First Person, with Matt Egan

Matt Egan
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First Person is the show where we meet the most interesting people in IT, and learn from them what makes them tick by focusing only on their firsts. First job, first great boss, first failure or first pet. Learn from interesting people talking about serious things in a not-serious way. Contact matt_egan@foundryco.com

  1. 11/03/2025

    Ep 22: Cameron Clarke - Co-Founder and CEO - Sunderstorm

    We meet Cameron Clarke who explains how he studied computing after being inspired by early PCs, but immediately pivoted into industry where his software engineering skills could be put to immediate, practical use. Through explaining his career and experiences Cameron imparts incredible wisdom hard won through success and failure. He tells us how he finds himself today combining an obsession with scientific rigor, with entrepreneurial spirit, and a deep-rooted passion for natural healing, to build products that improve people's lives.

    37 min

  2. 10/20/2025

    Ep 21: Manu Gopinath - President, UST

    We meet Manu Goppinath, who tells us how he transitioned from spending his early years in a small town in India, to being President of a global organization with 30,000 employees. He explained how he wasn't initially keen to work in IT, hoping to use his engineering degree to support a career in sales. But the right leadership in the right organization saw him develop the technical, business and - critically - people skills to grow into the role of global leader. He tells us how he learnt to say 'yes, but...' to all opportunities, and that he considers his greatest achievement to be building and leading teams of great people.

    37 min

  3. 10/13/2025

    Ep 20: Mike Vaughan - CDO, Brown & Brown

    We meet Mike Vaughan, chief data officer of a large organization in the financial sector, and in his words blessed with a wonderful family and work life. Mike tells us how he got into technology through coding for his Commodore PC, inspired by the ability to do something creative. How he parlayed that into a computer science degree, then went to work in a textile mill because he chose to work with good people. He describes a career spend in app development, and then data; making the transition from manufacturing to finance. He shares how he learnt along the way the value of a deep understanding on his organizations' goals, and the power of knowing what you don't know. But above all he speaks to the power of working with great people in a good team.

    26 min

  4. 10/03/2025

    Ep 19:Hal Lonas - Chief Technology Officer at Trulioo

    We meet Hal Lonas, CTO of Trulioo and a recognized innovator in cloud security and machine learning. Hal is a long-standing champion of automation technology, having worked in C-suite roles for multiple household names. Hal has also co-authored several patents and holds a degree in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT. He tells us how he shifted from aerospace to software after he took a job as a coder whilst still in school. How he loved the immediacy of solving problems and creating things with code, and how a great boss helped him understand where his skillset and experience fitted in with the wider organization. Hal describes himself as a nerd - someone for whom learning new technology is always a joy. And he says that he actively wants to be told he is wrong because that is how he gets to learn new things.

    28 min

  5. 09/26/2025

    Ep 18:Dr Francis Goh: Change is a constant

    We meet Dr Francis Goh - academic, author and CEO. In a storied career Dr Francis Goh has been an innovator and technical expert. A strategist, board ember, leadership mentor and sought after public Speaker. He tells us about how he wanted to be an engineer rather than an IT professional, but fell into the industry as a strategist after completing an MBA. He describes his subsequent career as a serious of pivots that lead him to where he needs to be - solving problems with a mixture of technical and business skills, creating an innovation pathway that elevates organizations. Francis speaks of his pride in the book he wrote to distill these ideas, and advises those just starting out to accept change as a constant.

    32 min

  6. 09/22/2025

    Ep 17: Stephen Kaufman: Solving problems with technology and people

    We meet Stephen Kaufman, who has spent 25 years architecting solutions on behalf of Microsoft. Stephen tells us that his defining characteristic is curiosity, and how his first memory was of taking things apart and putting them back together, more or less successfully. He says how that led him to a hobby in computers which in turn led him to a computer science degree. But he chose to major in both marketing and computers, because for him success is in solving problems with technology, for people.

    27 min

  7. 09/15/2025

    Ep: 16 Magan Naidoo: Using data to do good

    We meet Magan Naidoo, Chief Data Office of the World Food Council. Magan tells us how he started out in software engineering but transferred into data when his bosses recognised his talent for connecting technology to business problems, and flew him across continents to have him lead on an important project. He talks about his desire to understand and solve problems from first principles rather than just do things on request. Magan gives advice to those starting out: figure out where you can add value, and work hard. He describes how important it is to really define the terms of engagement on any project, and not to presume anything. And he talks about his finest achievement being his current work building a future proof data organization to help solve world hunger.

    35 min
  8. Ep 15: Greg Finnigan: Being your authentic self

    09/05/2025

    Ep 15: Greg Finnigan: Being your authentic self

    We meet Greg Finnigan, who has navigated a career through hardware to security software and on to cloud; large corporates and startups. Greg tells us about how he found a career he loved through working with the right people, and made career changes based on major trends in IT. He talks about how his biggest mistake was not always being his authentic true self until well into his career, and advises people new to the world of work to focus on working with the right people who have the right values.

    30 min
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About

First Person is the show where we meet the most interesting people in IT, and learn from them what makes them tick by focusing only on their firsts. First job, first great boss, first failure or first pet. Learn from interesting people talking about serious things in a not-serious way. Contact matt_egan@foundryco.com

Information

  • Creator
    Matt Egan
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    22
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright Foundry - All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    First Person, with Matt Egan