Making Work Work

Latest Episodes:

Tech Innovation in Emerging Markets: India Jan 31, 2023

Show notes

Tech innovation is happening everywhere. Many U.S.-centric technologists may spend much of their time looking to North America for tech evolution, but countries all over the world are full of builders who are creating exciting, innovative new projects.

In this episode, we focus on India. Host Rachael Lewis-Krisky chats with guest Mohan Ram (he/him), DigitalOcean Senior Manager of Regional Marketing in India to explore what tech innovations are brewing across India and why markets like India as so exciting for people in tech.

As the Head of Global Field Marketing at DigitalOcean, Mohan leads the regional expansion and marketing initiatives for the company to drive growth in key and emerging markets

Check out more show content about Mohan and his work, including the episode transcript.

An Aha Moment: Kognitas Jan 24, 2023

Show notes

Personal tragedy is a force that knows no limits; one that can debilitate as much as it can inspire. For Pedro Lau Semedo (he/him) a series of painful family health challenges was a driving force for him, along with Luis Rivera and Alejo Martínez-Sansigre, to co-found Kognitas.

Kognitas helps busy geeks get healthier by making lifestyle change intuitive: change as data drives experimentation. With the support of a personal Health Coach, users try from a growing collection of small experiments & challenges to find what works through wearable & biosensors data.

An Aerospace Engineer and Technologist in his previous career, Pedro now dedicates his life to helping others regain their health, and his along the way.

Check out more show content, including the episode transcript.

What's Next in Tech? Serverless Jan 17, 2023

Show notes

From its simplicity to its scalability, serverless computing offers businesses an affordable and efficient way to make developers’ lives easier without compromising results. But how does serverless work? And is it everything its boosters say it is?

In this episode, host Rachael Lewis-Krisky talks to Anshu Agarwal (she/her), DigitalOcean VP and GM of Serverless, about all things serverless to learn how it works, what it can do, and how your business can make the most of it.

Anshu is the General Manager of Serverless Business Unit at DigitalOcean. Prior to this, she was the co-founder and CEO of Nimbella, a serverless cloud provider. She has over 20 years of experience in the technology industry, building and evangelizing products that have solved real-world problems for organizations large and small across the globe.

Check out more show content about Anshu and serverless technology, including the episode transcript.

An Aha Moment: Clearpol Jan 10, 2023

Show notes

Nobody likes paperwork. But for doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers, compliance paperwork can be so time-consuming and daunting that it can even hinder their ability to provide quality care. For (best friends) Arash Hosseini Jafari (he/him) and Faddy Suna (he/him), their hands-on experiences in healthcare, natural language processing, and artificial intelligence made them the perfect people to co-found Clearpol, a startup to save the system.

Clearpol is building the operating system for compliance & risk management for the healthcare industry and beyond. Since launching, Clearpol's healthcare compliance software has gained the trust of 1000+ healthcare facilities across the US, in addition to many public health agencies at the federal, state, and local level.

"An Aha Moment," is a special segment on Making Work Work where we bring you stories from founders, who share how they came up with the key idea for their business; their very own light bulb moment.

Check out more episode content.

The Power of Customer Connections Jan 03, 2023

Show notes

At startups, marketing is often deemphasized compared to product development, meaning marketing teams often receive less money and less attention than other parts of the business. Marketing, though, can have a massive impact on whether or not a product succeeds. After all, if no one knows about your product, can it succeed?

In this episode, host Rachael Lewis-Krisky speaks to Wendy Zajack (she/her), Professor of Marketing and Media Relations at Georgetown University, about the best way for a company to focus on impactful and appropriate marketing strategies with limited resources.

With more than 20 years of corporate experience in public relations, marketing, media relations, and internal communications, Wendy thrives on working to make complex topics easy to understand, exciting, and relevant to broad audiences. Now, as a Faculty Director and Associate Professor of the Practice for Integrated Marketing Communications and a Design Management Communications program at Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies, she now spends her time thinking about the intersection of education, communications, and technology and how to thoughtfully deliver tailored, personalized and impactful curriculum to adult learners.

Check out more show content, including the episode transcript.

Bonus: Meet Your Host Dec 20, 2022

Show notes

What happens when a non-technical producer creates a technology and business podcast for startups and SMBs? Well, you get a show like Making Work Work. For our midseason break, host Rachael Lewis-Krisky shares her story, philosophy, and experiences with you, all to help us learn and grow better together.

Check out more content about Rachael on DigitalOcean, including the episode transcript.

Building Tech for the Next Generation Dec 13, 2022

Show notes

Technology has far-reaching implications for societies at large and for the children who grow up in those societies. How should companies think about the effect their products might have on future generations? How do you design a product with the future—and those who will live in that future—in mind?

In this episode, host Rachael Lewis-Krisky moderates a panel of guests who will take us through futuristic and, more importantly, critical thinking around technology’s impact on kids, all to give listeners the tools to consider how their business will fit into the future.

Panelists:

Matt Cowley (he/him), DigitalOcean Senior Software Engineer I and Cloud Chats co-host
Mike Loukides (he/him), VP of Content Strategy for O'Reilly Media
Tim Osborne (he/him), CTO & CoFounder of Atom Learning

Check out more show content on Atom Learning, including the episode transcript.

An Aha Moment: Cerberus Tech Dec 06, 2022

Show notes

The journey of a startup is never a straight path, but instead a winding journey through a forest to...a film set? Chris Clarke (he/him), CEO and Co-Founder of Cerberus Tech, tells us the winding tale of how his Co-Founder and business found him. Cerberus Tech is a thriving global video delivery service that uses IP technology, as opposed to satellite or fiber, to deliver video content for live events and broadcasters anywhere in the world.

"An Aha Moment," is a special segment on Making Work Work where we bring you stories from founders, who share how they came up with the key idea for their business; their very own light bulb moment.

Watch a full customer feature video on Cerberus Tech.

How to be a Do-Gooder Startup Nov 29, 2022

Show notes

Corporate social impact has become a crucial component of successful global companies, more so in recent years than ever before. Whether or not a company has resources dedicated to creating a positive social impact can, and probably will, affect their bottom line.

In this episode, host Rachael Lewis-Krisky talks with DigitalOcean VP of Social Impact, Admas Kanyagia (she/her), about how companies of all sizes—from startups all the way to mega-corporations—can, and should, prioritize doing social good into their work. Then Admas answers some questions from new entrepreneurs about how they can bring social impact to their startups. These entrepreneurs include:

Matthew Hoogestraat, creator of the Badger hoodie from Valid Adaptive
Ingrid Eskeland-Adetuyi, CEO and Founder of Tens
Katie Pearson Fucci, CEO and Founder of Parrotfish
Mehrad Noori, Founder and Producer of AnythingEverything

At Digital Ocean, Admas drives philanthropy, product donations, employee engagement, and ESG programs. She has spent her entire career in the social sector working to support nonprofits, humanitarian organizations, foundations, government, and now companies.

Check out more show content including the episode transcript.

An Aha Moment: Unicodemy Nov 22, 2022

Show notes

Introducing "An Aha Moment," a special segment on Making Work Work where we bring you stories from founders who share how they came up with the key idea for their business; their very own light bulb moment.

In this segment, we hear from Pamela Gonzales (she/her), the co-founder of Unicodemy, a nonprofit organization that empowers girls to find their best futures through programming and problem-solving. Pamela reminds us that great ideas can strike anytime — even at a J Balvin concert.

Check out more show content including the episode transcript.