Podcasts about idonethis

For this episode, I leaned heavily on the article “7 Essential Tips for Effective 1 on 1 Meetings with Your Manager” from the getlighthouse.com blog. In a perfect world, 1:1 meetings with your boss should be something you have regularly, and actually look forward to. Done well, effective 1:1 meetings are an opportunity for: -Feedback -Coaching -Relationship-Building -Goal-Setting While the ultimate responsibility for making 1:1 meetings great falls on your manager, there are things you can do to improve your 1:1s. Most managers really do care about their people; they are much more unaware and overwhelmed than evil. If you truly believe your boss doesn't care enough to invest his or her time with you, it is time to look for another job. For the rest of you, here are tips to improve the quality of your 1:1 meetings: 1. Don't let them cancel. Ask to reschedule. It is hard to get into a good rhythm with your boss if weeks or months go by without dedicated time to talk. Even worse, it can cause a backup of issues to discuss that get worse as they go unaddressed. If this happens frequently, it is best to address the reason(s) for the cancellations directly with your boss. Also, is he or she cancelling with all employees – or just you? You might say something like “I understand you have something pressing, and these meetings are important to me. When can we reschedule for?” You might event try suggesting new times or pulling up your calendar right then to coordinate a new meeting time. The easier you make it for your manager to say yes, the more likely you are to get your meeting. 2. Avoid status updates. If your boss feels out of the loop, he or she will want to talk to you about what you are doing. It is also a safe topic to fill the time and avoid tough, sometimes uncomfortable, subjects that really matter. Instead, give them your status update outside your 1:1 meetings. Here are some options: -Email updates (Agree on a frequency and format with your boss that makes sense for both of you) -Stand up meeting (Daily team meetings for bite-sized updates) -Tools (such as IDoneThis, Slack, StandupJack – these all help organize status updates) 3. Bring things you want to talk about. You being prepared will not only make the meeting more productive, it will avoid the dread (yours and your boss's) that comes from having nothing to talk about. 4. Make an agenda for your meeting. As you go through your week, jot down things you want to discuss as they come to you. By your next 1:1 meeting, you'll have a healthy list of topics to discuss. Here are some possible topics: -Your career/growth goals (don't assume your manager knows your career aspirations – bring them up. And not just one time.) -Team improvement ideas (what ideas do you have to help the team work better?) -Self-improvement needs (ask for coaching, feedback, help — and be specific) -Interpersonal issues (ask your boss to help mediate or coach you through difficulties with a coworker) -Personal topics (let your boss know of a family death, serious illness, particular stressors at home – this opens the door for potential reasonable accommodations) 5. Encourage your manager to take notes. You could say something like “This is important to me. If you want to take a minute to write this down, we can pause for a moment.” As an alternative, you could offer to take notes during the meeting that you will then type up and disseminate to your boss. He or she may take the hint and write notes during the meeting, but at minimum there will be a recording of your conversation. You can also reinforce your boss's taking notes with a statement such as “Thank you so much for writing that down – it is very important to me.” The more they take notes on the most important parts of your 1:1 meetings, the more valuable they'll become for both of you. They'll be more prepared, and you'll trust that you will be able to build on what happened in the last meeting. 6. Make it actionable. A great conversation with your boss can feel like a pressure relief valve finally letting off a build-up of steam – you feel relieved. Unfortunately, that feeling can be very short-lived if you are talking about the same issue in your next meeting. You want to close the meeting by talking about steps for next time. You could ask something like “What do you think we can both do for next time based on what we talked about?” By presenting it as a question, your manager will feel like part of the solution, which makes them more likely to do whatever they said they would do. This essential creates a social contract: if you deliver on your action items, your boss will be more likely to keep their end of the agreement, too. Taking two minutes at the end of your 1:1 to set next steps can make all the difference. 7. Think about your manager's view. Depending on what is going on in your company, your boss may not be getting the support they need. They may have the best of intentions but be overwhelmed. Ask about how you can help and support your boss, too. Here are a few ways you can better manage up and make work life better for your boss: -In the loop – find out what they feel out-of-the-loop on related to your work; create a way to keep them updated. -Take the lead – Offer to take the lead on one part of a project your boss is responsible for; this is also a great way to build leadership skills. -Learn their style – Adapt some of your deliverables to fit your boss's style and preferences, such as a summary page, a certain template they prefer, or timing of when to request feedback. Are you in the wrong job that chips away at you every day? The CareerSpring coaching program will help you find a job that uses your zone of genius, recognizes your value, and pays you what you're worth. Schedule a complimentary consult to learn more:  https://calendly.com/lesaedwards/zoom-meetings2

Walter Chen co-founded iDoneThis, sold it, founded Animalz, appointed a new CEO, and recently co-founded Sacra and Superpath. He's an entrepreneur at heart, but "content" is a skill that he's leveraged at each company. In this episode, we talk about his own career journey, his thoughts on growing a content marketing career and people who have influenced him over the years. You can follow Walter on Twitter at @smalter.

Janet Choi has run content marketing at iDoneThis, Customer.io and now Clearbit. In this episode, she tells us the story of going to law school, then finding content marketing and pursuing that path instead. Janet's career has thrived (in part) because she understands how to work across product, sales, support and engineering. Content can't live in a silo and the people who make sure it doesn't tend to grow their careers faster. Follow Janet on Twitter and the Clearbit blog.

Links:More about LeifHow Automattic Hires DevelopersThe Automattic CreedOpen Positions at AutomatticDetailed Show Notes:Leif switched from an academic career to industry (0:50)He explains his reasons for the switch, and we discuss that it is difficult to choose where you want to live when you want to become a professor (2:47)Leif got his new remote job in the industry at a startup called IDoneThis (3:20)The startup was sold, and the team discontinued, so Leif found himself again looking for a new job (3:50)Well, as luck would have it, Life got in contact with Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com (4:09)Leif applied and interviewed for Automatic although he wasn't familiar with the company's tech stack (4:40)Leif explains the interview process at Automattic (7:03)First, you send an email to jobs@automattic.com  (including a resume and a cover letter)If you are invited for an interview, you get invited for a slack chat (a screener) where you talk about your background and your skillsThen, you get invited to do a small project which takes 4-5 hours over a week. It's a small project with concrete instructions that you must follow. For example, improve some parts of a feature.If that works out well, then, you are invited to do a trial, where you work alongside an Automatic team for a period of 1-3 months for ~10 hours per week. This trial is paid with 25 Dollars per hour.Leif fills me in that you aren't working alongside your actual team. The team you are then hired into can be a different one, but you work with an actual team at Automattic and on an actual project. So, if all works out well, your code will be used in production. (9:40)Leif describes the tech stack of Automattic, and which skills and technologies you must possess to be able to apply for a position. (10:40)Leif says that the projects at WordPress are very diverse. The tech stacks and the tool chains are therefore very diverse as well. One of the critical skills for any engineer at Automattic is, therefore, the willingness and ability to learn.Leif moved within the company and worked on very different projects. Each project you can learn something new, he says. Not only because of the diverse tech stack but also, because each project might serve a different customer base and have a different purpose. (12:20)If you want to move to a new project or team, you send a private message to Matt, the founder, and he helps you find a new place within the company (13:01)Leif rationalizes that at Automattic, you usually aren't communicating per email. No, they use either chat systems like Slack or internal WordPress sites to communicate and keep track of everything (14:00)We talk about how communication processes and channels might differ from a non-remote and a remote company. I wonder, is Matt actually replacing some of the water-cooler conversations you would have at a non-remote company? (14:32)Another topic I want to discuss with Leif is how engineers at Automattic keep in contact with other employees if they aren’t in the same building? How do they "hang-out" together? Is there a place in cyberspace that they usually meet at? (15:00)People connect and stay informed through weekly calls, one-on-ones calls, and company-wide town halls that are held once a monthEach team and each larger project have its own blog, where you can find all information about everything you have to knowTwo times per year, each team meets, and once per year all Automattic engineers meet and make a connection with each other.Leif walks me through the engineering processes and tools look like at Automattic (17:18)Again, as the tech stack is so diverse, also the processes and tools diver from project to projectSome are using Git; some are still using Subversion. Obviously, something like this hugely impacts how the whole engineering process looks like.Is Automattic planning to consolidate its technologies and tools? (19:37)Leif clarifies that because they are an open-source company, it's not that easy. Consolidation isn't something you can just put on the agenda. First and foremost, the goals of the company have to align with the goals of the open source project. So only if the open-source project would move from Subversion to Git, Automattic could move as well.We discuss how having open source as the foundation of your company creates some tension between the goals of the company and the open-source community. But, embracing open-source also changes the whole company values. Leif describes how transparency is the basis for everything at Automattic. Transparency is reflected in communication and the decision, and although it might not directly influence how people develop software, it hugely impacts the company culture. (20:43)Automattic grew quite substantially, so I ask Leif if the culture of the company evolve and change as well?Yes, of course, says Leif. But on the other hand, they still hold on to their main values. The Automattic Creed, a sort of gospel that describes the main values and mindset of the employees of Automattic, helps steer the employees in the right direction.Leif reads the Automattic creed to me (25:04)I wonder if Automattic has something similar to the Automattic creed when it comes to their engineering processes and practices such as testing or code review? (26:28)Leif explains how testing works at Automattic. 26:38But what about test coverage? Does Automaticians care about that? Leif says no, because it feels like one metric isn't a healthy indicator. (27:36)How does Automattic use code reviews and what does Leif think about code reviews?  (30:08)Leif explains that every code change is looked at by at least one other colleague.Code reviews are very fitting to the learning culture of Automattic. It's highly appreciated engineering practice there.I wonder how they ensure – especially at a remote company with many different timezones – that code reviews are looked at in a timely manner. At Automattic, Leif says, they use Trello to track the progress of code reviews, but in addition, they also use a slack app called "the stick" that reminds people if they haven't looked at their code reviews. This normally ensures that you do not have to wait too long for code review feedback. (32:18)How does the production process look like, I wonder? And how long does it take to deploy to production? (34:12)Leif says, after review, it's just a merge and a deploy. All is all automated. It's one press of a button. For a few projects, you first might have a staging area for some manual tests and deploy it afterward.How do Automatticians handle technical debt? (36:12)Leif explains that they try to move fast, and therefore might create more technical debt than desired. But, once a quarter, they have one week, in which every engineer works on reducing technical debt. Because this is scheduled and expected, they can reduce technical debt and improve the code quite substantially during those times and keep technical debt at bay.Another topic I’m interested in is how people at Automattic get assessed and how they get promoted? (39:50)Leif describes that at Automattic, they actually have no titles and that switching from an engineering role to a manager role isn't considered a promotion. Somehow promotions and pay raise work quite different here. I like it.How diverse is the technical workforce at Automattic? (44:56)Leif says also Automattic isn't as diverse as they want to be. They struggle with similar problems other tech companies struggle with. But they do actively work towards getting more diverse. How? Well, they are present at events with diverse set of participants, they hire without requiring you to show your face, and by having a very hiring committee that consists of at least 50% women.

Jae Kwon. After graduating from Cornell in 2005 with a BS degree in Computer Science, he worked as a developer at Alexa and Yelp and has co-founded iDonethis, a productivity service. He since worked on open-source projects including a CoffeeScript compiler and interpreter written in Javascript, an end-to-end encrypted email system called Scramble.io, and a cryptocurrency exchange. He invented and refined The Tendermint Consensus Algorithm with the aim of liberating the blockchain from the costs and drawbacks of proof-of-work mining. His mission is to make the technology more accessible in order to accelerate the adoption of decentralized ledger technology. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – Snow Crash What CEO do you follow? – N/A Favorite online tool? — GitHub and Chat How many hours of sleep do you get?— 8 If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – “Find the problem and solve it”   Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:37 – Nathan introduces Jae to the show 02:46 – Bitcoin is something that you want to be small and accessible 03:10 – Blockchain is not owned by any entity but is still secure 03:24 – Tendermint is one of the engines that enable the creation of blockchain 04:05 – Tendermint’s partner in Europe is Ponton 04:46 – Tendermint was initially self-funded by Jae 05:03 – Jae saw the need to build Tendermint 05:08 – People were struggling with bitcoin fork 05:51 – Proof of work is how bitcoin secures itself, which is like a lottery system 06:40 – The transaction fee for block reward in bitcoin is much smaller 07:55 – Proof of work in the blockchain has its drawbacks 08:30 – The validators are the users of Tendermint—they validate the block and sign off and vote on what the next block should be 09:20 – Jae’s opinion on Dash’s masternode 09:50 – Cosmos is the internet of blockchain 10:18 – Jae has all in his money in Tendermint 10:31 – Team size is 20 10:40 – Tendermint was funded through a fundraiser 11:00 – “We avoid the term ICO because we don’t want to be associated with a security offering” 11:13 – Tendermint released their own token and they’ll create the cosmos hub 11:30 – The tokens will allow you to vote on the blockchain 12:10 – Tendermint had a cap of $17M 12:32 – They were accepting bitcoin and ether in exchange of an atom 13:00 – Part of the liquidation went to the Cosmos software and development 14:00 – Out of the $17M, less than $3M has been liquidated so far 15:47 – The Famous Five   3 Key Points: The block reward in the blockchain allows people to not just earn tokens, but contribute as well. Keep your liquidation conservative and focus on the development of your product. If you see a problem and you think you can create the solution, DO IT.   Resources Mentioned: Simplero – The easiest way to launch your own membership course like the big influencers do but at 1/10th the cost. The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences GetLatka - Database of all B2B SaaS companies who have been on my show including their revenue, CAC, churn, ARPU and more Klipfolio – Track your business performance across all departments for FREE Hotjar – Nathan uses Hotjar to track what you’re doing on this site. He gets a video of each user visit like where they clicked and scrolled to make the site a better experience Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments Host Gator– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible Audible– Nathan uses Audible when he’s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

This week I talk with Walter Chen from iDoneThis & Animalz. Walter grew up a reluctant math wiz and became a lawyer primarily because he didn’t know what else he wanted to do. Soon after actually becoming a lawyer he realized that wasn’t his jam and quit to go on and found multiple startups. Walter’s an amazing content marketer and we learn how he used that to grow iDoneThis and ultimately to start Animalz, his content marketing agency. Enjoy!

In this episode of Business Systems Explored we talk to Walter Chen. The Co-Founder and CEO of the super easy status reporting platform, iDoneThis. Walter breaks down the content marketing systems he used to get iDoneThis to $500k in recurring revenue

Walter Chen is the co-founder and CEO of IDoneThis, an email-based productivity tool that allows people to track their productivity with a daily email reminder. You reply to an evening email reminder with what you did that day. The next day, you get a digest with what everyone on the team got done. The company was founded in 2011 and its investors include folks such as the CEOs of Zappos, Shopify & Wistia. Walter is a software engineer and former big law firm lawyer. Links, Resources & People Mentioned iDoneThis - @idonethis Zappos Wistia "How To Prevent A 'Bossless Culture' From Slipping Into Chaos" by Walter Chen Tony Hsieh - @tonyhsieh Chris Savage - @csavage Walter Chen -@smalter Omer Khan -@omerkhan Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to the podcast Leave a rating and review Follow Omer on Twitter Need help with your SaaS? Join SaaS Club Plus: our membership and community for new and early-stage SaaS founders. Join and get training & support. Join SaaS Club Launch: a 12-week group coaching program to help you get your SaaS from zero to your first $10K revenue. Apply for SaaS Club Accelerate: If you'd like to work directly with Omer 1:1, then request a free strategy session.

Walter Chen is the co-founder and CEO of IDoneThis, an email-based productivity tool that allows people to track their productivity with a daily email reminder. You reply to an evening email reminder with what you did that day. The next day, you get a digest with what everyone on the team got done. The company was founded in 2011 and its investors include folks such as the CEOs of Zappos, Shopify & Wistia. Walter is a software engineer and former big law firm lawyer.Links, Resources & People MentionediDoneThis - @idonethisZapposWistia"How To Prevent A 'Bossless Culture' From Slipping Into Chaos" by Walter ChenTony Hsieh - @tonyhsiehChris Savage - @csavageWalter Chen -@smalterOmer Khan -@omerkhanEnjoyed this episode?Subscribe to the podcastLeave a rating and reviewFollow Omer on TwitterNeed help with your SaaS?Join SaaS Club Plus: our membership and community for new and early-stage SaaS founders. Join and get training & support.Join SaaS Club Launch: a 12-week group coaching program to help you get your SaaS from zero to your first $10K revenue.Apply for SaaS Club Accelerate: If you'd like to work directly with Omer 1:1, then request a free strategy session.

Walter Chen is the co-founder and CEO of IDoneThis, an email-based productivity tool that allows people to track their productivity with a daily email reminder. You reply to an evening email reminder with what you did that day. The next day, you get a digest with what everyone on the team got done. Links, Resources & People Mentioned iDoneThis - @idonethis Zappos Hacker News AngelPad Tony Hsieh - @tonyhsieh Rodrigo Guzman - @rodguze Will Young - @whatupwilly Walter Chen - @smalter Omer Khan - @omerkhan Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to the podcast Leave a rating and review Follow Omer on Twitter Need help with your SaaS? Join SaaS Club Plus: our membership and community for new and early-stage SaaS founders. Join and get training & support. Join SaaS Club Launch: a 12-week group coaching program to help you get your SaaS from zero to your first $10K revenue. Apply for SaaS Club Accelerate: If you'd like to work directly with Omer 1:1, then request a free strategy session.

Walter Chen is the co-founder and CEO of IDoneThis, an email-based productivity tool that allows people to track their productivity with a daily email reminder. You reply to an evening email reminder with what you did that day. The next day, you get a digest with what everyone on the team got done.Links, Resources & People MentionediDoneThis - @idonethisZapposHacker NewsAngelPadTony Hsieh - @tonyhsiehRodrigo Guzman - @rodguzeWill Young - @whatupwillyWalter Chen - @smalterOmer Khan - @omerkhanEnjoyed this episode?Subscribe to the podcastLeave a rating and reviewFollow Omer on TwitterNeed help with your SaaS?Join SaaS Club Plus: our membership and community for new and early-stage SaaS founders. Join and get training & support.Join SaaS Club Launch: a 12-week group coaching program to help you get your SaaS from zero to your first $10K revenue.Apply for SaaS Club Accelerate: If you'd like to work directly with Omer 1:1, then request a free strategy session.

Ginni Chen talks about IDoneThis.

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