"Get in front of a customer and talk to them." - Brian McMahonTech Scenes with Brian McMahon, CEO and Co-founder of Pickle.In this episode, we dive into the evolution of Pickle—from a social polling app to a fast-growing peer-to-peer rental marketplace. Brian shares what he and his co-founder learned the hard way, how they kept the product lean, and what it takes to build a marketplace with strong customer feedback loops, KPIs, and team culture.👉 Like the episode? Subscribe and drop a comment. We’d love to hear your take.Key Takeaways:Pickle is a rental marketplace, like Airbnb for clothes and goods.Their original concept was a social polling platform.Building a marketplace requires managing local dynamics.Bootstrapping helped them run lean and stay customer-focused.They prioritize fast feedback loops and in-person customer engagement.Scaling culture means communication has to be tight.Fundraising was challenging—but led to critical investor insights.KPIs and OKRs are essential to team alignment and growth.Chapters:00:00 – Founders' Journey and Early Mistakes01:12 – Introducing Pickle: The Rental Marketplace03:25 – Marketplace Dynamics and Expansion Strategy05:47 – Pivoting from Social Polling to Rental Marketplace07:31 – Bootstrapping and Lean Operations09:00 – Customer Engagement Through Direct Interaction12:26 – Feedback Loops and Product Iteration14:04 – Scaling the Team and Maintaining Culture18:19 – Fundraising Experience and Investor Relations24:22 – Learning from Experienced Investors30:26 – Establishing KPIs and OKRs for GrowthLearn more about the book Peak Teams – Mastering the Habit of Unstoppable Venture-backed Companies™: https://a.co/d/hp5JtnuVisit Collective Genius™ to Build Your Venture-backed Team with the Peak Operating System™: https://www.collective-genius.com/Music by Andrew Applepie – https://soundcloud.com/andrewapplepie#pickle #marketplace #founderjourney #startup #entrepreneurship #techscenes #venturebacked #kpis #okrs #collectivegenius #peakoperatingsystem #startupgrowth #founderstory #scalingstartups

"You're better off picking a big problem—and solving it better than anyone else." - Ken BagnallIn this episode of Tech Scenes Santa Monica, Jeff James Martin sits down with Ken Bagnall, CEO and Co-founder of Silent Push, to explore the changing landscape of cybersecurity and the power of preemptive threat intelligence.Ken shares his journey from founding The Email Laundry to leading product at FireEye and ultimately building Silent Push, a company that leverages Indicators of Future Attack™ (IOFA™) to expose threat actor infrastructure before it can be weaponized. The conversation uncovers how startups can succeed by staying laser-focused on solving complex, high-impact problems, why cybersecurity is riddled with noise, and how boards can either amplify or distract a company’s mission.Key TakeawaysStartups should aim to solve large, meaningful problems with precision and clarity.Cybercrime is global, persistent, and has deep economic implications.Silent Push’s IOFA™ model provides early visibility into threat actor behavior.A focused go-to-market strategy is essential in a noisy cybersecurity industry.Success requires proximity to the threat actor and constant innovation.Noise in cybersecurity often comes from inexperienced or misaligned players.Experienced board members can offer strategic clarity and reduce distractions.Proactive defense is the future—waiting for attacks is no longer sustainable.A strong, aligned team fuels execution and market differentiation.Staying ahead of evolving threats requires both technology and discipline.Chapters00:00 – The Importance of Problem-Solving in Startups01:57 – Understanding Threat Intelligence and Cybersecurity07:34 – The Scale of Cybercrime and Its Global Impact09:05 – Monitoring Threat Actors: Strategies and Technologies11:16 – Go-to-Market Strategies in Cybersecurity19:09 – Building a Focused and Innovative Team24:06 – Navigating the Cybersecurity Landscape27:33 – The Role of Board Members in Cybersecurity Startups30:35 – The Future of Cybersecurity and Market TrendsResourcesLearn more about the book Peak Teams – Mastering the Habit of Unstoppable Venture-backed Companies https://a.co/d/hp5JtnuVisit Collective Genius™ to Build Your Venture-backed Team with the Peak Operating System™ https://www.collective-genius.com/Music by Andrew Applepie https://soundcloud.com/andrewapplepie#TechScenes #KenBagnall #SilentPush #Cybersecurity #ThreatIntelligence #Startups #Innovation #AI #Entrepreneurship #EarlyStage #VentureCapital #Cybercrime #DigitalDefense #CollectiveGenius™ #PeakOperatingSystem™ #JeffJamesMartin #StartupLeadership

"Treat every human different—and build your frameworks from there." - Amos Schwartzfarb

In this episode of Tech Scenes, Jeff James Martin sits down with Amos Schwartzfarb, former managing Director of Techstars Austin and author of Sell More Faster and Levers, to explore what it really takes to scale a startup from founder-led sales to full-blown success.

Amos shares stories from his own wild entrepreneurial journey—from packing boxes for one of the first e-commerce companies to becoming one of Texas’s most active early-stage investors. The conversation dives deep into frameworks for sales, metrics that matter, and how to balance hard data with human nuance when building teams. They also talk about the joy of coaching, the discovery process, and how music—and leadership—are both about learning to harmonize.

Key Takeaways:

• Strong opinions, loosely held are crucial to evolving as a leader and operator.

• Coaching and mentorship create value far beyond tactical execution.

• Discovery never stops—you’re always figuring things out.

• Founder-led sales matter early on—nobody sells like the founder.

• Sales frameworks and metrics help teams build predictability and scale.

• OKRs build capability, while KPIs measure current state—they serve different purposes.

• Every person is different, and great leaders build around individuality, not uniformity.

• High-performing teams learn together—learning is a shared core behavior.

• The journey of entrepreneurship is personal, iterative, and often musical.

Chapters:

00:00 – Embracing Flexibility in Opinions
01:10 – The Joy of Coaching and Mentorship
02:52 – Frameworks for Business Success
04:47 – The Discovery Process in Startups
06:20 – Reflecting on Career Paths
07:50 – The Evolution of Business Plans
10:12 – Learning Through Business Planning
12:09 – The Importance of a Holistic View
13:31 – Metrics and Predictability in Sales
16:57 – Founder-Led Sales Strategies
20:12 – Understanding Sales Metrics
22:34 – Hiring the Right Sales Profiles
24:05 – Learning as a Core Team Behavior
24:52 – Journey to Techstars: A New Beginning
27:31 – Lessons from Mentoring Startups
30:00 – The Importance of Individuality in Teams
33:48 – Frameworks for Team Success
36:31 – Understanding OKRs vs. KPIs
40:39 – The Future Hippies of Punk: A Musical Journey

Resources:
Learn more about the book Peak Teams – Mastering the Habit of Unstoppable Venture-backed Companies 🔗 https://a.co/d/hp5Jtnu

Visit Collective Genius™ to Build Your Venture-backed Team with the Peak Operating System™ 🔗 https://www.collective-genius.com/

Music by Andrew Applepie 🔗 https://soundcloud.com/andrewapplepie

#TechScenes #AmosSchwartzfarb #SellMoreFaster #LeversBook #Techstars #StartupMentorship #FounderLedSales #OKRs #KPIs #VentureCapital #Startups #Entrepreneurship #JeffJamesMartin #CollectiveGenius™ #PeakOperatingSystem™ #Leadership #TeamAlignment #SalesStrategy #AustinTech