Design as the first hire, enabling healthy debates, and making the unapproachable approachable with Sasha Orloff

Design as the first hire, enabling healthy debates, and making the unapproachable approachable with Sasha Orloff

What happens when design isn’t an afterthought but made a priority from the very start of an organization? What kind of impact can it have? I chat with Sasha Orloff, founder and CEO of Puzzle, about the fundamental role design plays and how its influences range from attracting top talent, keeping happy customers, and turning financial chores into superpowers. Sasha Orloff is the founder of Puzzle, accounting software designed for startups. Sasha is a serial founder whose companies have raised over $1B, including LendUp, the first mobile lender in the US and Mission Lane, the first venture backed credit card company, and was a board member at Revolut, the largest global fintech startup. Previously, Sasha worked at Citigroup, The World Bank, Grameen and a few venture backed startups. He currently lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children. Connect with Sasha [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sashaorloff/] on LinkedIn. This podcast is powered by Pinecast [https://pinecast.com].

Designing for billions at Google, mutual knowledge, and trust with Lauren Zou

When the products you create are used by billions of people around the world, careful consideration is required for every decision. In this episode, I chat with Lauren Zou, a senior software engineer at Google, about what goes into designing and developing large scale products including sharing responsibilities, technical feasibility, and the importance of trust. Lauren Zou has been a Senior Software Engineer for the past 8 years. She currently works on Google Search, having previously spent 6 years working on Google Ads. Prior to starting at Google, Lauren graduated early with computer science and mathematics degrees from Columbia College, Columbia University. A long-term New Yorker, Lauren loves dining out with friends and drawing on her iPad curled up with her cat Pepper at home. Connect with Lauren [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-zou/] on LinkedIn. This podcast is powered by Pinecast [https://pinecast.com].

Deliberate examinations, motivated reasoning, and vision with Nathan Ladd

How do we improve our processes to do better work? In my conversation with software developer and consultant, Nathan Ladd, we discuss how to deeply understand a problem, fostering better habits, and being guided by a true north. Nathan Ladd is a software developer and consultant hailing from Austin, TX. He is often guilty of writing evented microservices in ruby using the Eventide framework, of which he is also a co-author. He also wrote Test Bench, a BDD inspired test framework for ruby. When his focus isn’t improving software systems, his hobbies include RV living, calisthenics, and guitar. Connect with Nathan [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-ladd/] on LinkedIn. This podcast is powered by Pinecast [https://pinecast.com].

Elevating standards, T-shaped people, and rework with Antoine Leclercq

How can becoming a T-shaped person contribute to reducing rework? How does it play a role in elevating standards in the product development process? A discussion with software developer, Antoine Leclercq. Antoine Leclercq is a software developer dedicated to the continuous improvement and practice of software design and software product development processes. Connect with Antoine [https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoine-leclercq-42580459/] on LinkedIn. This podcast is powered by Pinecast [https://pinecast.com].

Intro

Welcome to re:designing, hosted by designer Grace Kim.