Kurt Mackey

The Quarterly Business Review (QBR) is a great way to understand what's happening in your business. The best are run with participation from adjacent groups including Product, Marketing, Engineering and CS. https://lnkd.in/gXhe3aYP

18

8 Comments

I just posted about Ploze to Product Hunt: https://lnkd.in/ebtktneU - I'd appreciate it if you'd take a look. (Unlock and integrate your digital life using Ploze: Load your data on-device from exports from a myriad of services, and view it all in an integrated searchable timeline. There is no cloud component to Ploze - it works on your computer.)

8

The work our team does at NMI never ceases to amaze me. 290% growth in the first year is an astonishing figure! We recently spoke with an ISO who was able to access better reporting, onboard merchants 5x faster and grow net revenue through the NMI platform by 290% in their first year partnering with us. A company spokesperson said, "NMI is such a valued relationship because we couldn’t have done this without them. It’s the relationships even more than the tech, integrations and APIs; anytime I’ve ever needed anything — company support or client support — I get a response. In this business where speed matters, NMI has done a solid job for us." Read their full story here: https://bit.ly/3VRoWM5 #ISO #Fintech #Payments

66

"Would you say great software needs to ferment?" That's my opening question to Justin Cormack, who is not only the CTO of Docker, Inc., but also an avid fermenter-of-things. tl;dr - He says fermentation (kimchi, cheese, etc...) is actually a very predictable and easy to measure process, whereas software (despite DORA metrics, etc...) is still quite unpredictable and hard to measure. That resonated with me, as there are no shortage of "things to measure", but speed (number of commits, etc..) is not the same thing as velocity, which (as I learned in high school physics) = speed PLUS direction. And it's that last bit that's so hard to quantify: Are we going in the right direction?? So, if you're not going anywhere (not shipping any working software or POC's) that's almost definitely bad. But if you're shipping a lot, that's... likely good... but also still hard to say without measuring whether customers are actually benefiting. Meanwhile, as you figure that out, you could be fermenting some really nice cheese. Justin Cormack could show you the way. 😀 🧀 ---- Enjoy this great episode of CRAFTED., the show about great products and the people who make them: * Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eAfDSBqM * Apple: https://lnkd.in/eD6T_ebM * YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eGqNZwKQ

22

4 Comments

Thrilled to announce that I'll be speaking at Grocery Doppio's "AI in Grocery" series. I'll be diving into the transformative impact of AI in the grocery industry. From enhancing the customer experience to optimizing supply chains, AI is revolutionizing the way we shop and manage groceries. Join me as I share insights, real-world examples, and future trends that are shaping the industry. Looking forward to connecting with fellow innovators and industry leaders. #AI #GroceryIndustry #Innovation #Tech #Conference #FutureOfShopping #AIInGrocery

15

What can guitarist Nuno Bettencourt teach us about enterprise processes?    I’ve been playing guitar since I was 13 years old, and the harsh reality is this: It’s not the gear, it's you. Nuno Bettencourt said it best in a recent interview with Rick Beato (check out Rick's YouTube channel for more info). One day, Nuno got to try Eddie Van Halen's guitar and amp on stage. Van Halen was his hero, and he thought he would finally get the chance to sound just like him... only to find out that he sounded just like the same old him! Of course, you need to have a decent rig, but the most expensive items you can buy won't bring anything new to your playing. It’s all in the hands and in the head. So, why am I even talking about this? Because when talking to our clients, we hear the same kind of behavior all the time. “Oh, we can't do this or that right now. We need a new tool for that.” Now, it is possible that the process to get a specific piece of information is so time-consuming and complicated that a tool is indeed the only way to get it. But most of the time, that's not the case. The problem lies in the fact that there's not a clear picture of what needs to be done to achieve a certain outcome. What’s unfortunate is, if you try to solve the problem with a new tool, you will often lose weeks, if not months, finding THE perfect tool (which might even be quite expensive). In the meantime, you will have lost time and money for little to no improvement in your day-to-day operations. That's why, at Quanta, we often say to our clients that what you can do with a tool, you should, in theory, be able to do with a pen and a piece of paper. If you can't do that, then maybe you haven't thought enough about what you are trying to achieve. Maybe the solution you are looking for can be achieved simply and for a fraction of the cost. That’s also why we believe that starting early with a simple solution will always beat a grand and spectacular digital transformation. So, that’s my piece of advice from the music world. Don’t spend too much time looking for that shiny piece of gear. Instead, concentrate on getting better with what you’ve got today. You won’t believe the rewards. 

3

5 Comments

Pizza Dough Recipe Over the last 10 years, I've become obsessed with helping people make great pizza at home. For me, it all begins with the dough. Great dough requires just a few ingredients: flour, salt, water, yeast, and time. To make it legendary, allow your dough to ferment for a few days. We've found 3-4 days to be ideal. The good news is, you don't have to do much—the dough just needs to chill (pun intended) in the fridge after it's been kneaded. Choosing the right flour is crucial. I always opt for organic with a high protein percentage. My favorite is Central Milling High Mountain Bread Flour. My Go-To 72 Hour Pizza Dough Recipe: Ingredients: 500g organic bread flour 350g water , filtered 15g salt 1g active dry yeast Time Instructions: Mix: Combine flour, salt and whisk, next add yeast and whisk again. Add water and mix until incorporated. Knead: Knead for 2-3 minutes to avoid dry clumps. Bulk Ferment: Let dough rise at room temperature for 12-24 hours at room temp. (70F) Cold Ferment: Refrigerate for another 24-48 hours to develop flavor. Portion: Remove from fridge and divide and ball the dough, letting it rest for 3-4 hours before baking. Bake: Preheat your oven with Baking Steel inside at its highest temperature for at least 45 minutes. Stretch the dough, add toppings, and bake until golden and bubbly. This dough is simple but requires time: a 24-hour rise followed by a 48-hour cold ferment. The full 72-hour method brings out the best texture and flavor. Happy baking! 🍕🙌 Share your results and tag us – we’d love to see your delicious creations! #BakingSteel #BakingTips #PizzaDough #HomeBaking #PizzaLovers #Recipe

28

10 Comments

It’s rare to find someone who has gone through a decade scaling developer workflows in a single company. I sat down with Kent Wills recently discussing the evolution of developer platforms at Yelp and dove into their ownership architecture. Listen to full episode on Substack, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Youtube: https://lnkd.in/g722icVw Some key takeaways: 1️⃣ Yelp transitioned from a monolithic codebase to a service-oriented architecture that improved code ownership and productivity. 2️⃣ Yelp has internally built most of the tooling circled around ownership to handle tech debt and track vulnerabilities. 3️⃣ Yokyo Drift is an internal tool to support migrations across the organization Pre-commit is an internal tool (now open source) to help standardize the coding practices 4️⃣ AI-powered coding assistance has the potential to further enhance productivity and reduce repetitive work. #developerproductivity #ownership

26

2 Comments

As the first Intelligent Gift Documentation Management Platform, the Givzey team is constantly fielding questions from gift administrators about how they should enter gifts, record pledge fulfillment, or handle specific complex scenarios. We absolutely love that Givzey has come to be known as a top resource for all gift documentation questions. We recognized that while Givzey delivers the world's most innovative gift documentation software, sometimes members of the nonprofit community need more than tech – sometimes they just need answers that they don't have to go searching for. In the true nature of being a great partner for the nonprofit sector, we launched Givzey Guidance as a central library that anyone can learn from or ask questions of and expect a fast and direct response for free. We expect to use Givzey Guidance to inform the community we serve so organizations can book gifts with confidence that they align with auditing and financial standards.

13

5 Comments

Are you thinking of shifting your Containerized applications to Graviton Instances? Check out this video of our master David Connack, providing tips and actionable advice from the trenches after performing dozens of migrations for Opsfleet customers. This video was part of a webinar we did with our friends from AWS earlier last month on migrating to Graviton. Looking to shift to Graviton but lacking the knowledge or resources? Let the Opsfleet experts perform the migration for you while you focus on other DevOps projects (: #devops #aws #graviton

5

There's a big problem in ND: there aren't enough people. Automation is the solution. The state is now supporting businesses to integrate automation - including AI - through their Automate ND grant program. I'm going to share how to use AI to take advantage of the program in a webinar next week. Find link in the comments! Learn how: 1. Primary sector businesses are integrating AI 2. How to apply for the grant using AI 3. How tools like Chipp could qualify for the grant so you can start automating Send me a dm if you have questions!

35

8 Comments

It's time to unleash your company's superpower. What do I mean? Lakeside Software CEO David Keil explains why and how you can strengthen your company's foundational differentiators - especially in today's AI world - in his latest Fast Company article.

14

🔎Our team at Aeeiee has spent thousands of hours curating the data of historical figures (our "ghosts") into our custom built Cloud for use on the Catch the Ghost™ app. We don't add everyone to our library, but when we do, our mission is to memorialize them in an inspirational and educational light. This wouldn't have been possible without the use of AI tools like Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and ChatGPT. But it's not all AI art, about 50% our ghosts' "apparitions" are carefully sourced Public Domain photographs and artwork. We even have "unbreeched" (google it) historical photographs and paintings of US presidents and British Monarchs 😂. We would have needed a team and budget 100x our size to do the same amount of work, and this app simply was not possible before 2023 🤯 We currently have a queue of 747 ghosts moving through our editorial process, and these are 16 that were approved and published just over the past two days, for a total of 135 ghosts ready to catch in our app (left to right): Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, James Monroe, Kim Stanley, James Dean, Fela Kuti, James A. Garfield, Malcolm X, Marlon Brando, Julius Nyerere, Elizabeth Taylor, C.S. Lewis, Frank Herbert, J.R.R. Tolkien, Warren G. Harding, William McKinley, Zachary Taylor. 🔗 Download Catch the Ghost on iOS today: https://apple.co/3WOw79M

23

Have you been to a McDonalds drive thru lately? The past 2 times I have, they said "Welcome to McDonalds, would you like to order through the mobile app." That was an unexpected question while in the drive-thru, but highlights the growth of mobile ordering in the restaurant industry. 82% of younger customers are comfortable placing their order through a smartphone app at a limited-service restaurant. Its an exciting time we're in to see these changing demographics and how the world around us moves in response. #RestaurantTech #BusinessStrategy #Data

27

So cool to hear this story on NPR this morning. Our partner, Prism Labs, Inc., provides developers with the tools to integrate precise body scanning capabilities into their apps. Their technology goes beyond traditional BMI measurements, offering a more comprehensive view of health by analyzing muscle and fat composition. If you are a developer and are considering adding body scanning to your fitness app, please don't hesitate to reach out, and I can connect you! #HealthTech #Innovation #BodyScanning #PrismLabs #Wellness #HealthInsights

32

Here's a demo of my app, q.buzz

2

Other than excessive maleness and paleness*, April 2024 was an excellent month for the podcast, packed with outstanding guests. ICYMI, today's episode highlights the most fascinating moments of my convos with them. Specifically, conversation highlights include: 1. Iconic open-source developer Dr. Hadley Wickham putting the "R vs Python" argument to bed. 2. Aleksa Gordić, creator of a digital A.I.-learning community of 160k+ people, on the movement from formal to self-directed education. 3. World-leading futurist Bernard Marr on how we can work with A.I. as opposed to it lording over of us. 4. Educator of millions of data scientists, Kirill Eremenko, on why gradient boosting is so powerful for making informed business decisions. 5. Prof. Barrett Thomas on how drones could transform same-day delivery. *Remedied in May! Check out today's episode (#782) to hear all these eye-opening conversations. The Super Data Science Podcast is available on all major podcasting platforms and a video version is on YouTube. #superdatascience #datascience #machinelearning #ai #podcast

28

1 Comment