Working Geek - GeekWire

Feb 20, 2021, 12:30 PM

How a yearlong sabbatical helped this startup founder recharge his passion and excitement

The notion that “absence makes the heart grow fonder” is simple enough. But what if that absence means temporarily walking… Read More

Feb 6, 2021, 10:00 AM

How Promethean’s product chief adopted Amazon-inspired business practices at edtech company

Steven Halliwell, chief product officer for Promethean, calls himself a change agent. In his current role during the COVID-19 pandemic,… Read More

Jan 10, 2021, 10:00 AM

2nd Watch CEO Doug Schneider on the art of building company culture while working apart

Over his career, Doug Schneider has held leadership roles for companies in telecommunications, web hosting and cloud services. He has… Read More

Jan 3, 2021, 10:00 AM

How Optimal’s CEO shifted his company and personal priorities — and is now a better leader

Sung Rhee wanted to make money. He’d been a general manager at Microsoft for nearly a decade, and in the… Read More

Dec 6, 2020, 10:00 AM

How an all-girls high school prepped this exec for the male-dominated field of software engineering

For Qumulo’s Molly Brown, graduating from an all-girls high school turned out to be a great preparation for studying and… Read More

Nov 27, 2020, 8:00 AM

‘Top 100 Female Founder’ and CEO of Joylux on her audacious promotion of pelvic floors

Colette Courtion has staked her claim where tech innovation has largely feared to tread: women’s pelvic floors. “People want to… Read More

Nov 21, 2020, 12:05 PM

How culture and leadership helped ventilator maker Ventec meet huge demand in COVID-19 response

To rapidly increase a company’s production 8-fold is daunting. To ramp up 80-fold is almost unimaginable. It’s also what Chris… Read More

Nov 14, 2020, 10:00 AM

Why Varsity Tutors’ president left Amazon for Sears and what he learned from the experience

Why would anyone in their right mind voluntarily leave a rising star of a company that’s redefining commerce to a… Read More

Nov 7, 2020, 9:00 AM

In a COVID slump? Algorithmia CEO Diego Oppenheimer is ready with a pep talk

If you’re stuck professionally in a COVID-19 rut, Diego Oppenheimer, CEO of Seattle-based Algorithmia, is ready with words of encouragement.… Read More

Nov 1, 2020, 12:12 PM

Data scientist detects biothreats using expertise in veterinary medicine, conservation and math

Lauren Charles recently took up string art as a hobby, motivated by her elementary-age daughter’s desire to hammer things. But… Read More

Oct 24, 2020, 10:00 AM

CEO of Washington STEM on finding inspiration in Christmas trees and a microbiology fail

In the often dark, disorienting days of COVID-19, Angela Jones finds a twinkle of hope in her plastic, Costco-bought Christmas… Read More

Oct 10, 2020, 3:00 PM

Washington state’s broadband guru on an internet moonshot and being a metaphorical prom king

When a buddy of Russ Elliott‘s asked if he’d join him in starting a telecom company, he flat out said… Read More

Oct 3, 2020, 10:00 AM

CTO shares tips for impact and efficiency from a career spanning startups, government and NGOs

Tyrone Grandison started his career path in math, economics and computer engineering, studying at universities in Jamaica, the West Indies… Read More

Sep 30, 2020, 3:00 PM

From cybersecurity to social justice, Rubica CEO Frances Dewing is an agent of unexpected change

As CEO of a cybersecurity company that’s raised nearly $15 million in funding, Frances Dewing has a surprising confession to… Read More

Sep 7, 2020, 8:00 AM

How the invasion of Kuwait helped shape the leadership style of Uplevel CTO Ravs Kaur

In August 1990, 9-year-old Ravs Kaur and her family fled Kuwait City as it was invaded by Iraq, quickly leading… Read More

Aug 29, 2020, 12:30 PM

How playing ‘all the sports’ as a kid helped this tech leader avoid getting pigeonholed in his career

While many kids these days go all-in on a single, competitive sport, Chonchol Gupta’s mom had a different idea. “When I… Read More

Aug 15, 2020, 12:00 PM

Why F5 and Tempered founder Jeff Hussey left retirement and ‘bought’ himself a job

Jeff Hussey, co-founder and CEO of Seattle’s Tempered, is not a believer in long-term work-from-home practices. “We have all the… Read More

Aug 8, 2020, 12:30 PM

Compass Health COO on leading a century-old healthcare org into telemedicine amid a pandemic

The COVID-19 crisis isn’t the first global pandemic experienced by Compass Health, a nonprofit caring for mental health and substance… Read More

Aug 1, 2020, 12:00 PM

Startup co-founder drinks in new experiences, brings tech expertise to water quality

Chris Jones‘ family was in the water business, with his dad investing some 30 years in the sector, starting with… Read More

Jul 25, 2020, 2:00 PM

Why this CEO favors the struggles and perks of self-reliance in building his Seattle startup

While the path can be tougher and slower, Join It CEO Mitch Colleran leans toward going his own way, ducking the… Read More

Jul 21, 2020, 3:24 PM

With stops at Amazon and Rover, Convoy VP Kristen Forecki shares her map for success

One can take a reductionist view of career success as a series of lucky breaks or the result of relentless… Read More

Jul 11, 2020, 12:15 PM

Why this Oracle exec turned to academia to help climb the cloud career ladder

About the time he was in kindergarten, Andre Alfred started playing with the Tandy 1000 SX that his dad bought… Read More

Jul 7, 2020, 2:00 PM

As funding and demand align, Nori CEO Paul Gambill is ready to grow his carbon removal startup

As CEO and co-founder of Nori, Paul Gambill is hitting his professional stride. His startup, a Seattle-based marketplace for removing… Read More

Jul 2, 2020, 12:00 PM

Marguerite Casey Foundation CEO: ‘Innovation isn’t only about the future, but about fixing the past’

For many of us, innovation and technology go together like Tik and Tok. Carmen Rojas, the incoming CEO and president… Read More

Jun 20, 2020, 12:05 PM

Longtime UX leader Karen Clark Cole on staying present and learning to tell good fear from bad

If it wasn’t enough to be a co-founder of what could be the longest running UX shop in the U.S.,… Read More

Jun 17, 2020, 12:00 PM

A WSU epidemiologist on COVID’s surprises, the social distance ‘dial’ and sanity-saving pups

Eric Lofgren admits that epidemiology is a curious profession. “The issue all epidemiologists have is we get excited about epidemics,… Read More

Jun 8, 2020, 12:00 PM

Panopto CEO sees video platform shift from useful technology to essential tool for remote learning

In 1998, Eric Burns was an undergraduate with a summer job working for the dean of computer science at Carnegie… Read More

Jun 1, 2020, 2:47 PM

Entrepreneur Sarah Haggard on a big win at Seattle Angel Conference and the benefits of bold actions

Even if you don’t have the exact path to a lofty goal all mapped out, Sarah Haggard says take what… Read More

May 19, 2020, 3:00 PM

How this Future For Us co-founder landed a grant from Serena Williams, and what’s happening next

When the coronavirus pandemic turned her startup upside down, Sage Ke’alohilani Quiamno channeled her frustration into words. The co-founder of… Read More

May 16, 2020, 12:30 PM

Luni Libes’ Fledge accelerator takes flight as socially conscious investing keeps growing

Michael “Luni” Libes did not want to launch another tech company. Over two decades, he’d been involved with five software… Read More