Software Defined Interviews
Deep discussions about technology, enterprise IT, and the like
Episodes
December 24, 2025 • 73 mins
The Octopus Organization is a great collection of organization anti-patterns. This week, one of the co-authors, Jana Werner talks with Whitney and Coté about those patterns and her own experiences. They go over topics like reading habits, the role of business books, decision making, ownership, curiosity in organizations. practical steps to avoid common corporate anti-patterns, the importance of clear communication and leadership pr...
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December 10, 2025 • 74 mins
Whitney and Coté chat with Jason Hand. They discuss the challenges and rewards of organizing conferences, the impact of the pandemic on in-person events, and the nuances of developer relations.
Jason shares his experiences with AI Tools Lab, vibe coding, and personal projects such as developing his own tools to replace commercial SaaS products. They also talk about devrel differences at large vs. mid-sized companies, and how to ma...
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November 26, 2025 • 69 mins
This week, Whitney Lee joins us to discuss KubeCon news, Coding Assistants, and conference tips. Plus, vegan food and note-taking recommendations.
Watch the YouTube Live Recording of Episode 54 (https://www.youtube.com/live/gBkzVSXZot8?si=jEreOaj-q6-NuMM0)7 (https://www.youtube.com/live/gBkzVSXZot8?si=jEreOaj-q6-NuMM0)
This is a cross-over episode with Software Defined Talk (https://www.softwaredefinedtalk.com/547).
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November 15, 2025 • 71 mins
Whitney and Coté talk with Andrew Clay Shafer, co-founder of Puppet and principal at an advisory firm, about the nuances of DevOps transformation, open source dynamics, and running his burger restaurant, All American Burger (https://maps.app.goo.gl/hgNturR3jf76u5EHA). They talk about the challenges of integrating social and technical systems, managing metrics and KPIs, and the evolving ecosystem of open source software. Also, they ...
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We talk with Russell Davies this episode. He has done many things, above all else made lots of interesting content and messed around with producing content. Advertising, blogging and the World Wide Web of the 2000's, interesting conferences (call exactly that: interesting), books, and of late, he's been mastering the short video format. I am a big fan of Flora and his ("he's"?) recent podcast, WIP (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?...
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October 15, 2025 • 75 mins
Blogs! Whitney and Coté talk with Manton Reece, founder and owner of micro.blog. They talk about journaling, the urge to write and publish, and a whole lot about blogging, social media, and how AI fits into all of that. Check out micro blog at, well, micro.blog (https://micro.blog) and also Manton's blog (https://www.manton.org). Special Guest: Manton Reece.
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September 29, 2025 • 70 mins
In this episode, Whitney and Coté speak with Saad Ansari, a product manager at Databricks, about his journey from working at Microsoft to co-founding a startup focused on creating sensors for monitoring cow behavior. They go over the challenges and rewards of transitioning from large corporations to startups and back, the differences in company scales, and the various lessons learned along the way. Saad shares some stories about de...
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September 17, 2025 • 72 mins
In this episode, Whitney and Coté talk about the integration of AI into daily life with Hannah Foxwell, organizer of AI for the Rest of Us, among many other doings. They talk about stuff like practical applications of AI in daily tasks like finding recipes and tech support to the complexities of adopting AI in professional settings. Hannah also talks about building AI communities and conferences in general. Also, you hear about the...
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September 6, 2025 • 71 mins
In this episode, Whitney and Coté talk with Rachel Chalmers. Rachel shares her experiences as an analyst, her approach to VC investing, and a little on life as a industry analyst. The conversation also touches on the evolving landscape of venture capital, the importance of psychological safety in teams, and innovative methods for engaging with early-stage startups. Also, lots of horse-talk.
You can also watch the video recording (h...
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In this episode, Whitney and Coté chat with Mary Thengvall, exploring the development and significance of Developer Relations (devrel) over the years. They discuss the transition from tech "evangelism" to the modern devrel roles, the challenges and successes in community building, the importance of internal support for devrel teams, and the impact of AI on content creation. Mary also shares insights from her book, The Business Valu...
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In this episode, Whitney and Coté talk with James Eastham about developing social skills through reading, the importance of deep work in productivity, and the mental challenges of ultrarunning. They also discuss strategies for reducing screen time in an age of Internet addiction, how thumbnails in YouTube videos influence viewer engagement, and the evolving landscape of short-form video content.
Watch the video (https://www.youtube...
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July 24, 2025 • 82 mins
Chris, of course, had his System generate a title and summary for this episode, so we're using that AI-driven fun this week.
In this lively and open conversation, Chris Dancy — the self-proclaimed "Most Connected person in the World" — joins hosts Cote and Whitney to discuss digital minimalism, hyper-organization, life augmentation, and cyborg spirituality. The episode is a blend of humor, tech wisdom, and raw human truth. From cor...
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July 9, 2025 • 67 mins
In this episode, Whitney and Coté talk with AmyJune Hineline. They delve into Amy's diverse career, transitioning from a hospice nurse to a mechanical engineer and eventually working in tech and open source. They discuss the meticulous process of creating certification exams at the Linux Foundation, balancing altruistic and professional motivations in open source, and peering into the human aspects of her hospice work. They togethe...
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In this episode, Whitney and Coté discuss with Betty Junod, CMO of Heroku, the evolution of growing up without the internet to the present day's AI advancements and its implications for future generations. They explore how AI is changing critical thinking and curiosity, and how it affects children and business use cases. They also delve into workplace dynamics, such as transitioning between large tech companies and startups, levera...
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June 11, 2025 • 68 mins
In this episode, Whitney and Coté discuss Whitney's newfound enthusiasm for AI after a recent stint with the tool Cursor. The conversation covers how AI tools can aid in coding, building engineering journals, and even drafting compelling conference talk abstracts. They highlight the difference between tasks and prompts in AI, personalizing AI interactions, and maximizing efficiency with various MCP servers. Along the way, they delv...
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May 29, 2025 • 57 mins
In this episode, Whitney and Coté talk with Taegan Goddard, founder of Political Wire (https://politicalwire.com). They talk about what drives people to go above and beyond in their work, especially journalism like Taegan does. There's some fun conversation about how Taegan runs the business, keeping up his never ending coverage. Having run the site for well over two decades, they also talk about how the back-end stack has evolved ...
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After an extensive discussion of 7-Eleven pizza cuisine, in this episode, Whitney and Coté talk with Sarah Christoff. They discuss working at startups, the point of startups, working in open source and balancing commercial and community interests, moving to Europe, and more!
Find Sarah in LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/schristoff/). Also, Coté referenced a talk by Aneel Lakhani at Monktoberfest 2023 (https://www.youtube.com/...
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May 1, 2025 • 68 mins
Whitney and Coté talk with Robert Reeves about startups, catering, the Austin's tech scene, and the business of open source over the past 20 years. A sampling: Robert share some stories of early startup adventures and strategic moves, behind the scenes catering rock festivals, and the importance of geography for starting your career in tech. Check out the video version of this episode (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_4WiWPZeyc) i...
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Whitney and Coté tour through a couple decades of tech infrastructure history with Melissa Smolensky, whose marketing career spans Rackspace, GitLab, CoreOS, and the CNCF, among other places. They explore the OpenStack/Kubernetes evolution, how "radical transparency" actually functions in corporate settings, and the shifting landscape of tech marketing—from thought leadership to the changing role of industry analysts. Plus, they co...
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April 2, 2025 • 82 mins
In this episode, Whitney and Coté talk with Emily Omier, a consultant specializing in open source strategy and product management for businesses. They discuss the initial reactions and learning curve of new tech entrants to open source, the advantages and potential disadvantages of building a business around open-source software, and the ethical considerations in this space. Emily also goes over her experiences running a conference...
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