Danielle Newnham Podcast

Danielle Newnham

Interviews with tech founders and innovators

  1. Steve Furber: Reverse Engineering the Human Brain (REPLAY)

    04/25/2025

    Steve Furber: Reverse Engineering the Human Brain (REPLAY)

    As April 2025 marks the 40th anniversary of the Arm architecture, I am re-releasing my episode with Steve Furber. What began as an ambitious project in a small corner of Cambridge, U.K., has grown into the world's most widely adopted computing architecture, now powering billions of devices – from sensors, smartphones and laptops to vehicles, datacenters and beyond. It was at 3pm on 26th April 1985, the chip that led to the world's first commercial RISC processor powered up... and changed the world! Steve Furber is a seminal computer scientist, mathematician and hardware designer whose work includes the BBC Microcomputer and the ARM 32-bit RISC microprocessor which can be found in over 100 billion devices today. Steve studied both Maths followed by a PhD in Aerodynamics at Cambridge University before joining Herman Hauser and Chris Curry at Acorn Computers. For the next decade, he would work with a first-class team of engineers and designers to revolutionise the home computer market before he and Sophie Wilson went on to design the ARM processor with a relatively small team and budget and with little inkling of the consequence it might bring to the world. In 1990, Steve left Acorn moved to Manchester where he is now Professor of Computer Engineering at the university there. He was charged with leading research into asynchronous systems, low-power electronics and neural engineering which  led to the SpiNNaker project - a super computer incorporating a million ARM processors which are optimised for computational neuroscience. He is basically trying to reverse engineer the brain – a lofty ambition even by his own admission. In this wide-ranging conversation, we discuss Steve’s life journey from studying maths with professors such as the famed John Conway and Sir James Lighthill to the highs and lows of building the BBC Micro and the story behind the ARM 32-bit RISC microprocessor. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to Steve and am overly excited about his SpiNNaker project which we also discuss today. Enjoy! -------------- Steve Furber info / SpiNNaker info / Micro Men film Danielle on Twitter @daniellenewnham and  Instagram @daniellenewnham   / Newsletter

    51 min
  2. Pixar Co-Founder Alvy Ray Smith (REPLAY)

    02/03/2025

    Pixar Co-Founder Alvy Ray Smith (REPLAY)

    Dr Alvy Ray Smith is the co-founder of Pixar, a computer scientist and pioneer in the field of computer graphics and to celebrate 39 years to the day that Pixar was officially founded, I wanted to release my interview with Alvy from Series 3. After starting his career in academia, Alvy had an epiphany following a serious skiing accident. He decided to move to California to combine his two passions - art and computers - in a place where he felt something good was about to happen.  Alvy was always a pioneer. From creating his first computer graphic in 1965, Alvy became an original member of the Computer Graphics Lab at the New York Institute of Technology, he witnessed the birth of the personal computer at Xerox PARC, and he was the first director of computer graphics at George Lucas’s Lucasfilm. It was there that Alvy gathered some of the smartest people he knew to develop computer graphics software, including early renderer technology. He and colleague Ed Catmull then spun out to co-found the famous Pixar, soon followed by the hiring of Lucasfilm colleague John Lasseter, and Steve Jobs as an investor. It was at Pixar that Toy Story would be made - the very first, entirely computer-animated, feature film. In 2006, Pixar was sold to Disney for $7.4 billion. In this interview, Alvy recounts his career from the early days at Xerox PARC to how Pixar got started. We discuss the Pixar journey in detail, as well as his latest book – A Biography of the Pixel  (you can buy here)- including how innovation is born from three strands: An idea, chaos and a tyrant. And how Steve jobs was both the saviour and the tyrant in the incredible Pixar story. A true pioneer, this is one of my favourite conversations. Enjoy! ----- NB This episode was first released in Series 3. Let us know what you think of this episode and please rate, review and share - it means the world to me and helps others to find it too. Danielle Twitter / Instagram / Substack Newsletter / YouTube All my podcast episodes are edited with Descript - try it for FREE here Alvy Ray Smith on Twitter @alvyray / website  Buy Alvy Ray Smith's book A Biography of the Pixel here.  ----- This episode was hosted by me - Danielle Newnham, a recovering founder, author and writer who has been interviewing tech founders and innovators for ten years - and produced by Jolin Cheng.  Image of Alvy Ray by Christopher Michel.

    1 hr
  3. Zahaan Bharmal: How Physics Can Explain Almost Everything

    12/27/2024

    Zahaan Bharmal: How Physics Can Explain Almost Everything

    Today’s guest is Zahaan Bharmal – Senior Director of Strategy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Google where he has spent the last 16 years. He is also author of The Art of Physics: 8 elegant ideas to make sense of almost everything. In this conversation, Zahaan and I discuss his younger years, how he struggled at school and had big questions about the world and how The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams completely changed his life and allowed him to fall in love with the subject of Physics, in the hope of finding some of those answers. We also discuss Zahaan’s career from working as a speech writer for luminaries such as Tony Blair, Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela to his current role at Google working with those at the frontier of AI including Sir Demis Hassabis of Deep Mind.  But the main topic of conversation today is how physics can help us answer very human questions. Drawing on fields of physics such as quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, chaos and complexity theory, we look at how physics can help us make sense of an unpredictable world – and, why many of the world’s most successful leaders from Napolean to Charlie Munger all believe a greater understanding of physics can help us save humanity. So please enjoy my conversation with Zahaan Bharmal. Zahaan Bharmal has a degree in physics from the University of Oxford. After working on policy issues for the UK government and at the World Bank, he won a Fulbright Scholarship to Stanford University where he earned a master's in business administration. Since 2008, he has worked for Google, currently as senior director of strategy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He has written about space and science for the Guardian and is the recipient of NASA’s Exceptional Public Achievement Medal.

    59 min
  4. Nuno Coelho Santos: Designer, DeepMind, Google, Meta

    10/24/2024

    Nuno Coelho Santos: Designer, DeepMind, Google, Meta

    Today’s guest is Nuno Coelho Santos – a Portuguese Product Designer who has worked at some of tech’s top companies from DeepMind to Meta’s WhatsApp, and Google Health. He was at DeepMind working on their Streams app for clinicians when Covid struck and his team were pulled into helping the UK Ministry’s of Health Departments Covid response. In this wide ranging conversation, we talk about Nuno’s early pull between his two great loves – engineering and design, how design ultimately won and led to his work award winning work at DeepMind and Google as well as the career break he took after being inspired by designer Stefan Sagmeister who believed in taking a complete sabbatical every seven years. We also discuss the differences in the companies he worked at, and what the impact of AI might be on software and design in the future. I really enjoyed talking to Nuno and I think you will learn a lot – this is his first ever podcast interview. So please enjoy my conversation with Nuno Coelho Santos. Nuno website / LinkedIn / Instagram / Threads Danielle Twitter / Instagram / Substack Newsletter / YouTube All my podcast episodes are edited with Descript - try it for FREE here

    50 min
  5. David Senra: Why Founders Rule the World (REPLAY)

    10/14/2024

    David Senra: Why Founders Rule the World (REPLAY)

    This week's guest is David Senra, ex-founder and host of  Founders podcast – one of my favourite podcasts where each week, David devours a biography of a founder and shares his favourite lessons with the world, whether it’s Charlie Munger, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Kobe Bryant, The Wright Brothers, Lucille Ball, Jay Z, Enzo Ferrari and many more! But David has a really interesting story himself and one we dive into today. We talk about his tough childhood and how his escape came through his obsession with books because it was within those pages where he found the role models he wanted and needed to inspire him on his way. We also discuss some key themes between the founders and innovators whose stories David has shared in over 300 episodes now from a self-styled delusion which helps them to ignore the naysayers and dream the impossible to the obsession which comes with a laser focus on what matters. There are lots of great stories and anecdotes as you can imagine from David but there are also some great lessons that he has learned about success on his personal journey and why he wants to build something he’s younger self would be proud of. Here is my conversation with David Senra. Enjoy! This episode was originally released April 2023 - S9:E73 David's podcast Founders podcast / Twitter / Instagram  Danielle Twitter / Instagram / Substack Newsletter / YouTube All my podcast episodes are edited with Descript - try it for FREE here Mentioned in this episode: Tim Urban post that David mentions in this episode Taming the Mammoth: Why You Should Stop Caring What Other People Think My episode with Jimmy Soni here

    1h 7m
  6. Charlotte Stavrou: Influencers and Entrepreneurship

    10/10/2024

    Charlotte Stavrou: Influencers and Entrepreneurship

    Today’s guest is Charlotte Stavrou – founder and CEO of SevenSix agency – an award winning influencer marketing agency. In this episode, we talk about Charlotte’s childhood and how it shaped her work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit, how her dyslexia diagnosis last year allowed her to feel whole after the education system left her feeling broken. We also discuss why so many founders are now becoming influencers, how covid accelerated the influencer landscape and how her agency’s annual pricing reports are helping influencers charge the right amount for their work. Whether you are a founder, content creator or marketeer, you will find lots of lessons in this episode. So please enjoy my conversation with Charlotte Stavrou. Charlotte on Instagram / LinkedIn / SevenSix agency Danielle Twitter / Instagram / Substack Newsletter / YouTube Image of Charlotte by Kiran Gidda All my podcast episodes are edited with Descript - try it for FREE here

    49 min
  7. Asif Ahmed: The Finance Playbook For Founders

    10/03/2024

    Asif Ahmed: The Finance Playbook For Founders

    Today’s guest is Asif Ahmed, Partner & Head of Early Stage for Tech & High Growth companies at accountancy firm Cooper Parry. He previously founded Acclivity Advisors which was acquired by Cooper Parry and his role at both has been to work closely with early-stage founders and entrepreneurs across all accounting, tax and advisory disciplines - ensuring founding teams are able to help navigate and scale their startups. In this episode, we discuss Asif’s background and how the pivotal moments in his life shaped him including his father’s sixth diagnosis of cancer which was sadly terminal. Asif took over his father’s business to support his family and this really shaped who he became and what he went on to do in his career. We also discuss when a founder should set up the startup’s finance function, when is the right time to raise outside capital, why every startup should have a finance bible, and what one piece of advice he would offer a younger Asif. Quick apology for sound quality which is not perfect in this episode but hopefully it doesn’t take away from the important lessons Asif shares about founders and the importance of getting your finance function up and running from the start of your startup journey. I learned a lot from Asif and I think you will too so please enjoy my conversation with Asif Ahmed!   Asif Ahmed LinkedIn / Cooper Parry Asif's book:The Finance Playbook for Entrepreneurs: Build a solid finance department for your high-growth business, without the trial and error Danielle Twitter / Instagram / Substack Newsletter / YouTube

    39 min
  8. JZ: Lessons in Leading Products at Airbnb, WeWork and more

    09/26/2024

    JZ: Lessons in Leading Products at Airbnb, WeWork and more

    Today’s guest is JZ, currently Chief Product Officer at Linktree and previoysly SVP of Product at Webflow. And before that, she led product teams at Airbnb, WeWork, Dropbox and gaming startup Pocket Gems. In this episode, we discuss JZ’s life growing up – how frequent moves to different cities and countries built her up resilience and adaptability, how she got into product management despite being an Economics Major, how her father’s brain haemorrhage changed her life and the lessons she learned from working at some of the world’s top companies from Airbnb to WeWork, Dropbox and more. I learned a lot from talking to JZ about how build out a roadmap for your product, when it’s the right time to launch and how to build something which people not only use, but love too. I think you will learn a lot too so here is my conversation with the wonderful JZ. JZ on LinkedIn  Danielle Twitter / Instagram / Substack Newsletter / YouTube

    1h 6m
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About

Interviews with tech founders and innovators

Information

  • Creator
    Danielle Newnham
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2025
  • Episodes
    128
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2023 Danielle Newnham Podcast
  • Show Website
    Danielle Newnham Podcast