PODCAST · business
The Starr Conspiracy Podcast
by Ocho
Welcome to The Starr Conspiracy Podcast where we talk about everything work tech.
Episodes
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On babies and bathwater
I never liked the idea of throwing out babies but at least I get the point of the saying, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” A few companies that have been historically great places to work might want to take a fresh lesson from it, though.
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Two green flags and a big yellow one
As January closes, the tech sector is in full-on hunker-down mode, with layoffs (see more below) that unwind recent headcount growth and torpedo long-shot projects. Dark clouds aside, there are two big reasons for Work Tech optimism, but one significant caution.
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It doesn’t have to be this way
In recent weeks, all of the big names in technology announced significant layoffs. What happened at Microsoft over the past week is endemic to a larger problem here, but I’ll spend a little time picking on them. Why? Because, honestly, I expected a little better.
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Making magic with generative AI? Not yet
The Generative AI Frenzy of 2023 is woven with so many fascinating threads for the implications for the future of all work but especially for marketing — designing better and faster, writing copy, developing PowerPoints, and even doing intern work. As Work Tech tries to figure out what this means...
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More proof that EX → CX
It’s been almost a month since Southwest Airlines had one of the biggest meltdowns in aviation history. A combination of bad weather in the wrong places coupled with ancient crew-scheduling technology sent the company into a metaphorical nosedive.
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The future is coming into focus
The tech industry is still roiling as the fallout from the past five years of irrational exuberance continues to unwind. However, the future of Work Tech continues to come into focus.
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So, what do you do?
January gloom is definitely a thing here in the Pacific Northwest this time of year. With major holidays out of the way, and with about seven hours of actual daylight (if you can call it that), we’re all just powering through until spring. What am I reading in the pale blue light of my screen?...
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3 reasons to stay positive in 2023
Just to close the book on 2022, it was a bruising year for startups. Layoffs were of 2001 proportions. Many expect 2023 to be another challenging year. After an investment downturn in 2022, VCs are sitting on mountains of capital to deploy, and many investors are telling portfolio companies not…
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2022 Part Two?
Happy new year! Hopefully, you were able to spend some time away from your e-mail inbox over the last few weeks and enjoy some non-newsletter time. We’re covering what’s keeping HR up at night, employment trends for 2023, and getting stuck in an Applebee’s. But first, we’ve got new HR laws to…
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Looking back at Work Tech predictions from 2022
Revisiting Work Tech predictions from a year ago, the thing that stands out most is that people’s expectations were all over the place. For example, some correctly anticipated that hybrid and remote work would continue going strong in 2022, but others — even people who I thought knew better —...
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Out with the old, in with the new
Let's jump into this week's Work Tech Weekly newsletter from Steve Smith. As we near the end of 2022, it’s hard to ignore the challenges facing the tech industry. This year has been one of the most difficult for the sector since 2001, and it’s important to learn from the past and look ahead to…
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2023 premonitions
Let's jump into this week’s Work Leader Weekly newsletter from Lance Haun: About this time of year, we can’t help but look ahead and try to figure out what’s going to happen over the next 12 or so months. The last time I did this, in 2019, I did not predict a global pandemic that would upend life...
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Choose your own adventure
Let's jump into this week's Work Leader Weekly newsletter from Lance Haun. Bad press for remote work won’t end. The “office apocalypse” is upon us. I’m not being dramatic. That’s the title of a story about low office occupancy that will likely cost cities hundreds of billions. The blame for...
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Skills to pay the bills
Let’s jump into this week’s Work Leader Weekly newsletter from Lance Haun: We all keep hearing about layoffs, and that probably won’t change until at least the end of this calendar year. While concentrated mostly in the technology sector, other industries are being impacted, including e-commerce,...
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Dark clouds, silver linings
For tech companies, the hits kept coming. Twitter is in turmoil. Crypto is crashing. There were multiple layoff announcements, including Meta and Salesforce. Tiger Global — an investment firm that has pumped big money into Work Tech over the past few years — slashed its valuations of private tech...
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Aim higher than Elon
Lance is back with another Work Leader Weekly newsletter: We can do better than Musk’s Twitter disaster. It’s been a meme-worthy three weeks since Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover took place. From his proclamation that comedy is now legal, to his plan for the $8 fake verification checkmarks going…
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Talent acquisition leader pulse
Yesterday, Lance was finishing out a great ERE Recruiting Conference in Atlanta. What did he learn from the leaders in the room during a tumultuous week for politics and economics? Here’s the latest Work Leader Weekly newsletter.
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Want a better economy? Root for the Astros.
The 2020s have already been a difficult decade by any measure, as we have already confronted disease, war, and civil unrest. Now we face yet another challenge to peace, prosperity, and tranquility. I’m talking, of course, about that dreaded menace known as the Philadelphia Phillies.
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Productive paranoia
In this week’s newsletter, Lance Haun wanted to start with the always-interesting world of economics and employee productivity before we covered the new chief remote officer role, HR’s 2023 priorities, and myths about Halloween candy.
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Generative AI for generative growth
In 1930, economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that in a hundred years we would work only 15 hours a week to satisfy our basic economic needs. Ninety years later, Americans work on average over 34 hours a week. How was he more than 100% wrong? Simple. He underestimated technological innovation...
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Earnings: Not quite 🔥 but not 💩
It was a big week for Work Tech earnings, and … it could have been worse. Microsoft’s net income was down but Asure’s earnings were a relative bright spot. SAP profit was also down but cloud earnings were also a bright spot and its CEO sounded a bullish tone in that area. There was also bullish...
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(Not so) quiet riot
In this week’s newsletter, we cover how folks with disabilities are benefiting from remote work, which became the norm during the pandemic (and how much further we have to go). We also get updates on the cities that offered incentives for remote workers to move there and why you can finally have…
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Raise your game
We are putting the finishing touches on an industry survey we conducted this month and last, with responses from over 700 Work Tech professionals about how their brands have fared in 2022 and what they expect in 2023. Some of the results were sobering, but some were encouraging.
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The gig is up
Lance is back with a new Work Leader Weekly newsletter: This week in work leader news, the U.S. Department of Labor is proposing new rules for gig workers, half of employees are dealing with burnout, and someone asks the question: Can candle reviews tell us if we are going to have a COVID-19...
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It’s not fair
As we’ve spent the last few years trying to understand what an equitable and fair workplace looks like, you would think we would have made at least some progress. Nearly 90% of Fortune 100 companies list equity as a corporate value. Mentions of diversity, equity, and inclusion on earnings calls...
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Make some brainspace with grace
The human brain has a limited amount of calories to make decisions. Over the millennia, our once-smooth brains evolved to reduce complexity to stave off threats. That’s why we like straightforward directions, simple charts, and contrast. Simplicity led to survival. Nowadays, when the world’s...
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The four-day work week test
In this week’s newsletter, we’re covering fixing retention with money, Microsoft’s unique approach to organized labor, a return to annual performance reviews for Google, and green energy. Yeah, it’s all in here. But first, let’s see what the latest (and largest) pilot of a four-day week will be...
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A silver lining for Work Tech?
There’s still plenty of ugly stock market news out there with still plenty of bubble-bursting talk and layoffs. But, believe it or not, there’s actually some good news for Work Tech if you look closely. Music by Bonkers Beat Club, “Fifteen on Me.”
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Is this the future of work? Cause it’s still not great.
It’s been a long time since I’ve met a work leader who doesn’t want to see the workplace improve. While we might agree to disagree on how that will come about or what elements need to change, we all agree there is a big potential for improvement. Hear the latest from Lance on his Work Leader…
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Why PwC is investing $2.4 billion in EX
Today, we’re covering why people are returning to their old jobs, the global skills shortage, and why the wellness industry might need a little health check. If any company is incredibly dependent on its people, it’s professional services firms. We would know, being that we do professional...
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Work Tech looks a lot better than the rest of tech
April closed with the Nasdaq Composite Index notching its worst monthly performance since February 2009. Time to pour bourbon on your Post Toasties? Not quite. The fear factor in Work Tech should be lower than in the rest of the broader tech sector. ServiceNow earnings? Killing it. ADP earnings?…
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Stuck between the office and a hard place
A new Work Leader Weekly from Lance coming up. This week, we’re writing about the very serious issues of why flexible work depends on men, the life and death consequences of bad private equity deals, and more return to office. Music by Bonkers Beat Club, “Fifteen on Me.”
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A down quarter with an asterisk
After Q4’s record $10.9 billion Work Tech investment, Q1 was going to be hard-pressed to beat that number — and it didn’t. When the books closed on Q1 2022, Work Tech investment was down 23% to $8.209 billion, which ended a streak of eight quarter-to-quarter Work Tech investment increases. Still,...
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People ops is ops
Imagine you run an airline. You’ve somehow survived the pandemic. You’re prepping for what promises to be a very busy travel season. You have a route to Hawaii that banks you serious cash. But you have to cancel all your flights there this year. Why? Fuel prices? Jets? Route logistics? Nope....
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Ransomware gangs have HR too.
So, ransomware gangs have HR too, eh? It seems a business is a business is a business. Not sure how to feel about this, but a series of document leaks reveal operational details about the Russian ransomware gang known as Conti, as well as what’s perceived as its most prized possession of all: Its...
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Is there a big chill coming for startups?
As someone working in Work Tech, how worried should you be about the macro-economic outlook? The reason we ask is the appearance of a TechCrunch article wondering aloud if it is time to start worrying about startup layoffs. It’s a fair question. The Ukraine war grinds on, adding to economic...
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Safe or not, you have to get back in the water
The pandemic seems to continually find new ways to challenge business strategies and thwart planning efforts. Then the Russian invasion of Ukraine has set the world — and your employees — on edge in a completely different way. Through it all, we persevere. With good fortune and the right mindset,...
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If you ain’t people first, you’re people last
We all survived another April Fool’s Day, and, thankfully, this year we saw even fewer major organizations trying to prove how witty they are. This week we’ve gathered insights on employee compensation from the front line and beyond. We’ll also share more thoughts on new unions and celebrating...
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Thoma Bravo buys Anaplan for $10.7B
Last week’s work tech weekly newsletter written by Steve Smith summarized some recent trends and introduced the employee engagement market map. What’s that? Stay tuned. Email us at [email protected] for all the deets. Music by Bonkers Beat Club, “Fifteen on Me.”
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Power to the people
Power to the people. Lance has pulled together some great insights in his Work Leader Weekly newsletter. It’s allergy season, but between sneezes, we’ve gathered some great insights on how employees are using their newly found power to push organizations (for the better) as well as a very real…
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New finance newsletter: Choppy waters need a steady gaze
If you hadn’t heard, we published a brand new monthly newsletter authored by your faithful podcast host focused on the finance leader. Sign up today: https://secrets.thestarrconspiracy.com/work-fund-newsletter-sign-up Feedback? Write to [email protected] Music by Bonkers Beat Club,...
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A better solution for hybrid?
Lance Haun offers the permission-based vs. permissive-based approach to remote work in his latest Work Leader Weekly newsletter. Questions, feedback, links mentioned in the episode? Email [email protected]. Music by Bonkers Beat Club, “Fifteen on Me.”
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The return of employee engagement
The return of employee engagement. Thought you were done with that, eh? Well, buckle up. We have a new hot take. We’ve all spent the past two years obsessing over the Employee Experience (EX) and how to improve it. While everyone was scrambling to improve EX, Gallup's research showed that…
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When will equity come for women in HR?
Because calendars are unyielding, this podcast is coming to you a day after International Women’s Day (IWD). One of the missions of IWD is “to forge inclusive work cultures where women's careers thrive and their achievements are celebrated.” Work leaders in HR are expected to take a lead in…
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Marketing down to the bone: Friction, sparks — and transformation
One of our top writers is Lou Chapman, a man who’s been with the agency for over a decade. He posted a blog this morning called, “Marketing down to the bone: Friction, sparks — and transformation.” The summary? You should be a little nervous when marketing. Listen to what he has to say about...
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Work tech hits the main stream
The invasion of Ukraine is an avoidable tragedy, and Lance couldn’t start his newsletter without mentioning it first. He wrote last week, in addition to the undeniable humanitarian crisis caused by this attack, that there will be work technology impacts for years to come. Nobody is left…
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What is the product delusion?
Today we’re recapping partner Steve Smith’s newsletter, the Work Tech Weekly, out today. If you don’t know Steve, he’s been a partner at the agency for over a decade and is a work tech guru. Definitely, definitely get to know him if you have the means. He is so choice. If you want to sign up for...
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Love is *still* in the stale office air
Our very own Lance Haun has released his latest newsletter called the Work Leader Weekly. Haven’t subscribed yet? Go here: http://secrets.thestarrconspiracy.com/work-leaders-newsletter-sign-up. Feel free to email [email protected] for the deets. Subscribe to the newsletter or listen…
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Season 2 trailer
What’s up, party people. We’re back, and we’re dishing out all the hot goss from every corner of the agency about all things work tech. You’ll hear short, weekly bites on a range of takes and topics. Stay tuned this season for newsletter recaps, new insights, and new voices as we decentralize our...
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Stay positive for pent-up demand
Stay positive. We think next year is going to be a blockbuster year for Work Tech. When you look back at 2020, sales of everything but communication, collaboration, and wellness solutions basically came to a halt between March and May, but activity began to rebound after that.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Starr Conspiracy Podcast have?
The Starr Conspiracy Podcast currently has 62 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Starr Conspiracy Podcast about?
Welcome to The Starr Conspiracy Podcast where we talk about everything work tech.
How often does The Starr Conspiracy Podcast release new episodes?
The Starr Conspiracy Podcast has 62 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Starr Conspiracy Podcast?
You can listen to The Starr Conspiracy Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Starr Conspiracy Podcast?
The Starr Conspiracy Podcast is created and hosted by Ocho.
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