Episode 222 | Ben Hood - Gratefully Geeking Out

Guest: Ben Hood @benhood Ben Hood talks with Dave Rael about multiplying impact, product management, outsourcing, and gratitude Ben Hood has been an entrepreneur and digital product manager for the last decade, working mainly on web and mobile applications, at companies both big and small. He most recently worked in healthcare and cybersecurity, as a director of product management at Metabiota and Endgame. He also has extensive experience working with big data analytics for government customers. He has worked in the energy sector, providing customers with an app to track their home’s electricity usage. At the beginning of his career, Ben worked on music and video at AOL. Ben has undergraduate degrees in computer engineering and physics, and a Ph.D. in astrophysics. Chapters: 0:45 - Dave introduces the show and Ben Hood2:10 - Ben, the physicist4:36 - Ben's software roots and getting introduced to programming7:15 - Awe and wonder at the many layers and levels of pieces that make computing work8:41 - Progress and gratitude13:10 - Ben's current status, GoGo Apps, life in Poland, and outsourcing software development21:17 - Ben's career path and how Ben got into product management25:31 - Ben's story of failure - getting involved in a startup with the wrong people29:14 - Ben's success story - Pivoting from a failure into a useful application, helping people with energy management31:43 - How Ben stays current with what he needs to know32:48 - Ben's book recommendation34:49 - The things that have Ben most excited37:36 - Ben's top 3 tips for delivering more value39:27 - Keeping up with Ben and GoGo Apps Resources: GoGo Apps Dave on Software Engineering Daily Seth Godin on Entitlement Wattbuy Ben Balter on Developer On Fire Ben's book recommendation: A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson Ben's top 3 tips for delivering more value: Really listen Iterate Be fearless