GeekWire Summit 2017 – GeekWire Special Coverage

Video

From pun to performing on the big stage: How the ‘GeekChoir’ came to be

by Clare McGrane on November 23, 2017November 23, 2017 at 9:05 am

It started like many ideas do here at GeekWire: Over beers at a craft brewery just down the street from our office in Fremont. GeekWire co-founder John Cook was retelling… Read More

Video

Technology, a president and Russia: Lessons from Ronald Reagan’s Moscow microchip speech

by Kurt Schlosser on November 4, 2017November 3, 2017 at 8:33 pm

As an American historian, University of Washington history professor Margaret O’Mara says she’s particularly interested in understanding “how did we get to now?” During a talk at the recent GeekWire Summit… Read More

Video

Amazon Alexa chief: Saturday Night Live spoof of Echo speaker is actually ‘kind of spot on’

by Nat Levy on October 28, 2017October 28, 2017 at 8:36 am

When Saturday Night Live spoofed Amazon’s Echo smart speaker with a version for the “Greatest Generation,” it turns out they might have been on to something. In the parody commercial,… Read More

Podcast

Washington AG Bob Ferguson talks Trump, reining in Big Tech, and rumors of a gubernatorial bid

by Monica Nickelsburg & Clare McGrane on October 23, 2017October 23, 2017 at 7:49 pm

Over the past year, Bob Ferguson has stepped into the media spotlight by repeatedly challenging President Donald Trump on everything from environmental protection to immigration. Immigration, in particular, has put… Read More

Disney spinout Dragonchain pursues initial coin offering to build out new blockchain technology

by Nat Levy on October 23, 2017October 23, 2017 at 8:35 am

Blockchain is one of the hottest trends in tech right now, but it remains a mystery to many outside the industry. A startup based in the Seattle area is building… Read More

Video

Full video: Inside the payments industry with Stripe co-founder John Collison at the GeekWire Summit

by Nat Levy on October 22, 2017October 22, 2017 at 7:16 am

They may not know it, but anyone who has backed a company on Kickstarter or taken a Lyft is engaging with Stripe. The company provides the online payments backbone for… Read More

Video

The art of note-taking: How this GeekWire Summit artist turns conversations into inspiring visual maps

by Taylor Soper on October 21, 2017October 26, 2017 at 3:47 pm

Note-taking can be a mundane and repetitive process that doesn’t always help inspire innovative new ideas. But that all changes when Guillaume Wiatr puts pen to paper. Wiatr, CEO and… Read More

Podcast

Satya Nadella, the full GeekWire Summit interview: Microsoft’s transformation and the future of tech

by Clare McGrane on October 18, 2017October 21, 2017 at 7:22 am

Satya Nadella is most well known for transforming Microsoft as its third, and current, CEO. He’s taken the company in a new and exciting direction, doubling its stock price and… Read More

21 awesome books that Satya Nadella, Kevin Johnson and other top tech leaders recommend this autumn

by Kurt Schlosser on October 15, 2017October 15, 2017 at 4:51 pm

Getting a read on attendees and speakers at the GeekWire Summit doesn’t seem like such a difficult task. They’re likely into technology or science or some other related field that… Read More

Video

Relive the 2017 GeekWire Summit: Our annual tech conference offers a glimpse into the future

by Taylor Soper on October 14, 2017November 1, 2018 at 10:34 am

CEOs and executives shared their best practices. Professors and researchers offered their expert opinions. Inventors and entrepreneurs demonstrated their latest ideas. The 2017 GeekWire Summit was a melting pot of innovators,… Read More

Here’s the line of poetry Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says best describes the future

by Nat Levy on October 14, 2017October 14, 2017 at 7:40 pm

When he isn’t reimagining Microsoft’s culture and direction, Satya Nadella is a man of many varied interests, from cricket to poetry. At the 2017 GeekWire Summit, The Microsoft CEO was… Read More

Podcast

Week In Geek Podcast: Behind the scenes at the GeekWire Summit and a peek at GeekWire HQ2

by Clare McGrane on October 14, 2017October 13, 2017 at 3:01 pm

GeekWire reporters travel all over the country covering some of the most prime tech events on the planet. But this week, we had the exciting role of hosting one of… Read More

Amazon Web Services chief Jassy on HQ2 plans: ‘That’s above my pay grade’

by Tom Krazit on October 13, 2017October 14, 2017 at 11:26 am

As cities across the U.S. fall all over themselves to pitch themselves as the best destination for Amazon’s second headquarters, sounds like they don’t need to waste their time lobbying… Read More

Video

Why Stripe co-founder John Collison thinks his company is the Amazon Web Services of payments

by Tom Krazit on October 13, 2017October 13, 2017 at 11:23 am

There’s not a lot of regular folks who realize that mobile payments processor Stripe is one of the most influential and widespread companies behind a lot of the services they… Read More

Video

Stripe co-founder John Collison explains why online payments powerhouse opened an office in Seattle

by Nat Levy on October 13, 2017October 13, 2017 at 12:10 pm

Online payment powerhouse Stripe just opened an office in Seattle, its first engineering outpost outside of Silicon Valley, and it’s already growing fast. Plans for the Seattle office first surfaced… Read More

Video

‘You can’t wash your hands of this.’ Watch a top University of Washington professor sound off on Facebook and Russia

by Monica Nickelsburg on October 12, 2017October 14, 2017 at 8:14 am

Ed Lazowska, a leading computer science professor at the University of Washington, wants Facebook and other big tech companies to take responsibility for enabling Russian meddling into the 2016 election. The… Read More

B.S. for Ph.D.s: Not even science is immune from the fake-news epidemic

by Alan Boyle on October 11, 2017October 11, 2017 at 10:00 pm

The controversy over fake news may focus on politics, but it’s also slipping into the scientific realm, says one of the country’s pioneers in the study of B.S. The hunger… Read More

Video

Real talk about fake news: How the Information Age became the Disinformation Age

by Tom Krazit on October 11, 2017November 17, 2017 at 11:21 am

Technology has changed just about everything it has touched, and that is especially true when it comes to the distribution of news and information around the planet. Early hopes that… Read More

Inventions We Love: Smart lighting, a smart ball and a DIY pancreas system that is … well, really smart

by Kurt Schlosser on October 11, 2017October 12, 2017 at 9:13 am

You can never have too many inventions worth loving. And in Seattle’s bustling tech scene, startups continue to wow us with their geeky gadgets. On Tuesday during the annual GeekWire… Read More

GeekWire opens search for ‘GeekWire HQ2’ in quest to find next great North American tech city

by GeekWire Staff on October 11, 2017January 17, 2018 at 10:32 pm

GeekWire started more than six years ago in a loft space in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood, later expanding to the back tables of a gritty coffee shop in Seattle’s Greenwood… Read More

TheBoardlist founder: ‘Silicon Valley is built for people given opportunity they’re not qualified for’

by Monica Nickelsburg on October 11, 2017October 11, 2017 at 2:18 pm

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy is calling BS on tech industry leaders who avoid hiring female candidates because they don’t want to “lower the bar.” In an on-stage interview at the GeekWire… Read More

In pursuit of independence, Todd Stabelfeldt urges techies at GeekWire Summit: ‘Make my life real’

by Lisa Stiffler on October 11, 2017October 11, 2017 at 3:04 pm

If you’re playing a role, any role, in creating technology, Todd Stabelfeldt — AKA “The Quadfather” — has a message for you. (And when The Quadfather talks, you really ought… Read More

Video

GeekWire Summit Live: theBoardlist Founder Sukhinder Singh Cassidy and Zillow Group CEO Spencer Rascoff

by Clare McGrane on October 11, 2017October 11, 2017 at 1:23 pm

This session isn’t just a talk — it’s also live recording of Zillow Group CEO Spencer Rascoff’s Office Hours podcast. Rascoff will moderate an in-depth discussion as part of a special episode… Read More

Three technologies Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella thinks will shape the future

by Tom Krazit on October 11, 2017October 11, 2017 at 12:24 pm

With a rueful smile, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella acknowledged on stage at the GeekWire Summit that “one of the (really bizarre) things to do is speculate in technology about the… Read More

Tech companies are provoking more ire by moving out of the suburbs and into cities, says urban history expert

by Monica Nickelsburg on October 11, 2017October 11, 2017 at 11:53 am

Technology is a critical part of American history but it typically occupies little more than a marginal note in history textbooks. Margaret O’Mara, a history professor at the University of Washington, says… Read More

How Microsoft’s Satya Nadella got Wall Street to look past its cloud battle with Amazon Web Services

by Tom Krazit on October 11, 2017October 11, 2017 at 11:23 am

About a year after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella became the third chief executive officer in the company’s history, he outlined in April 2015 what seemed at the time an audacious… Read More

Microsoft HQ2? ‘We are very, very happy where we are,’ says CEO Satya Nadella

by Nat Levy on October 11, 2017October 11, 2017 at 11:39 am

Amazon’s decision to open a second headquarters equal to its hometown Seattle campuses is largely unprecedented in modern business history, and the Seattle area’s other top tech giant has no… Read More

After struggling with ‘Why us?’ Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella credits son with shaping who he is

by Kurt Schlosser on October 11, 2017October 11, 2017 at 11:18 am

When he was 29 years old, Satya Nadella was looking forward to the birth of his first child. Like many parents, the Microsoft CEO looks back on that time and… Read More

What Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella learned from Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer about being a leader

by Clare McGrane on October 11, 2017October 11, 2017 at 12:01 pm

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has brought something of a renaissance to the company. Although many see him as a new, innovative force at Microsoft, it turns out Nadella has learned… Read More

Podcast

GeekWire Summit Live: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and more

by Clare McGrane on October 11, 2017October 13, 2017 at 7:32 am

Update: The session has concluded, but you can watch the archived live stream above. Listen to a podcast version below, or download the MP3. Microsoft is a starkly different company… Read More

Video

GeekWire Summit 2017: Photos and recap from an inspirational and informative Day 1

by Taylor Soper on October 11, 2017October 11, 2017 at 9:31 am

CEOs, presidents, founders, venture capitalists, scientists, inventors, professors, researchers, and an attorney general — Day 1 at the 2017 GeekWire Summit had it all. More than 900 of you joined… Read More

GeekWire Summit Day Two: Diversity & inclusion, Satya Nadella, awesome giveaways; and more

by John Cook on October 11, 2017October 11, 2017 at 7:06 am

The GeekWire Summit kicked off yesterday with an amazing slate of speakers, and we’ll be back on the stage again this morning at 8:30 a.m. for an impactful diversity and… Read More

Amazon says it will make Prime membership ‘really valuable’ for Whole Foods shoppers

by Taylor Soper on October 10, 2017October 11, 2017 at 4:13 am

Amazon Prime members can expect to get some deals when they shop at Whole Foods. Jeff Wilke, CEO of Worldwide Consumer at Amazon, spoke at the GeekWire Summit in Seattle… Read More

Video

3 investors discuss the most (and least) exciting emerging technologies on their radar

by Monica Nickelsburg on October 10, 2017July 11, 2018 at 9:32 am

Insurance and machine learning are hot, virtual reality is not, and cryptocurrency is complicated. Those are a few takeaways from “The VC View” — a panel of venture capitalists featuring… Read More

Inventions We Love: Pillsy, JikoPower and SafKan pitch geeky gadgets to voters at GeekWire Summit

by Kurt Schlosser on October 10, 2017October 12, 2017 at 9:15 am

There’s a lot to love about technology in 2017, including one of our favorite segments of the GeekWire Summit: Inventions We Love. This year we split the crop of contending… Read More

Sorry, HQ2 suitors: Wacky stunts aren’t likely to get Amazon’s attention, says top exec Jeff Wilke

by Nat Levy on October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 at 5:34 pm

Seattle, don’t take Amazon’s search for a second headquarters personally. The company’s CEO of Worldwide Consumer Jeff Wilke said at the 2017 GeekWire Summit that Amazon now has 50,000 people… Read More

Heard & overheard: GeekWire Summit 2017, Day 1

by Frank Catalano on October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 at 5:32 pm

Executives, scientists, and politicians say the darnedest things. The casual-yet-focused discussions on stage at the GeekWire Summit led top names across the entire range of the technology spectrum to share… Read More

Video

Brain scientist Christof Koch maps out a path to merge humans and machines

by Alan Boyle on October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 at 5:31 pm

It may sound like a zombie movie, but Seattle’s Allen Institute for Brain Science is studying fresh human brain tissue to see up close how our neurons work — and perhaps… Read More

Benchmark Capital partner on suing Uber’s former CEO and replacing him with Expedia’s Dara Khosrowshahi

by Monica Nickelsburg on October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 at 4:29 pm

After Travis Kalanick resigned from Uber amid a series of sexual harassment and other scandals, investor Benchmark Capital filed an unorthodox lawsuit against the former CEO. Benchmark General Partner Sarah… Read More

How Amazon’s Alexa overcame doubters — even within the project team — to conquer the voice speaker market

by Nat Levy on October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 at 3:57 pm

Alexa has been a hit, helping Amazon capture an early lead in the voice-activated speaker market through the Echo and igniting an arms race among tech giants to see who… Read More

Video

‘I cannot stand losing’: Washington AG Bob Ferguson on never underestimating Donald Trump

by Kurt Schlosser on October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 at 5:28 pm

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson has filed 19 lawsuits against the administration of Donald Trump since the president took office. When asked at the GeekWire Summit on Tuesday whether… Read More

How do you succeed in tech? ExtraHop CEO Arif Kareem thinks you must invest in people

by Tom Krazit on October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 at 1:38 pm

Tech startups tend to break through in their early days with a game-changing product or an irresistible service, but companies that last are the ones that invest in their people,… Read More

Future battles against cancer will expand tech frontiers, Fred Hutch’s chief says

by Alan Boyle on October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 at 2:53 pm

The fight against cancer isn’t just about drugs and genetics. It’s also about wearable devices, health-savvy chatbots, machine learning and one of the biggest challenges that cloud computing will ever… Read More

Video

GeekWire Summit Live: WA state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, head of Alexa and Echo devices Toni Reid and more

by Clare McGrane on October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 at 1:10 pm

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson became the central face in the battle against President Donald Trump’s immigration ban. Longtime Amazon exec Toni Reid is the woman behind the voice… Read More

Environmental group deploys ‘Cup Monster’ to pressure Starbucks to use more sustainable cups

by Nat Levy on October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 at 12:57 pm

As Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson took the stage this morning to kick off the 2017 GeekWire Summit, a giant structure with bloodshot eyes, made of more than 500 used Starbucks coffee cups… Read More

How Amazon’s $13.7B purchase of Whole Foods is a ‘blessing in disguise’ for Instacart

by Nat Levy on October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 at 1:00 pm

Amazon’s blockbuster deal to buy Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion shocked the foundation of the grocery/retail world, and it also put grocery delivery startup Instacart in an awkward spot.… Read More

3rd annual Geeks Give Back campaign aims to raise $1M for the next generation of STEM leaders

by Clare McGrane on October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 at 10:03 pm

Like many places around the world, Washington state has a talent crisis. The state creates thousands of highly skilled jobs every year in industries like technology and medicine — but it… Read More

In the race to get driverless cars on the road, expert warns of the need to pump the brakes — for now

by Nat Levy on October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 at 11:40 am

Fully automated cars are looked at by many in the tech community as a near certainty, maybe even in the next few years, but a former U.S. Navy fighter pilot… Read More

Video

GeekWire Summit Live: Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta on the future of retail and delivery

by Clare McGrane on October 10, 2017November 26, 2017 at 11:43 am

The grocery and delivery markets are rapidly changing, and Instacart founder and CEO Apoorva Mehta — a former supply chain engineer at Amazon — has seen it all. Mehta is… Read More

Video

The GeekWire Summit’s own ‘Top Gun’: Ex-Navy pilot Dr. Missy Cummings on her 4G, inverted dive

by Kurt Schlosser on October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 at 11:32 am

Dr. Missy Cummings, who serves as director of the Humans and Autonomy Lab at Duke University, spoke about the future of driverless vehicles during a power talk at the GeekWire Summit… Read More

Starbucks CEO explains how company ties together a physical store experience with digital innovation

by Taylor Soper on October 10, 2017October 16, 2017 at 5:22 pm

Over the past decade, traditional brick-and-mortar retailers have gone through a massive disruption as digital tools and the internet change the way people shop. Many have seen in-store sales drop substantially,… Read More

Bloomberg TV broadcasts live from the GeekWire Summit, showcasing top names in tech

by John Cook on October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 at 10:23 am

The GeekWire Summit kicks off today, with more than 900 business, tech, media and government leaders joining us to talk about the future of the innovation economy. We’re excited to… Read More

Podcast

Baidu president calls AI the ‘single most transformative force of our time’

by Nat Levy on October 9, 2017October 13, 2017 at 7:26 am

Baidu is known primarily as a search giant in China, but the company, which just opened an office in the Seattle area, is putting its full weight behind artificial intelligence… Read More

GeekWire Summit FAQ: What to know if you’re attending this week’s big tech conference

by John Cook on October 8, 2017October 9, 2017 at 3:44 pm

The 2017 GeekWire Summit is finally here. After months of planning, we’re thrilled that more than 800 business, tech, media and government leaders will join us starting tomorrow for our… Read More

GeekWire Summit: Full agenda released, limited tickets available

by John Cook on October 5, 2017January 5, 2018 at 10:07 am

We’re just four days away from the GeekWire Summit, which will bring together more than 800 leaders to explore what’s next in tech, business, science, media and society. A few… Read More

Video

We prepared this 6-page memo for our GeekWire Summit session with Amazon’s Jeff Wilke — please read it silently to yourselves

by Todd Bishop on October 5, 2017October 6, 2017 at 9:59 am

One of Amazon’s traditions is the “6-pager,” a detailed memo read silently at the outset of an internal meeting to get everyone on the same page, literally. This has been… Read More

Satya Nadella

CEO, Microsoft

Kevin Johnson

CEO, Starbucks

Toni Reid

VP, Amazon Alexa & Echo Devices

Bob Ferguson

Attorney General, Washington State

Apoorva Mehta

Founder & CEO, Instacart

Mary Cummings

Director, Humans and Autonomy Lab at Duke University

Dr. Gary Gilliland

President, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Emily Chang

Anchor, Bloomberg Technology

Jeff Wilke

CEO Worldwide Consumer, Amazon

Rebecca Lynn

Partner, Canvas Ventures

John Collison

Co-founder, Stripe

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy

Founder, theBoardlist

Julie Sandler

Managing Director, Pioneer Square Labs

Dr. Christof Koch

President and Chief Scientific Officer, Allen Institute for Brain Science

Sarah Tavel

General Partner, Benchmark

Spencer Rascoff

CEO, Zillow Group

Nick Wingfield

Reporter, The New York Times

Todd Stabelfeldt

CEO, C4 Database Management

Leslie Feinzaig

CEO, Venture Kits

Arif Kareem

CEO, ExtraHop Networks

Dana Lewis

Founder, OpenAPS

Brian Monnin

CEO & Co-founder, Play Impossible

Naria Santa Lucia

Executive director, WSOS

Chuks Onwuneme

Co-founder, Pillsy

Chloe Harford

VP of Product, OfferUp

Jonathan Sposato

Chairman, GeekWire + PicMonkey

Margaret O'Mara

Professor, University of Washington

Brad Smith

President, Microsoft

Reetu Gupta

CEO, Cirkled in

Joe Roets

Founder, Dragonchain Inc.

Amy Bohutinsky

COO, Zillow Group

Effenus Henderson

President, Institute for Sustainable Diversity & Inclusion

Ina Fried

Chief Technology Correspondent, Axios

Eric Osborne

Co-founder, HERE Seattle

Sarah Bird

CEO, Moz

Sahil Diwan

CEO, SafKan

Jevin West

Assistant Professor, Information School, University of Washington

Derek Richardson

CEO, Deako

Marene Wiley

Co-founder, JikoPower

Vinny Green

Co-owner and VP of Operations, Snopes

Citlaly Ramirez

WSOS Scholar

Michael Grabham

Founder & Host, Start IT Seattle

Guillaume Wiatr

Founder, Metahelm