356 episodes

The ultimate podcast for aspiring leaders in the creative or technology fields. John Rouda discusses leadership topics, interviews some of the greatest minds today and teaches you practical leadership tips, techniques, tricks and hacks to improve motivation, negotiation, and other much needed skills for leaders today.

A Geek Leader Podcast - inspiring technical and creative leaders around the world John Rouda: technical leader, author, speaker, educator

    • Business
    • 4.9 • 46 Ratings

The ultimate podcast for aspiring leaders in the creative or technology fields. John Rouda discusses leadership topics, interviews some of the greatest minds today and teaches you practical leadership tips, techniques, tricks and hacks to improve motivation, negotiation, and other much needed skills for leaders today.

    AGL 357: Alex Natskovich

    AGL 357: Alex Natskovich

    About Alex

    He is a seasoned engineering leader and CEO. Born in Belarus, he harbored a lifelong dream of becoming an engineer. After graduating from university, he moved to the USA.

    During the initial years, he resided in New York, working as a software engineer in various companies. One of the most notable was the startup Conductor, where he joined as the 5th employee. It has now evolved into the leading global SEO and content intelligence platform. During his tenure there, Alex was responsible for building and maintaining an industry-leading link-building system. Simultaneously, he embarked on building his own company, MEV (named after the mega-electron-volt) - a strategic software development partner for fast-growing companies. Afterward, he decided to settle in the Bay Area.

    While at the helm of his company, he assisted esteemed companies such as Cartier, Novo Nordisk, Daiichi Sankyo, and Avadel in overcoming complex business challenges through software solutions. Additionally, he aided numerous startups in developing stable and scalable digital products, making them attractive for acquisition.

    Alex is passionate about empowering businesses with the right technology. He firmly believes in the power of teams. Building a high-performing team, in his view, necessitates being open-minded and always striving to thoroughly understand the team's objectives and needs for success. This solution-oriented mindset and team focus form the cornerstone of his company.









    Today We Talked About



    * Alex's background

    * Software Development

    * Master Purpose Autonomy

    * Motivation 3.0

    * Values

    * Empathy

    * In-house and Outsourced Teams



    * Full integration

    * Aligned autonomy





    * Culture of Ownership

    * Eliminate Toxic Cultures

    * Ukraine vs. Russia War

    * Focus on what you can control

    * Take









    Connect with Alex



    * LinkedIn

    * Website









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    • 36 min
    AGL 356: John Fisher

    AGL 356: John Fisher

    About John

    John has worked for a wide variety of companies including BPP, GP Strategies (on the HSBC contract), Training 2000 Ltd, Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions and BAe Systems designing and delivering leadership and personal Development interventions, coaching and Project Management. He is experienced at operating at all organizational levels providing, not only development training but also coaching and Boost Growth business consultancy Background John designs, develops and facilitates learning in a highly interactive environment, based on participants own experience. His sessions involve group activities and facilitate discussion to elicit key points. This is to allow participants to gain a thorough working knowledge, with constructive feedback, in a safe environment. John is an experienced coach and trained counsellor who works from a Constructivist perspective that encourages individuals to explore their own solutions.







    Today We Talked About



    * John's background

    * Soft Skills

    * Coaching

    * IF/THEN

    * "Leadership is what you lack when you don't know what to do."

    * George Kelly

    * Change Curve

    * Fear, Threats, Anxiety

    * Change is hard

    * Make Windows from Walls

    * Managing The Horizon

    * Timeline Therapy

    * Hypnotherapy



     







    Connect with John



    * Website

    * LinkedIn









    Leave me a tip $

    Click here to Donate to the show





    I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!









     

    • 45 min
    AGL 355: Krishna Bala

    AGL 355: Krishna Bala

    About Krishna

    Krishna Bala, is currently Sr. VP of Engineering at Proscia, a leading provider of digital and computational pathology solutions, where he oversees the development of its enterprise pathology platform. He is an experienced healthcare technologist with more than 20 years of experience in software development, data engineering and AI/Machine-Learning. He is also an entrepreneur with several successful exits including an IPO as CTO/Founder. Krishna has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University in New York.









    Today We Talked About



    * Krishna's past

    * Data and Healthcare

    * Going from Product to Platform

    * AI in Pathology

    * Scrum of Scrums

    * Conway's Law

    * Breaking down Silos

    * Product Management

    * Robust Dialog

    * Transparency

    * Prioritization

    * Quarterly Business Review (Retrospective)









    Connect with Krishna



    https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbala97/

    * Pathology Software for the Modern Digital Laboratory | Proscia



     







    Leave me a tip $

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    I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!









     

    • 35 min
    AGL 354: Hannah Ryu and Veronica Shelton

    AGL 354: Hannah Ryu and Veronica Shelton

    About Hannah and Veronica





    Hannah Ryu is the Co-Founder of Oak Theory alongside her other half, Veronica Shelton. Oak Theory is a design studio specializing in UX/UI, web and application design. Their resumés have names on them like Disney, HBO, Salesforce, Estée Lauder, Oprah, Unilever, Sephora, Subaru, and MAC cosmetics, where Oak Theory now currently works with industry giants like Google and the University of California. 

    Leading with a human-centered yet deeply analytical approach, Hannah’s strategic know-how shapes Oak Theory’s mission to transform diverse perspectives into robust digital designs. Growing Oak Theory as one of the 0.1% of agencies founded by women of color posed its own challenges, but in just 3 years Hannah, alongside Veronica, has built a team that delivers exceptional, inclusive, and human-centered design.



    “Our cultural backgrounds and unique perspectives as a collective of diverse creatives help our clients show up in a more authentic, impactful, and purposeful way. It’s been a joy to enable that transformation for them.”



    Hannah’s career trajectory has been anything but ordinary. Starting out in a nonprofit, she then took on the role of a magazine assistant (think “Devil Wears Prada”), and ultimately ascended to a product manager position in a tech company. Her journey has given her perspective and clarity, making her uniquely equipped her to shape a workspace that prioritizes psychological safety, and promotes a culture that combines open-ended curiosity with solution-driven thinking.







    To put it simply, Veronica’s brain is literally built for design. Being a neurodivergent person, she has a knack for capturing complex concepts and ideas with visuals that anyone can relate to. Over the past 10+ years, she has partnered with brands of every size, from startups to Fortune 500 conglomerates, using her abilites to build impactful experiences across every medium, from print, to social media, to entire rebrands for top organizations.



    Her work is more than a profession; it’s a reflection of her life. Whether she’s exploring new technologies, mastering programming languages, or indulging in her gaming life with Apex Legends, Veronica’s hobbies are a testament to her dedication to her craft. A true globetrotter at heart, she eagerly anticipates the opportunity to draw fresh inspiration from her travels.



    The inception of Oak Theory, co-founded with Hannah during the pandemic, marked a pivotal moment in her career. Their mission: to forge a space where inclusivity is not just a goal, but the cornerstone of design philosophy. This endeavor is about more than creating sharp visuals and frustration-free navigation; it’s about making every user feel seen and accounted for.



    Parallel to her role at Oak Theory, Veronica is the driving force behind ChunkyBones, a mobile game development company. Here, her focus is on infusing mobile puzzle games with a feminine flair and bringing better representation to women of color in emerging media. Whether it’s through game development or her broader design work, Veronica’s vision is clear: to create experiences that resonate universally, transcending audience differences and showcasing the power of inclusive design.



    In everything she does, Veronica embodies the essence of a designer who not only captures complex concepts with ease but also paves the way for greater diversity and representation in the world of design and beyond.”

















    Today We Talked About



    * Hannah's background

    * Veronica's background

    * AI

    * Diversity in Design

    * Leadership

    * Creativity

    * Solving Problems

    * Showing up

    • 37 min
    AGL 353: Vitaly Gerko

    AGL 353: Vitaly Gerko

    About Vitaly

    Vitaly is the Chief Business Development Officer of the global Adtech video platform for publishers Viqeo. During his career, he managed to work with Google, META, Amazon Ads as well as the largest publishers & advertisers. He is also an Investor, Limited Partner at True Global Ventures (16+ projects). Vitaly has 15+ years of experience in AdTech, MarTech and project oversight, and 5+ years of experience in mentoring startups in AdTech and unit economics.







    Today We Talked About



    * Vitaly's background

    * AI in Ads

    * Privacy

    * Hiring Soft Skills and Hard Skills

    * ad performance









    Connect with Vitaly



    * LinkedIn

    * Website

    * X









    Leave me a tip $

    Click here to Donate to the show





    I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!

    • 27 min
    AGL 352: Sean Falconer

    AGL 352: Sean Falconer

    About Sean

    Sean Falconer has a lofty goal: to make the digital economy safer. And he's doing so one API at a time. A former competitive programmer, entrepreneur, and expert storyteller, his many accomplishments include designing the software used to create ICD-11 at the World Health Organization, founding Proven.com, and leading developer relations teams at Google. When he's not interviewing industry insiders as one of the hosts of the popular Software Engineering Daily podcast or diving into all things data security and privacy on Partially Redacted, you can find this world-class tech talent serving as Head of Marketing and Developer Relations at Skyflow, the world's first and only data privacy vault delivered as an API.









    Today We Talked About



    * startups

    * teaching

    * developer advocacy

    * data manipulation

    * privacy

    * abstracting privacy away from engineering



     







    Connect with Sean



    * Podcast

    * LinkedIn

    * Substack









    Leave me a tip $

    Click here to Donate to the show





    I hope you enjoyed this show, please head over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe and leave me a rating and review, even one sentence will help spread the word.  Thanks again!









     

    • 38 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
46 Ratings

46 Ratings

Ballsack1234556677888999900000 ,

Great podcast for technologists

Very engaging. John is able to bring out the best from his hosts. You can learn a lot from this podcast!

Jim Saliba ,

Engaging and Insightful

Being a guest on The Geek Leader with John was an absolute pleasure. His ability to create an engaging atmosphere for insightful conversations is remarkable. Keep an eye out for more episodes.

MB2064886 ,

Great show!

John interviews some amazing tech leaders. Great listen!

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