Aboard Podcast Aboard
-
- Technology
-
Aboard is a great tool for organizing just about any kind of data, built by people who love the Internet and want to make it better. Hosted by long-time entrepreneurs and commentators Paul Ford and Richard Ziade (also the co-founders of Aboard), this podcast is a frank, transparent look at building a startup, an assessment of the tech industry, and a general take on the tech industry by people who take it seriously but find it hilarious.
-
Exciting Product, Boring Business
How do you build a company that has an exciting product—but has nice, boring, stable qualities, too? Paul and Rich tackle this question from a variety of angles, from tax strategy to the value of marketing to treating the user like a spouse who might cheat on you if you stop putting any effort into the marriage. (And yes, don’t worry: There is also a fair bit of synth talk. And synth noises!)
-
Hard AI Choices
Will generative AI give us the answer or lead us to the answer—or is that the wrong question entirely? Paul and Rich assess the promise of AI through a lens of lightly skeptical optimism, trying to sort out hype from reality and figure out how exactly these tools might be embedded in everyones’ lives someday.
-
Demolishing the Global Town Square
As the last decade’s big social media platforms crumble, Paul and Rich reflect on the (false) promise of the “global town square,” and the suggestion that putting millions of people in a giant room together could be productive in any way. If the era of building software to facilitate networked connections is truly on the way out, does AI promise a return to an earlier, utility-based era of technology?
-
Learning From People We Hate
When Paul suggests recording a podcast about public figures they admire, Rich has a counter-offer—why not talk about people they hate instead? But this particular exercise has a catch: They can only discuss things they admire or feel they can learn from said figures, a very tricky exercise with certain politicians! A countdown of five business and political leaders that some large number of people hate—plus listen to the very end to hear exactly how Paul compares himself to Taylor Swift.
-
Paul Breaks His Foot and Observes Enterprise Healthcare Software
When Paul injures himself and is advised by his wife, Rich, and ChatGPT (seriously) to seek emergency medical attention, he goes to the urgent care and marvels at their utterly Byzantine technological set-up, from parallel, disconnected patient portals to being handed a literal CD-ROM with his X-rays. What can we learn from systems built for the captive user—and how does that apply to enterprise software more broadly?
-
Selling Software Like Tote Bags
What makes a person pay $120 for a tote bag—or fall in love with your software? Paul and Rich use a recent article about a TikTok influencer’s pricey (and popular!) tote bag to discuss our relationships with the things we buy, from unboxing videos (“commerce translated into emotional satisfaction”) to technologists’ largely incorrect assumption that adding one more feature will fundamentally change the way users feel about their product.
Customer Reviews
Rich ziade hates Brooklyn
Otherwise he would support small businesses in the neighborhoods where he buys property