The Waterloo Advantage

Eric Li - Ex Software Engineering @ Lacework

This week we chat with Eric Li, a 3rd year computer engineering student who was a Software Engineering Intern at Lacework. Tune in to learn about cloud security, his YCombinator experience, leaving school and then returning, and other insights on startups! Find Eirc Li at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericli1234 [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericli1234] 00:13 - Podcast introduction 00:38 - Guest introduction 00:58 - Role at Lacework 08:00 - What Lacework does 10:02 - Clients of Lacework 13:24 - Interest in security 15:58 - Writing code for a security company 19:36 - About own startup 26:28 - YCombinator experience 40:14 - Shutting down own startup 46:01 - Do you want to keep building startups? 49:31 - Thoughts on opportunity cost 53:25 - Conviction in your ideas 56:27 - Advice for listeners 01:00:10 - Closing ---- The Waterloo Advantage is produced by The Collective. The theme music is produced by Ayush Ghosh (https://www.ayushsitar.com/ [https://www.ayushsitar.com/]).

David Gu - Founder @ Perfect Recall

New episode with David Gu, previously a 2nd year Software Engineering student who started a startup, Perfect Recall, and has been working full time on it for over a year now. Tune in to learn about his YCombinator experience, Perfect Recall, and other insights on startups! Find David Gu at: https://linkedin.com/in/david-gu [https://linkedin.com/in/david-gu] Perfect Recall: https://perfectrecall.app/ [https://perfectrecall.app/] 00:13 - Podcast introduction 00:39 - Guest introduction 01:08 - Working full time on a startup 01:41 - Wish and role at Wish 02:38 - Leaving school to startup 04:11 - Previous startup 05:11 - YCombinator experience 09:31 - How you met your co-founder 10:17 - Process of pivoting 12:24 - What is Perfect Recall 13:14 - Perfect Recall: support for other platforms 14:05 - Launch strategy for Perfect Recall 16:37 - Perfect Recall: how have things changed over the year 19:15 - Users of Perfect Recall 20:37 - Process of pricing your product 22:57 - Selling to enterprise customers 24:40 - Working at a co-op vs working on your own startup 29:40 - Context switching at a startup 32:44 - Growing your team at a startup 37:25 - Future of Perfect Recall 38:25 - Which problems spaces and technology are you interested in 45:07 - Note taking workflows during video calls 45:52 - Products you'd want made 46:53 - Conviction in your ideas 50:14 - Book recommendations 51:56 - Advice for listeners 53:56 - Closing ---- The Waterloo Advantage is produced by The Collective. The theme music is produced by Ayush Ghosh (https://www.ayushsitar.com/ [https://www.ayushsitar.com/]).

Narayan Subramoniam - Ex Sales Analyst @ SodaStream

This week, we chat with Narayan Subramoniam, a 3rd year double degree math and business student who was a Sales Analyst at SodaStream. Narayan is super passionate about food security and is heavily involved with the UW food bank. Tune in to learn some unique perspectives on food security, selling to retailers, and transferring universities!  Find Narayan Subramoniam at: https://linkedin.com/in/nsub2 [https://linkedin.com/in/nsub2] 00:13 - Podcast introduction 00:40 - Guest introduction 01:27 - How is it like taking a double degree 03:22 - What made you pick business and math 07:08 - University transfer process 13:22 - Background on SodaStream 16:42 - Role at SodaStream 21:00 - Does SodaStream sell directly to consumers 22:18 - Selling to retailers 25:20 - Retail price of SodaStream products 27:17 - How technology impacts your role as an analyst 31:16 - Working in a team as a Sales Analyst 34:58 - Impact of COVID-19 38:42 - Passion for food security 47:55 - Food bank at UWaterloo 50:55 - What's next for food banks 54:23 - How to help the food bank 55:49 - Using the food bank 58:24 - UWaterloo food bank team 01:01:12 - Dream co-op 01:03:18 - Recommendations for people interested in food security 01:04:13 - Advice for listeners 01:05:51 - Closing ---- The Waterloo Advantage is produced by The Collective. The theme music is produced by Ayush Ghosh (https://www.ayushsitar.com/ [https://www.ayushsitar.com/]).

Katherine Gotovsky - Ex Product Manager @ Caresplit

New episode with Katherine Gotovsky, a 3rd year double degree computer science and business student, who was a product manager at Caresplit. Tune in to learn about product management, venture capital, and an incubator that Katherine started called the Product Initiative! Find Katherine Gotovsky at: https://linkedin.com/in/katherinegotovsky [https://linkedin.com/in/katherinegotovsky] The Product Initiative: https://productinitiative.ca/ [https://productinitiative.ca/] 00:12 - Podcast introduction 00:38 - Guest introduction 00:56 - BCS (Bachelor of Computer Science) vs BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration) 02:17 - Why do you love business 03:25 - What venture did you start 04:30 - Role at Caresplit 05:38 - Experience at Caresplit 07:37 - First female recession 08:23 - Learning about Product Management 10:05 - What part of Product Management interests you the most 11:25 - Weakness in Product Management 12:28 - Product Management vs Software Engineering 14:22 - Using intuition vs data driven decision making 16:39 - How case competitions have helped you 18:58 - Case competitions vs hackathons 21:06 - Most impressive product you've seen 22:58 - Internal tools you've used 24:47 - Approach to understanding a new space 26:14 - Sources for learning 26:52 - What is your narrative 28:01 - Thoughts on opportunity cost 29:43 - What is the Product Initiative 31:44 - Who the Product Initiative is for 32:14 - Products launched from the Product Initiative 33:54 - Scaling the Product Initiative 34:26 - How does the Product Initiative work 35:37 - How many students are part of the Product Initiative 36:27 - Finding students for the Product Initiative 37:20 - Problems you would want to work on at the Product Initiative 38:35 - Experience in venture capital (VC) 40:22 - What you like and dislike about VC 41:17 - Startup insights from VC experience 45:23 - Spaces getting oversaturated and emerging spaces 47:33 - Conviction in your ideas 49:09 - Managing a busy lifestyle 51:34 - Finding time to reflect 53:10 - Advice for listeners 55:00 - Closing ---- The Waterloo Advantage is produced by The Collective. The theme music is produced by Ayush Ghosh (https://www.ayushsitar.com/ [https://www.ayushsitar.com/]).

Jackson Mills - Product Manager @ Alarm.com

This week, we chat with Jackson Mills, a 4th year computer science student who is working at Alarm.com as a Product Manager. Jackson is also the co-founder of the Zero Experience which is a part-time entrepreneurship program. Tune in to learn some unique perspectives on PM, enterprise security, and entrepreneurship! Find Jackson Mills at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacksonmills6/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacksonmills6/] Zero Experience: https://uwaterloo.ca/problem-lab/zero-experience [https://uwaterloo.ca/problem-lab/zero-experience] 00:13 - Podcast introduction 00:40 - Guest introduction 01:19 - Role at Alarm.com 03:43 - Transition from Software Engineering to Product Management 06:10 - Project Management vs Product Management 09:16 - Learning about Product Management 10:08 - Transition from Product Management to Founder 10:42 - How do you understand users at Alarm.com 13:06 - Innovation Engine 16:30 - Don't mix feedback and evaluation 18:20 - Can your manager be your mentor? 19:19 - Is 4 months enough time for a company to invest in the growth of a student? 20:58 - Historical lens of enterprise security and Alarm.com 26:00 - What is the Zero Experience? 31:02 - How Zero Experience works 34:20 - Size of the program and scaling Zero Experience 35:47 - Why the problem Zero Experience is solving is important 38:52 - Zero Experience and the Problem Lab 40:31 - Meeting co-founder and start of Zero Experience  44:32 - Which Problem Lab Billion Dollar Problem would you pick to work on? 48:16 - You are more than your job role 52:36 - Plans after graduation 53:42 - Aim to work towards throughout life 55:30 - Thoughts on opportunity cost 59:30 - Impactful advice you've received 01:01:36 - Closing ---- The Waterloo Advantage is produced by The Collective. The theme music is produced by Ayush Ghosh (https://www.ayushsitar.com/ [https://www.ayushsitar.com/]).