Opinionated Stance | Technology, Business, Life Podcast | Hosted By Patrick Farrar

Hello everybody - today I reflect a bit on how the stresses from life for me can sink me into depression. Yes, I have had depression and times in life where things have been difficult and a struggle. It's very hard to say that you've have experienced depression because at time the root cause of you depression could be fear of acceptance. One of the root causes or triggers of depression for me comes long running stressful environments. Being in long term stressful situations make me feel that I have to be 'on' all the time even when being on is very difficult to do. My goal of today's reflective introspection is to attempt to identify triggers and patterns that cause me to become depressed and what fears prevent me from living the truly happy life I want and should be living. This is an intimate topic for me and I hope to explore more of these types of personal topics but one of my fears is that people with use deep information against me to hurt me. Thank you in advance for continued support and I hope that me sharing about my depression, triggers, and how I attempt to cope, can help others. If you have ways that you cope with depression that may be helpful please share as well. Cheers, -Patrick

Hello all, I hope that everybody had an enjoyable relaxing weekend. I know that I needed it. Recently I have been suffering from a common theme in the startup world of burnout. Burnout can occur for many reasons but I share how incremental goal setting and resetting your mind and how actually sleeping help me to be more productive. I also challenge myself to seek happy news in the morning to see the effect it has on my mindset and mood for the day. 500recordings challenge continues as it was off to a slow start - (re: burnout), but we will accomplish this goal!!!! Cheers Everybody! Much Love ---- Patrick Don't know about my #500recordings challenge, check it out here => http://www.opinionatedstance.com/s2-e2-500-recordings-2018-sir-mad-500recordings/

Some might think that 500 recordings is crazy. It is. In 2016 and 2017 over that time period I recorded close to 55+ podcast episodes. It was amazing to get to this point, but in my mind it's just the beginning. It is my personal opinion that the best way to get good at something is continued practiced effort. Here is the challenge I am setting for myself. Record 500 pieces of audio by 12/1/2018. Help me stay motivated and accountable to the goal.

We are back after a brief hiatus with season 2 of the Opinionated Stance Podcast. In episode 1 of season 2, Patrick talks about goals and how making small goals and achieving them can lead to larger successes.

Patrick talks about the podcast and gives a brief update into the future of the show.

We had a great talk with Marty Meinerz about his approach to the creative process as a music composer and producer. Marty offers some great insights into what it looks like building and sustaining a career composing music professionally. His work can be found on SoundCloud => https://soundcloud.com/meinerzm https://www.instagram.com/meinerzm/ https://twitter.com/MeinerzM Contact - https://www.martinmeinerz.com/

My guest JJ Powell joins us on this episode of the podcast for another horse racing preview. We discuss the upcoming 2017 Kentucky Derby. We look at horses we think are contenders and pretenders and also talk about things to prep for in this time before the race to help you have a winning bet ticket.

In Episode 17, we had the extreme pleasure of speaking with Josh Holat about his experiences as the CTO of StageBloc. We talk about how he and the StageBloc team built their software company by bootstrapping, growing in the company and going through the acquisition phase of the company. Josh talks about things that are great to consider while bootstrapping and things to avoid.

Paul Graham's essay Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule Is a great read about different types of schedule that people in an organization may have. The essay is still relevant today as it was when it was first published it. http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html

In Episode 15, I take a dive into the mailbox and do some Q&A from questions that we have received. We look at advice around the methodology of test driven development and how and when to have the startup equity talk. Episode: Startup Equity Talk in Depth with Adam Yala http://www.opinionatedstance.com/episode-4-exploring-build-minimum-viable-product-adam-yala/

We sat down with our guest Ryan Erwin who is one of the organizers for Word Camp Chicago. Ryan joins us to talk about the upcoming Word Camp event in Chicago that is happening on April 29 and 30. We discuss what an attendee can expect to gain out of the event and how it is a great place to network with others in the Wordpress community. 2017 Event Details - https://2017.chicago.wordcamp.org/ 2017 Ticket Information - https://2017.chicago.wordcamp.org/tickets/ WHEN April 29 - 30th, 2017 WHERE Chicago-Kent Law School 565 W Adams St Chicago, IL 60661

A quick look into how using tools to improve processes in development is not a bad thing.

In Episode 12, I take a dive into the mailbox and do some Q&A from questions that we have received. We look at advice around beginning a podcast and also how to build a career in software.

Episode 11 looks at the topics of mentorship and building out a work like balance that you are excited for. My guest is Zack Gilbert (https://twitter.com/zackgilbert) a freelance software engineer who specializes in early stage product development. Zack has built his career into a mix of being able to work with new and exiting technologies while also maintaining a life where he travels the world experiencing new and exciting areas across the world. We sat down to discuss the various varieties of mentorship we've experienced and practical approaches to building a freelancer career that has a promising work life balance.

Maggie Norris joins us to talk about the upcoming Startup Weekend Chicago Maker event. We talk about the important details regarding the upcoming event. Friday, March 10 - 12, 2017 Event starts at 6:30 pm mHUB 965 W. Chicago Ave chicago, il 60642 Full Details - http://www.up.co/communities/usa/chicago/startup-weekend/9727 Tickets - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/startup-weekend-chicago-maker-edition-tickets-29827646293

We talk with Adam Haun and dive deep into the topic of community building. We explore what it looks like to build community and how to get the most benefit out developing a thriving community.

In this episode we look at what it takes to grow, build and retain a development team and how software developers identify product opportunities in the marketplace. Our guest Andy Abbott is technology entrepreneur in Chicago who has co-founded multiple startups including BookedOut, which was acquired this past fall the Chicago based firm Shiftgig. Andy is also the founder of the Chicago .NET Developers group (http://www.chicagodev.net). Andy talks about his latest project Heretik (heretik.io) and how him and his team were able to identify opportunity in the marketplace and also shares his experiences of building out software teams for startups and enterprise firms.

Our discussion this week features a lively discussion with Craig McCaw about how to find the right office space for your company. Craig is a seasoned corporate real estate executive in Chicago who has worked with some the fastest growing firm in Chicago. We talk about how to get a space, what to look for when picking a space, how an office space can play a factor in developing and fostering company culture.

In Episode 6 - Discovering Passion and Turning It Into Action, we explore what it means to find passion in life and how to turn that passion into action. My discussion with Nirav Amin (@ndamin) explores the ways and paths that we took to discover our true passions in life and what we do daily to keep living those dreams in action. We investigate some of the paths that we went down that may have been detrimental to experiencing full joy in our personal and professional lives.

Brief rundown of odds for the 2017 $12 Million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park.

In this episode, we look at what an MVP is and how it can be utilized when developing product and getting to market. We talk with our guest Adam Yala (https://github.com/adamyala) about techniques and things to consider when building out an MVP and common pitfalls to avoid when getting a new product to market.

We talk with JJ Powell on (https://twitter.com/JJPowell3) how we began our hobby and love for horse racing. Explore how to get involved handicapping and what we are excited for in 2017 in the horse racing world.

We talk about different strategies for developer agencies and freelancers that can be used to in business development with Ryan Erwin (@ryanerwin33) of Internet Marketing Chicago. We also take a look at what SEO is and how search engine optimization can help businesses increase their web presence. We dive into potential problems and situations that need to be considered when developing and executing a search engine optimization strategy.

A discussion talking the merits of Seinfeld and how the show relates to current popular culture. A look at musical influences that helped fuel the fire to begin playing music.

Welcome to the podcast! A brief introduction into what is to come in the future.