The Matt and Adam Show: The lighter side of tech and startups

In the spirit of the new Presidential Administration, we present to you, the longest episode yet.  Size matters, certainly more than substance.  In this episode, our guest is Sara Sigel, the Head of Community and Experience at Quilt.  She's one of the best and brightest Community minds in the Boston tech scene and given that she's married to Adam, perhaps the most charitable person in all of the world. We knew, before we recorded this, that it would likely turn into a long episode that goes all over the place.  Don't worry though, we had a great community conversation in addition to all the other fun stuff, including, but not limited to, a brand new, and likely 1 time only, game.

If you are interested in marketing or learning about the real differences between gravy and marinara, this is the episode for you. We talked to Mike Troiano, the CMO at Actifio and a limited partner at G20 Ventures about all sorts of things (sauce and non-sauce related).  We did a live experiment trying to apply Mike's Magical Positioning Framework to our podcast.  Certainly, there are also games.  Enjoy. Also, please checkout http://www.givehope.us

Here's a special Mini Episode for you with the great Mike Troiano.  Mike is the CMO at Actifio and a limited partner at G20 Ventures.  Rather than describe it here, give a listen.  Mike talks about a new charity effort that he came up with called GiveHope.us - please check out the website. Adam, Matt, and a bunch of people in the local tech scene are already involved and you should be too. Stay tuned for the full conversation with Mike next week. Thanks for listening. givehope.us

For his birthday, this episode's guest, decided he wanted to spend some time with us (big mistake). Rob Go (http://robgo.org/ or @robgo on Twitter), a partner and co-founder at NextView Ventures joins us for a fun conversation about all sorts of stuff including the latest gift-giving trends, some great advice for east coast entrepreneurs, thoughts on the Boston tech scene, and more. We play the usual games including the Startup Name Game. Oddly, Rob was prepared with market size and other metrics. Rob and NextView have been great friends and supporters of the podcast so at the very least, you owe this episode a listen.   This episode is actually sponsored by Grove (grovegrown.com). We thank them for their support as well.  

We have ourselves a neat conversation with Isabella Patton, Product Data Evangelist at Hopper.  Isabella has strong opinions about whether you should go to your high school reunion, how you know when enough is enough at a job, when something goes from spreadsheets to big data, various other topics (Pokemon Go), and the usual compliment of games. She would love for you to follow her on Instagram (isabellapatton) but doesn't particularly care if you follow her on Twitter (@ciaoisabella). Thanks for listening. Write us a review on iTunes please.

Mini-Episode time!  We had Isabella Patton in studio.  She's a Product Data Evangelist for Hopper and pretty much knows everything about nerdy data which makes her theories on what is going on in Westworld, most likely, correct, maybe. At the time of the recording, only 3 episodes had aired so its possible, things have changed. That being said, if you haven't seen Westworld or don't want it spoiled, skip ahead the entire episode and stay tuned for when we release our entire conversation with Isabella next week.  

The world famous Jay Acunzo (@jayacunzo), the creator of the Unthinkable podcast (@UnthinkableFM), the VP of content at NextView Ventures (@NextViewVC), recent winner of the "Snapchat (Snap, Inc) Doodler of the Month", and early-stage supporter of the Matt and Adam Show joins us in studio for this episode.  We find out all sorts of interesting things from Jay, including, but not limited to, why he gets so incredibly defensive about where you're supposed to get pizza from in Connecticut.  If you're interested in learning the 5 best secrets about being a successful marketer, you should definitely give this episode a listen.

In this episode, we talk to Lindsey Christensen, the Director of Marketing at TetraScience about all sorts of things like how marketing happens at a startup, everything you need to know about sandwiches, the differences between Snapchat and Instagram Stories, and quite a bit more (including the usual games).  There's even a surprise appearance by a special guest.  Have a listen, would ya?

Have you ever wondered what the next evolution of toothpaste was? We didn't but that didn't stop us from having a conversation with a startup marketing expert, Lindsey Christensen, about a new product Adam found on Product Hunt called "Power Energy Toothpaste."  You've never needed to hear a podcast episode more than this one.  Enjoy this and stay tuned for the full conversation with Lindsey coming soon.

Ready to meet someone with a super interesting career path?  This episode, we talked to Chantal Erasmus.  She came to the United States when she was 14 from South Africa, eventually became a Celtics Dancer, and then had a bunch of different kinds of jobs before entering into the startup world where she is now a Marketer.  This conversation goes in all sorts of directions with a minor focus on how poorly Matt scores on some of life's simplest things.   Follow us all on Twitter:@thechantalshow, @adamsigel, @realmattbrand, @mattadamshow  

Yup, another mini episode.  Chantal Erasmus joined us in studio this week and among many other things, we discussed the latest announcement from Apple about the iPhone 7.  Chantal was definitely more resolved about what she was planning on getting than Adam and Matt.  Have a listen and we'll see you next week with our full discussion with Chantal.  

In this episode, we talked to Amy Sterling, the Executive Director of Eyewire (eyewire.org) about how smart she is.  We also discussed how a non-profit operation is run in the tech/startup space, her involvement in TED including how she started the TEDx Music Project, and a bunch of other fun stuff.  Of course the normal games are present.  She's super cool.  Give it a listen.

We've got a doozy on our hands.  In this episode, we had a great discussion with Aaron White, a startup junkie who can speak with great intelligence about the paradox that is his passion for physical board games combined with his passion for virtual and augmented reality.  We talk about all sorts of things including the usual Lightning Round as well as an outstanding Startup Name Game, this time with a new twist.

In this episode, Adam and Matt talk to Joel Oliveira. Joel is a freelance coding contractor who has tons of experience writing software from the ground up. We talk to him about making those initial technology choices, working with product managers who may or may not be overly technical, what programming language to start with if you're trying to learn how to code, and the usual shenanigans.  

Hey.  Look at this: another mini episode.  We had Aaron White, a true unicorn wrangling nerd extraordinaire, in studio last week and as part of that conversation, we discussed how board games can be used as an interview technique and which kinds of board games are best suited for which kinds of professionals.  Enjoy this and then enjoy the rest of our conversation with Aaron, coming soon, in a few weeks.

In this episode, Adam and Matt talk to Sarah Downey who is a lawyer, a VC, a gamer, a fitness nut, and a computer keyboard enthusiast. If you've ever wanted to hear the discussion about which X-Men characters are the best to be, this is the episode for you. We cover an awful lot here so buckle up.

In this episode, Adam and Matt talk to Adolfo Gonzalez, formerly of the #1 morning radio show in Boston: The Toucher and Rich Show, about transitioning from being a radio personality to the startup world. We talked to Adolfo right before he started a program at The Startup Institute about his interests in content marketing as well as all sorts of random comic book and movie references, and certainly there are games.

Welcome to our first mini-episode! We recorded with Sarah Downey and had such a fun time chatting, we thought it would be fun to give you all a taste. We asked Sarah, as someone in the VC world, to decide which family in Game of Thrones she would back and why and you're about to hear the ensuing conversation. We also wanted to release this prior to an awesome event Sarah is participating in: The Boston Decathlon. The event is raising money for The Dana Farber Cancer Institute on July 23rd. She is probably going to win. You can donate here: https://boston.thedecathlon.org/competitors/319 Thanks for listening and stay tuned for not only her full episode in a few weeks, but for episode 5, next week, with a local celebrity who has recently joined the startup community.

Adam and Matt talk to Zach Dunn, the Head of Product at Robin, about feature discovery, build prioritization, bagel delivery systems, and the merits of having a drone at your wedding.  Obviously, there are games.

Adam and Matt talk to Karen Rubin, the VP of Product for Quantopian, about roadmaps, curating feedback, dealing with engineers, and you know, lots of other random things including games.

Matt and Adam talk to the VP and Director of the Startup Institute, Allan Telio, about career accelerators, startups, and his "serious" bid to become the next President of the United States.  

Matt Brand (@realmattbrand) and Adam Sigel (@adamsigel) discuss what this podcast is going to be all about: the lighter side of the startup world.  There will be interesting technology discussion, tactical startup chatter, irrelevant stories, games and you won't even believe what happens next...