Mark Weeks

If you're running a data or AI-focused startup, connect with Stephan Goupille and his team! When three of the industry's brightest data minds join forces to back your venture, you get more than just funding – you gain invaluable operator expertise. They understand the challenges and opportunities you face because they've been there themselves.

6

It is time again to come together among friends and talk about climate, forests, and startups. If you are on the eastside on Thursday September 19th, join us from 4:30-7 at Cascadia Pizza (https://lnkd.in/gwFq6A_5). Looking ahead, we’re going to have great weather affording us one more chance to occupy the patio. Come on out before the season turns and we start regularly getting weather colder than… August! In the last month I’ve been reading some forestry papers with suggestions on how to fix NEPA, a busy topic now with many folks chasing permitting reform as a silver bullet to enable the green transition (or vastly expand fossil fuel infrastructure depending on your hopes or fears). This was a little different, in that the specific recommendations deal with changing the baseline of analysis under the law for NEPA, the Endangered Species Act, and the Clean Air Act. That’s the big core of environmental law, that’s a big deal! What’s up? It turns out our hard-won regulations all share the myth of wilderness; the belief that a natural space is a space without humans. The Forests of the American West are the way they are because of humans maintained those lands for thousands of years. In order to square this circle the suggestion is that we must classify some human interventions and actions as in-human actions! When your regulations miss basic assumptions things get weird! We’ll be talking more broadly about startups, Nicolas Garfinkel and I both went through some accelerators, interviews, and important demos over the last month, and generally have some good conversation fodder for anyone curious about early-stage startup life. Please join us for pizza and a pint as we talk about climate! We’ll be geeking out, enjoying the taplist, menu, and friendship while we talk forests, carbon, environmental law here at the end of Summer 2024. I’ll be wearing a hardhat and cruising vest – feel free to walk right up and join our table. Event Invite here: https://lu.ma/3qb3ch0k - Please Share

16

4 Comments

Let's talk about data and dbt at Foundations on Nov 7th!

21

3 Comments

Last week, I sent a letter to California Senator Dave Cortese, who has long championed environmental protection—an effort I applaud. The letter referred to California Senate Bill 1298, which aims to expand data centers across California, thereby supporting the growth and competitiveness of Silicon Valley’s tech industry. As a high-technology company, #PureStorage supports the concept of data center growth. However, we believe lawmakers need to amend this bill to establish #energyefficiency standards for data center performance, including for data storage.  Data storage is one of the largest consumers of power, space and cooling in data centers today. Today, California’s largest #datacenters consume enough power to support over 1.7 million homes, and this figure does not include smaller corporate data centers across the state. California needs data centers, but not at excessive social cost, which considers power, water and real estate. We should demand greater efficiency in data storage at the least. The expansion of data centers imposes an unsustainable strain on energy resources, housing development, rising electricity prices for consumers, and increased carbon emissions. In London, home building has suffered, in Virginia, developers have canceled plans for 1,600 homes in favor of data centers, and in the suburbs of Chicago, houses are being demolished to make room for data centers. #California has an opportunity to lead in both data center performance and energy efficiency. We need to balance the increasing importance of data centers with society's needs by establishing standards that limit the maximum amount of electricity used per terabyte of data stored and processed. I welcome your thoughts.

420

18 Comments

'We do not plan to buy any software because we do not have enough SPP projects at the moment.' This is a common objection we generally hear from companies. Here's the problem with that: Currently, approximately 2,000MW SPP is being realized at different stages in a medium-sized country. The vast majority of them are +10MW. - Almost all of the EPC companies that make these investments use a lot of software at different stages, including pvX. - These EPC companies lose maybe 3 times the projects they receive, but thanks to the software they use, they can make much more investments and increase their chances. - The common feeling of investors: Trust. With pvX, we are solving these problems exactly. How 💸 We expand your potential SPP portfolio by reducing your sales costs. 🌱 We seed many more projects, and the seeds will sprout over time. 🚀 We get your ready to act, before you even need to. If you'd like to have a quick chat about strategies to increase your SPP projects and save cost, Here's my availablity: https://lnkd.in/dnXz4_K2. I will be at #REplus Anaheim next week. #trypvX #replus

39

1 Comment

Should we prioritize people, or tech innovation in our large-scale development projects? The strategy's slowly shifting to people. And that’s exactly how California Forever CEO Jan Sramek wins over skeptics like Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway. Not bad. “There’s a lot of baggage that tech has created in building new cities that, unfortunately, we are at the receiving end of”, explains Sramek. So smart cities and tech libertarian network states aren't the focus here. Quite the contrary. He calls the project (in this context) “really, really boring.” The focus: ∙ More housing ∙ Walkable cities ∙ Affordable by design* ∙ Improving the country for residents *(housing prices to start at $400k) I recently covered California Forever, dubbing it a future ‘Tech Utopia’ given its massive Silicon Valley backing. So it’s exciting to see Sramek's positioning and skillful handling of the grilling. Is the era of the smart city over due to its 'baggage'? Time will tell. More on California Forever and other visionaries designing new cities from scratch here: https://lnkd.in/e9-i386q Full interview: https://lnkd.in/eMnT8QhU #futureofcities #urbandevelopment

1

1 Comment

The most impactful business framework I've ever learned: measuring 'leading vs. lagging indicators' of success. Ari Raivetz penned this fantastic piece on how our attempts at measuring every iota of carbon pumped into the atmosphere is, frankly, a futile attempt at combating the effects of a changing climate. Tracking the lagging indicator - i.e. the amount of carbon in the atmosphere - does nothing to prevent that carbon from being produced in the first place. But if we switch our focus to tracking leading indicators of success - things like the number of design alternatives assessed in the capital planning phases of projects - we'll naturally find ourselves with better environmental outcomes. Really curious to get thoughts on this one - drop a comment and let me know your take. https://lnkd.in/gMznAW8v #engineering #water #power #design #sustainability p.s. shoutout Josh Anderson for teaching me this fantastic principle when I was twenty-one... you made a big difference in my life!

27

10 Comments

Building regulation around AI requires a conversation that supports both innovation and responsibility. I'm happy to see that bills are being drafted and vetoed—it's a process we go through to make things better. I just hope this is a trend that leads towards more bills being presented and more discourse being had in public about this important topic. At the same time, the tech industry needs to think responsibly about guardrails. It's why I'm optimistic about companies like meetsynthia.ai and Squirro who are building real-world solutions today to help organizations leverage Generative AI solutions today while maintaining responsible guardrails. Drew Rayman

3

1 Comment

Last year, I lived in SF and flew to LA weekly to attend MBA classes at UCLA. I flew back and forth at least 20 times. I am not a morning person by any means, but this required me to have a routine of waking up at 5:00AM on Sunday, Ubering to SFO to catch the earliest flight that would get me to LA before my classes started at 8:00. I would attend class all day Sunday, work remotely Mondays, attend more classes Monday night and then fly back Tuesday morning just in time to get to the office before standup. I am proud to say that I did not miss a single flight or a single class during this period. Last month, I officially graduated from UCLA Anderson. I wore my graduation cap and gown and lived through an event I had been dreaming about for the past 3 years. Now the big question: was it worth all the flights, tuition costs, and time spent studying? Yes, it was absolutely worth it. And here’s a story that encapsulates why. On one my MBA trips, we had a few executives from the Executive MBA program join us on the trip. One of the executives had immigrated to the US over 20 years ago and was nearly a billionaire. He snuck a few of us Chinese speaking MBA students out for a dinner and afterwards we all grabbed beers by the beach. Towards the end of the dinner he told us that we were no different than him. He pointed at each one of us and told us that we could all become successful too as long we just went for it. I’ve heard similar words from guest speakers, but the informal setting of having a mentor tell us this to our faces while enjoying beers near the beach in a foreign country really made me believe that I could do it. To sum up my MBA experience, being able to learn valuable life lessons from classmates, professors, and guest speakers made me confident that I could pursue whatever I put my mind towards. This is the true value of the MBA in my opinion. So what’s next? Before entering UCLA, my goal was to start my own startup and be a "real" founder. I can proudly say that my dream is starting to become a reality. I will be posting more news about this in the future, but my cofounders and I just raised an angel round and are now working full time on a new startup with a mission that we all care deeply about. #mba #uclaanderson #startup #graduation

390

24 Comments

Product Market Fit, a new framework. I've been working on this for a little while now and figured it's time to "eat my own dogfood" and test it out in the market. In this framework I provide a visual outline of the journey from "day zero" to PMF. Along the way founders must iterate on their product as well as their market to close the Product Market Gap in order to get to PMF. More details in the article. Let me know what you think 🙏 https://lnkd.in/gyF8V--x

43

11 Comments

Startup425 will be hosting their "Eastside Summit" on August 1st at Bellevue City Hall during #SeattleTechWeek and you do not want to miss it! The Eastside Summit is hosted by Startup425 and its partner cities of Bellevue, Renton, Redmond, Issaquah, Kirkland, and Bothell. Join #Founders, #Investors, Executives, PolicyMakers, and those in bigtech and startups for a day of networking, education and community. There will be a series of panels around topics like... - Venture Capital & Startup Investments: Offers a deep dive into funding trends and investment strategies, providing attendees with crucial insights into the financial backbone of startups. - Eastside Startup Founder Exits: Successful founders share their exit strategies and experiences, offering invaluable insights for upcoming entrepreneurs. - Enterprise Technology on Eastside: Highlights the latest advancements in enterprise technology and their impact on both the local and global markets - Business and Technology Policy: Facilitates a dialogue on evolving regulatory frameworks to better support technological innovation and business growth Registrations have just opened.

12

1 Comment

Product for Engineers dropped another awesome post recently: How we decide what to build. It’s a beautiful building-in-public look at how PostHog goes about product development. There is so much to learn from this newsletter. I love it. https://lnkd.in/ewNBSpu4

60

45 Comments

One thing I've noticed working with leaders of all types at all levels--everybody experiences stress. Stress is not bad, per se (you need a certain amount of it to perform well), but when you have too much of it for too long, it takes a toll on your mental and physical health. What can you do to manage your stress better? One thing I highly recommend to people is to build “energy recovery moments” into their workday. Work 90 minutes, and then take a few minutes to recover and recharge. Then go back at it. You can actually optimize your cognitive efficiency if you do that throughout your work day. Here is a fascinating way to get some recovery and reduce stress--in under 2 minutes. Many of us know about mindful breathing, but did you know that just looking at a particular type landscape can have the same effect? Read on to learn more: https://lnkd.in/gvMPhE77 It's fascinating how helpful it is to take a walk out in nature or by a body of water. (Even a fountain or swimming pool will do.) Apparently, our neurobiology is wired that way. What is something you do to reduce stress and get some recovery during your work day? Put it in the comments. I'd love to see. #recovery #recharge #reducestress #mentalfitness #optimizeyourself #nature #water #walking

20

1 Comment

In my experience of interviewing and working with many product leaders, a common trait among the great ones is treating their craft more as a science than an art. Delighting users, creating magical experiences, and ultimately developing software that users love to use is a science. An immediate red flag during interviews is when product leaders can't express details beyond "talking to customers" on how they build lovable products. While talking to customers is paramount, I listen for the structure and tools they use to become customer-centric and experts in the users they serve. Here’s what I look for: Methods to Listen For When Evaluating How Product Leaders Create Lovable Products: 🗺️ Journey Mapping: Understand what users do before and after they interact with your product or attempt to accomplish their job. 🔑 Key Moments Identification: Reveal the key moments that matter in the user journey. 😌 Emotional State Awareness: Understand the emotional states of users and how they change as they progress through the journey. 📊 Data Collection and Analysis: Collect and analyze data to understand funnels, drop-off rates, attrition, etc. I’m also on the lookout for specific techniques on how the product leader builds high-performing product teams. Here are some of the practices to listen for: 🏆 Recognition and Rewards: Establish clear KPIs that define success, create accountability, and drive alignment. Implement a system for recognizing and rewarding team achievements and individual contributions. 🤝 Consistent 1-on-1s: Conduct regular one-on-one meetings to mentor and guide the career and development of the product management team. 👥 Team Collaboration: Allow teams to craft their process and evolve it over time. My favorite team performance ceremony is the retrospective, where the team can gather in a safe place and collectively define how they will improve. 🔄 Cross-Functional Alignment: Create alignment between product, engineering, sales, marketing, and leadership. This involves regular cross-functional meetings, transparent communication of goals and progress, and a unified vision that ties the efforts of all departments together. Ensuring that all teams are moving in the same direction is crucial for driving consistent and sustainable growth. Overall, there are many important items across both themes that define effective product leadership. By listening for a product leader who employs these structured methods, companies can make a better hire to turn insights into actionable strategies, ensuring that the user experience is not left to chance but meticulously crafted and continuously improved, while building and managing high-performing teams that drive success.

17

4 Comments

Looking for a Product Leadership role? Explore these top opportunities to drive innovation, lead teams, and shape strategy at these companies: 1. SVP, Product Management – MasterControl, Salt Lake City, UT (Remote) Lead product strategy and development for MasterControl's quality and compliance software portfolio while managing the product management team. MasterControl provides cloud-based quality and compliance software to over 1,000 companies in life sciences and regulated industries. 2. Group Product Manager - Microsoft Security Service Edge – Microsoft, San Francisco, CA (Remote) Lead Microsoft's Security Service Edge (SSE) offering, driving product strategy and development for Microsoft Entra Internet Access and Private Access solutions. Microsoft is a global technology leader with 228,000 employees across 190 countries, focused on empowering every person and organization to achieve more through technology. 3. VP of Product Management – Benevity, Seattle, WA Lead product strategy and development for Benevity's Finance Platform, managing a product team while driving vision, roadmap execution, and platform operations. Benevity is a B Corporation that provides social impact technology to Fortune 100 companies, enabling corporate giving, volunteering, and other social action initiatives. 4. VP of Product – Banyan Software, Chicago, IL Serve as a key executive leader at SoftSmiths (a Banyan Software portfolio company) responsible for driving product strategy, innovation, and execution in the energy sector, initially working independently with potential to build a product team. Reports to the CEO of SoftSmiths, working closely with VP Technology. Banyan Software is one of fastest-growing private software companies in the US that acquires and grows enterprise software businesses with dominant positions in niche vertical markets, operating with a permanent "buy and hold for life" strategy. 5. Director of Product Management – Mark43, New York, NY (Remote) Lead the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) product line and Mobile applications, managing a team of 2-3 Product Managers while driving product strategy and development. Mark43 is a technology company that develops cloud-native software solutions for law enforcement and public safety agencies to improve community safety and quality of life. 6. Head of Product – 0x, San Francisco, CA (Remote) Lead Product team overseeing consumer and developer platforms while driving product strategy and fostering team growth. Reports directly to the CEO. 0x is a Web3 company providing developer APIs for token access and liquidity, having processed over $130B in trading volume through major platforms like Coinbase and MetaMask. Want more Product Leadership roles? Access the weekly updated database: https://lnkd.in/gq9qY6s4

4

Setting a vision is just the start. Think about the bold moves needed to make it happen. Sundar, Google's CEO, set a daring vision to tackle climate change. That's where the real work begins. Executing a vision requires bold and tough decisions. Google is buying nuclear energy to feed its AI data centers. Other big tech companies are following this lead. This is a big kudos to Sundar and his leadership team. They are executing on a sustainability vision. Leadership is about taking action. And Sundar is showing the way.

27

12 Comments