Guest: Sam Schillace - Corporate Vice President and Deputy Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft. Sam is renowned for inventing Google Docs with his company Writely, which laid the foundation for Google Workspace, now serving over a billion users monthly. He has also held significant roles at Google, Box, and Intuit, and has been a venture capitalist at Google Ventures. Key Takeaways: Follow Your Passion: Pursue work that feels enjoyable and guilt-free to get paid for. This often leads to the most impactful and fulfilling career. Embrace Optimism: Being optimistic and open to possibilities can lead to discovering innovative solutions and opportunities. User Value is Key: Focus on how a product or technology can significantly improve users' lives. Convenience and user value drive adoption. Experiment and Learn: Adopt a mindset of experimentation. Try new things and learn from failures to uncover unexpected insights. AI as a Platform: Treat AI as a foundational platform rather than just a feature. The transformative potential lies in building applications that fundamentally rely on AI. Topics Covered: Innovation and disruption, optimism in technology, user-centric design, AI as a platform, career advice, product development strategies.
“We tend to undervalue the things we're good at. We tend to think work has to be unpleasant.”
“Everything new is threatening at some level at the beginning.”
“You're going to fuck up, make something from it and be creative with your mistakes.”
