Until the Ice Cream Truck

What does it mean to be data-driven? That is the topic of this episode. Howard and Glenn delve into what it means from an organizational perspective and how it impacts product and engineering. We talk about quantitive and qualitative data, the value of each, and how they are connected. And, we discuss some of the problems in over-indexing on one or the other such as missing out on understanding why you are seeing what you are seein...

After a LONG hiatus, we're back and this time we're seriously serious about sticking to keep this going. Unlike the last time when we were just serious. Seriously!

We thought we could jump back on a topic that is truly unique, something you've never heard of. Drum roll........Gen AI!

Join us for a lively conversation about Gen AI.

Will it destroy the world?

Has Skynet truly arrived?

What are these agent things?

We'll answer the...

Roadmaps, why do we have them? Do they help? Is there a better way to do them? These are all topics near and dear to Janna Bastow's heart. We're honored to have her as our guest.

In this episode, we go deep into talking about the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of traditional roadmaps, and about her pioneering Now Next Later approach. The show is full of gems and insights from Jenna on how to build great products and reduce wast...

Minimum Viable Product, what is it that all about? In this episode, Howard and Glenn dive in:

• What is MVP and its purpose?
• Where does the term come from?
• What common misconceptions, misunderstandings, and fallacies about MVP?
• How does MVP relate to tech debt and scale?
• What are the variations of MVP? Minimum Lovable Product, Minimum Effective Dose, Minimum Marketable product

We had a great exchange of ideas and shared o...

In this episode, Glenn and Howard talk about the value of mentoring, both in serving as a mentor as well as having a network of mentors who can help in various aspects of personal and professional life. Additionally, mentorship and coaching are compared from the perspective of both techniques used and expectations set.

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Men: want to increase diversity...

In this episode, Howard and Glenn spend some time talking about the leadership principles they apply in their roles as managers of people and as leaders within their respective disciplines. The guys also spend a few minutes talking about some of the tech behind producing the podcast.

You can reach us with questions or comments at untiltheicecreamtruck@gmail.com.

Some resources mentioned in this episode include:

• https://www.goo...

In this episode, Glenn interviews our first guest on the show, Jessica Tucker. Jessica transitioned into tech as a software engineer and then moved into more of a product role. She's now left her corp job, has her own tech consulting company and has launched her own wearable-tech company! We have a rich conversation on her journey, what she learned moving into different roles and becoming an entrepreneur, also what it means to be a...

I, II, Senior, Staff, Principal, Distinguished, Fellow.....ahhhh!! What does it all mean? In this episode, Glenn and Howard take a look at the various levels and titles found in many technology companies and then break it all down into some guiding principles for thinking about leveling at your own organization. We delve into topics like what the difference is between levels and bands, how levels match up when you switch roles or m...

While it's existed in nearly every organization for as long as anyone can remember, technical debt has taken center stage recently in a number of high profile outages, including those at  Southwest Airlines and the US Federal Avaiation Administration. In this episode, Glenn and Howard talk cover the topic of technical debt from several angles, including:

• What is technical debt?
• How does it accumulate in an organization?
• What a...

In this episode, Glenn and Howard go a level deeper into the world of product management and look at some of the specific activities and deliverables of the discipline. They then take a look at what it means to be "product-led" as an organization and what steps need to be taken at a structural and operational level to ensure that an organization can achieve the desired outcomes promised by being product-led.

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At present, the tech industry is going through a painful cycle of contraction. It seems like everywhere you look, another company has just implemented a massive round of layoffs, and no company is immune. In this episode, Glenn and Howard talk about what it looks like to lead through layoffs - from the reasons behind them, to how decisions are made in forming "the list", and how those decisions are communicated. In each of these to...