POPULARITY
The Chad & Cheese Podcast looks to tackle immigration now that Trump is back in the Oval Office, roping in Wharton's Dr. Zeke Hernandez and VanHack's Ilya Brodsky for a wild ride through the immigration circus at home and abroad. They kick things off with the U.S., where the immigration system's stuck in a time warp—deportations are up, sure, but it's the same old song and dance despite politicians flapping their gums like over-caffeinated auctioneers. Globally, tech talent's hotter than a jalapeño in a microwave, yet countries like Canada are tiptoeing back from their “come one, come all” tech party—blame the housing crisis that's got folks sleeping in igloos made of unpaid bills. The gang hails immigrants as the unsung heroes plugging labor gaps and stuffing tax coffers, while torching the tired “immigrants = crime” myth with a flamethrower of facts—sorry, vigilante wannabes, the data's not on your side. The U.S. and Canada get a rib-tickling roast for their immigration laws, which are so tangled they'd make a plate of spaghetti jealous—federal honchos and local yokels can't agree on whether to roll out the welcome mat or a bear trap. Canada's tweaking its rules to dodge a housing meltdown, while the U.S. is drowning in red tape thicker than a bureaucrat's rulebook, leaving skilled workers to sneak around in a talent black market like it's Prohibition all over again. The crew cackles over the economic chaos of kicking out immigrant labor—outsourcing's no magic fix, unless you think “Ctrl+Alt+Delete” grows crops or fixes your plumbing. VanHack's out there playing matchmaker for software geeks, but the real punchline? Everyone agrees we need reform faster than you can say “fix the system, change the laws,” yet the gears grind slower than a sloth on a treadmill. Cultural vibes and employer pleas get a nod, with a wink to future policies dodging political curveballs—because nothing screams comedy like desperately needing Haitians to keep the wheels turning while lawmakers bicker over who gets the last donut. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction to Immigration Perspectives 02:01 - Current State of Immigration in the US 08:33 - Global Immigration Trends and Tech Talent 12:10 - Economic Impact of Immigration on Local Communities 19:04 - Debunking Myths About Immigrants and Crime 22:06 - The Fallacy of Immigration Laws 24:30 - Canada's Immigration Challenges and Reforms 28:10 - Future of Immigration in Canada and the US 30:15 - The Disconnect Between Federal and Local Perspectives 35:32 - The Economic Impact of Immigration 37:41 - Cultural Perspectives on Immigration in Canada
On this bonus episode we welcome a return guest onto the What The Tech podcast: Our pal Ilya Brotzky, CEO of VanHack. Ilya's team just celebrated 9 years of success helping to create a borderless world for tech talent, with more than more than 450,000 members having joined the VanHack community from over 100 countries since VanHack's inception. Ilya and his team are taking their on-demand staffing solution to the next level with the launch of VanHack's SR&ED Unlocked program. In partnership with Boast, this new program is a boon for CCPCs—specifically, dev shops—throughout Canada by giving them an opportunity to unlock higher annual SR&ED claims while supporting some of the world's top software engineering, design, and digital marketing talent in relocation. It's an exciting program and opportunity, and we pick Ilya's brain on how teams can take advantage and play a role in driving global innovation. Boast AI accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.
We're thrilled to welcome VanHack CEO Ilya Brotzky on the show. At VanHack, Ilya and his team are on a mission to create a borderless world for tech talent by connecting the world's top software engineering, design, and digital marketing talent with some of the leading innovating businesses in North America. With more than 450,000 members from over 100 countries, VanHack is the largest workforce that is ready to relocate in the world, truly walking the walk when it comes to “connecting cultures through code.”Along with helping companies grow through on-demand staffing, Ilya is also a force in both the Vancouver, BC and broader Canadian innovation ecosystem. I know I caught up with Ilya at my first Collision Conference in Toronto this past summer, but he's been working with our team at Boast for years to help VanHack bring their game-changing solutions to reality. He's on an incredible mission, and has the network behind him to make it work. I couldn't be more excited to pick his brains about his journey through the startup space, what it takes to succeed in today's market, and tips for any founders launching tech in 2024.Boast AI accelerates the success of innovative businesses globally with software that integrates financial, payroll, and engineering data into a single platform of R&D intelligence. Visit Boast.ai, sign up for our Blog newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn for weekly #InnovatorsLive sessions and the latest news to fuel your growth. Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.
Over 10 years of hard work, Ilya has helped over 2000 individuals change their lives. In the meantime, he built a profitable, cash-flowing business with no outside funding. While the billion-dollar outcomes get all the hype, this is what success looks like for most founders. In this episode, we dive into how Ilya turned a resume-editing business into a multi-million dollar recruitment platform, how he landed his first customers, and exactly when he knew he had product-market fit.
“Another thing the best companies are doing is just moving fast or being very clear in the interview process.”— Ilya BrotzkyWhile working in Brazil, Ilya Brotzky joined a startup accelerator that aimed to connect American invcestors with Brazilian startups. Immersed in the startup culture, he observed a pool of skilled Brazilian developers wanting to move to Canada but facing language and soft skills barriers.Upon his 2014 return to Vancouver and in the midst of his own job search, he identified a demand for developers but the lack of supply in Canada. Drawing from his Brazilian experience, he started an online school to teach developers English which quickly evolved into VanHack, a talent and recruitment platform. Now, with over 370,000 members across 100+ countries, VanHack strives to create a borderless world for tech talent.Here are some highlights from the episode: Creating defined career paths is crucial for preventing employee stagnation and offering a clear sense of direction within the organization. Offering engaging challenges sustains employee motivation and growth, while nurturing both personal and professional development. A clear mission and compelling purpose in an organization motivate candidates and foster deeper engagement in their roles. Looking for more?Discover more about VanHack here.Follow them on LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.You can learn more about Neo Financial here.Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.Interested in joining Neo? Unlock a special offer for podcast listeners here: join.neo.cc/podcast50
This week Ilya Brotzky from VanHack joins us and there is lots to celebrate. As they round the corner to nearly 2,000 hires and the VC market fell in love with what they do and how they are doing it with a $3M funding. As a champion for improvement to immigration, Ilya explains the Canadian tech talent strategy announcements made by Sean Fraser Minister of Immigration for Canada at the Collision conference in Toronto. Ilya shares his journey and some key announcements to Canada's immigration policy. STEM talent gets express entry Processing times for work permits are improving Entrepreneurs coming to Canada get the red carpet The digital nomad visa, everyone wins! We debate the idea of 10,000 H1B visa holders making their way north to Canada, perhaps motivated by the 50 year wait for a green card
This week Ilya Brotzky from VanHack joins us and there is lots to celebrate. As they round the corner to nearly 2,000 hires and the VC market fell in love with what they do and how they are doing it with a $3M funding. As a champion for improvement to immigration, Ilya explains the Canadian tech talent strategy announcements made by Sean Frazer Minister of Immigration for Canada at the Collision conference in Toronto. Ilya shares his journey and some key announcements to Canada's immigration policy. STEM talent gets express entry Processing times for work permits are improving Entrepreneurs coming to Canada get the red carpet The digital nomad visa, everyone wins! We debate the idea of 10,000 H1B visa holders making their way north to Canada, perhaps motivated by the 50 year wait for a green card
The Shred is a weekly roundup of who's raised funds, who's been acquired and who's on the move in the world of recruitment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.
In this video, we delve into the remarkable story of Nam. From Vietnam, Nam's journey takes us through the highs and lows, leading to his career as a Front-end Engineer in Canada.Nam faced numerous challenges, including limited resources and a language barrier. He found VH Academy who helped him gain confidence and boost his skills to land the job of his dream. Explore VH Academy - a learning platform that helped Maryia to get ready to chat with international employers. https://bit.ly/YT_VHAcademy
Join us as we delve into the inspiring journey of Maryia Hoshka, a talented software backend engineer from Poland, who pursued her dreams and secured a position in Canada. Discover Maryia's experiences, challenges, and triumphs as she navigated the job search process, overcame communication barriers, and embraced growth to achieve her career transformation. Follow her remarkable story from Poland to Canada and find inspiration in her pursuit of success in the tech industry. Explore VH Academy - a learning platform that helped Maryia to get ready to chat with international employers. https://bit.ly/YT_VHAcademy
In this inspiring video, we dive into the journey of Vladimir (he/him), a successful VanHacker who relocated from Brazil to Canada. As a member of the Pride community, Vladimir shares his experiences and insights on diversity and inclusion in the workplace and in general life. He highlights the differences between Brazil and Canada, emphasizing Canada's progressive approach to diversity and the inclusive work environment it fosters. Vladimir discusses the importance of initiatives like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs and the need for representation at leadership levels. This interview emphasizes the significance of creating safe spaces and promoting meaningful change to ensure everyone feels welcome and valued. Through Vladimir's story, we learn about the positive impact of diversity and the ongoing journey towards a more inclusive society. GET HIRED ABROAD ▶︎ www.VanHack.com/CANDIDATES At VanHack, we work hard to connect the best tech professionals with companies worldwide. If you want to work with technology abroad and have trouble finding a job, hack with us and improve your chances of getting hired abroad. Is your company having trouble finding the best tech talent? VanHack helps you hire top tech talent ready to relocate to your city. See how at www.VanHack.com
New branding, same show. We'd love to hear feedback on our new podcast cover and website, unless you don't like it…then you can keep your comments to yourself. Sincere thanks to our show sponsor, VanHack and Ilya, we are proud to be working with you. Testing the limits of how much Serge would be willing to spend on the Apple Vision Pro? Shelley predicts its a matter of time before he breaks open the piggy bank and buys them. Fighting wildfires, what do firefighters get paid in Canada and US. PLUS a public shaming of KL Farms Fire LLC. In the News US job openings hit 10.1 million - demand for workers remains hight Immigration Canada gets it right with a new system to align newcomers to Canada & the labour market Tip of the Week Free - 10 Google courses designed to help you understand generative AI Recruiting Insights Nobody likes a job hopper, the TikTok post goes viral - let's all calm down and put some context around this No recruiters required - surprise McHire does 1 Million hires a year 4 possible scenarios for what recruitment will look like in the year 2028
Meet Leonardo Moura, a talented full-stack developer from Brazil. His inspiring story showcases the power of determination as he pursued his dream job in Canada. With over six years of experience, Leonardo's journey, from starting as a junior developer to achieving his goals in Canada, motivates developers worldwide. At VanHack, we work hard to connect the best tech professionals with companies worldwide. If you want to work with technology abroad and have trouble finding a job, hack with us and improve your chances of getting hired abroad. Join us at VanHack.com/Candidates
New branding, same show. We'd love to hear feedback on our new podcast cover and website, unless you don't like it…then you can keep your comments to yourself. Sincere thanks to our show sponsor, VanHack and Ilya, we are proud to be working with you. Testing the limits of how much Serge would be willing to spend on the Apple Vision Pro? Shelley predicts its a matter of time before he breaks open the piggy bank and buys them. Fighting wildfires, what do firefighters get paid in Canada and US. PLUS a public shaming of KL Farms Fire LLC. In the News US job openings hit 10.1 million - demand for workers remains hight Immigration Canada gets it right with a new system to align newcomers to Canada & the labour market Tip of the Week Free - 10 Google courses designed to help you understand generative AI Recruiting Insights Nobody likes a job hopper, the TikTok post goes viral - let's all calm down and put some context around this No recruiters required - surprise McHire does 1 Million hires a year 4 possible scenarios for what recruitment will look like in the year 2028
VanHack Founder Ilya Brotzky steps up to the One Mic Stand to tell his story of creating a different kind of talent recruitment platform. VanHack is a global tech talent platform that helps employers quickly find and hire senior tech professionals from around the world. With a community of candidates who are ready to relocate or work remotely, VanHack provides a fast and cost-effective way to find top talent. Employers can easily post job openings on VanHack's platform and access a pool of pre-screened, qualified candidates. VanHack's in-house global mobility experts also help with the visa and relocation process for new hires. In addition to helping employers find top talent, VanHack also focuses on diversity and inclusion in tech.
In our latest installment of the Unleash interview series, we had the pleasure of sitting down with the esteemed Ilya Brotzky, CEO of VanHack, who also happens to be a dear friend of the show. VanHack has established itself as a force to be reckoned with, facilitating the successful placement of nearly 2000 talented Software Developers in both Canada and the United States. With a personal background that includes immigrating to Canada from the former Soviet Union as a child, Ilya holds a profound understanding of the transformative impact his work has had on countless families. As we delved into the discussions at Unleash, the hot topic on everyone's lips was none other than artificial intelligence (AI). Ilya expressed his belief that AI will undoubtedly play a significant role in VanHack's future endeavors. The potential for AI and automation to enhance recruitment processes is a captivating prospect. However, the question remains: will it ever fully replace the indispensable human element? While AI and automation are poised to revolutionize the industry, Ilya remains hesitant to discount the enduring value of human interaction. There's an intangible magic that comes with personal connection and rapport-building, which may prove challenging to replicate through technology alone. After all, who wouldn't cherish the idealized notion of a dream recruiter's job—sitting on a private island, sipping fruity drinks, and engaging in delightful conversations with candidates all day long?
This week, our CEO Ilya had a fantastic virtual meetup with talented individuals from Nigeria's tech community. The purpose of the meetup was to discuss VanHack, job opportunities, and provide a platform for sharing questions, ideas, and opinions. It was a valuable opportunity to connect with the community, foster collaboration, and address common concerns related to working abroad. We are thrilled to have brought people together and facilitated meaningful discussions on international career opportunities.
Cristian Rios is a front-end developer from Argentina who moved to the Netherlands a year ago to work for one of the hiring partners at VanHack. He found the job through social networks and completed his profile, including the code challenge. He had five interviews with the company and he highlighted how helpful was to have the mock prep interviews with the VanHack team before the oficial ones. Cristian also talked about the importance of reading job descriptions before applying to ensure a good match, and he felt confident enough to apply despite not being a native English speaker. Watch the entire interview and get inspired.
In the fast-paced world of technology, the demand for talented developers and tech professionals has never been higher. With a massive shortage of tech talent in the market, companies are facing the challenge of attracting and retaining top tech professionals. However, Ilya Brotzky, founder and CEO of VanHack, has found a solution to this problem. VanHack is a fast-growing tech recruitment platform that helps over 1000 companies hire the best tech talent quickly. With a network of over 350,000 developers from 120 countries, VanHack has the largest diverse workforce of tech professionals. This platform also provides a team of 80+ employees in 13 countries, generating mid-seven figures in annual revenues. Born in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, raised in Vancouver, Canada, and with a degree in business administration from Cornell University in the US, Ilya's journey to creating VanHack began in Rio de Janeiro. While working as a management trainee with Brazilian mining giant Vale S.A., he met software engineers who wanted to relocate to Canada but lacked English skills. This inspired him to start VanHack in 2015, providing English resumés and interview skills to help them get hired by companies seeking hard-to-find tech talent. Ilya has been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, and Time, and has helped raise over $100,000 for various charities in Africa and South America. In this podcast, we talk to Ilya about the current shortage of tech talent, the changes happening in the workspace and recruitment industry, and how remote hiring can help companies build a more diverse workplace. The current shortage of software developers and other tech talents is a problem faced by many companies. Ilya explains that this shortage is due to the rapid growth of technology, leading to an increased demand for tech professionals. Companies are struggling to find the right talent to meet their needs, and VanHack provides a solution to this problem. The workspace and recruitment industry are undergoing massive changes, and Ilya highlights the importance of these changes in the tech industry. With remote working becoming increasingly popular, companies have the opportunity to build a more diverse workplace, attracting top tech professionals from around the world. Finally, Ilya talks about how remote hiring can help tech companies build a more diverse workplace. Remote working provides companies with access to a larger pool of talent, enabling them to find the best candidate for the job, regardless of location. This also helps to break down geographical barriers, leading to a more inclusive and diverse workplace. I learn how VanHack is helping companies to overcome the challenge of attracting and retaining top tech talent, providing a solution to the current shortage of software developers and other tech professionals. With the changes happening in the workspace and recruitment industry, remote hiring is the key to building a more diverse workplace and finding the best tech talent from around the world.
Featured in Fast Company, Forbes and Time, Ilya Brotzky is the CEO and CoFounder of VanHack, one of Canada's leading HR Tech startups. Ilya leads a team of over 30 employees from 11 countries with the mission of creating a borderless world for tech talent through jobs. He holds a Bachelors of Applied Economics from Cornell University and has helped raise over $100,000 for a variety of charities in Africa and South America. In this episode Ilya Brotzky shares: How being an immigrant to multiple countries helped him identify an opportunity for his business - helping skilled experts get hired, in overseas markets. Insights and wisdom gleaned from growing his business to 30+ team members. Why you should hire slow and fire fast How the business can grow faster when the leader installs a management team and stops being the bottleneck The power of weekly meetings & 1:1 with leaders to make sure the team stays on the same page How he helps tech talent find work and immigrate Why governments are competing to get the best quality people in their region His life-changing question - in a sales context when you receive an objection: “If we could take that off the table, is there anything else?” The power of this question gets to the heart of why someone may not want to proceed and allows you to resolve the real objection. His habits and rituals that has allowed him to start and scale his startup… including how to build a powerful community of 80,000+ people, and how to build case studies to showcase your success … and much more… Resources mentioned in this show www.vanhack.com Sales: How I raised myself from Failure To Success In Selling - Frank Bettger If you would like more insights on profit maximisation for your business visit www.ProfitHive.com.au
On this episode, Edith Harbaugh, CEO at LaunchDarkly and Jonathan Heiliger, Partner at Vertex Ventures discuss the highs and lows of entrepreneurship from bootstrapped to billions. Taking that first step to being a founder is the first difficult decision for many. After that comes decisions about hiring your teams, picking your partners and investors, and creating a scalable product for a category that doesn't exist yet. Edith shares how she beat the status quo for founding a company by tackling problems she experienced firsthand and how she is leading an entirely new category for B2B. Specifically, Edith and Jonathan discuss: Tangible steps to take to become a founder How to challenge the notion that companies are built from well-known problems Validating the idea, getting to product-market fit, and navigating to hypergrowth and scale The elements of category creation: the challenges, mistakes, and bumps along the way Who to turn to along your founder journey Learn more at https://tractionconf.io Connect with Edith Harbaugh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edithharbaugh/ Learn more about LaunchDarkly at https://launchdarkly.com/ This episode is brought to you by: Extend your company's hiring budget with VanHack's pool of 400,000 remote engineers at a lower cost than local hires. Join companies like Dapper Labs, 1Password, Brex, and Dooly who hired great engineers with VanHack. Mention “Traction Remote” when you sign up today to get 10% off your first hire at https://VanHack.com.Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don't get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI. Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com #product #marketing #innovation #fundraising #fintech
On this episode, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Anu Bharadwaj, Chief Operating Officer at Atlassian. Anu believes building connection and engagement in a distributed world is Atlassian's best strategy for growth and retention. Too many companies are wasting resources on navigating return-to-office strategies instead of investing in employees and improving their ways of working. Anu shares the playbook for building meaningful connections across a distributed workforce. Specifically, Anu covers: 1:46 - The powerful lesson that Anu learned after being hospitalized unexpectedly. 4:36 - What are the key factors to building strong connections. 6:53 - The difference between remote work and distributed work. 9:43 - How to create shared experiences in a distributed work environment instead of wasting resources on return-to-office strategies. 16:05 - How to leverage communication to drive engagement. 20:34 - The results of Atlassian's Team Anywhere initiative to build stronger bonds in a distributed world. Learn more at https://tractionconf.io Connect with Anu Bharadwaj: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anutthara/ Learn more about Atlassian at https://www.atlassian.com/ This episode is brought to you by: Extend your company's hiring budget with VanHack's pool of 400,000 remote engineers at a lower cost than local hires. Join companies like Dapper Labs, 1Password, Brex, and Dooly who hired great engineers with VanHack. Mention “Traction Remote” when you sign up today to get 10% off your first hire at https://VanHack.com. Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don't get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI. Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com
On this episode, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Sara Hicks, CPO at Mailchimp. Developing a product strategy starts with understanding the customer problems that your business can solve–which, in turn, creates a long-lasting competitive advantage. A compelling product strategy prioritizes key initiatives that will have the biggest impact for customers and the business while also navigating unknowns such as team velocity and other constraints. Sara walks through the framework for a successful strategy; she also addresses business goals, technical and operational needs, customer feedback, and competitive differentiators. Specifically, Sara covers: 2:30 - Her backstory and role at Mailchimp. 3:58 - Product strategy vs. vision vs. roadmap. 6:33 - Quick glossary of important terms. 8:05 - Customer-driven innovation. 9:57 - Customer analysis and market opportunity. 11:42 - Connecting goals to customer benefits and initiatives. 15:20 - Why you shouldn't surprise your team with a new strategy. 17:02 - Different approaches for different altitudes. 18:40 - How to continually refine and focus. 20:55 - The most important piece of advice. Learn more at https://tractionconf.io Connect with Sara Hicks: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saralouhicks/ Learn more about Mailchimp at https://mailchimp.com/ This episode is brought to you by: Extend your company's hiring budget with VanHack's pool of 400,000 remote engineers at a lower cost than local hires. Join companies like Dapper Labs, 1Password, Brex and Dooly who hired great engineers with VanHack. Mention “Traction Remote” when you sign up today to get 10% off your first hire at https://VanHack.com. Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don't get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI. Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com #product #marketing #innovation #fundraising #fintech
On this episode, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Anu Muralidharan, Chief Operating Officer at Expensify. Expensify is one of the few profitable, multibillion-dollar tech companies out there, and went from 0 users to IPO by staying true to its vision. Anu shares how she stepped off the well-traversed path along with Expensify to create her own rocket launcher by ignoring detractors, challenging the norm, and trusting her ideas. More specifically, Anu covers: 1:49 - Not taking no for an answer without a fight 6:02 - Anu's journey from an individual contributor to COO 9:19 - 3 core principles for growth 13:13 - Doing your own homework 15:52 - Having conviction in your renegade ways 18:20 - Why Expensify has only 140 employees, how to scale your team and key qualities to look for when hiring Learn more at https://tractionconf.io Connect with Anu Muralidharan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anuradhamuralidharan/ Learn more about Expensify at https://www.linkedin.com/company/expensify/ This episode is brought to you by: Extend your company's hiring budget with VanHack's pool of 400,000 remote engineers at a lower cost than local hires. Join companies like Dapper Labs, 1Password, Brex, and Dooly who hired great engineers with VanHack. Mention “Traction Remote” when you sign up today to get 10% off your first hire at https://VanHack.com. Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don't get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI. Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com
On this episode, host Lloyed Lobo at Boast.AI welcomes Anne Dwane, Co-Founder & Partner at Village Global. Most investors spend only 1-3 minutes looking at a pitch deck, so how can you make sure that your pitch deck stands out from the crowd? It all starts with a great startup story when delivering your pitch. It isn't just a marketing tool: your company's startup story is—your mission, your goals, and the problems you're here to solve. It's a powerful resource that will help you find and build connections with the people who will help your startup grow; from the right investors to stellar team members, co-founders, advisors, and customers. Today, Anne shares insider tips on fundraising pitches and running an efficient, effective fundraising process. Specifically, Anne will cover: 6:21 - The best people to talk to when you're fundraising 11:24 - The most important things for an investor pitch 15:15 - How to pique curiosity 17:30 - How to give clarity on what you're doing 24:06 - The number one job of an investor meeting 27:39 - Modifying your pitch strategy based on time allocation 29:30 - The best pitch she's ever heard 33:38 - Pitch deck tactics 38:02 - Should you send your pitch deck before a meeting? 40:36 - Feedback on audience pitches Learn more at https://tractionconf.io Connect with Anne Dwane: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dwane/ Learn more about Village Global at https://www.villageglobal.vc/ This episode is brought to you by: Extend your company's hiring budget with VanHack's pool of 400,000 remote engineers at a lower cost than local hires. Join companies like Dapper Labs, 1Password, Brex and Dooly who hired great engineers with VanHack. Mention “Traction Remote” when you sign up today to get 10% off your first hire at https://VanHack.com. Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don't get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI. Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com
On this episode, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Jim Morris, the Founder of Product Discovery Group. There's no point in creating something that no one wants, yet so many teams skip the product discovery process. Even the most efficient process can't make a bad idea good. Building untested ideas is risky and can cause lost time, wasted money, and low morale. Jim presents concrete techniques you can start using immediately to weed out bad ideas and focus on the good ones. Specifically, Jim will cover: 9:11 - Tailoring your roadmap to fit customer needs 13:56 - How to bring the discovery process to the forefront 15:10 - How to get your team to contribute to the product discovery process 21:46 - Defining success metrics 32:03- Best practices for designing experiments 37:50 - Where are your users? 43:13 - Velocity over perfection 46:50 - Addressing customers who want very specific features 51:03 - How many interviews are enough? 51:12 - The recommended framework for product prioritization when it comes to features 1:02:20 - How to onboard potential customers for discovery interviews Learn more at https://tractionconf.io Connect with Jim Morris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmorrisstanford/ Learn more about Product Discovery Group at https://productdiscoverygroup.com/ This episode is brought to you by: Extend your company's hiring budget with VanHack's pool of 400,000 remote engineers at a lower cost than local hires. Join companies like Dapper Labs, 1Password, Brex, and Dooly who hired great engineers with VanHack. Mention “Traction Remote” when you sign up today to get 10% off your first hire at https://VanHack.com. Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don't get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI. Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com
On this episode, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Henry Schuck, CEO & Founder at ZoomInfo. Over the past five years, ZoomInfo has grown 10X to more than one billion in revenue with over 3,000 employees and 25,000 customers. Today, Henry joins us to share lessons from starting and growing the company from his dorm room to global scale. Specifically, Henry dives into: 2:32 - ZoomInfo's bootstrapped backstory 4:32 - Raising venture capital versus bootstrapping 7:26 - Finding your first customers 10:51 - Biggest challenges with sales in the beginning 14:40 - Milestones you should be setting in the early days 18:19 - Tactics to address customer retention 25:09 - When to onboard a CFO 28:39 - Key channels that were prioritized in ZoomInfo's go-to-market engine 36:50 - How raising funding changed the dynamic of the company 38:52 - How to maintain startup culture as you scale 44:17 - How to give feedback 49:16 - Key team members to hire from startup to scaleup 53:45 - The number one superpower a founder needs to develop 56:54 - Unconventional advice founders ignore, but shouldn't Learn more at https://tractionconf.io Connect with Henry Schuck: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hschuck Learn more about ZoomInfo at https://www.zoominfo.com/ This episode is brought to you by: Extend your company's hiring budget with VanHack's pool of 400,000 remote engineers at a lower cost than local hires. Join companies like Dapper Labs, 1Password, Brex and Dooly who hired great engineers with VanHack. Mention “Traction Remote” when you sign up today to get 10% off your first hire at https://VanHack.com. Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don't get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI. Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com
On this episode, host Lloyed Lobo of Boast.AI welcomes Udi Ledergor, CMO at Gong. With massive shifts and uncertainty in the markets, most companies are working on defensive plans such as reducing spending and increasing cash. Defensive strategies might help companies survive, but in order to exit the current climate in a market-leading position, companies must learn to play offense. Udi shares his ideas on how to play offense during a downturn. He covers marketing topics such as demand, brand, channels, team, tools, and metrics. More specifically, Udi covers: 3:00 - Important skills needed to become a CMO 4:24 - How to leverage data to become more creative 6:43 - Offensive versus defensive marketing tactics 14:46 - Getting early customers and building a marketing strategy with no budget 26:04 - How startups should identify and prioritize marketing channels 31:37 - Skills and resources needed when transitioning from startup to scaleup 37:39 - Key characteristics to becoming a mega-brand 44:23 - Gong's Superbowl ad and the results 48:58 - Balancing brand and performance investments 55:29 - Perfect marriage of creativity and data 1:00:21 - Book recommendations 1:01:55 - Unconventional advice founders shouldn't ignore Learn more at https://tractionconf.io Connect with Udi Ledergor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/udiledergor Learn more about Gong at https://www.gong.io/ This episode is brought to you by: Extend your company's hiring budget with VanHack's pool of 400,000 remote engineers at a lower cost than local hires. Join companies like Dapper Labs, 1Password, Brex and Dooly who hired great engineers with VanHack. Mention “Traction Remote” when you sign up today to get 10% off your first hire at https://VanHack.com. Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don't get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI. Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com
On this episode of the Traction podcast, host Lloyed Lobo welcomes Jason VandeBoom, Founder & CEO of ActiveCampaign. ActiveCampaign has managed to build a big business by taking some less-than-obvious paths. Jason shares his take on traditional growth strategies. He tells us why they don't always make sense and gives a breakdown of the lessons learned from scaling the unscalable into a long term sustainable business. More specifically, Jason discusses: 0:56 - ActiveCampaign's founding story 3:12 - Prioritize customer experiences over product experiences 8:21 - Find your own path 12:58 - Don't go global, be global 15:34 - Why pain doesn't equal success 18:00 - Figure out the right validators Learn more at https://tractionconf.io Connect with Jason VandeBoom: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jvandeboom Learn more about ActiveCampaign at https://www.activecampaign.com/ This episode is brought to you by: Extend your company's hiring budget with VanHack's pool of 400,000 remote engineers at a lower cost than local hires. Join companies like Dapper Labs, 1Password, Brex and Dooly who hired great engineers with VanHack. Mention “Traction Remote” when you sign up today to get 10% off your first hire at https://VanHack.com. Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments provide more than $20 billion in R&D tax credits and innovation incentives to fund businesses. But the application process is cumbersome, prone to costly audits, and receiving the money can take as long as 16 months. Boast automates this process, enabling companies to get more money faster without the paperwork and audit risk. We don't get paid until you do! Find out if you qualify today at https://Boast.AI. Launch Academy is one of the top global tech hubs for international entrepreneurs and a designated organization for Canada's Startup Visa. Since 2012, Launch has worked with more than 6,000 entrepreneurs from over 100 countries, of which 300 have grown their startups to seed and Series A stage and raised over $2 billion in funding. To learn more about Launch's programs or the Canadian Startup Visa, visit https://LaunchAcademy.ca Content Allies helps B2B companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We recommend them to any B2B company that is looking to launch or streamline its podcast production. Learn more at https://contentallies.com
Global mobility is on everyone's radar, but who is doing it well? VanHack Ilya, CEO and co-founder was another happy accident of landing into the world of TA. Starting the company as online learning, he pivoted quickly to matching tech talent in Brazil to Canadian employers in 2014!! VanHack defines the innovative thinking and problem solving that will have you wondering, “Why didn't I think of this?” With 1600+ lives changed; VanHack is one of the fastest growing staffing firms in Canada and they offer so much more. vanhack.com
Founders Focus is the show where we get up close and personal with the leaders of the businesses changing the way we work today Next up is Ilya Brotzky, CEO of VanHack - What's the story with Brazil? - What did you learn about business when you were there? - What did you learn about yourself? - As an entrepreneur, what are things you do well? - As a CEO what are the things you don't do well? - When did you realise that VanHack was going to be a thing? - What leadership qualities do you look for in your management team? - How has remote impacted the idea of relocating staff? - Do you see geopolitical tension / de-globalisation to be an accelerant or decelerant for immigration? - What exciting things can customers expect from VanHack in 2022? All this and more as we take a deep dive into the business leaders building the technology changing the way we work today. Ep28 of Founders Focus is supported by VanHack Simply put, VanHack is the fastest way to hire tech talent. Connect over a community of over 200,000 qualified developers from over 100+ countries through out the world. Sign up for an employer account and start hiring tech talent today.
"There's such a heavy emotional toll of uncertainty and not knowing what's going to happen with your life." Ilya Brotsky (CEO of VanHack) and Daryna Kulya (co-founder and COO of OpenPhone) discuss Ukraine tech, connections to Canada, and ways to help Ukrainians fleeing war. Related links: Stetsenko Foundation Ukraine to Canada
In this HRchat episode, we discuss ways to find, hire, and retain top tech talent from around the world. Our returning guest is Ilya Brotzky, CEO and CoFounder of VanHack, a global platform for tech talent looking to get hired anywhere and work from anywhere.Questions Include:Why are software developers and other tech talents so hard to attract and recruit at the moment?Why should firms in Canada and the US look globally to secure top tech talent? What did the pandemic do to widen the available talent pool for hiring companies?VanHack has helped hire around 1500 software developers and I understand that the average tenure of a hire facilitated by VanHack has risen to 2.9 years. What can recruiters do to find and attract talent who'll stay and grow with the company?What are the most common challenges in remote hiring? How can we overcome them?You and I have both emigrated. For those positions that still require relocation, what are the typical anxieties of candidates? Slowly but surely companies are moving to more diverse, gender-inclusive hiring practices - what have you been observing with some of the companies you've been working with? You have a couple of recruiting fairs and events coming up in 2022. Can you run through them with me and what candidates and hiring companies can expect? More About IlyaFeatured in Fast Company, BC Business, Betakit, and elsewhere, Ilya leads a team of around 80 employees from 13 countries with the mission of creating a borderless world for tech talent through jobs. He holds a Bachelors of Applied Economics from Cornell University and has helped raise over $100,000 for a variety of charities in Africa and South America.More About VanHackVanHack helps candidates find remote jobs, relocation jobs, or a combination of the two. This allows companies to hire amazing senior and diverse talent and more quickly.Check out, and register for, upcoming job fairs by VanHack here. We do our best to ensure editorial objectivity. The views and ideas shared by our guests and sponsors are entirely independent of The HR Gazette, HRchat Podcast, and Iceni Media Inc.
This week's episode features one of Vancouver's youngest and brightest CEOs, Ilya Brotzky of VanHack. We explore how he started VanHack, the dire need for more tech talent in the world, as well as the future within the tech space. Enjoy this week's fascinating discussion.
Learn how to develop a habit of learning in public, writing daily, and helping your audience. Chris Bongers has been sharing software development tips every day for the past 250 days on his blog Daily Dev Tips and on twitter.Here's what we talked about: How Chris got started with writing How he wrote more than 250 articles during lockdown Which daily tips were the most popular How he comes up with ideas for Daily Dev Tips. Spoiler alert: by working in public, he gets lots of suggestions from his followers. Win-win! The benefits of learning in public and writing every day for Daily Dev Tips How he manages his energy levels and productivity, and avoids burnout What helped him grow his audience SEO and blogging tips for beginners Where should you share your blog posts: on Hashnode or dev.to? How hiking is the best activity for writers Thanks to our sponsors: VanHack helps great tech talent get jobs abroad, even during the pandemic!Links: Daily Dev Tips Chris Bongers on Twitter Blogging for Devs Community Subscribe to our newsletter Visit the hexdevs blog
Dmitrii Pashtuskii is a digital nomad living in Bali, and recently quit his job so he could travel and build a business.This episode will be a little different: Dimitrii will be asking us questions about moving to Canada because he wants to apply for a visa very soon. In a future episode we will talk more about his projects and the life of a digital nomad.If you ever wanted to move to Canada, this is the time. Canada is planning on bringing more than 1 million immigrants in the next 3 years!We thought it would be the great opportunity for us to share our story and help others. We are also thinking of writing a short guide with more information, documents and resources we used in our visa process. In case you are interested, you can sign up for the wait list.Here's what we discussed: Why we moved to Vancouver, Canada How VanHack helped Thiago get a job in Canada Why Dmitrii is planning to get a visa and settle down in Canada after living the nomad life How long did it take us to get our Permanent Residency through the BCPNP program How Express Entry works The tech community in Vancouver Life in Vancouver: Are people friendly? Is it easy to make new friends? Getting a Canadian Citizenship Follow our podcast and sign up for our newsletter to get updates when we launch new episodes. Thanks to our sponsors: VanHack helps great tech talent get jobs abroad, even during the pandemic!Links from this episode: Moving to Canada - A guide for developers to move to Canada - join the wait list if you're interested :) Dmitrii's Twitter 12xstartup.com Learning Story - The community for people who learn in public Global Skills Strategy Visa Subscribe to our newsletter Visit the hexdevs blog
Before you take off...Want to see future episode highlights? You can add me on Linkedin here.Episode Description“Don't chase the investor, chase the customer. You'll have a more compelling story to tell”.Key talking points: Why entrepreneurs need to chase a business model and then investment, not the other way around How Vanhack started as a company before becoming a marketplace How Iliya changed his “be a nice guy” mentality About IlyaIlya Brotzky is the CEO and Co-Founder of VanHack. He is building a company that promises the fastest way to hire tech talent. Today, employers can access a community of 200,000+ highly-qualified tech professionals from 100+ countries - the largest such community in the world! He has several articles on Forbes, Betakit & The Globe & Mail, he's very active on Linkedin, with a network of 32,500 followers and raised very little money, around 120k - Ilya Brotzky. Great to have you on - welcome!
We are all competent in the team, but why do the projects always get delayed, why did we run into problems? We do sprints, we do sprint planning, something is not working. Shape Up helped me get the right balance between long-term and short-term planning.Does that ring a bell?Our guest, Raymond Huang, told us how Shape Up helped his team get the right balance between long term and short-term planning and deliver better software.As a developer, you know that estimates are hard, and you can't know everything ahead of time while planning. You also know that some of the 'agile' tools are not really helping. You've tried Scrum, but you are doing Kanban instead. The team struggles to ship and misses the deadline and we see all the failed goals on the sprint chart. Shape Up was written to help with that problem.Shape Up is the latest book from Basecamp. It's a guide on how they do Product Strategy.In this episode, we learned how Raymond applied the ideas from Shape Up at Unbounce.We asked questions such as: Would Shape Up work in my company? How do I convince my team to try it? How to start adopting Shape Up? Do I need to follow all the steps described in the book? If I had to choose only one takeaway from Shape Up, which one would it be? How do I shape a cycle? Will I finally get rid of my team's Tech Debt Backlog? If you enjoyed this episode, let Raymond now. Don't forget to follow our podcast and sign up for our newsletter to get updates when we launch new episodes.Thanks to our sponsors:VanHack helps great tech talent get jobs abroad, even during the pandemic!Links from this episode:Raymond Huang LinkedinShape Up: Stop Running in Circles and Ship Work that MattersCheck out our new website. We have a blog now!Visit our Podcast page and subscribe to our newsletter!
In the best episode yet, Ilya Brotzky shares his insights from building the #2 largest developer community on Slack, why he was remote-first before it was cool, and how to build developer communities amidst COVID. > Never miss a video // SUBSCRIBE: https://bit.ly/2PzTqAI // About The Ops Show // #TheOpsShow is a weekly YouTube show and podcast hosted by Tristan Pollock and Kyle Campbell covering the wide world of #workflows in #DevOps and the greater developer experience. Watch ALL EPISODES: https://bit.ly/2WgD1F5 + https://w.cto.ai/theopsshow > Join the community // SHIP TOGETHER: https://bit.ly/3fTPKpe // About CTO.ai // CTO.ai provides end-to-end serverless infrastructure designed for the needs of fast-moving development teams who want to optimize what the business cares about. Easy to use like Heroku, and powerful like Kubernetes, CTO.ai gives you the tools you need to workflow smarter, not harder. > Try out the platform: https://cto.ai/platform > Or come say hello: https://github.com/cto-ai https://twitter.com/CTO_ai https://www.linkedin.com/company/cto-ai/ https://www.instagram.com/cto.ai/ https://www.facebook.com/CTOdotAI/ https://www.twitch.tv/cto_ai
"Most startup founders don't want to prove themselves wrong. There's an inherent bias, they hear what they want to hear, and they go seeking the information to prove themselves right because they've attached themselves to their idea." -- Kenny MacKenzie Kenny is an expert in product-market fit and market validation and has been mentoring startup founders for many, many years. After creating his own startup, raising money, building a product, launching it and seeing it fail because of a lack of product-market fit, Kenny spent loads of energy trying to reflect on those mistakes so he could understand the causes of startup failure and the tactical and strategic frameworks and practices that will improve the chances of business success.He identified very common types of cognitive biases that early-stage founders will face, such as a lack of product-market fit, false positives, and not knowing what problem you're trying to solve or who you're trying to help. These things lead to errors of judgment that will surely kill a startup.If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to act like a scientist/private investigator, find the right problems, experiment and learn from customers before you write any line of code or build anything. This will improve your chances of being a successful startup founder."You're not a developer, you're not an engineer, you're not an entrepreneur. You're a scientist/private investigator. Think of the market opportunity as a crime, there is a criminal out in the loose and they keep hurting all these different people. You're trying to understand that criminal's pattern of behavior. The criminal is the market need. You're investigating, not trying to force your will on the world. Once you understand a meaningful problem that people have, then you can start being the visionary." -- Kenny MacKenzieThanks to our sponsors:VanHack helps great tech talent get jobs abroad. Links from this episodeKenny MacKenzie on Linkedin Find Better Problems Worth Solving - Ash MauryaThe Mom Test Book - Rob FitzpatrickThe Value Proposition Canvas - strategyzerJobs to Be Done: Theory to Practice - Anthony UlwickOutcome Driven Innovation - Anthony UlwickVisit our Podcast page and subscribe to our newsletter!
This is the second part of our interview with Fabiano where we talk about his new job in Munich - Germany, and also about the visa process, working in Europe, and the challenges he's facing now, like learning the German language.Fabiano decided to move abroad after being the CTO of Magnetis for many years. He now works as a Senior Fullstack Engineer for Shore - the leading provider of cloud-based business solutions for small and medium-sized companies.He gave some tips for people who want to find a job and move to Germany, and talked about his new life in Munich.If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to tell Fabiano about it. We are sure he would love to hear from our listeners. And if you want to move to Germany to work with Fabiano, Shore is hiring, so check out this episode to learn more about their relocation package and their engineering culture.Thanks to our sponsors:VanHack helps great tech talent get jobs abroad. Links from this episodeVisit our Podcast page and subscribe to our newsletter!Fabiano's Twitter
Fabiano Beselga is our first guest for 2020!He co-founded Magnetis, one of the most successful fintech startups in Brazil, and served as the CTO for over 7 years. Magnetis is a robot advisor startup who grew 200% every year over the past few years, and now has more than 10 thousand clients, USD$90M under management and 90 people on the team. Widely recognized as one of the best places to work, Magnetis is a great example of a company that successfully adopted a remote work culture.Fabiano built the engineering team from scratch and all the processes and culture around it, making sure to create a diverse team composed of people coming from different backgrounds and having different levels of experience. We talked about creating and managing a fast-growing team while also scaling the business and driving innovation. He always believed that establishing a good culture would lead to a great team and a great product, and the success of his team is a reflection of that. He also thinks that CTOs should focus on building the culture from the start.If you want to become a C-Level executive or become a better leader, check out this episode. Fabiano shared a lot of great advice on how to make sure you are giving the support your team needs and how to establish good practices, deliver better products, and how to hire well.Thanks to our sponsors:VanHack helps great tech talent get jobs abroad. Links from this episodeVisit our Podcast page and subscribe to our newsletter!Fabiano's TwitterSmart and Getting Things DoneMagnetis Backstage BlogGuru-SP Meetup
This short episode contains a couple of special notes. We just wanted to thank you for all your support this year! We hope we can continue learning together in 2020. Happy Holidays!Thanks to our sponsors:VanHack helps great tech talent get jobs abroad. Links from this episodeVisit our Podcast page and subscribe to our newsletter!
Amed Rodriguez is a Senior Software Engineer who has extensive experience with lean startup and has developed software for many startups in San Francisco. He is originally from Mexico and is now living in Vancouver. After leading a Lean Startup product development company for many years, he co-founded a startup in the health sector which got an interview with Y-Combinator (W15). After not getting accepted into YC, he started working as an engineer for companies in the Bay Area.We talked about his experience of trying to get a work permit to be able to live in the US, and why he eventually decided to immigrate to Canada instead. He also shared some tips on how to get more startup clients and projects when you're working as a freelancer and how he's found jobs in the US and Canada.We also talked about the main differences between living and working as a developer in Monterrey, San Francisco and Vancouver, and the challenges of working onsite after many years of remote work.Thanks to our sponsors:VanHack helps great tech talent get jobs abroad. Links from this episodeVisit our Podcast page and subscribe to our newsletter!Amed's LinkedinLendesk is hiring in Vancouver, BC!
Have you ever thought about contributing to open-source projects but don't know where to start or which project to choose? Gui Vieira has been the maintainer of the popular 'shoulda-matchers' gem since 2017.We talked about the job of being an open-source maintainer. not only that, but we also discussed TDD, as well as his entrepreneurship journey in the past, and the process of moving to Canada.Thanks to our sponsors:VanHack helps great tech talent get jobs abroad. Links from this episodeVisit our Podcast page and subscribe to our newsletter!shoulda-matchers gemOpen Source FridayLendesk is hiring in Vancouver, BC!
Linda Peng is a frontend developer and a musician. She graduated in Economics and Public Policy (Social Sciences), and she was always interested in social work. She worked at a non-profit for a couple of years, where she had the opportunity to switch to a web developer job in 2013.Now she is a front-end developer and is the creator and maintainer of CodeBuddies.org. Inspired by the idea of remote meetups, she created CodeBuddies to help everyone learn to code together no matter where they are. 100% open-source, people used CodeBuddies to organize more than 1289 hangouts sessions.We also talked about her musical background. In October her Kickstarter campaign was baked and she launched her first album, called "Violin.play() - Code-inspired violin music". Linda generously shared a secret code for our listeners so they can listen to the entire album, so make sure to listen to this episode and share it with your developer friends. To give you a taste, some of the songs included are "A walk through the binary tree forest", "What is this", "Callback Hell", "Superclass" and more.We discussed how putting your side projects out there helps you meet new people and achieve unexpected results.If you enjoyed this episode and Linda's album, make sure to let her know, we're sure she would love to hear your feedback! :)Thanks to our sponsors:VanHack helps great tech talent get jobs abroad. Links from this episodeVisit our Podcast page and subscribe to our newsletter!Linda's twitterLinda's Youtube channelCodeBuddiesViolin.play() - don't forget to get the secret code during the episode :)Linda's Kickstarter
Originally from Panama, Andrea Bernal is a Computer Systems Engineer with a Master's in Supply Chain Management. She lived and worked in the US after winning a Fulbright Scholarship, and has extensive experience with Portfolio Management and Finance. Nowadays, she lives in Vancouver and works as a Project Manager for Telus.Andrea is on her way to financial independence, making extra money on the side from doing nutritional consulting work. She is a minimalist and a member of the FIRE movement (Financial Independence/Retire Early).She worked as an Assistant Producer to the Netflix documentary "What The Health", and runs a very popular Youtube channel called "Plantae Revolution" about plant-based nutrition.In this episode, Andrea shared with us some effective ideas on how to take care of your money and your health, and how to be more productive and intentional about your life. We talked about investments, Financial Independence and Early Retirement, ETFs, and Minimalism. She plans to become financially independent in the next 10 years.Thanks to our sponsors:VanHack helps great tech talent get jobs abroad. Links from this episodeVisit our Podcast page and subscribe to our newsletter!Andrea's LinkedinPlantae Revolution: Andrea's Youtube channelQuestradeWealthBarStephanie and Celestian's BlogGame ChangersWhat the HealthCowspiracyDominion
Keith Bingman is a Principal Engineer at Unbounce, where he leads frontend development. He learned javascript by himself 15 years ago when he was working as a photographer. He is originally from the US, lived in Germany, and now lives in Vancouver, Canada.We talked about being self-taught and how to improve yourself as a developer by building personal projects.He also talked about his experience of doing "big software rewrites" in the past and the present, moving a project from other technologies to React. We also talked about Elm, Rust and the future of frontend development.According to him, you need to be very persistent when you want to introduce good practices to an established team and you need to lead by example. That helped him unlock the potential of the engineering team by introducing testing, pair-programming and mentoring. He has been a mentor for a very long time and is very passionate about it:"Pair programming is mentoring just by itself. I always learn something new by pair-programming, it doesn't matter how experienced they are".As a Principal Engineer, he tries to make sure he helps the team to unblock themselves and that everyone is mentoring others from the get-go.Thanks to our sponsors:VanHack helps great tech talent get jobs abroad. Links from this episodeVisit our Podcast page and subscribe to our newsletter!Keith's Linkedin
Jenny Chan is a digital nomad, and a Full Stack Developer. She runs a very successful community for female developers called Women in Web Dev.In this episode, she gave some tips for those who are planning to do a bootcamp, how she got her first job after finishing it, the importance of putting yourself out there and making connections, and how she got her first remote job as a developer.Jenny shared some tips on how to find a job as a junior developer and how her community helps women start their careers as web developers, how to get a remote job and how to be productive while working remotely.Thanks to our sponsors:VanHack. VanHack helps tech talent get jobs abroad.Links from this episodeVisit our Podcast page and subscribe to our newsletter!Jenny's Women in Web Dev communityIndie Hacker Vancouver Meetup
VanHack has helped more than 700 developers get a visa-sponsored job in Canada and Europe.In this episode, Ilya Brotzky, the founder and CEO of VanHack talks about the challenges of running a remote global company, how he learned from his mistakes and built a very successful business, and what are the goals for VanHack in the next few months.He also gives more details about some great companies that are hiring international talent, and how you too can get a job abroad through VanHack.Links from this episodeVisit our Podcast page and subscribe to our newsletter!Sign up for VanHackVanHack Events pageJustin Jackson's post about the ice cream analogy