From Amazon Principal Engineer to 200K Subscribers

Chris Pratley, former Microsoft Corporate Vice President, famously invented OneNote, a hugely successful addition to the Office franchise. He shares insights from more than 30 years creating products from a people-centered design perspective.Things like auto-save are now the norm, but Chris was one of the first people to push computing towards a save-less model back in the day. Discover how Chris led Word to victory in Japan, created OneNote, and shepherded Microsoft Garage as a greenhouse of bottom-up innovation.0:00 Intro0:59 From Waterloo to Japan, before the web4:16 The final interview at Epson6:30 Getting to Microsoft (and almost saying no)10:00 Why Word was losing in Japan14:04 How Word won Japan17:51 How Microsoft's culture changed24:07 The birth of OneNote27:55 No save button: paper was the competition32:27 Why OneNote couldn't require a tablet35:10 Searching messy handwriting & the COMDEX launch40:50 Bill Gates and the pen43:40 Telling Bill Gates no45:18 Bottom-up culture vs. the AI rush50:39 Astronauts on horses, generative video & "AI slop"55:05 Why he left Microsoft55:36 Retirement, tennis & a new idea58:34 One frame to ChatGPT1:02:59 Microsoft Garage1:06:27 Why good ideas look stupid at first1:09:23 Bonus: Is podcast discovery broken?

Michael Novati's agents have made 4M lines of code changes YTD — that's 20 KLOCs a day. On Feb 13th alone, he committed 417 PRs to GitHub on a production project. Though KLOCs are a flawed way to measure productivity, it's clear that when Novati codes, his way of operating is qualitatively completely different from most people's.Get an inside peek into how a unique mind does its best work.0:00 Intro 0:50 First Day at Facebook (and the PhD He Skipped) 2:49 Two Commits All Summer at IBM 4:53 The Big Brother Bot That Got Him Banned for Life 9:04 Lego Mindstorms and Books by the Pound 15:45 Why Early Facebook Was the Perfect Fit 19:12 What His Day Looked Like Before AI 25:17 The Codebase in His Head 32:45 When Speed Meets a Team 35:42 The 417-PR Day (and Why He Calls It Cheating) 39:37 Overnight Agents and 4 Million Lines 42:52 How Many Agents He Runs at Once 45:56 Why His Agents Read the Docs First 50:22 From Zero Tests to a Million 52:13 Judgment Tests: Testing for Taste 1:02:01 Not Reading Every Line Anymore 1:05:09 AI Went From Intern to Peer 1:07:56 The Beginning or the End of Engineers? 1:12:25 Why "Follow Your Passion" Isn't Enough 1:16:03 Advice to His 19-Year-Old Self

Robert Stanley is an NCAA All-American hurdler who's been coaching track for decades. He shares the secret of the 100m, rationale for relay ordering, as well as insights on what makes some athletes coachable toward success.0:00 Intro 0:45 Robert's coaching and racing career 2:00 The phases of a 100m race 3:59 The lean: what actually stops the clock 5:24 Hot lanes and lane strategy 9:30 Hurdlers vs. sprinters10:43 Is there an ideal height for a sprinter? 13:51 Relays: who should run first? 15:25 The handoff: "running by faith" 17:56 Why relay order matters when the math says it shouldn't 19:36 Body position: upright vs. leaning 21:27 How the 100m got 6 meters faster 23:04 Why the world records still stand 24:52 The first thing he tells new athletes 26:20 Why natural talent can work against you 27:38 What makes an athlete coachable 28:45 Advice to his younger self

Cory Ondrejka has had an amazingly varied life: nuclear sub pilot, cofounder of Second Life, leader of Meta's shift to mobile, and CTO of an AI company.0:00 Intro1:29 The Study of Luck2:45 Life on a Cold War nuclear sub4:13 Seven days without sleep7:26 The myth that Facebook missed mobile9:11 Why Facebook had just 3 iOS engineers12:08 Telling Mark Zuckerberg his mobile instincts were bad13:32 Better is always different15:22 What is Second Life?18:34 The magic of Second Life 20:46 Stroke survivors, concerts and a UFO22:08 What is Onebrief?25:16 Why AI works for coding: error signals26:23 Should tech build for the military?28:46 How much should AI decide on it's own?30:20 The Authorization Matrix32:04 Nearly 40 years of code, what's next?35:35 Where did the flow state go?39:32 Is AI bigger than the internet?41:35 Bonus: the C++ test43:34 Bonus: What AI agents are best at

Steve Huynh quit his Amazon Principle Engineer job to run his YouTube channel, A Life Engineered, building it to 200k subscribers. He then launched a coaching business, all bootstrapped from his willingness to take a giant leap into the unknown.Hear his take on how to bet on yourself and to succeed.0:00 Intro0:55 Speed-running YouTube success8:05 Paying to fast-forward success12:12 Taking action to reach your goals18:28 Going all-in on YouTube while at Amazon26:56 Is an engineering mindset helpful in the content & coaching business?28:35 Guessing an engineer's level in 5 minutes31:28 Most common engineer growth mistakes37:34 Worst career advice ever40:40 Psychology of careers42:54 Biggest mistake at Amazon44:33 You learn nothing from success46:35 Biggest thing you've changed your mind onSubscribe to Philip Has Questions for more interviews with tech luminaries and entrepreneurs.

Joaquin Quiñonero Candela has led AI initiatives at OpenAI, Meta, and LinkedIn. But one thing you might not know about Joaquin is his deep expertise in making paella.00:00 Intro00:18 Transition from Theory to Practice03:56 Ethical Challenges and Societal Impacts14:01 Recruiting at OpenAI17:01 The Art of Making Paella43:00 Paella Equipment and Cooking SetupSubscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@HiddenTrackPodcast

Ashok Kuppusamy was a Corporate Vice President at Microsoft with decades of experience, including being Bill Gates's technical assistant. In this interview he shares his insights from his 29 years, along with some unexpected thoughts about Debbie Gibson.00:00 Intro00:38 Early Days at Microsoft02:28 Inside Bill Gates's Office04:19 Leadership and Management Style10:14 AI in the Workplace14:56 Executive Isolation and Networks16:32 Living and Parenting in Norway22:24 Reflections on Career and Youth25:39 Pop Fandom and Life LessonsSubscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@HiddenTrackPodcast

Making things cheap is the best way to get climate solutions to scale. Mike Schroepfer shares the reason for his optimism behind solving key climate challenges through enabling technology that scales in the physical economy.00:00 Intro00:23 Early Facebook, Sun Microsystems, and Firefox05:20 Facebook's change to mobile and Sun's innovator's dilemma07:42 Going from Firefox/Mozilla to Facebook11:48 Founding Gigascale Capital15:45 Reason for optimism about our future20:38 Exciting projects at Gigascale24:40 People need to see things to believe27:25 Biggest levers to positively impact climate30:50 Cow burps — 6% of carbon emissions35:55 Political involvement vs. high-impact career choices37:37 Offshore datacenters in the ocean39:52 What is Gigascale's value-add?43:25 Is it lonely at the top?48:06 Advice for college students51:06 How Schrep changed Philip's lifeLearn more about Gigascale Capital: https://gigascale.com/Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@HiddenTrackPodcast