GeekWire Podcasts

Podcast

Understanding Amazon: Secrets of the company’s success, and where it’s headed next

by Todd Bishop on August 20, 2022August 20, 2022 at 10:48 am

Amazon is one of the most extraordinary business stories of our time. Many people in the tech industry have a general understanding of this story, picking up bits and pieces… Read More

Podcast

What we learned from the life of early Amazon investor and Seattle business leader Tom Alberg

by Todd Bishop on August 13, 2022August 13, 2022 at 9:52 am

Seattle-based investor and business leader Tom Alberg, who died last week at the age of 82, was a key figure in the e-commerce and wireless industries, and in the Seattle… Read More

Podcast

The state of the tech economy: Takeaways from Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet

by Todd Bishop on August 6, 2022August 6, 2022 at 10:16 am

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we play highlights and offer our thoughts on the recent earnings calls of Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet, seeking to better understand what’s… Read More

Podcast

The pioneering spirit and joyful life of late ‘Cranium’ creator Richard Tait, in his own words

by Todd Bishop on July 30, 2022July 30, 2022 at 12:33 pm

Growing up as a child in Scotland, one of Richard Tait’s heroes was entrepreneur Richard Branson. After Tait co-founded board game company Cranium in Seattle, he was on a mission… Read More

Podcast

From White House to Amazon and Airbnb: Jay Carney on the intersection of tech and politics

by Todd Bishop on July 23, 2022July 23, 2022 at 10:20 am

Amazon’s head of global corporate affairs Jay Carney, the former White House press secretary under President Obama, made some news of his own this week, announcing that he’s leaving Amazon… Read More

Podcast

How the ‘7 Forms of Respect’ can change work, with Seattle entrepreneur and author Julie Pham

by Todd Bishop on July 16, 2022July 16, 2022 at 10:39 am

Do people on your team multitask in meetings, or focus on the person speaking? The answer to that question will help to demonstrate how much your organization prioritizes attention, which… Read More

Podcast

‘We’re in this for good’: Amazon plans more home robots despite early skepticism about Astro

by Todd Bishop on July 9, 2022July 11, 2022 at 9:01 am

Amazon unveiled Astro, its first home robot, in September, after developing the rolling Alexa device in secret for several years. In an introductory video, the company anticipated the skepticism Astro… Read More

Podcast

Interview: Microsoft’s president on turbulent times for the company, country, and world

by Todd Bishop on June 30, 2022July 1, 2022 at 7:11 am

Brad Smith, like many in tech and the broader world, thought 2022 might bring a bit of a break. Halfway through, the reality has been anything but. “This has been… Read More

Podcast

Amazon, robots, and diverging views of automation and the future of work

by Todd Bishop on June 25, 2022June 25, 2022 at 10:36 am

LAS VEGAS — What happens to jobs, the economy and business when a company can create the perfect worker out of silicon and steel? Amazon’s new warehouse robots, unveiled this… Read More

Podcast

What the rest of us can learn from Bezos’ big mistake … and other lessons in ‘career self-care’

by Todd Bishop on June 18, 2022June 18, 2022 at 10:27 am

In many ways, Jeff Bezos would seem to have it all. But when is enough enough? In a new book, “Career Self-Care: Find Your Happiness, Success, and Fulfillment at Work,”… Read More

Podcast

What this software engineering leader learned working peak season at an Amazon warehouse

by Todd Bishop on June 11, 2022June 11, 2022 at 7:15 am

Philip Su, a software engineering leader turned non-profit founder, decided to shake up his life last fall — seeking an antidote to his seasonal depression in a job with more… Read More

Podcast

Microsoft’s union pledge, and the new era of organized labor in tech

by Todd Bishop on June 7, 2022June 7, 2022 at 9:39 am

Marcus Courtney was a Microsoft software tester who led a multi-year effort to unionize his fellow contract workers starting in the late 1990s. That history gives him a unique perspective… Read More

Podcast

‘Wild times’ for tech startups: Making sense of the uncertainty with Madrona’s Tim Porter

by John Cook on June 4, 2022June 4, 2022 at 10:07 am

What the heck is going on in the economy, and how will the market gyrations impact startups and venture capital? The backdrop for these questions is dynamic and complex right… Read More

Podcast

What Amazon’s plan to improve worker safety reveals about the company’s true nature

by Todd Bishop on May 28, 2022May 28, 2022 at 11:07 am

Addressing the issue of warehouse worker safety in response to a shareholder question this week, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy described the company’s safety initiatives — most of them related to… Read More

Podcast

Startup turnaround specialist Matt Hulett on unlocking growth, and surviving turbulent times

by Todd Bishop on May 21, 2022May 21, 2022 at 10:59 am

Our guest on the GeekWire Podcast this week is Matt Hulett, a veteran of the Seattle tech community and the author of the new book, Unlock: 5 Questions to Unleash Your… Read More

Podcast

How Jeff Wilke’s industrial roots guided him at Amazon, and inspired him to help revive U.S. manufacturing

by Todd Bishop on May 19, 2022May 19, 2022 at 4:06 pm

PITTSBURGH — In his 22 years at Amazon, including his role as the first CEO of the company’s Worldwide Consumer business, Jeff Wilke always kept the place he was raised,… Read More

Podcast

Startups, superheroes, and the economy at a crossroads: Voices from Seattle’s tech community

by Todd Bishop on May 14, 2022May 15, 2022 at 11:37 am

After holding the GeekWire Awards virtually for the past two years, there was a feeling of real catharsis Thursday evening as hundreds of people streamed through the doors of the… Read More

Podcast

‘My name is Reggie …’ Former Nintendo leader on his new book, and what’s next for games

by Todd Bishop on May 10, 2022May 10, 2022 at 12:00 pm

One of the most memorable lines of the past two decades in video games was delivered not by a character in a game but by an executive on stage. “My… Read More

Podcast

Robots, automation, AI, and the Pirate Parrot: Insights from our return to the epicenter of robotics

by Todd Bishop on May 6, 2022May 6, 2022 at 11:33 am

It’s going to be a long time before robots replace sports mascots, but it might be better for one of our GeekWire colleagues when they do. That’s one of the… Read More

Podcast

The next big challenge for robots: Insights from the new director of CMU’s Robotics Institute

by Todd Bishop on April 30, 2022April 30, 2022 at 11:51 am

PITTSBURGH — A few months into his new job as the director of Carnegie Mellon University’s storied Robotics Institute, Matthew Johnson-Roberson still finds the whole experience a little surreal. A… Read More

Podcast

Ungrading? Letting kids teach IT? GeekWire Award-winning STEM teachers share innovative strategies

by Lisa Stiffler on April 28, 2022May 3, 2022 at 9:38 am

Innovation is alive and well in STEM classrooms across Washington state, inspiring students to seek opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math. At the GeekWire Awards on May 12, we’re… Read More

Podcast

GeekWire Podcast: Netflix ads, Amazon’s shipping business, and Paul Allen’s real legacy

by Todd Bishop on April 23, 2022April 23, 2022 at 7:42 am

Does it seem like activity is picking up out there in the tech world? Big fundings may be happening less frequently (with notable exceptions such as Convoy) but the return… Read More

Podcast

What happened after a Moscow-born Seattle tech CEO closed a big Russian operation in solidarity with Ukraine

by John Cook & Todd Bishop on April 19, 2022April 19, 2022 at 8:07 am

Sergei Dreizin is co-founder and CEO of software engineering company Akvelon, based in Bellevue, Wash. Born and raised in Moscow, he moved to the U.S. in 1992, after the Soviet… Read More

Podcast

The new frontiers of AI and robotics, with CMU computer science dean Martial Hebert

by Todd Bishop on April 16, 2022April 28, 2022 at 4:49 am

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we explore the state of the art in robotics and artificial intelligence with Martial Hebert, dean of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer… Read More

Podcast

Words with AI: Language and the future of work, with Textio CEO Kieran Snyder

by Todd Bishop on April 9, 2022April 9, 2022 at 10:10 am

What’s the impact of the words we use? Augmented writing platform Textio uses machine learning and natural language processing to take the guesswork out of business communication, offering predictive analytics… Read More

Podcast

How iSpot is using tech-driven advertising analytics to challenge TV industry stalwart Nielsen

by Todd Bishop on April 2, 2022April 4, 2022 at 12:31 pm

Most online publishers and advertisers are accustomed to real-time analytics, the ability to see how many people are viewing a website or app at any moment, where they’re coming from,… Read More

Podcast

GeekWire Podcast: Testing Starlink; U.S. tech worker migration; GeekWire Awards sneak peek

by Todd Bishop on March 26, 2022March 26, 2022 at 9:42 am

This week on the GeekWire Podcast, we talk about what could be an enduring era of remote work — for some people, at least — as enabled by new technology… Read More

Podcast

Tony Hsieh, Zappos, and Amazon: Inside the tragic final days of a fabled entrepreneur

by Todd Bishop on March 19, 2022March 19, 2022 at 8:31 am

Tony Hsieh was a legendary entrepreneur who built Zappos and sold the online shoe retailer to Amazon for $1.2 billion in 2009. He was known for unusual experiments in management… Read More

Podcast

Jeff Bezos, future Seahawks owner? Why the Russell Wilson trade increases the odds

by Todd Bishop on March 12, 2022March 12, 2022 at 10:38 am

This week’s blockbuster trade of Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson could be the first in a series of moves that leads to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owning the team. That… Read More

Podcast

How this former tech columnist bridged her family’s political divide, and what we can learn from it

by Todd Bishop on March 9, 2022March 9, 2022 at 7:13 am

What would happen to the divisions in our country if we set aside our phones, and our assumptions, and truly tried to understand people who are different from us? Mónica… Read More