elizabeth Holmes was promising could not be built. One of the best ways to learn about Deep Tech investing is to attend accelerator demo days. Listen to start-up pitches and take note of what experienced deep tech investors are asking about. For example, you could start with the Duality accelerator ran by the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center, which focusses on quantum computing start-ups. Resources mentioned in this episode: Episode 4. What Non-Technical Founders Need to Know About Tech (interview with David Segura) Episode 31. How To Transition Into Venture Capital Episode 114. What is Deep Tech? ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	115. Commercialising innovation and breaking into Deep Tech	07 Sep 2022	00:36:09
Great technology is not enough to build a successful business. You need customers who understand its benefits, and are willing to pay for them. This is why storytelling is a key part of commercialising innovation. Lauren Xandra, Head of Marketing at Two Sigma Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in deep tech, talks about her role in building successful tech businesses and how she transitioned career into deep tech. Learning notes from this episode: "Just as important as supporting startups' technical growth, is helping them to be understood and able to tell a story that no only resonates with their end users, but also with potential corporate partners and outside investors, who are often less technical," says Lauren. Venture Capital is usually a job that people transition into, rather than start their careers in. 68% of venture capitalists in the US have backgrounds in start-ups, according to research by Diversity VC. *"Making a strategic career move requires thinking entrepreneurially," says Lauren. This means investing time and effort into activities that will pay off in the long run, but not today, like volunteering for start-ups or accelerators. Resources mentioned in this episode: Episode 114. What is Deep Tech? Episode 103. How I got into deep tech investing (with Colin Beirne, Two Sigma Ventures) Episode 108. How to work with a data scientist ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL* for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	114. What is Deep Tech?	31 Aug 2022	00:13:41
Companies like Deep Mind fascinate investors and innovators, but what is a deep tech company really and how does it differ from other types of tech firms? Listen to this episode to find out. Learning notes from this episode: Deep Tech is a sub-sector of the technology sector where the emphasis is on tangible engineering innovation or scientific advances and discoveries. It includes artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain, advanced material science, photonics and electronics, biotech and quantum computing. Deep Tech is usually B2B: these companies usually sell their innovations to other businesses, rather than directly to consumers. Deep Tech companies are usually founded by technical founders, and sometimes have non-technical co-founders who help them commercialise the innovation. A good example is biotech tech start-up Vitro Labs, where a scientist teamed up with a fashion industry expert to create laboratory grown leather. The biggest risk to Deep Tech companies is getting over-excited by technological innovation at the cost of seeing whether the new technology is creating any actual value. “The winning company is not always the one with the best technology. Tech can be a differentiator, but usually it’s only temporary. The job of a venture capitalist is not to figure out which company has the best tech. It’s to figure out which company has the best business that can ultimately be the biggest impact,” said Colin Beirne, co-founder of Two Sigma Ventures, a deep tech investor. Resources mentioned in this episode: Episode 103. How I got into deep tech investing (with Colin Beirne, Two Sigma Ventures) Tech Target: Deep Mind ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	113. How porn drives tech innovation	24 Aug 2022	00:09:16
The porn industry is behind many of the innovations that drive e-commerce and the consumer internet today. If you want to know what new trend is going to be the hottest thing in tech, the makers of smut probably have the answer. Learning notes from this episode: The adult industry pioneered streaming video, tracking devices and online credit card transactions. Even before the advent of the internet, porn drove consumer tech. Author Patchen Barss says that without porn, the VCR might have never taken off as a consumer product. Pornographers are not necessarily the inventors of new technologies, but they are the first to use them and thus drive consumer adoption. Once a technology works for porn users, they often flow down to the mainstream. If you are a tech investor or a tech innovator, seeing what new products or use cases are happening in the adult industry, can help you spot the next big trend. The more you can pick up ideas from wherever they come from, regardless of whether they are from culturally approved places, the more creative you will be in your work. Resources mentioned in this episode: Business Insider: How porn drives innovation in tech Web root: internet Pornography by the Numbers Obscene Profits: The Entrepreneurs of Pornography in the Cyber Age, by Frederick Lane The Erotic Engine, by Patchen Barss Join the The Non-Technical Founders Introduction to Tech workshop You will learn: The framework for how to go from idea to live product Product management fundamentals How to work with developers effectively How and when to hire a product team ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	112. The three stages of start-up teams	16 Aug 2022	00:14:16
A tech start-up begins its life with a tiny team. The founders are either technical or tech savvy, but as the company scales its team has to change. Learn about the three stages of start-up team growth here. Learning notes from this episode: At stage 1, the start-up is focussed on building its first product and getting the first customers. The team is usually tiny, and each team member is either building the technology themselves or is very closely involved in the process. Everyone learns from each other on the job. At stage 2, the start-up has raised Series A or Series B and is focussed on scaling. This is when specialists in non-technical fields start getting hired: HR experts, sales people etc. The gap between the techies and the non-techies widens, and this is where opportunities get lost. At stage 3, the start-up is a late stage venture and is either preparing for a merger or an IPO. At this point, the original founder is very unlikely to be the CEO. According to analysis by Harvard Business School professor Noam Wasserman: “by the time the ventures were three years old, 50% of founders were no longer the CEO; in year four, only 40% were still in the corner office; and fewer than 25% led their companies’ initial public offerings.” Resources mentioned in this episode: Harvard Business Review: The Founders' Dilemma by Noam Wasserman Join the The Non-Technical Founders Introduction to Tech workshop You will learn: The framework for how to go from idea to live product Product management fundamentals How to work with developers effectively How and when to hire a product team Listen here on Apple Podcasts Listen here on Spotify ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter. (Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash)
	210: The Rainmaking show: how to get TECH CLIENTS in professional services	03 Jul 2024	00:27:49
Do you want to have tech companies and venture capitalists as your clients? This can be very lucrative and interesting. If the answer is yes, listen to this episode. This interview was originally aired on the Rainmaking Podcast with Scott Love. Timestamps 03:02 Why the Tech Industry is still young 06:10 Choosing Tech as a Niche 08:04 Consumer vs Enterprise Tech 13:54 Mindset Differences in Selling to Tech Clients 14:53 Importance of Relationships and Experience 22:59 Action Step: Get Involved in Tech Accelerators 24:17 Action Step: Add Value as a Mentor or Advisor 27:35 About Tech for Non-Techies For more free career & tech lessons, subcribe to Tech for Non-Techies on Apple Spotify YouTube To discuss a corporate training program for your organisation, book a consultation call here. Happy clients include The Royal Bank of Scotland, Oxford University and Constellation Brands. --- For the transcript, go to: https://www.techfornontechies.co/blog/rainmaking-show-how-to-get-tech-clients-in-professional-services We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	111. B2C vs B2B start-ups	10 Aug 2022	00:13:19
The biggest difference between business to business and consumer facing ventures is how they grow. The growth curve and costs of B2B vs B2C growth is what surprises (and sinks) many start-ups. Learning notes from this episode: Consumer to business start-ups growth through paid marketing. If you launch a consumer app on the Apple App Store, expect to pay around 40% of the money you raise on Facebook advertising. Business to business start-ups grow through sales. Sales is much more dependent on relationships and human interaction, than digital marketing. In the early stages of a B2B start-up's life, the founder is usually the one doing sales outreach. Both approaches have serious costs. Do not make the mistakes that because marketing requires money and sales requires elbow grease, that sales is free. Always remember opportunity cost: if you are doing something, you are not doing something else. ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co
	110. Cutting through tech hype with the Actionable Futurist	03 Aug 2022	00:35:39
Conferences are full of speakers saying that the latest tech will change the world, but that often leaves smart people even more confused. Knowing about trends is irrelevant if you don't know what to do about them. To learn how to cut through the tech hype, listen to this episode with Andrew Grill, the Actionable Futurist. Andrew began his career as an engineer, became a Global Managing Partner at IBM and today is a keynote speaker on tech & business trends. Learning notes from this episode: “To understand the technology, you need to play with it,” Andrew says. Using new software or devices at home makes you comfortable with trying new technologies. (e.g. try TikTok! you'll see what an engaging algorithm really feels like and you'll have a laugh) Innovation theatre is a problem if there is no clear understanding why a company has a digital strategy. This is usually a leadership issue, not a tech issue. The job title of Chief Digital Officer or Chief Data Officer is designed to be obsolete in the next few years. As all of our experiences are a mix of digital and analog, having a separate job title for digital will not make sense as companies become more fully integrated. Resources mentioned in this episode: The Pragmatist's Guide To Innovation ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter. (Photo provided by Andrew Grill)
	109. Do this to become a Digital Collaborator today	27 Jul 2022	00:15:46
To lead in the Digital Age, you need to become a Digital Collaborator. The best way to learn anything quickly is to put yourself in a situation where not doing it isn’t an option. Listen to this episode to learn what you can do to start collaborating with tech teams and take your career to the next level. Learning notes from this episode: If you work in a corporate, set up a weekly meeting with technologists and your team to discuss what they’re working on and how it impacts scale, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. This public commitment to collaboration removes your choice to delay. For example, if you work in marketing, set up regular meeting with the data science team and begin by outlining your goals for the year and where you see the biggest bottle necks. While the data science team might not have solutions right away, this will lay the foundations for future collaboration. Another way to do become a Digital Collaborator is to volunteer with a tech start-up. You could join as an advisor to share your expertise and network, in exchange for sitting in on product meetings and learning. If you’re not yet at the level where your expertise or network are coveted by a start-up, just volunteer your time. You can help manage their events, social media or help them with customer service. In exchange, say that you want to sit in on a product meeting, or have a 30 minute meeting per week with the head of product or the CTO to ask them questions. Read Sophia's Harvard Business Review article: Coding Isn’t a Necessary Leadership Skill — But Digital Literacy Is Get your FREE guide to the top 10 concepts non-technical leaders need to work with developers, designers and data scientists. ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter. (Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash)
	108. How to work with a data scientist	20 Jul 2022	00:29:10
Some problems that annoy you daily could be solved by AI, but most business teams don't know that because they’ve never discussed them with a technologist. Listen to this episode with Dr Catherine Breslin, a machine learning scientist with a PhD from Cambridge, to learn how to make the most of the AI revolution. Dr Breslin was one of the first people to work on Amazon Alexa and today leaders Kingfisher Labs, a consulting company. Learning notes from this episode: For AI to have the biggest impact, data scientists need the input of domain experts, who are usually non-techies. To collaborate successfully with a data scientist, Dr Breslin suggests that non-technical teams bring their business wish list to a data scientist. Some of the items will probably be easily solved by technology, while others will not. Having regular discussions between tech teams and business teams will widen your scope of what’s possible. Buying data to build models is a significant cost, which needs to be built into estimates for a data science project. The three factors that influence how effective voice technology can be are language, subject, accent. Voice AI is effective for simple every-day tasks like “what’s the weather today?” in a language spoken by lots of people, but often struggles with specialist subject areas or smaller languages. Voice technology is most effective for the “big’ languages: English, Mandarin and Spanish. Resources mentioned in this episode: Dr Catherine Breslin on Twitter What data scientists do and how to work with them The Business of AI with Harvard Business School Prof Marco Iansiti AI, visual search & entrepreneurship with Jenny Griffiths MBE Book one of the 10 free coaching slots with Sophia here. This is only available in July 2022. ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	107. Top questions to ask about an app to become smart money	13 Jul 2022	00:19:29
To become SMART MONEY as an investor, founder or corporate innovator, you have to know what questions to ask about a product. This helps you spot signs of early success or early warning. Listen to this episode to learn what questions to ask and how to link product innovation to business strategy. Learning notes from this episode: The questions fall into three buckets: How do my best customers behave? What are the characteristics of my best customers? What has to happen for them to abandon the product? For bucket 1, you could ask: What features do my most active users use? What screens do they visit? How often do they open the app? What time of day do they open it and on which days? For bucket 2, you could ask: Where did these customers come from? What are their demographics? Are there any patterns? For bucket 3, you could ask: What screens tend to be the last screen that people get to before they shut down the app? What prices of other apps they use have? Resources mentioned in this episode: Tech for Non-Techies podcast: What on Earth is growth hacking? Book: How today’s fastest growing companies drive breakout success Get your FREE guide to the top 10 concepts non-technical leaders need to work with developers, designers and data scientists. ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	106. What angel investors REALLY need to know about tech	06 Jul 2022	00:18:47
Even the smartest professionals who don’t have backgrounds in digital businesses make the same mistakes when it comes to tech start-ups. They often want vanity metrics, as opposed to what truly matters, and because they don’t know how a tech product gets made, they don’t know how to properly evaluate an opportunity. In this episode you'll learn 3 core tech concepts and how they apply to early stage investing. Learning notes: There are fundamental differences between software products, that are especially important at the early stages. This is because, when a product is very new, it is still in development mode. This is why understanding product development is vital at the early stages. For example, evaluating Airbnb as a listed company focusses on typical investment metrics: revenues, costs, growth etc. These would have been unavailable when Airbnb first launched, so investors must look for other signs. Tech products are always evolving. For example, YouTube started as dating site. Its evolution was not an act of randomness, but a series of product and growth experiments. Product metrics are not business metrics, and they change over time. Traditional investors are used to putting business metrics into Discounted Cashflow Statements. This system does not work in early stage tech start-ups. Marketing is part of product development. Growth is part of the discovery process, and the growth hacker and product manager are often the same person in an early stage business. This means investors need to know how to include marketing spend in product development cost. Resources mentioned in this episode: How I got into deep tech investing (with Colin Beirne, Two Sigma Ventures) How to burn $2 billion To learn more, join the Introduction To Tech For Angel investors course You will learn: Core differences between tech & traditional businesses Which metrics are important at which stage Who does what on a product team How much different stages of development cost ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	105. A surprising outcome of Speaking Tech (& a lesson from Apple Watch)	29 Jun 2022	00:14:12
Listen to what happened when Apple forgot a key market and how to avoid the same mistake. When product teams consist of entirely white males, they make products for white males. When non-technical professionals learn to Speak Tech, you get better products, happier customers & better profits. Learning notes from this episode: While there are plenty of programs to get minorities into STEM, they will take years to have an effect. In the next few decades, most developers will continue to be white males. To prevent baking unconscious bias into products, the simplest, cheapest and fastest way is to teach non-technical teams how to work with the techies. Bringing diverse voices into product development is not a moral issue; it is capitalist self-interest. E.g. if women are not involved in product innovation, companies can lose up to 50% market share. To get Sophia's monthly business update, register here. ----- Get your FREE guide to the top 10 concepts non-technical leaders need to work with developers, designers and data scientists. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	104. Do things that don't scale	22 Jun 2022	00:09:25
"One of the most common types of advice we give at Y Combinator is to do things that don't scale," says Paul Graham, Y Combinator founder. Recruiting users manually and getting feedback is what lets you build a scalable product. Learning notes from this episode: "The most common unscalable thing founders have to do at the start is to recruit users manually. Nearly all startups have to. You can't wait for users to come to you. You have to go out and get them." - Paul Graham A product is always a solution to a problem someone is experiencing. The better you understand the problem and the users, the better the product will be. This often means 1:1 conversations with your customers. This advice doesn't only apply to early stage start-ups. If you are creating products, you are always looking for customer feedback to make them better. Brian Chesky still books Airbnbs so he can experience his product as a customer. Resources mentioned in this episode: Do things that don't scale - essay by Paul Graham Get your FREE guide to the top 10 concepts non-technical leaders need to work with developers, designers and data scientists. ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	103. How I got into deep tech investing (with Colin Beirne, Two Sigma Ventures)	13 Jun 2022	00:46:31
“There are things that are much more important about investing in technology companies than technology,” says Colin Beirne, Founder of Two Sigma Ventures. TSV has invested in around 100 start-ups over the last 10 years, and funded 10 unicorns. They’re part of Two Sigma, a hedge fund with more than $60 billion under management. Colin is surrounded by data scientists and programmers, but doesn’t have a background in programming. Listen to this episode to hear how Colin went from a liberal arts college to becoming one of the world’s leading deep tech investors. Learning notes from this episode: “The winning company is not always the one with the best technology. Tech can be a differentiator, but usually it’s only temporary. The job of a venture capitalist is not to figure out which company has the best tech. It’s to figure out which company has the best business that can ultimately be the biggest impact,” says Colin. Data science and knowing how to analyse data to spot trends is domain agnostic. This is why you often see data scientists changing jobs from completely different fields, such as going from insurance to social media. Companies across industries can and do use data analysis to make better decisions at scale. Media companies do this when serving us content and advertising, and investment firms do this to decide which companies to invest in. To decide whether joining a start-up is a good idea, evaluate the founders: do you think they have the ability to grow a successful business? Resources mentioned in this episode: Tech for Non-Techies podcast: Lessons from the Netflix C Suite Tech for Non-Techies podcast: The Business of AI with Harvard Business School Prof Marco Iansiti Book: Competing in the Age of AI Strategy and Leadership When Algorithms and Networks Run the World Book: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World Get your FREE guide to the top 10 concepts non-technical leaders need to work with developers, designers and data scientists. ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	102. When AI goes wrong - Zillow case study	08 Jun 2022	00:15:43
Real estate marketplace Zillow took $500 million in write downs and fired 25% of its workforce in late 2021, largely because a pricing algorithm made a mistake. Learn what went wrong and how to avoid it. Learning notes from this episode: Zillow started life as an online marketplace for real-estate in 2005, and monetised via advertising. The company decided to diversity and get into the business of flipping houses. Zillow used an algorithm to find properties it believed were undervalued and bought them. When the housing market turned, Zillow was left with massive losses, but its competitors were not. Behind every algorithm is a set of assumptions made by humans. For example, factors like crime rates and commuting distances affect real estate prices and would go into a property pricing algorithm. Machine learning models often assume that the past equals the future, but that is generally not the case in the real world. When the economy changed, the Zillow algorithm did not adjust. Data scientist Prof Datta from Carnegie Mellon says that tools can be built to monitor whether an algorithm is accurate or not. In essence: create a tool to monitor another tool. Non-technical leaders can also participate: ask your tech colleagues how the model is being updated when circumstances change. Simply asking: "the economy is changing. Have we adjusted our pricing algorithm for these changes? How have we done it?" is a good start. Resources mentioned in this episode: Tech for Non-Techies podcast: Intro to Algorithms and Big Data Inside Big Data: The $500mm+ Debacle at Zillow Offers – What Went Wrong with the AI Models? Sign up for How To SPEAK TECH for Leaders (FREE class) ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	209. Top 5 Career Skills for the Digital Age	26 Jun 2024	00:14:00
If you want to have a GREAT CAREER in the Digital Age, just being good at your job isn't enough. Listen to this episode to learn the key skills every professional needs to thrive. This episode is for founders and employees. In this episode, you will learn: How much to know about tech if you're not a technologist How to make opportunities come to you How to use this list to take the next step Timestamps: 03:08 Developing Your Primary Skill Set and Unique Insight 05:03 Speaking Tech: Collaborating with Tech Colleagues 06:59 Using AI to Improve Productivity 08:22 Mastering Personal Branding for Career Success 10:18 Managing Your Mind: Overcoming Challenges in the Digital Age Do you want to succeed in the Digital Age? Check out the Digital Leadership Coaching Program For more free career & tech lessons, subcribe to Tech for Non-Techies on Apple Spotify YouTube For the transcript, go to: https://www.techfornontechies.co/blog/top-5-career-skills-for-the-digital-age We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	101. How companies really use AI	01 Jun 2022	00:18:01
AI is a great tool to help you make decisions, but it's often not sophisticated enough to make good decisions by itself. This is why companies often rely on AI to do most of the task, but leave the final decision to humans. Most tech initiatives fit into one of these three buckets: Reach scale Increase efficiency Increase customer satisfaction Fashion retailer Stitch Fix uses a stylist algorithm to select outfits to send to customers, but the final selection is made by human stylists. The Netflix content team uses an algorithm to get suggestions on how much to pay for new shows, but ultimately the final decision rests with them (and isn't always the what the AI suggests). If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	100. My story: ambition, tech and the camel incident	25 May 2022	00:30:05
Today, I’m doing something a bit different. As our smart community grows, I know that some of you might not know much about me, my story or how I got into this tech thing. That’s why today, I’m sharing a little bit about me. I’m sharing this with you so that you can see that the confusion you feel about tech, or the fear that your lack of tech knowledge will be discovered, does not have to be your permanent reality. I want you to see that there are many more opportunities for you than you probably think. You will also learn what not to wear when riding a camel. Summary notes from this episode: I always wanted to have a great career, but when I graduated in 2005, tech wasn't what it is today. I started my career in the media, then worked in private equity and became a non-technical founder after my MBA. I planned to use my MBA to transition into a career in tech, but this was harder than I thought. Business school gave me business skills and a network, but taught me very little about tech. Writing for Forbes gave me access to people who succeeded in tech without technical backgrounds. Interviewing non-technical founders, investors and Big Tech executives was a better use of my time than a coding bootcamp. To have a great career in today's economy, you need to learn how to work with tech and product teams. This doesn't mean becoming a developer, but it does mean learning how to work with one. ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech for Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies. BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting on We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	99. The top skill you need to succeed in the Information Age	22 May 2022	00:20:00
Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen famously wrote that “software is eating the world.” While digital transformation is everywhere, and even your coffee shop has an app, this doesn't mean we all need to learn STEM subjects and become coders. The vast majority of jobs remain non-technical. To succeed in today's economy, ambitious professionals need to learn how to become Digital Collaborators. This means learning additional skills, rather than completely retraining. Learning notes from this episode: Microsoft says that "the demand for digital skills continues to grow, and we estimate that digital job capacity – or the total number of technology-oriented jobs – will increase nearly five-fold by 2025, rising from 41 million in 2020 to 190 million in 2025. These numbers are in stark contrast, and they illustrate the digital skills gap that has accompanied the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” Being a Digital Collaborator means learning to collaborate with a tech team, speak a common language and ask the right questions. It means learning to work with developers, data scientists and designers. Learning what data scientists do and how to work with them is the best skill set to develop for ambitious professionals, says David Wells, ex CFO Netflix and Board Chair at Wise. What Data Scientists Do & How To Work With Them Sign up for the course & get Early Bird access here. If you have questions about the course, or would like to buy corporate access for your teams, please get in touch with us on info@techfornontechies.co ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your unique challenges: For companies: If your company is going through digital transformation and you want your non-techie teams to be active participants Then get in touch with us about bespoke training & consulting on info@techfornontechies.co For individuals, if you want to: Build tech a venture as a non-technical innovator Succeed in tech as a non-techie Then Tech For Non-Techies membership is for you. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	98. Feature creep – why apps get too complicated	11 May 2022	00:13:53
When an app has too many features and pop ups, most users get confused and frustrated. This is feature creep: when the product’s core functionality becomes hidden in too many options and things to do. Feature creep happens when a team is determined to stay productive, but loses sight of its strategy. Sometimes stopping is better for the product than doing more. Learning notes from this episode: Feature creep is problematic for two main reasons: it confuses users and it costs money. This is because product teams have to be paid to design and code, and you also have to pay cloud costs to store your pointless features. Feature creep happens when there is a pressure to produce, which is contrary to the ability to focus. It can be easier to present new features as productivity to investors and corporate bosses, rather than saying that the product team took time to review results and reflect. To prevent feature creep, go back to the fundamental product development questions you’ve learnt here: What problem is our product solving? Who are we solving it for? Who is willing to pay to solve this problem? What other solutions do they have to this problem? Keep your eyes on the user, not the product. Feature creep happens when you get obsessed with the product and forget the user. It should be the other way around. Resources mentioned in this episode: Tech for Non-Techies: Introduction to UX design for Non-Techies with Sang Valte (video) Tech for Non-Techies: The hidden cost of cat videos (podcast) UX Collective: Feature creep, what is it and how it affects your customers To attend Tech for Non-Technical Founders on May 14 2022, book your ticket here ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your unique challenges: For companies: We create learning and innovation programmes, to help companies make the most out of digital transformation and help them become more entrepreneurial. Happy clients include Techstars x Blackstone Launchpad, Constellation Brands and Oxford University. Get in touch with us about bespoke training & consulting on info@techfornontechies.co For individuals, if you want to: Build tech a venture as a non-technical innovator Succeed in tech as a non-techie Then Tech For Non-Techies membership is for you. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	97. How I built Make Love Not Porn - with Cindy Gallop	03 May 2022	00:51:54
Would you leave a high flying career in advertising to set up an adult content site? Most people wouldn't, but Cindy Gallop is not most people. After leading one of the world's top advertising agencies, BBH in the United States. Cindy decided to try her hand at tech entrepreneurship. Her venture, Make Love Not Porn, is in the new category of "social sex" and aims to revolutionise how people talk, share and watch sex. As a non-technical founder of an adult content business, Cindy had to learn how to work with developers, get users despite being banned by advertisers and create a troll free online environment. Learning notes from this episode: "You don't have to be a tech person to build something absolutely phenomenal in tech," says Cindy. Instead, you need a strong vision, the right team and the determination to keep going. "You do not need a technical co-founder from the beginning." In fact, delegating your vision to the tech person simply because they are a coder and you are not, can be very damaging. Instead, get people to help you build your vision, and good CTOs and co-founders will find you. "Do interesting things, and interesting things will happen to you." "Too many people make the mistake that a job is a safe option. It's not. In a job you are at the complete mercy of management changes, industry downturns and market dynamics. Whose hands would you rather place your future in: those of a large corporate entity, or someone who will always have your best interests at heart, i.e. you?" Tech for Non-Technical Founders If you have a killer idea for an app, but you don't have the tech skills to build it, this class is for you. Register here: In person in London, 10 May 2022 Live on Zoom, 14 May 2022 ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your unique challenges: For companies: We create learning and innovation programmes, to help companies make the most out of digital transformation and help them become more entrepreneurial. Happy clients include Techstars x Blackstone Launchpad, Constellation Brands and Oxford University. Get in touch with us about bespoke training & consulting on info@techfornontechies.co For individuals, if you want to: Build tech a venture as a non-technical innovator Succeed in tech as a non-techie Then Tech For Non-Techies membership is for you. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	96. How to innovate at a corporate - lessons from Apple and Intel	27 Apr 2022	00:45:19
Every company wants to be innovative, but how do you balance the risk of innovation with the need to keep the lights on? Listen to this interview with Kapil Kane, Head of Innovation at Intel China, to find out. Learning notes from this episode: Most tech innovations die because they do not have a solid business case. As much as non-techies need to learn to speak tech, techies need to learn to speak business. “No matter how smart you are, if you are not able to get your idea across in the language of a lay person, you are missing out a lot,” says Kapil. To structure creativity within an organisation, Kapil advises learning from Apple, where teams often worked on projects that other teams did not know about. This meant that they could focus on their work, while upper management connected the dots. The innovation accelerator at Intel China Kapil set up brings in revenue, but that is not the only benefit. It serves as a training ground for ambitious people “If you are able to nurture your innovate talent in your organisation, you will grow them and they will deliver good results for you.” Resources mentioned in this episode: Innovate, but how? (Abstract): free guide on 6 types of innovation and how to know which one is right for you. Innovate, but how? The Pragmatist's Guide To Growth: based on research conducted by Sophia Matveeva and researchers from the University of Chicago on how the world's largest companies approach innovation. To attend Tech for Non-Technical Founders in London on May 10 2022 in London, book your ticket here and use PODCAST to get 20% off the price. ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your unique challenges: For companies: We create learning and innovation programmes, to help companies make the most out of digital transformation and help them become more entrepreneurial. Happy clients include Techstars x Blackstone Launchpad, Constellation Brands and Oxford University. Get in touch with us about bespoke training & consulting on info@techfornontechies.co For individuals, if you want to: Build tech a venture as a non-technical innovator Succeed in tech as a non-techie Then Tech For Non-Techies membership is for you. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	95. Top mistakes non-technical founders make in UX design	20 Apr 2022	00:16:35
Design is often at the core for why products go viral or flop. But, how can you tell good design from bad right at the start? How do you hire the right people and avoid costly mistakes? That’s what you’ll learn on this episode. Learning notes: User experience designers, not developers, should be your first hire in the vast majority of cases. Learning how to use design software does not make you into a designer. Learning to use a kitchen knife does not turn you into a chef. This is the same logic. Great designers mix human psychology and the design process to make products that people want to use. The best designers are well versed in behavioural economics and human insight, not just tech tools. Great designers are partners, who question your assumptions and sometimes tell you that you are wrong. Someone who only agrees with you isn’t going to help make your product great. Resources mentioned in this episode: Introduction to Design for Technology: Listen on Apple & Spotify Introduction to UX design for Non-Techies with Sang Valte (video) To attend Tech for Non-Technical Founders in London on May 10 2022 in London, book your ticket here and use PODCAST to get 20% off the price. ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your unique challenges: For companies: If your company is going through digital transformation and you want your non-techie teams to be active participants Then get in touch with us about bespoke training & consulting on info@techfornontechies.co For individuals, if you want to: Build tech a venture as a non-technical innovator Succeed in tech as a non-techie Then Tech For Non-Techies membership is for you. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	94. Learning effects: why getting more users isn't the only key to success	13 Apr 2022	00:17:24
You've probably heard about network effects, but they aren't the only thing you need. Learning effects build the ultimate moat against your competition. Learning notes from this episode: You get better at speaking a language the more you practice and correct your mistakes. It is the same with algorithms: they get better with time and training. The more time and data you have to train an algorithm the more accurate the algorithm’s output will be, and also, the more complex the problems it can solve. *“Learning effects can either capture or add value to existing network effects or generate value in their own right.”* – Competing in the Age of AI, by Marco Iansiti and Karim Lakhani Companies that have been training machine learning algorithms for longer are at a competitive advantage. Strong learning effects make it impossible for competitors to catch up. Resources mentioned in this episode: Sophia Matveeva’s LinkedIn Listen to The Business of AI podcast episode with Harvard Business School Prof Marco Iansiti Tech for Non-Techies YouTube channel To attend Tech for Non-Technical Founders in London on May 10 2022 in London, book your ticket here and use PODCAST to get £5 off the price. ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your unique challenges: For companies: If your company is going through digital transformation and you want your non-techie teams to be active participants Then get in touch with us about bespoke training & consulting on info@techfornontechies.co For individuals, if you want to: Build tech a venture as a non-technical innovator Succeed in tech as a non-techie Then Tech For Non-Techies membership is for you. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	93. Lessons from the Netflix C Suite	06 Apr 2022	00:37:29
How do you get to the top of a tech company as a non-technical professional? How can you drive innovation, when you’re not building the technology yourself? That’s what you’ll learn from this interview with David Wells, ex CFO of Netflix and chair of the board at Wise. Learning notes from this episode: “It’s called tech, or working in tech, but the entire economy is going to be this. So calling it tech is a little bit apocryphal at this stage,” David says. “Tech jargon distances people from the actual understanding of the concepts.” Learning core technology concepts is not as hard as the jargon has many believe. Learning what data scientists do and how to work with them is the best skill set to develop for business people in tech. “Data science is the analysis of the lifeblood of the company and you have to ask fundamental insight questions against it. You do not have to build the models yourself, but you are at an advantage if you understand how they work.” For a company that wants to innovate, there is no choice but to invest in risky projects that may not pay off. ”You have to be disciplined about spending x% on the next income generating thing.” “A company doesn’t suddenly go from loss making to profit making elegantly.” Growth company CFOs provide key metrics and steps to make that journey is as smooth as possible. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your unique challenges: For companies: If your company is going through digital transformation and you want your non-techie teams to be active participants Then get in touch with us about bespoke training & consulting on info@techfornontechies.co For individuals, if you want to: Build tech a venture as a non-technical innovator Succeed in tech as a non-techie Then Tech For Non-Techies membership is for you. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. If you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	92. How to get people to be nice to each other on your platform	30 Mar 2022	00:15:12
On Airbnb, people stay at strangers' homes. On Twitter, people get trolled. Both are global tech platforms, but why do people treat strangers well on one, and badly on the other? The answer lies in platform governance: the rules you make to encourage good interactions and punish the bad stuff. Learn how to set up platforms where people are nice to strangers with this week's podcast episode. Learning notes from this episode. Platform governance touches product development, engineering and marketing. It isn't just a corporate mission statement nobody reads. The logic we apply to creating good offline environments also apply to platforms, but just on a bigger scale. Ask yourself: how do I want people to feel when they get here? What do I want them to do? *The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters* by Priya Parker is an excellent book on how to create offline environments. You can apply these lessons to the online world you are creating. Community leaders and opinion formers are key to good platform governance. If the most popular people at a party are friendly, everyone else will be friendly too. If they are mean, everyone else will take their cue from that. This is the same in your online platform. To create positive platform governance, begin defining what good interactions and bad interactions are for your users, not for you. If users have good interactions, they will keep coming back. Get the full notes for this platform mini series here: https://www.techfornontechies.co/platform–notes You will get the definitions, book and podcast recommendations Sophia shared in the last three episodes. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your unique challenges: For companies: If your company is going through digital transformation and you want your non-techie teams to be active participants If you want to grow revenue via innovation Then get in touch with us about bespoke training & consulting on info@techfornontechies.co For individuals, if you want any of the following results: Build tech ventures as non-technical innovators Become smart tech investors as VCs or angels Succeed in a company going through digital transformation Transition career from a tired old business to a fast-growing tech company Then Tech For Non-Techies membership is for you. Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	208. Leadership in the Age of AI	19 Jun 2024	00:26:21
AI is a hot topic right now. The day that this episode comes out Nvidia, has surpassed Microsoft and Apple to become the most valuable publicly listed company in the world. But, when a technology receives this much hype, sensible people start losing their minds and placing it on a pedestal. This is why, learning how to approach AI strategically as a Business Leader is a must have career skill today. Listen to this episode to learn: The dangers to organisations and careers when a technology gets overhyped How to approach AI transformation in your organisation When AI enhances jobs and when it replaces humans You will learn from David de Cremer, Dean of the D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern university and the founder and director of the Centre on AI Technology for Humankind at the National University of Singapore Business School. David is the author of The AI-savvy leader: 9 ways to take back control and make AI work -- To discuss a corporate training program for your organisation, book a consultation call here. Happy clients include The Royal Bank of Scotland, Oxford University and Constellation Brands. --- We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	91. How to launch a platform when you've got no users	23 Mar 2022	00:23:24
How do you launch a dating app, if you have no men and no women on it? Or, how do you launch a market place with niether buyers nor sellers? This is the chicken and egg problem that all platforms have to solve to succeed. In this week's episode, you'll learn 6 methods for how to launch a platform when you have no users. Some are sneaky, some are fun and all are very clever. To get the full notes and examples, go to https://www.techfornontechies.co/chicken To attend Tech for Non-Technical Founders on May 10 2022 in London, book your ticket here: https://www.techfornontechies.co/founders-class-may-22 and use PODCAST to get £5 off the price. There are 2 ways to apply this work to your unique challenges: For companies: If your company is going through digital transformation and you want your non-techie teams to be active participants If you want to grow revenue via innovation Then get in touch with us about bespoke training & consulting on info@techfornontechies.co For individuals, if you want any of the following results: Build tech ventures as non-technical innovators Become smart tech investors as VCs or angels Succeed in a company going through digital transformation Transition career from a tired old business to a fast-growing tech company Then Tech For Non-Techies membership is for you. Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	90. What makes platform businesses SO successful	16 Mar 2022	00:23:55
Facebook disrupted the media market forever. The Apple App Store created the app economy, valued at $6.3 trillion today. What makes platforms like these SO successful? In this episode, you will learn the core concepts behind platform businesses, so you can identify platforms in the making or build them yourself. This is the beginning of a mini-series on platform fundamentals at Tech for Non-Techies. For the full learning notes, go to: https://www.techfornontechies.co/blog/platforms-episode Learning notes summary: Platform businesses have been around for millennia. Technology just allowed these businesses to reach more scale and make more money than ever before. Most traditional businesses are pipeline businesses. Platforms dominate if they have Demand Economies of Scale - this is another term for network effects. Some businesses combine pipeline and platform fundamentals in their business models. Apple is a good example of this. There are 2 ways to apply this work to your unique challenges: For companies: If your company is going through digital transformation and you want your non-techie teams to be active participants If you want to grow revenue via innovation Then get in touch with us about bespoke training & consulting on info@techfornontechies.co For individuals, if you want any of the following results: Build tech ventures as non-technical innovators Become smart tech investors as VCs or angels Succeed in a company going through digital transformation Move from a tired old business to a fast-growing tech company Then Tech For Non-Techies membership is for you. Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	89. How to burn $2 billion	09 Mar 2022	00:23:44
Does having $2 billion in the bank account and celebrity backing guarantee success for a consumer app? Not necessarily. Listen to how one company burned through almost $2 billion and had to shut down their app after just 6 months. Learn what Quibi did wrong, so you can avoid their mistakes. Learning notes from this episode: Success in one field does not necessarily translate into another, especially without training. Quibi's founders used lessons from launching Hollywood blockbusters to launching consumer apps. This did not work. Follow the product development process, no matter how much money you have. Focus on the user. Do your research. Build in stages. Track user reactions at each stage and pivot if necessary. Only invest in large budget marketing after you've proven user need at small scale. Focus on retention metrics first, then on growth. --- Join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get: ALL of our courses (Tech for Non-Technical Founders, How To Speak Tech For Leaders and more) Monthly coaching with Sophia Matveeva Live masterclasses with global experts Supportive Online Community Library of masterclasses Exclusive Resources & Perks Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	88. You can't be half pregnant	02 Mar 2022	00:17:03
Developers don't work in the same ways as non-technical professionals. If you don't know how to work with developers, you can waste thousands of dollars and get very frustrated, as you'll see from the story Sophia shares on this week's episode. Learning notes from this episode: A feature cannot be released when it is not ready. It is either ready to release, or it is not. There is no half way line. A feature can't be half ready, just like you can't be half pregnant. Developers usually work in two-week cycles, when they are focussed on a specific set of tasks. For example, in a two week period, developers may be working on a specific feature for an app. Then they release it, and start on another feature. Since what developers do affects the rest of what the product team does, this lesson is relevant if you want to work with other people in the product team, like designers, community managers and data scientists. Corporate accelerators for technology start-ups, which are ran by people who have never worked in a tech start-up are a very risky use of your time. Join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get: ALL of our courses (Tech for Non-Technical Founders, How To Speak Tech For Leaders and more) Monthly coaching with Sophia Matveeva Live masterclasses with global experts Supportive Online Community Library of masterclasses Exclusive Resources & Perks Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership Say hi to Sophia on Twitter. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter. (Image by Photo by Mario Gogh on Unsplash)
	87. How to commercialise innovation	23 Feb 2022	00:21:41
Success in tech consists of two parts: making great products and using them to build a business. No matter how brilliant an app or algorithm is, if people do not want to pay for it, it is unlikely to live for long. This is why all tech innovators need to learn the core skills of commercialising innovation. Listen to this episode to learn how Salesforce, Starbucks and Xero commercialise their tech products, and so you can apply their lessons too. The top 3 questions you need to answer to ensure your tech product has business success are: How will this product help people make more money? How will this product improve customer experience? How will this product improve efficiency? Always focus on the benefits that the product will bring customers, not its features. Tell Sophia what you’re working on and submit your questions to her on info@techfornontechies.co Or reach her on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn and Twitter.
	86. What is coding? The quick guide for non-coders	16 Feb 2022	00:20:24
The terms coding and programming are ubiquitous, yet many non-technical professionals do not know what they mean in practice. Why are there different coding languages? What do developers actually do? This is what you'll learn in this episode. Learning notes: Data is information that you can use to do something with. For example, your shopping list is information that you use to remember what food to buy when you go to the supermarket. Technology is what you use to create, store or communicate that data. In our shopping list example, it could be pen and paper, or the notes app on your phone. In order to make software, you have to tell a computer what to do. You do this via a programming language. All digital technologies are created by using specific coding languages to turn data into useful outcomes. Python Java, C++ and Ruby are the most popular languages today. But, there are 256 coding languages in use today. Binary code, also known as Machine Language, is what computers understand and are made up of 0 and 1, and nothing else. Coding languages like Python turn into binary language, so the computer can turn the commands into action. Most developers do not use binary language when writing code. Sign up to Sophia's mailing list here to get invited to events and get free learning in your inbox. Sign up to the mailing list Join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get: ALL of our courses (Tech for Non-Technical Founders, How To Speak Tech For Leaders and more) Monthly coaching with Sophia Matveeva Live masterclasses with global experts Supportive Online Community Library of masterclasses Exclusive Resources & Perks Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership Say hi to Sophia on Twitter. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	85. "Don't be afraid of the tech," lessons from a non-technical founder	09 Feb 2022	01:08:26
Nasi Rwigema doesn't have a background in software, but that didn't stop him from building his tech platform: Umwuga, a social network for blue collar workers in South Africa. To his surprise, he found that figuring out what people want is much harder than learning about tech. Nasi is one of Sophia's students from London Business School. He took her course three years ago, and used his knowledge, network and resilience to build his platform. If you have an idea for a tech venture, as a founder or a corporate innovator, or you want to invest in tech businesses, but don't have a tech background, this episode is for you. Learning notes from this episode: "Don't be afraid of the tech and don't let not having a tech person hold you back," says Nasi. "Instead, focus on the customer and the problem you are solving." Show traction from the start. This doesn't necessarily mean revenue or explosive user growth. It means doing whatever you can to solve the problem for the customer. Outsourcing is a great way to build your product. Your needs will change as you grow, and a good product studio will be able to help you scale up your team. For advice on how to hire great product teams, get Sophia's e-book: How To Hire Your Product Team & Go From Idea To App: The Non-Technical Founder's Guide To learn the core concepts Nasi learnt from Sophia to build his business, join this FREE class: Break Into Tech: Masterclass For Non-Technical Founders Join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get: Monthly coaching with Sophia Matveeva Live masterclasses with global experts Supportive Online Community Library of masterclasses Exclusive Resources & Perks Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership Say hi to Sophia on Twitter. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	84. What UX designers do and how to work with them	02 Feb 2022	00:34:49
”Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it's this veneer — that the designers are told, 'Make it look good!' That's not what design is. It's not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works,” - Steve Jobs In this episode, you''ll hear from Sarah Doody, a UX designer who has worked for the likes of Vice Media and Dow Jones. Today Sarah runs Career Strategy Lab, a school for UX designers. Learning notes from this episode: "User experience design is how you interact with a product, whether it's digital, physical or a mix of both," Sarah Doody. When hiring a UX designer, think about the outcome that you want, rather than the process. E.g. Do you want a prototype to test an idea? Then you don't need the same level of attention to graphics as you would for a design you would give to developers. If you want to transition into a career in UX design, your experience in another field can be the perfect way in. E.g. if you're a journalist and want to work in UX, you could begin by designing products for journalists. Check out Sarah's Career Strategy Lab and say hi to her on Twitter. Join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get: Monthly coaching with Sophia Matveeva Live masterclasses with global experts Supportive Online Community Library of masterclasses Exclusive Resources & Perks Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership Say hi to Sophia on Twitter. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	83. How tech companies bring new ideas to life	26 Jan 2022	00:21:38
If you have an idea for a new product in a traditional business, you will probably have to work on an extensive plan before you do anything else. This is not how it works in tech companies. When the likes of Airbnb and Slack bring new apps or features to market, they use the Sprint Method. It is a methodology developed by Google Ventures to bring new ideas to life and test them quickly and cheaply. Learn how this works in this podcast. Learning notes from this episode: The aim of a sprint is to test an idea for a new product to find out whether it is worth investing more money in. For example, you can use a sprint to test an idea for an app by creating a prototype. If users like what you’ve made, only then should you hire developers. Each sprint should focus on one idea to test. Do not try to test multiple ideas in one sprint. To figure out where the biggest risks in a new idea lie, ask yourself: if this time in a year, this project failed, why would it have done so? A sprint team contains 5 – 7 people with different backgrounds. Only one should be an engineer, the rest should come from marketing, finance, design and more. This is because the sprint is about testing whether the product needs to exist, not how to build it. Get the Google Ventures book Sprint: How To Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days To learn the core concepts you need to succeed in tech as a non-techie, sign up for: FREE TRAINING: How To Speak Tech For Leaders Live training and Q&A on 26 & 27 January. Places are limited. Join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get: Monthly coaching with Sophia Matveeva Live masterclasses with global experts Supportive Online Community Library of masterclasses Exclusive Resources & Perks Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership Say hi to Sophia on Twitter. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	82. Intro to agile for non-techies	19 Jan 2022	00:17:33
Agile is now a ubiquitous management term, but few people understand what it means in practice. For some products, agile is THE BEST system, for others, it is THE WORST. Listen to this week’s episode to find out what it is, how it works in practice, when to use it and when to avoid it. You’ll hear how WhatsApp used this methodology to release its first product, and learn how to use it yourself. Learning notes from this episode: There are two methodologies to make things: waterfall and agile. Waterfall came from manufacturing and construction and emphasises planning in order to release a perfect product. For example, if you’re building a house, you need to plan ahead and only let people move in to live in it when it is complete. Agile methodology is an iterative process, used by software developers. Simple changes get released frequently, in response to user needs or technological changes. The product is by definition never complete, because it is always changing. To learn the core concepts you need to succeed in tech as a non-techie, sign up for: FREE TRAINING: How To Speak Tech For Leaders Live training and Q&A on 26 & 27 January. Places are limited. Join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get: Monthly coaching with Sophia Matveeva Live masterclasses with global experts Supportive Online Community Library of masterclasses Exclusive Resources & Perks Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership Say hi to Sophia on Twitter. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	207. The Business of Tech: introduction to business model innovation	12 Jun 2024	00:12:46
"I believe business model innovation is more disruptive than technical innovation," - Fred Wilson, Venture Capitalist. To understand how business models get transformed in the Digital Age, listen to this episode. You will learn: What the four core business models are The framework to use if you want to update a business model for the Digital Age Why Apple is a prime example of tech & business model innovation -- To discuss a corporate training program for your organisation, book a consultation call here. Happy clients include The Royal Bank of Scotland, Oxford University and Constellation Brands. --- We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.
	81. Technology is just another business tool. Don’t put it on a pedestal.	12 Jan 2022	00:32:31
It’s easy to put the tech sector on a pedestal, as we’re constantly bombarded with its power and profits. But “technology is just a tool to affect business outcomes,” says prop tech entrepreneur Sebastian Rivas. Sebastian runs Andes STR, a which uses machine learning algorithms to find property investments for short term rentals. If you want to invest in a property and rent it out on Airbnb, Andes STR will find the investment and manage the rental. Sebastian started his career in finance, and created a smart plan to break into tech. Listen to this episode to learn how he did it. Learning notes from this episode: Technology is a tool used in business to improve efficiency, user experience and productivity, but it is not an end in itself. Being tech savvy and understanding how technology influences business outcomes is a must have in today’s working environment, almost no matter where you work. Even your coffee shop has an app! “The biggest difference between entrepreneurship and tech entrepreneurship is that in a tech company the speed at which you’re disrupting, innovating, and developing products is significantly higher,” says Sebastian. To learn the core concepts you need to succeed in tech as a non-techie, sign up for: FREE TRAINING: How To Speak Tech For Leaders Live training and Q&A on 26 & 27 January. Places are limited. Join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get: Monthly coaching with Sophia Matveeva Live masterclasses with global experts Supportive Online Community Library of masterclasses Exclusive Resources & Perks Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership Say hi to Sophia on Twitter. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	80. Why 2022 brings even MORE opportunity to non-techies in tech	05 Jan 2022	00:13:33
The tech sector is massive and is set to get even bigger in 2022. As it matures, the number of non-technical roles increases. Listen to this episode to prepare for the non-techie jobs boom. Learning notes from this episode: According to research by Glassdoor, 54% of all jobs in tech companies are for non-technical roles. As the tech sector matures, it becomes more open to non-techies. When a tech start-up grows into a business, it needs the human infrastructure of a business: marketing departments, legal expertise, procurement help and so on. Peloton is a great example of a tech company, whose non-technical component makes it truly special. The bikes and treadmills are great, but the instructors, the community aspect and the branding is what makes consumers buy and love the products. To learn the core concepts you need to succeed in tech as a non-techie, sign up for: FREE TRAINING: How To Speak Tech For Leaders Live training and Q&A on 26 & 27 January. Places are limited. Listen here on Apple Podcasts. Listen here on Spotify. Join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get: Monthly coaching with Sophia Matveeva Live masterclasses with global experts Supportive Online Community Library of masterclasses Exclusive Resources & Perks Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership Say hi to Sophia on Twitter. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.
	79. Why human insight will drive success in tech in 2022	29 Dec 2021	00:19:48
No code apps and outsourced product studios mean that there is more opportunity than ever for non-technical founders and traditional businesses to get into tech and succeed. But, as more companies enter the market, they’ll be competing for a finite resource: our attention. Listen to this episode how to make the most of this opportunity and avoid costly mistakes. Learning notes: The prevalence of No Code apps and outsourced product studios is driving down the cost of building apps, sites and algorithms. As more tech products enter the market, marketing costs will increase. This means a boon for Facebook and Google, and also for professionals who know how to attract and engage new users. Jobs that will benefit from this boom include User Experience designers, who know how to make habit forming products, Community Managers and Strategic Partnerships experts. None of these roles require coding, but they all require an understanding of how tech products get built and who does what on a tech team. To learn the core concepts you need to succeed in tech as a non-techie, sign up for: FREE TRAINING: How To Speak Tech For Leaders Live training and Q&A on 26 & 27 January. Places are limited. .... Join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get: Monthly coaching with Sophia Matveeva Live masterclasses with global experts Supportive Online Community Library of masterclasses Exclusive Resources & Perks Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership Say hi to Sophia on Twitter. Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.

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