The All Turtles Podcast

So where do we go from here? How do we build a more inclusive future in tech? A good place to start is by listening to those who have worked to improve equity in Silicon Valley for years. "Culture Fit: Racial Bias in Tech" is a 6-part All Turtles Podcast series taking in-depth look at racial inequalities in the tech industry.

We’re turning the mirror on ourselves to assess diversity, equity, and inclusion at All Turtles. If we believe every company could benefit from open conversations about diversity issues, we need to start with ourselves. "Culture Fit: Racial Bias in Tech" is a 6-part All Turtles Podcast series taking in-depth look at racial inequalities in the tech industry.

Racial bias has not only worked its way into tech workplaces, it’s also in the products we build. How can we mitigate the harm that these biases cause in the products Silicon Valley puts out into the world? "Culture Fit: Racial Bias in Tech" is a 6-part All Turtles Podcast series taking in-depth look at racial inequalities in the tech industry.

A common excuse tech companies make for their lack of diversity is to blame the “pipeline,” saying there aren’t enough qualified candidates from historically excluded groups in the talent pool. Why do tech companies lean on this argument, and what are they missing? Culture Fit: Racial Bias in Tech" is a 6-part All Turtles Podcast series taking in-depth look at racial inequalities in the tech industry.

It’s time to hop into the way, way back machine. We’re examining the history of Silicon Valley to better understand how we got to the current moment of racial inequity in tech. "Culture Fit: Racial Bias in Tech" is a 6-part All Turtles Podcast series taking in-depth look at racial inequalities in the tech industry. 

Introducing "Culture Fit: Racial Bias in Tech," a 6-part All Turtles Podcast series taking an in-depth look at racial inequalities in the tech industry. In episode 1, people from communities that have long been excluded by Silicon Valley’s monoculture share their personal stories and walk through the data on the lack of diversity in tech. When it comes to cognitive biases, what critical errors do our brains make without even realizing it?

Brian Christian is the bestselling author of The Most Human Human and Algorithms to Live By. His latest book is called The Alignment Problem. He’s here today to talk about everything that goes wrong when we build AI systems and the movement to fix this lack of alignment, including lessons to be learned from a near missile strike. What will the future of algorithmic decision-making look like?

How is digital media impacting our capacity for critical thinking, empathy, and reflection? This is an important question to consider, especially as we become increasingly dependent on technology. Our digital dependence has been amplified during the pandemic, as we rely heavily on virtual communications. Today, Maryanne Wolf, author of Reader, Come Home, joins the podcast to share practical advice for fostering critical thinking while immersed in the digital world.

Products aren’t neutral—that’s our ethos at All Turtles. Products are built with a point of view that impacts the community of users and plays a role in the development of privacy guidelines. In this episode, All Turtles’ three cofounders (Phil Libin, Jessica Collier, and Jon Cifuentes) discuss community and privacy. Phil is the CEO of mmhmm, and Jessica is the CEO of Spot, so they share their perspectives on building these products with a specific POV.

For startups, securing funding can be a long and bumpy road, and in many ways the pandemic has made it even bumpier. Tellus (an All Turtles product) has still found success in recent months, and today their CEO Tania A. Coke is imparting key lessons from their fundraising process. How did she and her team build new relationships with investors entirely over Zoom?

Mmhmm, our newest All Turtles product, upgrades video calls with beautiful backdrops and rooms, the designs for which had to be put together in record time. Allie Packard, our fearless Senior Designer, is here to share how she and her team went from the earliest mmhmm sketches to the product we see today. How did they create such dynamic and varied imagery while staying true to the brand?

Mmhmm is our latest All Turtles product, which we built to make video calls more efficient—and more fun. After our podcast’s summer hiatus, we’re eager to share how we spun out this product at breakneck speed during the pandemic. Mmhmm’s suite of tools make any Zoom or Google Meet something to look forward to, with beautiful backdrops and rooms, immersive recordings, and collaboration abilities. As Phil says, why try to just match IRL experiences when you could make them infinitely better? 

When you ask Amazon’s Alexa to complete a task, that voice interaction is possible because of the work of people like Noelle Silver. She wrote some of Alexa’s earliest skills, and as her career took her from Amazon to Microsoft, she saw an opportunity to launch the AI Leadership Institute. On today’s podcast, she covers her current work as the VP of Digital Technology at NPR, the relationship between AI and art, and how she’s hoping to use AI to help make journalists’ jobs easier.   Show notes Noelle Silver is the VP of Digital Technology at NPR. Jake Ward interviewed Noelle about AI and art, and we featured Jake on an earlier episode of the All Turtles Podcast.    We want to hear from you Please send us your comments, suggested topics, and listener questions for future All Turtles Podcast episodes.  Email: hello@all-turtles.com Twitter: @allturtlesco

Product design is collaborative, but with extended shelter-in-place guidelines, teams have had to reassess what it means to work together. Figma is one of the best tools for product creators working remotely, but even before we were relegated to our homes, Figma had become essential to us at All Turtles because of its intuitive features. Figma’s Director of Product Sho Kuwamoto joins us today to walk through how they continue to iterate on the creation of indispensable tools.    Show notes Sho Kuwamoto is the Director of Product at Figma. Figma has its own guidelines for remote design process. Figma recently raised its series D.     We want to hear from you Please send us your comments, suggested topics, and listener questions for future All Turtles Podcast episodes.  Email: hello@all-turtles.com Twitter: @allturtlesco

With campuses closed and classes relegated to Zoom sessions, COVID-19 has had an indelible impact on education. Scoodle, a UK-based learning platform that connects students with tutors, is ensuring students can still get the support they need. On today’s episode, Scoodle’s cofounder and CEO Ismail Jeilani is sharing how this pandemic has brought remote learning to the forefront of education, and why he wants to help teachers achieve rock-star status for the work they do.   Show notes Ismail Jeilani is the cofounder and CEO of Scoodle. Twitter cofounder Biz Stone is one of Scoodle’s backers. Ismail’s experience as a tutor inspired him to build Scoodle.     We want to hear from you Please send us your comments, suggested topics, and listener questions for future All Turtles Podcast episodes.  Email: hello@all-turtles.com Twitter: @allturtlesco

What do you do when a global pandemic wipes out your business model as an early-stage startup? If you’re Sebastian Müller, cofounder of Lanterne, you quickly pivot to create a product to help people stay safe as coronavirus spreads. That’s how he and his team began building Crowdless, an app that provides real-time information on the crowdedness of supermarkets to help with social distancing. Today Sebastian is sharing Lanterne’s approach to meeting the world’s most pressing needs on rapid timelines.   Show notes Sebastian Müller is the cofounder of Lanterne, which builds crisis technology. Crowdless is an app that tells you how crowded supermarkets are so you can social distance effectively.    We want to hear from you. Please send us your comments, suggested topics, and listener questions for future All Turtles Podcast episodes.  Email: hello@all-turtles.com Twitter: @allturtlesco

Where did the conspiracy that “Bill Gates engineered coronavirus” come from? This is the type of query that Renée DiResta investigates as the technical research manager at Stanford Internet Observatory, where she tracks the spread of misinformation (and disinformation) online. She’s been monitoring the dissemination of narratives about the emergence of COVID-19, how it’s treated, and how the government has responded, and has an explanation for why there’s so much speculation at every level.  Show notes Renée DiResta is the technical research manager at Stanford Internet Observatory.  Renée follows epidemiologists and others on Twitter who share verifiable information about COVID-19.   We want to hear from you Please send us your comments, suggested topics, and listener questions for future All Turtles Podcast episodes.  Email: hello@all-turtles.com Twitter: @allturtlesco

And now for an episode that was recorded pre-COVID-19. Today, David Yakobovitch is joining the show to share his perspectives on AI and the future of work. David hosts the HumAIn Podcast, a show about artificial intelligence, data science, and developer education. He’s also a Principal Data Scientist at Galvanize, a technology learning company that works with startups and large enterprises on deploying data science and AI solutions.    Show notes David is a Principal Data Scientist at Galvanize, a technology learning company. David is also the host of the HumAIn podcast.

George Arison is the founder and CEO of Shift, an online marketplace for buying and selling used cars. George has led his company through the first phase of their response to the coronavirus pandemic, which involved creating a program to reduce prices for healthcare workers. The pandemic’s economic impact has also meant that they’ve had to furlough some employees. Today, George is sharing how he’s navigating tough decisions while managing a company during a global crisis.  Show notes George Arison is the founder and CEO of Shift. Shift is an online marketplace for buying and selling used cars. George spoke to Protocol about how he’s been managing Shift during this global pandemic.   We want to hear from you. Please send us your comments, suggested topics, and listener questions for future All Turtles Podcast episodes.  Email: hello@all-turtles.com Twitter: @allturtlesco

Over the past couple weeks on the podcast, we’ve talked about COVID-19’s impact on the future of work and the future of health. Today, we’re delving a little deeper into how we can come back from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which Phil is calling “the great unpause.” Why are “recession” and “recovery” ill-fitting terms to describe our current situation? What does hitting the pause button mean for different sectors of the economy, and what will it take to reset?   We want to hear from you. Please send us your comments, suggested topics, and listener questions for future All Turtles Podcast episodes.  Email: hello@all-turtles.com Twitter: @allturtlesco