Behind The Beta

Christine Olukere

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Behind The Beta is a tech and startup podcast spotlighting voices from the trenches, especially Black, Brown, and Indigenous, and female founders— building the next wave of companies in public. Host Christine Olukere goes beyond the pitch deck to talk about the people, the process, and the conviction behind the products before they hit the mainstream. thereluctantgraduate.substack.com

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Unraveling the Dark Side of Reddit: How a Moderator Weaponized Influence to Harm a Coding Bootcamp

In the age of digital marketing, social media platforms hold unprecedented power, and Reddit is no exception. In a recent podcast episode for my podcast Behind The Beta, marketing expert Lars Lofgren told me about a shocking case of manipulation within Reddit’s architecture, demonstrating how a single moderator’s actions caused significant financial damage to a well-regarded coding bootcamp called Codesmith. Reddit has evolved into a crucial marketing platform, capable of influencing Google search results like never before. This power can be wielded for good or ill, and in this case, it was exploited to harm a competitor. Lofgren’s investigation was sparked by a viral article discussing a moderator from the r/codingbootcamp subreddit. Reddit’s platform allows users to easily access public information, making it possible for anyone to conduct similar investigations. By controlling a subreddit, this moderator was able to influence not only the subreddit audience but also Google search results, leading to significant revenue damage for Codesmith. But the most alarming part? The potential ripple effect of misinformation fed into LLM models like GPT-5 and Claude that can adversely aid in false advertising and lead consumers astray. We already know that AI systems may inadvertently propagate false narratives. However, the potential for Reddit to shape public perception and influence AI outcomes poses significant questions for marketers and consumers alike. As platforms like Reddit gain power, understanding how to navigate and leverage them ethically is crucial for marketers and organizations. Get full access to The Reluctant Graduate at thereluctantgraduate.substack.com/subscribe

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Behind the Beta Presents Vibes Under 35: Introducing Jasnoor Kaur @ SoinsAI

I met Jasnoor Kaur in a pretty Christine like way—after doom scrolling on TikTok. Despite what may might think, there is a robust and growing startup community on TikTok that deserves more attention. Many young people, like Jas, are building their brands, companies and applications in public, which is so cool and interesting to see in real time. I took a chance to connect with this young woman because I saw the exponential potential in her spirit of giving, sacrifice and service for people that aren’t like her. Glad I did because our conversation was so interesting and profound. Her app SoinsAI, currently in beta, is a way to track health in a way that is dynamic and personal. Much like a weather forecast is used as a preventative way to prepare for the future, SoinsAI is a way to do the same thing except with your health information. As her LinkedIn page says, “by combining personal, environmental, and social data, SoinsAI identifies early health signals and community trends before they become symptoms.” Now, Jas is not a abnormality—she talks the talk and walks the walk: as a 15 year old girl, she was already on international stages presenting her research to crowds of academics with years of experience and accolades. Now at 20, she is taking a sabbatical from her schooling to finish the project that she has worked so hard for (literally 18 hour stretches of coding, marketing, promotion, designing, and development per day). I think that she deserves attention. Hopefully you do as well. The full convo will be on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Get full access to The Reluctant Graduate at thereluctantgraduate.substack.com/subscribe

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Chris and Dennise Talk Tech Sales: A Conversation With Dennise Quevedo @ Elevate Hire, ex-Google

The tech world moves fast—we know that. From product updates to AI breakthroughs, it feels like every day there’s a new tool or platform changing the game. But there’s one engine behind the scenes that doesn’t always get its flowers—yet it’s the reason those innovations reach the world at all:Sales. And I don’t mean just cold calls and commissions.I’m talking about strategic, insight-driven, revenue-generating work that keeps companies alive—from the scrappy startup to the biggest names in the industry. Let’s be honest: many people believe that if you work at a company like Google or Meta and you’re not an engineer, you’re somehow less essential.But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Tech sales isn’t an afterthought—it’s the launchpad. Just look at the numbers: * At Google, Cloud Sales teams helped generate over $36 billion in revenue in 2024. * Meta? A staggering 98% of its revenue comes from sales-driven ad partnerships. * And startups with strong sales pipelines grow nearly 3x faster than those without. So today, we’re digging into all of it—the numbers, the strategies, the future of tech sales—with someone who’s been at the center of this evolution. Dennise Quevedo has led sales and development teams at Google, Amazon, and Wix—some of the most influential tech companies in the world.Now, he’s the Senior Manager of Learning & Development at Elevate Hire, where he’s building the next generation of tech sales talent. And trust me—he’s not just teaching people how to close deals.He’s showing them how to build careers, drive revenue, and shape the direction of entire companies. We’re going to talk about how tech sales have evolved, what early-career sellers need to know, and why L&D and enablement are no longer optional—they’re essential. If you’re in tech, trying to break into tech, or just want to understand where the real power lies in this fast-changing industry... This is the conversation you’ve been waiting for. Get full access to The Reluctant Graduate at thereluctantgraduate.substack.com/subscribe

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Why Amos Winbush III Is Rebuilding DEI From the Ground Up @ bckers

With the recent decision by multiple companies and organizations to back away from their previous DEI initiatives, I was interested in exploring the other side of the equation: how true diversity and equity practices translate to good business. The perfect case study? Amos Winbush III—founder and CEO of bckers, an AI-driven fintech company that aims to score and rate financial institutions. He shares her journey in building bckers, the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the tech industry, and the challenges faced by minority founders. Hope you enjoy this (late!) present. Takeaways: * bckers scores and rates financial institutions based on performance. * Amos’s journey includes multiple tech startups and a focus on supporting the ecosystem. * Diversity in teams leads to better innovation and profitability. * DEI initiatives often fail to benefit the Black community. * Anti-DEI policies are a continuation of existing corporate practices. * Consumer spending reflects support for brands and their values. * Data can drive transparency and accountability in funding. * Minority founders face significant challenges in raising capital. * Young professionals should seek out data on funding patterns. * Future initiatives will change how capital is raised in the startup ecosystem. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Backers and Its Mission 02:43 The Journey of Building Backers 04:46 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Tech 10:00. The Impact of Anti-DEI Policies 18:12 The Role of Data in Driving Change 25:18 Challenges for Minority Founders 30:46 Advice for Young Black and Brown Professionals 38:09 Future Initiatives and Resources for Engagement Get full access to The Reluctant Graduate at thereluctantgraduate.substack.com/subscribe

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Dead Simple, But Not Basic: Jason C. McDonald on Python for Real Developers

A CS student and a time lord walk into a bar. What do they talk about? Python, of course. Also artificial intelligence, cozy mysteries, and The Wind in the Willows (if you know, you know). But that’s half the story, and this is half the interview. Joining me for a new episode of Behind the Beta is Jason C. McDonald, author of Dead Simple Python. When he is not working at an extraordinary company (without Python as his main stack), he writes, reads, and pontificates on technology and literature with great panache. This is one of my favorite interviews so far! The full video will be on my YouTube channel next week, but for now, here is a preview of what will be discussed. Hope you like it! Get full access to The Reluctant Graduate at thereluctantgraduate.substack.com/subscribe

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Behind The Beta Chapter 002: Where's the Beef? (Orlando Caraballo @ The Once Project)

Remember that commercial for Wendy’s with the old lady screaming “Where’s the beef?” That’s what I thought of while creating this podcast. I had a sillier version of the intro in mind that I ultimately scrapped. It went in the garbage or something, I don’t recall: Suffice to say, it would have been hilarious if done by anyone else. But that’s the middle of the story. Let’s backtrack. Once upon a time, I was a 25-year-old student going to a little suite on the seventh (seventh?) floor of a random building on a random street in the Battery Park/FiDi section of Manhattan. The first time I showed up at his classroom, I was wearing three sweaters and a stupid hat my mother forced me to put on my head because of the rain. Too bad it was summertime. I only stayed there for a bit, but the amount I learned was interesting. Orlando always wore the same outfit—a basic shirt with the school logo, dark wash jeans, and black Vans. It was comforting in its familiarity but hid a very unique (and frankly weird) person. Despite all that happened at that coding boot camp (the good, the bad, and the ugly), I never forgot about him and his teaching. Six years later, through my weird behavior, I found him again and sat down with him at a cool coffee shop in my neighborhood and we talked as if we were best friends for a good three hours. Long after the employees left and the owner was closing the shop, we were still chopping it up in the coffee shop and reminiscing. For some reason, the guy likes to keep a low profile on socials, but I want people to know him because his opinions are so smart, eloquent, and important. As the founder of The Once Project and creator of Beef, a gritty, New York City-inspired turn-based RPG, Orlando is blending retro gameplay with bold cultural storytelling. When have you played a game in which a chopped cheese sandwich or Platanos Maduros can help you power up enough to stomp down fellow street fighters? Or a world coded in React based in the boogie-down Bronx? This can only come from a Renaissance man like Orlando Caraballo. His game features randomly generated characters from underrepresented backgrounds (like Sanchez Gomez and Boomer) and items inspired by iconic NYC neighborhoods, proving that diversity isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a game-changer. In this feature, we explore how Orlando’s experiences growing up in New York, his passion for storytelling, and his commitment to representation are driving his unique approach to game design. We also talk at least about the future of tech education, to go or not go to a coding boot camp vs. a traditional degree, and much more. Orlando is creating more than just games—he’s creating a movement. Dive into the world of Beef and discover how this creator is leveling the playing field for gamers everywhere. Get full access to The Reluctant Graduate at thereluctantgraduate.substack.com/subscribe

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Behind the Beta Chapter 001: WhatsApp With That?

There is this story that I always mention when I talk about my trip to Medellin, Colombia: a simple man with a simple fruit stand on the side of the road, selling aguacate (or avocado in Spanish). Being too shy and too ashamed of how little Spanish I knew, I always wanted to ask this man whenever I passed him if I could build a website for him to sell his goods. But through trial and error, I soon understood all too well how limited and futile that would be to his operations. If anything, he probably already had a WhatsApp business account just to sell fruit. I should have known; in my home country of Kenya, my auntie and cousin did the same thing. I thought that WhatsApp was mainly for messaging people—I didn’t quite understand just how capable the platform was in entrepreneurship. But Nicolas (or as I called him, Nic) got me together in quick order. I first met Nicolas not in Colombia, his home country of Peru, or his born country of Venezuela but in good old smog-filled New Jersey, USA. And this meeting wasn’t even in person, but virtual, through a cofounder accelerator program funded by Rutgers University-Newark called Black and Latino in Tech. I was elated to be among so many smart and enterprising folks like him and was so proud when he was one of the winners of the Demo Day that we had and won a huge grant for his business. This was in June. By December I had connected again with him on LinkedIn, got an interview scheduled, and the rest was history. I was so electrified by the talk we had, that I decided to start the first chapter of Behind the Beta to highlight Nícolas Robles, a Latino AI founder who is chill enough to call himself "that Peruvian guy from New Jersey". Besides being a businessman and tech genius, he is a father to a young daughter and a son to another tech leader and cofounder, Ruben Robles. He is in the right field, the right place, and doing this at the right time: AI is seeing more growth than any other VC or non-VC-funded startups in the United States and globally. Instead of reinventing the wheel, he took an already existing app (Whatsapp) and decided to turn it on its head. A survey by Statistica states that "during the third quarter of 2023, WhatsApp was the most used social network in Latin America, with more than 92 percent of internet users in selected countries accessing the messaging app." For 68% of users in LATAM, connecting with companies is easier using WhatsApp than any other social platform. This means of communication has become a two-way street, as brands also find WhatsApp an effective platform to connect with their audiences. Nic is using artificial intelligence to bring a different component to an already fast-growing market, and he deserves some shine. Get full access to The Reluctant Graduate at thereluctantgraduate.substack.com/subscribe

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Behind The Beta is a tech and startup podcast spotlighting voices from the trenches, especially Black, Brown, and Indigenous, and female founders— building the next wave of companies in public. Host Christine Olukere goes beyond the pitch deck to talk about the people, the process, and the conviction behind the products before they hit the mainstream. thereluctantgraduate.substack.com

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Christine Olukere
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Behind The Beta