Stayin' Alive in Tech

Second Life is widely credited for mainstreaming the concept of the metaverse as a virtual social platform—and today’s guest, James Au, invites us in to hear the inside scoop on how this platform foreshadowed today’s social media and virtual worlds, both in promise and in pitfalls.  

A freelance tech journalist at the time, James was hired to report on the Secon...

This podcast typically focuses on the history of tech and where it is today, so what better guest to have on than a woman who learned to code when floppy discs were still a thing, became one of the first tech industry analysts to write about companies like VMware and Cloudera, and has since served as an advisor to some of the most innovative tech platforms in the world? These all describe Rachel Chal...

During part one of our conversation with Shireen Mitchell, you heard what it was like for a young Black girl from the projects of New York to get into computers, gaming, and coding during the 1980s. Shireen recounted her time attending an HBCU...

As a proud product of 1980s Harlem, Shireen Mitchell is an award-winning woman of color in tech with many talents: founder, author, speaker, social entrepreneur, nonprofit leader, advocate, diversity analyst, and strategist in the political, digital, and social realms. 

Growing up, Shireen developed a love for computers while beating the neighborhood boys at gam...

Hint Water founder and CEO Kara Goldin certainly knows a thing or two about entrepreneurship at this point, but that’s not where she got her start. During the 1990s, Kara was immersed in the world of Silicon Valley, working on products like Steve Job’s 2Market and AOL when it was at its peak. However, by the time the 2000s rolled around, Kara decided it was time to focus on raising her kids. 

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In the mid-1990s, when Heidi Williams got her first job in Silicon Valley coding and developing software, she was not unlike most anyone else starting their career: she simply wanted to put her skills to work. But this is the world of tech, where evolution is rapid and industry-shifting changes can occur in the middle of your lunch hour.

As you’ll hear, Heidi wo...

In our first episode with Bob Alberti, we heard what it was like to be at the forefront of the new world of computers and early internet of the 1970s, along with all the innovations he had a key role in during the decades that followed. Do you play games like World of Warcraft? Thank Bob for that. Ever search for something on the internet? He helped develop that, too. (If you missed the first episode...

Bob Alberti epitomizes what this podcast is all about: stayin’ alive in the often unforgiving world of technology. In the backdrop of Minnesota, which Bob calls the “Silicon Valley before there was Silicon Valley,”  he started (and lost) two separate tech companies, developed the world’s first massively multiplayer online ...

Michigan-based entrepreneur and marketer Jenifer Daniels was frustrated with the lack of diversity and inclusivity in the world of stock photography. In 2015, she launched Colorstock, a valuable database of original stock photos featuring people of color, intended to fill a massive void that companies like Adobe and Shutt...

In this Season 4 opening episode, we welcome back Rand Fishkin, founder of Moz and co-founder of the new SparkToro, to explore how Rand found innovative ways to not only launch a new (very cool) product

We’re normally all about the history of tech, but the coronavirus pandemic is history in the making. This episode welcomes back best-selling business author and speaker Tom Peters to discuss how managers should handle the tough decisions they’re facing right now. Tom describes himself as an “Extreme Humanist” and he has b...

We’re normally all about the history of tech. But today we invited our friend Howard Rheingold back onto the podcast to get his unique perspective on the coronavirus pandemic—an historical moment in itself. As the man who coined the term “virtual community” long ago, he shares his th...

With all that is going on in the world this month—the uncertainty, the fear—we still want to take a moment to celebrate Women’s History Month this March. Because it is worth taking a moment to listen to inspiring stories. It’s important to sow uplifting, interesting, and even funny moments in times like these. This episode features some of our favorite clips from 9 of our women and non-binary guests, following two theme...

Dr. Kate Miltner is a technology and society researcher examining the ways that technology, identity, and structural power intersect. Coming from a background in tech and advertising, Dr. Miltner conducts ethnographic research that digs into things we’re so close to, we may not even take notice. She’s taken a closer look at memes as cultural artifacts, in particular those cute but spelling-optional L...

We celebrate the stories of five brilliant black women in tech who have been guests on the Stayin’ Alive in Tech podcast. We have welcomed scientists, developers, founders, and authors; a designer and venture capitalist, a data analyst, a CEO, a woman who was one of the first black female programmers at IBM, and a woman on the forefront of an emerging industry, biomedical informatics. Hear choice cli...

April Wensel has a powerful message for engineers about how to improve your own lives as well as the lives of your coworkers and the users you serve. April is the founder of Compassionate Coding, an organization that teaches emotional intelligence to software dev teams. If you’re a...

Dr. Roshawnna Novellus is the founder and CEO of EnrichHER, a platform that allows investors to lend directly to any woman-led business across the country. EnrichHER’s thriving ecosystem is built from Roshawnna’s desire to equip women with the financing, confidence, and community support they need as business-owners. Hear...

John Levisay joins us as CEO of Bluprint, the “Maker’s subscription service,” an educational library for the world of crafters, artists, and hobbyists of all kinds. His own career has been a creative journey in itself, from GE and eBay, to founding and eventually selling Craftsy, to continuing on as CEO of its current ite...

As one of the co-founders of BlogHer, Elisa Camahort Page had a guiding hand in the evolution of social influence and blogging. At the forefront of social web revolution, BlogHer was, in effect, one of the first groups to build value for women o...