GrizzTech Talks

Dan McCurdy is a Senior Director of Technical Program Management (in AR/VR) at Facebook. Dan graduated from Oakland University in 1991 with a degree in Finance, and shortly after joined Ameritech (which is now AT&T). Over the years he has held director positions in technical program management, spanning software and hardware engineering at both Motorola and Amazon, before joining Facebook in 2019 as a director.

In this episode, Dan tell us about lessons from his career path, how to stand out as an employee early in your career, and what it’s like to work on “Version 0” and “Version 1” projects.

Get a limited edition GrizzTech Talks sticker here: https://forms.gle/VLzNuwFzoycig2KZA

Jacklyn Biggin is a Senior Developer at the Royal Bank of Canada. Jacklyn studied Digital Media at the University of Leeds in the UK, and in March of 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic she founded and was the lead organizer of Hack Quarantine, a 3-week online hackathon with thousands of participants. Today, in addition to working at RBC she is everyone’s favorite hackathon coach and creates awesome content for Major League Hacking. 

Shownotes: Follow Jacklyn on Twitter (https://twitter.com/JackBiggin), connect with her on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackbiggin/) and subscribe to her YouTube channel (http://dontforgettolikeandsubscribe.com/) 

Get your limited edition GrizzTech Talks sticker at https://forms.gle/fPzYAZkUmqud8HzB6.

Tom Shea graduated from Oakland University in 1991 with degrees in Accounting and Finance, and he brought his business acumen with him as he transitioned into the world of software and technology. Tom’s work and the products he built pioneered a whole new space of Financial Data Quality. He sold his first company in 2006, and a few years later he founded OneStream Software which is a company based in Rochester, Michigan currently valued at over a billion dollars. Tom Shea is the founder and CEO of OneStream Software.

In this episode, listen to Tom talk about his journey as an entrepreneur, from his time studying at Oakland University to founding OneStream. Tom talks about the innovation happening at OneStream Software and shares his best career advice along the way.

Shownotes:
Learn more about OneStream Software at https://www.onestreamsoftware.com/ and view their job openings at https://www.onestreamsoftware.com/about/careers.

Minn graduated from Villanova University with a degree in Economics and Psychology. She is a former New Yorker turned San Francisco-based investor at Bloomberg Beta, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in the future of work. At Bloomberg Beta, she focuses on automation, productivity tools for knowledge workers, and robots. 

In this episode, Minn tells us about working in venture capital, talks about Bloomberg Beta and the future of work, and gives her best career advice for students and recent grads.  

Shownotes: Connect and follow Minn on her Twitter (https://twitter.com/minney_cat) and website (https://minnkim.com/). Learn more about Bloomberg Beta on their website (https://www.bloombergbeta.com/).

Amanda Fischer is an early career professional at Ford Motor Company. She graduated from Oakland University in 2016 with a degree in IT and entered the rotational program at Ford. During the rotational program, Amanda chose a variety of roles including project manager and software engineer on three separate products. Her current role as a Location Based Services Product Manager brings her close to some of the company's most coveted upcoming vehicles as she works with her team to deliver drive assist vehicle features. Outside of her daily job, she is a passionate advocate for women in tech, STEM outreach, and meeting exceptional candidates as a recruiter. 

In this exciting season kick-off episode, Amanda talks to us about STEM outreach, her work in tech, and shares helpful early career advice. Along the way, she also shares her industry insider’s perspective on the current state and future of autonomous vehicles, and what has to happen to alleviate any doubts on the future of autonomy. 

Shownotes: 

Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandacfischer/) and learn more about Ford at https://www.ford.com/.