Laura Yecies has an incredible list of Silicon Valley companies on her resume, including Yahoo!, Catch.com, SugarSync, and Netscape following the AOL acquisition. She has been the CEO of two venture-backed startups, including her current role as CEO of SyncThink, an eye-tracking technology with profound implications for neurological health.
In this episode, Laura and Melinda discuss balancing a family and a tech career (and how we need to start asking this question of men as well as women), and what it was like to walk into a room of 50 CEOs and realize she’s the only female.
Laura offers recommendations for books, advice for managers, supportive words for females in tech, and nuggets of wisdom for married couples trying to nurture two careers at once.
LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, by Sheryl Sandberg
- Brogrammer culture article from Inc.: New Report: Sexism in Silicon Valley Is Really Pretty Awful
- Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
- State Department of Justice lawsuit against Microsoft Wikipedia article
- Laura’s recommendations for Behavioral Economics books:
-
- Misbehaving by Richard Thaler
- Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
- Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
MUSICAL INSPIRATION FOR THIS EPISODE ON SPOTIFY:
ABOUT THIS PODCAST
Stayin' Alive in Tech is an oral history of Silicon Valley and technology. Melinda Byerley, the host, is a 20-year veteran of
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.