Speaking and Podcasts

I enjoy teaching and telling stories, especially around software design and development. I’ve been lucky enough to be invited to do so at a couple dozen conferences and podcasts over the years. If you run a conference or podcast and would like to chat, get in touch.

A slide from a talk I gave in 2017 at Microsoft.

Topics

I often speak on the same topics that I write about. Here are some examples:

• Product and project management for quality, including communication, iteration, and what it takes to drive great UX.
• Mobile app design and development, especially topics around UI and product strategy.
• Lessons learned from shipping products, including the various products I’ve led over the years, and the many dozens of products we’ve shipped for clients.
• Engineering leadership, including building and engaging a product team, technical decision-making, and leading for quality.
• Running a business, especially a software business.
• Personal stories that inform, whether they’re heavy or light.

Also, on occasion, I’ll MC a conference or show.

Videos

Here are three example videos of talks I’ve given:

A Workflow for Directing Attention, for Learn OmniFocus

Competing with Art, at CocoaLove in Philadelphia

Native.js, at JSConf EU in Berlin

Podcasts

I enjoy guesting on podcasts – they’re most of the fun of giving a talk, with a lot less work. Here are some shows I’ve been on:

• The It Shipped That Way Podcast, where I interview product leaders about what they’ve learned. Example episodes:
  • Ep. 6, Solving Engineering Problems with DuckDuckGo’s Cate Huston
  • Ep. 12, The Intersection of Business and Design, w/ fmr. Shopify Product GM Lynsey Thornton
• The Fun Fact Podcast, where Arik Devens and I discuss important facts. Example episodes:
  • Ep. 56, A Hippo Astronaut
  • Ep. 66, We Gotta Blow It Up
• The Xcoders Podcast, March 2020, where I talk about starting Vancouver Xcoders, and approaches for sharing code across platforms.
• The Omni Show 64, where I talk about how I manage tasks, and focusing on what’s important rather than just urgent.
• Giant Robots 264, where we talk about building great product teams.
• Clockwise 174, where we discuss iPad, Apple Watch, Apple-produced original content, and iTunes
• Release Notes 190, where I talk about our products, and 191, where I talk about client work.
• Up Up Down Down, the game development podcast I co-hosted.
• Cinema Gadfly 7 and 8, where Arik Devens and I discuss Terry Gilliam’s Brazil and Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can.
• Incomparable Radio Theatre 1.10, as Charles Babbage
• Iterate 80, an episode where we discuss Steamclock, our apps, and mobile app design
• Unprofessional 52, “The Taco Bell Unprofessional”
• Lining Things Up 6, my first podcast appearance