Rachel Chalmers: "Three Horses"

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 Chalmers, a tech industry analyst, investor, and advisor for well over 20 years. 

A native Australian whose love for tech was cultivated at an early age, Rachel left her home country to earn a master’s degree from a university in Ireland before eventually making her way to Silicon Valley, where she’s now been for the past 25+ years. And she’s learned some things. 

In our ninth episode of season four, you’ll enjoy some truly brilliant metaphors and unique anecdotes, followed by an honest assessment of the ingrained cultural problems that are far from being rectified in an industry that has always struggled with inclusion and discrimination. 

Rachel also talks about the need for “human-centered innovation,” how to address burnout when it inevitably arises, what tech CEO she refers to as a “monster” (but in an endearing way), and why life is not really about trying to fit in where you are, but more about finding others who are like you. 

 

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Feminist Survival Project—hosted by Emily and Amelia Nagoski, authors of BURNOUT: the Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle.
• Faces of COVID—NPR piece about the Twitter account that tells the stories of those who have died of COVID-19
• Project Include—Non-profit devoted to giving everyone a fair chance to succeed in tech by using data and advocacy to accelerate diversity and inclusion solutions in the tech industry.
• Usenet—A worldwide distributed discussion system used via dial-up modems in the 1980s
• Osborne 1—Article on the history of the Osborne 1, the first commercially successful portable computer.
• AWA Building—The famous Sydney building Rachel’s father worked in, now included in the New South Wales State Heritage Register
• .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}