Folk Stories

21: Building an esports platform with Grant Farwell

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 15:00:00 +0000

Grant Farwell is the Chairman and Co-Founder of Matcherino, an esports platform that helps game publishers and tournament organizers run successful esports tournaments.

Prior to Matcherino, Grant founded Barc, a social web browsing experience for people browsing the same web sites. This was before the rise of services like discord and slack and offered some of the same functionality. Grant says that while the team had a solid technology base, they struggled with sales and monetization. This led to the eventual shutdown of Barc and the start of Matcherino.

In this episode, we talk about the esports industry and challenges tournament organizers face, we talk about doing sales in startups, and we talk about brands and sponsorship in esports.

Quote

And it was really like an aha moment… All these fans wanted to donate money… and to not just financially, but in so many different ways, contribute to this event that was happening.

– Grant Farwell

Notes

story behind the camel
economics, crypto and financial platforms
Barc'ing up the wrong tree
listening to customers but not taking suggestions literally
matcherino and techstars
esports, tournaments and payouts
sustainability in esports
how brands navigate esports
present and future of esports

Closing

inspiration
- being at esport tournament with fans, seeing communities getting together and helping support it
surprising fact
- life is quite boring at home, mostly working
principle
- treat everyone like how you would want to be treated k- closing notes
- if you want to engage with esports fans, matcherino can help you reach these audience and drive whatever KPIs you're looking to drive

20: Nick Hughes and Building a Global Community of Entrepreneurs

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 15:00:00 +0000

Nick Hughes is the founder of Founder's Live, a global entrepreneurial community started by Nick to inspire, educate and entertain entrepreneurs around the world.

Prior to starting Founder's Live, Nick had already done multiple startups. It was through the process of recovering from a failed startup that Nick started "Feature Friday", an event for early stage entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas in 99 seconds and network with others in the Seattle community. This event proved extremely popular and led to Nick scaling it out globally with events now in over fifty cities.

I know Nick from going to the Seattle Founders Live events. While Nick didn't pay me to say this, I'm happy to say that I've always end up meeting interesting people from the event and come out of it feeling highly motivated about doing my own thing. In today's episode, we talk about Nick's entry into entrepreneurship, lessons from having a startup fail, and Nick's vision with Founder's live and where this is going.

Quote

Have enough courage to say things aren't going well and I'm feeling down and have you had this before? Most people are gonna say "Oh yeah , I know what you're going through and here's what I did!"

– Nick Hughes

Notes

how Nick got interested in business
study habits and business lessons
first startup experience and lessons learned
marriage aka finding a co-founder
founders depression and Nick's experience with it
starting Founders Live and expanding globally
Nick's world tour and living up to your potential

Closing

inspiration
- being at Founders Lives events and seeing early stage founders getting on stage and pitching
surprising fact
- studied kinesiology and human psychology - used to be a strength coach
principle
- Founders Live core values
- open doors for people
closing notes
- close to announcing something cool around social impact

Links

These shownotes are also available at http://folkstories.org/20

19: Hospitality and Community with Alex Mondau

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 15:00:00 +0000

Alex Mondau is the Community Ambassador at the Collective. The collective is a co-working space located in Seattle's South Lake Union, and is described by its founders as an urban basecamp for the mind, body + soul. Alex started The Collective Seattle one and a half years ago with business partners Tommy Trause and Scott Barber in order to create a diverse community where people can build genuine relationships as well as find refuge from life outside the walls.

Prior to founding The Collective, some of Alex's former roles included selling sustainable real estate and working tables at the Agua Verde Cafe. As a kid, Alex wanted to be an adventurer and spent time in the mountains of Nepal trying to be a mountain guide in the Himalaya.

In today's episode, we talk about hospitality and its tight feedback loops, we talk about The Collective and its origins, and we talk about community and ways of fostering it.

Quote

I fell in love with hospitality industry. You could succeed or fail every five minutes…for hours in a row and your feedback loop was so tight that you really get to know whether you were meeting that customer's expectations.

– Alex Mondau

Notes

childhood growing up in Olympia and wanting to be an adventurer
selling sustainable housing and green real estate
feedback and the hospitality industry
The Collective Seattle and its origin
building community at The Collective Seattle
lessons and challenges of community building
next steps for The Collective Seattle

Closing

inspiration
- spontaneously going paddle boating at night to appreciate nature
surprising fact
- good plumber
principle
- look for opportunities to be generous
closing notes
- recognize Native American tribes and communities that stewarded this place
- figure out to be good stewards of this place

18: Leaps of Faith with David Mays

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 15:00:00 +0000

David Mays is Senior Public Relations Manager at Amazon where he oversees multiple high impact initiatives. I actually worked with David in my former life at Amazon but we never had a chance for an extended conversation. But as they say, better late than never and today's conversation makes me wish I'd done this earlier. Turns out we have much in common, besides the common employer and the pathological need to run long distances. Prior to Amazon, David has had an expansive career across multiple industries, including public news, the department of defense, and healthcare.

David's father was a Methodist minister and David remembers moving frequently from small town to small town as a kid. He came across a group of runners in one of these towns and insisted on joining them which led to him running his first marathon at the age of 13. This initial catalyst has sparked a lifetime of running, coaching, and the ability to deal with adversity. David has an amazing ability of coaching civilians into champion runners in just about all the places he's worked - this includes coaching his now wife and clinical psychologist Janice Alley who won her age group during her first half marathon race and continues to race competitively today.

In today's episode, we talk about David's childhood and how it sowed seeds for his current narrative, we talk about success as it relates to running and mentorship, and we talk (corporate) talk and explore how David has helped some of the world's biggest corporations shape their own narrative.

Quote

"Running as a discipline has always been something that has prepared me for adversity, for always having two or three option plans when things go wrong , [for] failure and the ability to overcome failure, [and for] the desire and ability to mentor and coach and help others"

Notes

childhood stories and frequently moving
overcoming obesity and running first marathon at age of 13
thoughts on running, mentorship and facing adversity
inviting and coaching non-runners into competitive athletes
taking leaps of faith and working across different industries (public news, defense department, oil, healthcare, consumer, etc)
supporting the CEO of Kaiser Permanente and defining corporate communication strategy
making decisions in short and long time frames
"davy gravy" and work under Bush administration
vision for the future

Closing

inspiration
- long distance mentee, captatain in US army, and competitive runner and triathlete suffered medical condition with unsuccessful surgery
- seeing her handle situation with calmness and resiliency
surprising fact
- used to play the violin
principle
- treat other people the way you want to be treated
closing notes
- kind words about the podcast and interviews within (thank you David)

Links

These shownotes are also available at http://folkstories.org/18

17: Following the Filmmaker's Journey with Bao Tran

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Mon, 27 May 2019 15:00:00 +0000

Bao Tran is a professional filmmaker currently raising money for his first feature film, The Paper Tigers, a "Kung Fu indie feature film about three guys who are one kick away from pulling their hamstrings".

Despite knowing that he wanted to do film from watching kung fu movies as a kid, Bao got a degree in computer science as it was the responsible thing to do for someone that is the child of immigrants. This tension between following your dreams and doing what is expected is a theme that is explored both in film and in life for Bao.

Outside of The Paper Tigers, Bao's editing credits include CHO LON, one of Southeast Asia’s highest-budgeted action blockbusters, and JACKPOT, a heartfelt comedy selected as Vietnam’s official entry to the 2016 Oscars for Best Foreign Film.

In today's episode, we talk about kung fu and the action movie genre, we talk about what its like to fundraise for a film, and we talk about telling a good story and what that might mean.

Quote

You have a lot of people you might start out with earlier on but they kind of go their separate ways or they go civilian as we say… Its just industry is very tough and its very hard to keep going and continue doing this.

– Bao Tran

Notes

how Bao's love of kung fu films let to a career in film
pursuing passion vs fulfilling family expectations
marketing and sales for people that would rather do anything else
Bao's first feature film - The Paper Tigers
film fundraising and kickstarter
diversity and shooting with a mixed race cast
shooting action movies and telling stories

Closing

inspiration
- as artist, always looking for the work that goes behind art that looks effortless, really impressed with Beyoncé's homecoming
surprising fact
- have a background that is not just film (eg. computer science degree)
principle
- the golden rule
closing notes
- always looking for people that could support the film and want to help - if that's you, reach out

Contact

Bao's website: http://pov-films.com/
Bao's email: bao@pov-films.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tranquocbao/
Socials
- Twitter: @_thepapertigers
- Facebook: @ThePaperTigersMovie
- Instagram: @_thepapertigers

Links

These shownotes are also available at http://folkstories.org/17

16: Friends, Family and Startups with Robert Sweeney

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Mon, 06 May 2019 15:00:00 +0000

Robert Sweeney is CEO of Facet, the premier platform for hiring senior contract software engineers.

Before becoming a founder, Robert was a senior software engineer himself at companies such as Netflix and Microsoft. Robert knew from an early age that he wanted to be an entrepreneur from working at his grandpa's grocery shop. Robert left Netflix with a friend to start a software development studio with an initial verbal contract from Western Digital.

In 2014, Robert founded Numetric, a SaaS based analytics startup. After working on the company for close to four years, hiring over 40 employees, and raising over $16 million in venture capital, Robert was fired from the very company that he founded.

Today, Robert is working full time on Facet and helping other engineers make the leap from full-time work to doing their own thing.

In today's episode, we talk about negotiating contracts, hiring and firing friends, and that time Robert's house almost burned down.

Quote

We had to make the decision that day… That didn't give us enough time to sign the contract. So we quit our jobs on a verbal yes.

– Robert Sweeney

Closing

inspiration
- being fired from my startup - changed my perspective on startups and venture capital and also provide extra motivation
surprising
- deal with anxiety
principal
- complete transparency
anything else
- successful entrepreneurs out there don't have anything that you don't have

Notes

working at grandpa's grocery store
early years at Microsoft and Netflix
first startup and quiting Netflix on a verbal agreement
working with western digital and communicating expectations
hiring and firing friends
that time when the house almost burned down
keeping a family together while doing a startup
Numetric, working with family, and getting fired from a company that you founded
facet, how it came to be and where its going

Links

These shownotes are also available at http://folkstories.org/16

15: Domain Expertise with Jay Westerdal

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 15:00:00 +0000

Jay Westerdal is a CEO, founder, board member, and investor of a wide multitude of companies.

Jay first got interested in technology at an early age after witnessing early demonstrations of the internet in middle school. His first job out of college involved creating systems to help manage domain names, a field that Jay has stuck with ever since. Jay founded his own domain company, DomainTools, in 2001, which provided information about the history and ownership of internet domains. Jay also started the Domain RoundTable, a conference dedicated solely to the topic of domains. Jay later sold DomainTools in 2008 for an eight figure exit and continued to work with domains as well as technology ever since.

Today, Jay is CEO of 800.com, .Realty and Top Level Spectrum. 800.com is a company that provides companies with toll-free 800 numbers, .Realty is a domain registrar for real estate professionals, and Top level spectrum manages various top level domains like .feedback and .forum.

In today's episode, we talk about what domains are and why they matter, we talk about Jay's current day ventures and where he's going, and we talk about the systems Jay has put in place that lets him focus on so many different priorities.

Quote

I like to build a rocketship and ride it to the stratosphere but [exit] before it becomes a spaceship just sitting there doing nothing collecting whatever that status quo income is. – Jay Westerdal

Notes

Jay's initial interest in technology and the internet
web domains and domain registration
new top level domains and trends in the industry
domaintools, what it was and how it was sold
organizing a domain conference
Jay's current businesses
prioritizing tasks
what Jay looks for as an investor
investing in yourself
how to recharge

Closing

inspiration
- travel and looking at other people's concepts and ideas
surprising fact
- take vacations seriously
principle
- body is a temple, trying to live healthier and healthier everyday
closing notes
- would love to do more philanthropic stuff in the future, especially addressing homelessness in Seattle

Links

These shownotes are also available at http://folkstories.org/15

14: Focusing on the Message with John Lauer

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 15:00:00 +0000

John Lauer is the CEO of Zipwhip, a Seattle based businesses that enables businesses to text message their customers through software and API solutions. Zipwhip is one of Seattle's fastest growing private companies and was the first business that made it possible for landlines and cellphones to communicate with each other.

Prior to Zipwhip, John was already neck deep in entrepreneurship. John started coming up with business ideas ever since he was thirteen. John started his first company, Rootlevel, at the age of 21 - Rootlevel was a web design firm based in Detroit and had included GM and Ford as their clients. John dropped out of college one semester from finishing his computer science degree because he made a commitment early on to never do something that would require a resume.

In today's episode, we talk about John's storied history and start in entrepreneurship, we talk about the makings of Zipwhip and the state of texting, and we talk about the focus and people that it takes to start a business.

Quote

If you contribute to humanity, humanity rewards you back, which gives you more ability to contribute. It sort of pancake layers on top of itself.

– John Lauer

Notes

how John got started with entrepreneurship
dropping out of college and commiting to startups
Zipwhip, how it got started and where it is today
importance of texting to businesses and consumers
closed vs open systems
predictions about communication platforms going forward
finding the right people to start a company with
staying focused and deciding what to focus on
ways of recharging

Closing

inspiration
- week without at Zipwhip - two weeks without office food, raised $5000 to donate to Mary's place
surprising fact
- walk around with smile on face but there's a great amount of simulation happening inside of what might happen at Zipwhip
principle
- do the right thing
closing notes
- Zipwhip will keep plugging forward and texting is adding huge value to peoples lifes, lots of new releases coming out later this year

13: Creating Film and Community with Vivian Hua

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 15:00:00 +0000

Vivian Hua is the director of the Northwest Film Forum (NWFF) , a non-profit film and arts center dedicated to public dialogue and creative action through collective cinematic experiences. Prior to NWFF, Vivian was Communications Manager for ICANNWiki, a collaborative resource dedicated to simplifying the complex issues, policies, and players in the sphere of internet governance. Vivian was also editor in chief of REDEFINE Magazine, a print and web magazine focused on music and the arts.

Vivian got a BA in sociology focused on Law, Society & Justice. Social justice has been a central theme in Vivian's life and is reflected in the work she pursues. In 2017, Vivian released Searching Skies, a narrative short film about a Syrian refugee family. The film was screened in 50 venues across the US and accompanied by a discussion series where people could meet a Muslim person, sometimes for the first time, and ask questions.

In today's episode, we talk about Vivian's vision for the NWFF, Vivian's sudden decision to pursue film upon turning 30, and exploring social justice with film.

Quote

When I turned 30, I had a personal revelation. I spent my entire 20's supporting other peoples art … So how do I work on my own now and had a calling to do film

– Vivian Hua

Notes

what is NWFF
getting started in film
divination and following signs
typical day
hosting film discussions
searching skies
current projects
routines to recharge
vr and film
community and diversity at NWFF
marketing art

Closing

inspiration
- being inspired by the person that you're with
surprising fact
- used to be a huge raver and gamer
principles
- be authentic to who you are
closing
- anyone who has a cool idea, reach out to Vivian and the NWFF
- open to random emails

Contact

LinkedIn
Email: hellomynameisvee@gmail.com

These shownotes are also available at http://folkstories.org/13

12: Feeding Ghosts with Tessa Hulls

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 15:00:00 +0000

Tessa Hulls is an artist/writer/adventurer whose work spans a multitude of genres and whose travels have taken her across all 7 continents, much of it on bike. She is the daughter of two first generation immigrants and is currently working on a graphic novel about her grandmother titled "Feeding Ghosts".

Tessa describes herself as a compulsive genre hopper who has worked in some capacity as an illustrator, cartoonist, editor, interviewer, writer, performer, chef, muralist, conductor of social experiments, painter, teacher, and researcher. She is fascinated by the concept of home. Outside of working on her graphic novel, Tessa is also focused on public speaking about little known women at the turn of the century and social activism.

In today's episode, we talk about Tessa's current project and its origin, we talk about Calvin and Hobbes and being either totally engaged in or out of work, and we talk about the feelings that come with home and solitude.

Quote

I'm completely convinced that serendipity is a muscle that gets stronger the more you exercise it… I just like to sling myself out in the universe and see what happens.

– Tessa Hulls

Notes

history and start into genre hopping
Feeding Ghosts and origin of Tessa's current project
reading habits
Calvin and Hobbes
a day in the life
combining work and hobbies while avoiding burnout
cooking professionally
lifestyle and trade-offs
concept of home
solitude and what it means
artists residency
coddiewompe: "to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination"
feminism and activism
getting to know America by biking across it

Closing

inspiration
- overwhelming canon of women in the 20th century doing things that they shouldn't have been able to do
surprising fact
- professional cook and how it started with rugby, whisky and pie
principles
- piece by Jim Dodge: "They can do whatever you cannot stop them from doing. You can do whatever you can pull off and still live with yourself"
closing notes:
- lookout for Guided by Ghosts, Tessa's upcoming project to be exhibited in Santa Cruz, which weaves together her current family history with the Chinese history of Santa Cruz

Contact

Feeding Ghosts Notebook

These shownotes are also available at http://folkstories.org/12

11: Building a Successful White Label Technology Platform After a Decade of Pivots With Mark Michael and Daniel Rust

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Thu, 31 Jan 2019 15:00:00 +0000

Mark Michael (CEO) and Daniel Rust (CTO) are the co-founders of DevHub, a white label technology platform that powers some of the world's most recognizable brands. Companies license DevHub technology to create sites /landing pages pages at scale. Companies also use DevHub as the repository for their experience data.

Mark and Daniel first met in high school and have been working together as business partners ever since. At DevHub, Mark handles business and marketing whereas Daniel defines its technical road-map and vision. According to Mark, Daniel is the closer and the person that comes in to seal the deal.

In today's episode, we talk candidly about Mark and Daniel's history, the early days of DevHub and how the two founders deal with conflict, and DevHub today and where the founders hope to take it.

Notes

mark and daniel's history and doing startups together
story of Devhub, its founding, pivots and the dark nights of the soul
Devhub today and what it does
customer outreach in white label business
mistakes and lessons learned
decision making process between two founders
hiring at Devhub
trends in company branding
Devhub future direction

Closing Questions

inspiration
- mark
  - building a company (devhub)
  - travelling
- daniel
  - acceleration of new technologies
surprising fact
- mark
  - how hard we're actually working almost every sing le day
  - get up every day at 4:30 to work out
  - how often I hang out with my parents (at least 4-5 times a week)
- daniel
  - super focused but at the same time always ready to be interrupted
  - closing abilities
  - parties
principles
- mark: if you know you're right and good looking, go for it (aka just do it)
- daniel: having a basic understanding of things before speaking about them
closing notes
- lookout for Devhub and where it's going

Contacts

DevHub
- Instagram: @devhubcom
- Twitter: @devhub
- LinkedIn
- DevHub Careers
Mark Michael
- Instagram: @gliderceo
- Twitter: @gliderceo
- YouTube
Daniel Rust
- Instagram: @dlrust
- Twitter: @dlrust

These shownotes are also available at http://folkstories.org/11

10: Getting Off the Couch with Mike Grabham

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Mon, 03 Dec 2018 15:00:00 +0000

Mike Grabham is a serial entrepreneur who has founded six companies over the past twenty five years. He currently consults would be founders who are interested in launching either software or hardware based products and services. Mike is also the founder of "Package Guard", a company based around a patented product that protects items left out after delivery.

In addition to all this, Mike also runs a non-profit with his wife called "Survive the Streets" which helps the homeless in Seattle. Every year, they organize an annual event on thanksgiving where they give away duffel bags filled with coats, fleece jackets and other equipment to help people stay save and warm over the winter months.

When not engaged in the aforementioned activities, Mike is an active member of Seattle's start up community. He currently serves as chapter director for Startup Grind, the world's largest independent community for founders, in both Seattle and Bellevue.

In today's episode, we talk about Mike's history and the lessons and challenges absorbed from founding six startups, Mike's most common advice to founders and Mike's philosophy of getting off the couch and why that can make all the difference.

Notes

brief history of Mike's career
Mike's start to entrepreneurship
mistakes and lessons learned
consulting and decision to do it
most common advice for startups
how to reach customers and what questions to ask
figuring out the price for something that's never been sold
characteristics of good startup founders
startup grind and what has changed
doing a startup in Seattle vs the bay area
survive the streets and helping the homeless
comments on having a public email address
setting goals

Closing Questions

inspiration:
- homeless lady that came up and told the story of how an organization like "Survive the Streets" helped them get off the street and thanked Mike for his service
surprising fact
- despite drawing energy from crowds, Mike likes spending time by himself and will sometimes put on headphones to avoid conversation
principles:
- helping others
closing notes:
- story of package guard, Mike's current for profit company, came about because someone stole bag of coats delivered to his house which was meant for his non-profit

Contact and Details

These shownotes are also available at http://folkstories.org/10

9: Telling Stories with Paul Currington

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 15:00:00 +0000

Paul Currington runs the Fresh Ground Stories(FGS) meetup in Seattle. If you're not familiar with FGS, its a meetup that comes together ones a month to share personal stories (based off "The Moth"). Every month, there's a theme and people tell stories based on that theme. Anyone can go up on stage and tell a story, provided that they are true, personal and under 8 minutes.

I've gone to a couple of these events and have always been struck at how raw some of these stories can get. I also told two stories at FGS and found the audience there to be overwhelmingly supportive and kind hearted. I've been wanting to talk to Paul ever since I started this podcast because I think the work that he does, both in telling his stories and enabling others to tell theirs, is incredibly important and has touched the lives of many people, myself included.

Paul has a history in stand-up comedy and has done that for over a decade before switching over to storytelling. He was drawn to the format because he found it to be a richer medium in which to tell stories that were not just black and white. Paul is a man of many stories and a lot of them center around the theme of mental health and depression (themes which we will cover in today's podcast).

In today's episode we'll talk about FGS, storytelling and why you might want to share your own story, we'll talk about the dark nights of the soul and how Paul got through some of the lowest moments of his life and what he's learned, and we'll talk about Paul's principles, how faith is a choice and how turning something into a story can be the start of being able to live with it.

Notes

fresh ground stories (FGS), what it is and how Paul got involved with it
how FGS brings out really personal stories from people
storytelling vs stand-up and how pro-life and pro-choice people can be moved by the same story
Paul's first memories of depression
what happened on December 2012 and life afterwards
AA and the 12 step program for depression
why Paul doesn't monetize FGS
how Paul started talking about depression publicly, starting with a conversation with his son
advice on talking to a significant other about depression
advice for people who want to help people with depression

Closing Questions

inspiration:
- an African American musician who got a clansman to burn his robes through empathy
surprising fact:
- Paul is a fan of boxing (life is punching you in the face every day and it's how you deal with it)
principles:
- faith is a choice
- if you can turn something into a story, then it's the start of being able to live with it
closing notes:
- try telling one (safe) person something thats scary and see what that feels like

Links

These shownotes are also available at http://folkstories.org/9

8: Not Living on Automatic with HB Siegel

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Mon, 12 Nov 2018 15:00:00 +0000

H.B. Siegel is Prime Minister of Ideas at Amazon and also one of a very select group of people who have been at Amazon now for almost two decades. In that time, H.B. has been the Director of Media Technologies, the CTO of IMDB (an Amazon subsidiary), and helped launch the "search inside the book" feature for Kindle.

H.B. graduated with degrees in computer science and electrical engineering with a focus in computer graphics. Prior to Amazon, H.B. worked in a series of animation related companies including Wavefront, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) and Pixar. At Wavefront, H.B. helped developed Maya, a premier 3D animation platform used to create animations for games and films that is still widely used today. At ILM, H.B. worked on the special effects for now iconic film series such as "Star Wars" and "Men In Black".

In today's conversation we'll talk about pranks and not living live on automatic, we'll discuss H.B's career and what he's learned, and we'll talk about investing in ideas versus people (and techniques for telling apart the good from the bad).

Notes

cocktail party introductions
star wars and industrial light and magic
pranks and not living life on automatic
the department of ideas
catalyst and the university of washington
investing in ideas and people
trends in film making and animation
early work at wavefront and developing Maya
experience from nearly two decades at amazon
peccy
removing inefficiencies
werewolves
unexpected productions and improv

Links

Companies
Film Series
- Star Wars
- Men in Black
Books
Other
- The Uncanny Valley
- Catalyst Program
- The Dutch Reach
- Maya
- Werewolf
- Peccy
- Unexpected Productions: Nonprofit Improv Theater located at Pike Place Market, next to the gum wall
- GISHWHES: Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World has Ever Seen
- Jay Hitt
- UP Christmas Show
- H.B. IMDB Page

These shownotes are also available at http://folkstories.org/8

7: Running the Distance with Evan Williams

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 15:00:00 +0000

Evan Williams is a man of many miles and talents. He has degrees in both physics and biomechanical engineering and for his day job, Evan works as a design engineer at MSR (Mounstain Safety Research), a firm which designs and manufactures high performance gear for the outdoors.

The outdoors is also where you'll most likely find Evan, though good luck pinning him down as he dashes past you at five minute mile pace. When it comes to racing, Evan is just shy of elite, which means he's about as fast as you can be without doing running as a full time job. His PR (personal record) for a marathon is 2:28:15 (~5:40min/mile for 26 miles).

We cover a lot of ground in today's talk. We go over all things running including training, meal plans, race day rituals, and racing strategies. We will talk about equipment, different sorts of footwear, why Evan runs in crocs and differences between a midfoot and a heel strike. We also talk about depression, experiences with it and how running has helped.

The topic of mental health, especially depression, is something that is very near and dear to me because of both personal experiences and seeing people close to me go through it. Unfortunately, there's still a lot of stigma attached to this topic and it's not something that is easy to talk about publicly. Therefore I really appreciate Evan's openness to talk to me about it and hope that this might be helpful to those out there that are going through similar experiences.

As always, thanks for listening and if you want to leave feedback or nominate folks to the show, please send emails to feedback(at)folkstories.org. If you want to follow the show and get access to extended interviews and updates on guests, you can subscribe to my mailing list here

Notes

training and racing routines
why middle school is the worst
swimming, ultimate and the return to running
injury prevention when training
race training, nutrition, rituals and strategy
running shoes
heel strike vs midfoot strike
running in crocs
running through depression
running under 2:40 and making it to 30
what's next

Links

These shownotes are also available at http://folkstories.org/7

6: Hands on Learning with Sarah Smith

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 15:00:00 +0000

Sometimes I have days when I wake up and think of everything wrong with the world (this is fun - I encourage you to try it sometime). Sometimes, this can feel overwhelming with all the problems going on - climate change, nuclear weapon proliferation, extreme social inequality, etc. Sometimes, it's hard to know where to start. And as a consequence, I do nothing about any of it.

This is why I'm glad that there are people like Sarah Smith out in the world who look at these issues and actually do something about them.

Sarah Smith is the Executive Director at Sawhorse Revolution, a non-profit that teaches carpentry skills to high school students and organizes them to build structures for and around the community. Examples of past projects include a 42-foot-long bridge, tiny houses for the homeless and an 18-foot octagonal platform wrapped around an old Douglas fir 30-feet above ground level (otherwise known as a very big tree house).

Sarah graduated in 2008 with an English degree right into the 2008 financial recession. Due to the difficulties finding a job at that time, Sarah used the time to learn some hands on skills such as sowing, cooking and carpentry. It was through her experiences participating in a carpentry camp in Arlington that eventually turned into the Sawhorse Revolution.

At Sawhorse, Sarah and the organization empower students to fix problems they see in the world through carpentry. While this might not be the solution to homelessness, it helps address the problems in one's own community and serves as a call to action for the rest of us.

In today's episode, we talk about taking the time to discover what you're good at, the mission of the Sawhorse Revolution and the programs that they offer, and doing social good with the means at your disposal.

Finally, a little house keeping - Folk Stories will take a two-week hiatus as I will be in China for two weeks of personal travels. As always, thanks for listening and if you want to leave feedback or nominate folks to the show, please send emails to feedback(at)folkstories.org. If you want to follow the show and get access to extended interviews and updates on guests, you can subscribe to my mailing list here

Notes

how Sarah got started building tiny houses
origins of the Sawhorse Revolution
journey of self exploration after college
building tree houses and other awesome structures
lessons and takeaways from the Sawhorse Revolution
different Sawhorse programs and projects
tiny houses and what they are
day to day operations of a non-profit
future plans for the Sawhorse

Book Recommendations

Sarah kindly offered to use her awesome English prowess to do book recommendations. Email her with topics you're interested in to get a lead on your next book(s) at sarah@sawhorserevolution.org

These shownotes are also available at http://folkstories.org/6

5: Love, Math and Design with Janet Galore

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 15:00:00 +0000

My guest today is Janet Galore, Creative Director of Amazon's Retail Experience Concept Lab. The Concept Lab is a department that looks 3-5 years ahead and explores potential retail experiences that could be possible in that time.

Janet is all about working at the intersection of emergent technologies and design and her past gigs include being an executive producer at Zombie VR Studios where they made the first VR exclusive computer game called Locus and as Speech Director of Microsoft's Advanced Strategies and Research where she worked on long term strategy for the company.

In 2015, Janet and her husband bought "The Grocery", a historic building in the Beacon Hill district of Seattle that started its life as a grocery store in 1929. They have turned the space into a creative space where they regularly host events, exhibits and performances (I first met Janet at one of these events).

Today, we talk about Janet's path into technology and design, we talk about the creative process and what it means to evaluate art and we talk about The Grocery and why staying small can be awesome.

Thanks for listening and if you want to leave feedback or nominate folks to the show, please send emails to feedback(at)folkstories.org

Notes

history and interest in mathematics
early work in tech
the life of a creative director at Amazon
showing your work in design
notes on managing creatives
learning from mistakes
evaluating art in context
the grocery: past, present and future
managing panic

Contact

These shownotes are also available at http://folkstories.org/5

4: Celebrating the Century with Hallie Kupperman

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Mon, 01 Oct 2018 15:00:00 +0000

Before introducing today's guest, I like to setup a bit of context. Within the last two years, I wanted to get out of my regular circles and do something that didn't involve technology (for people unfamiliar, my day job is a software engineer at Amazon). I ended up picking up salsa dancing - little did I know that this decision would lead to some of the most significant relationships that I have today.

Most of these encounters took place within the Century Ballroom, an incredible dance studio in the heart of Capitol Hill Seattle.

Hallie Kupperman is the owner of the Century Ballroom and the Tin Table Restaurant adjacent to the ballroom. She's created an incredible community at the Century which is something I and many others here are incredibly grateful for.

Hallie moved to Seattle over two decades ago and learned to swing dance after arrival. She started teaching swing to the LGBT community not soon after which soon expanded into teaching all forms of dances when she signed the lease on the Century Ballroom. Hallie has been managing and teaching at the Century Ballroom for over two decades and has overcome many hurdles in the interim, including a dramatic rent increase after the building was sold to a new developer that drove out all other tenants and a steep dance tax levied by Washington.

With the Century Ballroom, Hallie has created not just a great dance hall but an incredible community, one that comes together in times of hardship. Examples include events such as "Dance Your Pants off for Lorraine", a fundraiser held for fellow dancer Lorraine which raised money for her cancer treatment and another fundraiser held in 2013 that raised over $90,000 to help keep century afloat after the dance tax.

Thanks for listening and if you want to leave feedback or nominate folks to the show, please send emails to feedback(at)folkstories.org

Notes

Hallie's swinging start to dancing
origins of century ballroom
perseverance through hard times
mission and community
a day in the life of Hallie
everyone can learn to dance
future plans for century ballroom
Hallie's suits
experiences of being a female lead

Links

These shownotes are also available at http://folkstories.org/4

3: Taking No Shortcuts with Colm MacCárthaigh

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Mon, 24 Sep 2018 15:00:00 +0000

Colm MacCárthaigh is a Principal Software Engineer at Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS provides on demand cloud computing services to individuals, companies and governments around the world.

If you're a customer of AWS, Colm has probably had a hand in the services you use - his past projects include Route53, Cloudfront and Elastic Load Balancer. If you like open source software, Colm was heavily involved in the original Apache HTTP Server and more recently was the driving force behind the release of s2n, a popular open source C99 implementation of the TLS/SSL protocol. If you're a fan of Irish folk music, Colm is part of several bands of such sorts and plays both in Seattle and on the road. If you're concerned about privacy and human rights, Colm is the founding director of Digital Rights Ireland and remains active on issues concerning privacy and immigration.

I could go on but I think suffice to say, Colm is a man of many talents and interests. I'm super excited to have Colm on the show, not just because he's a great person to have a conversation with but also because he was my very first guest in my internal podcast at Amazon. Colm was kind enough to talk to me some two years ago then and is repeating that kindness once again by coming on to Folk Stories.

A note that this talk does get slightly technical in a few places (what happens when two engineers talk about engineering) but I would consider the majority of this talk to be accessible regardless of your technical background. There are also show notes for everything we talked about if you want to find out more.

In today's episode, we talk about what its like to be a principal software engineer at Amazon, why Colm went back to school despite having a good job and solid technical skills and matters of music and activism.

Thanks for listening and if you want to leave feedback or nominate folks to the show, please send emails to feedback(at)folkstories.org

Notes

a day in the life of a principal software engineer
blockchain and being unburdened from the man
prioritizing projects and themes in past work
going back to school: motivation and learnings
thoughts on dev ops
thoughts on engineering and healthy team dynamics
juggling writing code with principal responsibilities
activism and digital rights
Irish folk music and finding inspiration

Links

Some tech projects Colm has been involved in
- Amazon CloudFront: Highly programmable, secure content delivery network (CDN)
- Elastic Load Balancer: Scalable load balancing for L4 and L7 applications
- Amazon Route 53: Highly Available DNS as a service
- Apache HTTP Server Project: the most popular web server on the internet since 1996
- s2n: s2n is a C99 implementation of the TLS/SSL protocols that is designed to be simple, small, fast, and with security as a priority
Links to technical concepts discussed
- Blockchain: open distributed ledger that can record transactions between multiple parties
- Dev Ops
- Introduction to Computer Networking: self paced Stanford class on computer networking
- Cryptography: practice and study of techniques for secure communications
- Regions and Availability Zones: Concepts relating to how AWS places and isolates its services
Everything else
- Travel Ban: executive order issued by Donald Trump that limits immigration from a number of Muslim-majority countries
- Digital Rights Ireland: dedicated to defending Civil, Human and Legal rights in a digital age
- Tulip Mania
- Prince: American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and filmmaker

Contact

Colm's Twitter: @colmmacc

These shownotes are also available at http://folkstories.org/3

2: Just Playing with Jay Hitt

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 15:00:00 +0000

Jay Hitt is a cast member and Managing Director of the Unexpected Productions (UP) Theater. UP is Seattle's longest running Improv Theater and Jay has been there for two of the plus three decades that its been around.

Jay studied theater in college and got interested in improv through an early fascination with ninjas. At UP, Jay's helped see the theater through multiple expansions, renovations and new shows. One of the show that Jay kickstarted and also hosts is the "Duo Comedy Showcase", an open mic where both budding new improvisers and long time vets can try new material in front of a life audience. I first met Jay while performing in Duos which recently just celebrated its 10 year anniversary - twice.

Today's episode is mostly improvised. We talk a lot about improvisation, what it is and isn't, how to get started and common misconceptions. We'll dive into Jay's day job as the managing director of UP and the challenges of being both a performer and a manager. We'll also talk about Jay's specific style of improv and the sort of qualities he looks for in upcoming improvisers.

If you want to leave feedback or nominate folks to the show, please send emails to feedback(at)folkstories.org

Notes

Jay's start with improv (it involves ninjas)
advice to people who don't think they can do improv (hint: they can)
history of Unexpected Productions and improv around Seattle
what Jay looks for in improv shows
standup comedy and what carries over
misonceptions about improv
the day to day of a managing director
diving into different physical improv styles

1: Directing the Narrative with Johan Liedgren

kevinslin8@gmail.com (Kevin S Lin) — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 15:00:00 +0000

Johan Liedgren is an award winning film director, consultant and investor/advisor/CEO of over 15 ventures. His clients include major brands like Amazon, Nike and Warner Brothers.

Born in Sweden, Johan studied philosophy in college but put the degree on hold to be one of the first employees in Microsoft at its European Headquarters in Paris. After 8 years at Microsoft conducting corporate strategies and negotiations, Johan left the corporate gig to pursue consulting, startups and film making.

Today, Johan is active as both a consultant and a film director. He starts shooting his newest film in eastern Washington starting this month of September.

If you want to leave feedback or nominate folks to the show, please send emails to feedback(at)folkstories.org

Notes

early years - copywriting, consulting and corporations
just do it - Johan's start to film making
early films - courtship, romance and the gray zones of courtship
the Johan method of tackling creative bottlenecks
the start and process of dream journaling (over 2000 recorded dreams and counting)
relying on your gut to find the right people
the pit bull incident - being calm under pressure
morning rituals
living a "balanced" life
deciding what to do next
the art of story telling

Contact

These shownotes are also available at http://folkstories.org/1