Fractional by Swarm

Everyone says AI will 10x your dev team. But what does the data actually say?In this episode of Fractional, Simon Obstbaum—Stanford researcher and former CTO of Crunchyroll—walks us through one of the most grounded conversations on developer productivity with AI you’ll hear.Simon’s team at Stanford built a model trained on expert code reviews to study the actual impact of AI coding tools. What they found: a 20% productivity uplift at best—with wide variance depending on language, codebase complexity, and context.We discuss:• What productivity really means in software engineering• Why legacy codebases often get worse with AI• How LLMs quietly replace pair programming for junior devs• What makes engineering teams more effective in reality—not theory• Lessons from building Crunchyroll’s global tech orgThis isn’t an AI hypefest. It’s a reality check.🧪 Participate in Stanford’s research👤 Connect with Simon🐝 Learn how Swarm helps enterprises adopt AI🎙 Fractional by Swarm

Everyone’s shipping copilots.Ragde Falcis built something else: a real agentic system—used daily by thousands of customers.In this episode of Fractional, we break down how ChatGenie:→ Hit 90%+ accuracy without model fine-tuning→ Uses multi-agent orchestration with reasoning and memory→ Built eval loops and guardrails that actually scale→ Tracks token-level usage to make the business work→ Retrofits into Meta’s stack, CRMs, and internal HR workflows→ Thinks beyond PH—and why that mindset shift mattersThis isn’t another AI demo.It’s the playbook for what actually works in production.🎧 Listen if you're serious about:Shipping agent-based systemsScaling GenAI workflowsOr building infrastructure that survives beyond the hypeBuilt something real? You’ll need real help to scale it.Swarm is a collective of AI-native consultants—builders, operators, and strategists from MAANG, YC, and Fortune 500s.If you’re building your AI roadmap and need fractional support that actually ships, let’s talk.🔗 https://swarm.work/?utm_source=fractional&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ragde_episode

"Most OKRs Are Just Tracking Failure"OKRs are supposed to drive success. But here’s what actually happens instead:1. Teams track effort, not results.2. Leaders set goals based on gut feeling.3. When things go wrong, strategy isn’t questioned—the team is."If your OKRs aren’t tied to behavior change, they’re just noise."Jeff Gothelf and I break down:1. How OKRs expose bad leadership assumptions2. Why most OKRs don’t actually measure success3. How to use OKRs to push back—without career risk4. Why customer behavior, not feature launches, should define success5. How product discovery should be continuous, not a one-time study6. Why designers, PMs, and AI teams need OKRs that track learning, not just output7. How to create a culture of continuous learning—where teams challenge assumptions, test ideas, and adapt fastBecause if your OKRs aren’t helping you challenge bad decisions, they’re useless.Jeff is a a leading voice and thought leader on customer centric product development. He helps organizations build better products and executives build the cultures that build better products. He is the co-author of the award-winning book Lean UX (now in it’s 3rd edition) and the Harvard Business Review Press book Sense & Respond. In 2020 he published the critically aclaimed book, Forever Employable.Starting off as a software designer then product manager and finally entrepreneur, Jeff now works as a keynote speaker, trainer, coach, and board advisor helping companies put the customer in the century of every decision.Most recently Jeff co-authored Who Does What By How Much?, his 5th book and 3rd with co-author Josh Seiden. This new book is the how-to guide for implementing Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) in every organization.Jeff's latest bookGet access to our network of expert AI consultancies

AI without strategy is just hype—Wardley Maps fix that.Governments, businesses, and enterprises follow AI trends without mapping the landscape, leaving them blind to risks and opportunities.That's why I sat down with Simon Wardley, the inventor of Wardley Maps, and one of the UK’s top 50 most influential people in tech, to break down why most AI strategies fail—and how mapping can give you a real advantage.In this episode of Fractional:🚀 Why AI without a map is like playing chess blindfolded📍 How Wardley Maps expose hidden risks and opportunities in AI adoption💡 The power struggles shaping AI—and why open-source AI is critical⚠️ Why governments must fight for open AI instead of corporate control🛠️ How AI tools, language, and reasoning are evolving—and what that means for strategyIf you're responsible for AI adoption in your company, this conversation will change how you think about strategy.🔹 Who is Simon Wardley?A former CEO, startup advisor (all acquired by US tech giants), and fellow of Open Europe, Simon has spent his career navigating complex systems, from AI and economics to behavioral patterns and market shifts. He pioneered Wardley Mapping, a framework used by organizations worldwide to anticipate change, outmaneuver competitors, and drive real AI strategy.

Rajiv Ayyangar is the CEO at Product Hunt. He was previously co-founder / CEO of Tandem. He also studied bioengineering at Princeton and subsequently worked at Fairchild and Yahoo. In this episode of Fractional, we discuss the Product Hunt AI roadmap, what AI products are getting the top spot, Rajiv's journey from Tandem CEO to ProductHunt CEO, and why build velocity is very important. If you're working on your GenAI roadmap, strategy, and need an implementation partner, do it with Swarm!

"AI in healthcare isn’t just hard—it’s life or death." In this episode of Fractional by Swarm, we sit down with Evelyn C. Goh—PhD candidate at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and founder/CEO of Megrez—to explore the toughest challenges in healthcare AI. Evelyn is pioneering research on the integration of AI into healthcare solutions. Through her work at Megrez, an agency specializing in medical AI/software consultancy and development, she is transforming the way healthcare organizations approach innovation. Evelyn is passionate about simplifying complex processes, making technology more accessible, and empowering individuals to create impactful clinical experiences. Join us as we dive into:✅ How to adopt AI in healthcare without losing trust✅ Why healthcare AI is so complex—and how to navigate it✅ The critical importance of solving real problems, not just chasing trends Evelyn’s insights are candid, actionable, and rooted in experience. She breaks down what it takes to build AI models that deliver real impact while meeting the demands of trust, privacy, and compliance. Whether you’re a healthcare executive or curious about AI’s transformative potential, this episode is a must-listen. 🎧 Tune in now to learn how healthcare leaders can harness AI to revolutionize patient care. 🔗 Learn more about Swarm: https://swarm.work?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=healthcare_ai_episode 🔗 Discover Megrez: https://megrez.asia/?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=healthcare_ai_episode #AIinHealthcare #HealthcareLeadership #HealthcareInnovation

Tomithy plays the role of seeker and investor at ST Telemedia - a VC/PE fund that invests in telcos, data centres, growth stage tech companies in AI, Cybersecurity and Cloud IT . He actively works with target and existing portfolio companies in terms of technical diligence, business strategy and commercial evaluation via their CTO, product & engineering teams. He has a deep interest in governance and reliability of AI systems, pushing the limits of generative AI, multi-agent AI systems, evolutionary algorithms and synthetic biology. Tomithy holds a degree in Computational Biology (Hons) from NUS, Masters in AI program from SMU and is currently pursuing a part-time PhD in AI Governance at SMU. In this episode, we talk about fragmentation and consolidation in the GenAI space, using GenAI as a business strategy, anti-patterns to avoid when implementing searchable enterprise databases, investing in GenAI, and a lot more. 🔹 Spending cycles in AI 🔹 Lessons learned from investing in AI 🔹 Using tech for commercial differentiation 🔹 Pitching during the innovation versus scaling phase 🔹 Opinions on GenAI maps 🔹 Does AI really translate to monetization? 🔹 The overpromise of enterprise databases 🔹 GenAI as the evolution of the business and as a strategy 🔹 Don’t build generic chatbots 🔹 The shortening of the tech adoption cycle 🔹 Platformatizing AI Talk to Tomithy Produced by Swarm — Hire solution architects from Fortune 100s for your AI projects.

Anand Krishnan is the Founder and Managing Partner of thinkbridge, a digital technology and business consulting firm that specializes in helping clients build and deploy tech-forward business strategies that drive outsized value creation. He is also the co-founder of Sensorscall, a senior care platform that helps seniors age-in-place. He was a former CTO of IBM and is one of the leading hives on Swarm. Anand helps growth-stage companies scale and increase their enterprise value, through the meaningful use of technology. In this episode, we talk about designing a hybrid organization for CTOs and external software engineering partners, using a transparent and outcome-first business model, inconsequential versus meaningful technology, finding your impact as a veteran consultant, and a lot more: 🔹 Scaling hybrid teams beyond “big tech” tactics 🔹 Why Thinkbridge moved from hourly to monthly pricing 🔹 Addressing the mid-market transformation gap 🔹 Avoiding “vanity tech”—what really drives impact 🔹 Redefining retention with transparency and accountability 🔹 Anand’s roadmap to agile scaling without trade-offs 🔹 Making tech teams resilient with hybrid models 🔹 Discovery phases as keys to high-value outcomes 🔹 Progress over perfection—the new rule for growth-stage orgs 🔹 AI’s role in leveling the playing field for emerging tech 🔹 Why “boring” tech like EMRs matter 🔹 Aligning tech impact with revenue for real outcomes 🔹 Purpose-driven tech—Anand’s approach to meaningful success Anand's LinkedIn:   / anandhkrishnan   Work with Anand and thinkbridge on Swarm

Dr Bernard Leong is currently the founder and CEO of Dorje AI, an enterprise AI startup focusing on building the next generation business operating system that enables companies to be productive, efficient, and adaptive. He held regional business roles as the Head of Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning in Amazon Web Services for ASEAN, Vice President of Airbus Aerial specifically on satellite and drone services in the Asia Pacific, and senior management roles in Singapore Post as the Head of Digital Services and Group Chief Information & Digital Office in Woh Hup. Bernard is the founder and host of the Analyse Asia podcast, and is an active angel investor in web3 and AI startups. He holds a BSc in Science with Merit in National University of Singapore, and PhD in Physics from Cambridge University and has developed machine learning algorithms to search for mRNA targets in the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute from 2003-2005. In this episode, we talk about leading the AI/ML business in AWS, AI GTM for AI consultants, creating a financial ERP startup, why change management is critical to land the biggest enterprises, and a lot more: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bleongcw/ https://www.bernardleong.com/ (0:00) - Trailer(0:30) - Bernard’s Background(2:31) - ERPless world with AI(2:55) - Human Genome Project and mRNA targeting(4:15) - Startup Experience(5:00) - Singapore Post(6:50) - Working with Apple(8:38) - Airbus Aerial(8:48) - AWS(9:20) - Digitally transforming companies(9:52) - Most enterprises use ERPs(10:18) - Why people hate ERPs(10:50) - Data silos in SAP(12:20) - Building an AI first company(13:31) - Enterprise data readiness(15:04) - Structuring data for machine learning(15:21) - Finding patterns(15:37) - Everyone loves transformation no one wants to change(16:03) - Board and C-level conversations(16:33) - Helping the biggest SEA companies(17:16) - McKinsey vs Bernard on data readiness(17:58) - What enterprises are missing out on(19:23) - Expounding on data readiness(20:45) - Finding your AI use case(21:11) - Augmenting productivity(21:20) - Increasing revenue(22:15) - Netflix and AWS machine learning(22:38) - Layers of AI implementation(24:30) - Productivity gains from modern AI(24:41) - Hyper parameter finetuning(25:20) - Dorje.AI AI powered ledger(26:55) - Financial processes into vector embeddings(28:00) - Not underestimating SAP and Oracle(28:40) - Challenging the ledger with AI and modern architecture(29:33) - Why is it hard to use SAP for businesses?(30:09) - Bernard’s ideal world with Dorje.ai(31:29) - Orchestrating data(31:48) - SaaS model upheaval(33:37) - AI GTM and Product(33:59) - Finding PMF(35:28) - Creating hockey stick growth through AI(36:24) - SAP reworks(37:03) - AI OCR built by Bernard(37:53) - Recreating the app with ChatGPT(38:26) - Refactoring the code easily(38:51) - AI coding(39:46) - Cap tables with AI(40:58) - Productivity gains with ChatGPT(41:37) - AI first mentality(43:05) - Automating things with LLMs(44:32) - AI pre-empting problems of ERPs(45:18) - One click transfer(45:47) - What Dorje means(47:46) - Competition and execution(48:42) - Conflict of Visions(49:14) - Constrained vs Unconstrained Founder Visions(50:11) - Best founders(51:07) - Reading the only book on SAP history(52:12) - Building good accounting software(52:27) - How prepared is Southeast Asia?(54:03) - What’s making the money in AI?(54:20) - Sequoia, AI Billion Hole(55:11) - Local data strategy and startup survival(56:14) - Business owner BPO in PH(57:45) - AI Consulting Advice(58:38) - Buy in and productization(59:05) - Business development in Amazon(1:00:04) - Technical POC with 50 customers(1:00:42) - Automating yourself away(1:01:32) - Sales levels conversations(1:02:09) - Creating different sales motions per AI business(1:02:49) - Iterating the product via GTM(1:03:49) - War stories in Amazon

Dominic Ligot is a data analyst, researcher, software developer, entrepreneur and technologist. He’s the Founder of CirroLytix, a social impact AI company, and Data Ethics PH, an online community focused on social issues such as data privacy, data security, AI-driven discrimination and more. He represents the Philippines as Member of the Expert Advisory Panel of the International Scientific Report on Advanced AI Safety convened by the UK Department of Science, Innovation, and Technology. He led the development of the nationwide data science education program Project SPARTA. He also co-founded the Analytics and AI Association of the Philippines (AAP). Dominic is a three-time global winner of the NASA and ESA International Space Apps Challenges.  In this episode, we talk about Gen AI adoption in the Philippines, using AI in the humanitarian sector, go-to-market strategies for AI consultants, and AI safety. Dominic's website Dominic's LinkedIn Ex-MAANG, YC AI Implementation teams to get your AI journey unblocked

Indi Young is a solution strategist who uses purpose-focused qualitative data science.  She created her method over a 30-year span, and teaches that method in courses, coaching, workshops, books, talks, and through working with teams on research studies. She was one of the founders of Adaptive Path, the pioneering UX consultancy. Indi has written three books, Time to Listen, Practical Empathy and Mental Models. She is at work on another book in the series called Toward Variety — which covers thinking styles.  Indi’s method is focused on people, not users. She pioneered opportunity maps, which are mental model diagrams of people’s approach to a purpose aligned with the support a solution provides–or doesn’t. In this episode of Fractional, we talk about how to conduct listening sessions, how to practice rapt attention, and how to unpack interior cognition to influence business and product strategy. Indi's book, "Time to Listen" Indi's website Hire world-class AI consultants

Don Norman was the founding Director of The Design Lab at the University of California, San Diego; is co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group; a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and former VP of Apple. His latest work expands the notion of being human centered to consider the impact upon the environment, upon all cultures, and upon quality of life—Humanity centered. This is explained in his latest book "Design for a Better world: Meaningful, sustainable, humanity centered." His most popular introduction to design was through his book — The Design of Everyday Things. Don Norman is now busily engaged in his 5th retirement, busy helping run his charity, the Don Norman Design Award and Summit.In this episode we discuss what he got wrong about human-centered design, how designers should shift from being colonizers to helpers, principles from Apple for design practitioners & consultants, and how designers can change the world. Don's website Don Norman Design Award Design for a Better World Get unstuck - access top talent in AI

Rachel Gogel (she/her) is a Parisian creative director, speaker, mentor, and educator. She runs her own consultancy as a fractional design executive. She’s led major brand initiatives at GQ, The New York Times, Meta, Godfrey Dadich, Airbnb, and Dropbox. As a solopreneur, Rachel has been launching editorial publications from scratch, leading org design efforts, designing TV show pitch decks, and building brand systems for global media and entertainment companies. Rachel teaches in the Master’s of Interaction Design program at the California College of the Arts (CCA) and runs the Women in Leadership & Design (WILD) initiative as Chair and AIGA SF Board Member.    She has been recognized by Inc. as one of 2016’s “30 under 30 Movers and Shakers” and by Forbes as one of 2015’s “30 under 30" in media. In this episode, we talk about the moments in time you decide you go on on your own, why the term “fractional” resonated with Rachel, why relationships are the best way to get clients, the benefits of tracking your time, how to speak at conferences, and insights on building your personal brand. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelgogel/ rachelgogel.com

John Paul Alcala is a Fractional Solutions Architect and Chief Technology Officer who has managed over PHP 2 Billion of cloud budget in the Philippines. Recently, he was a Partner Solutions Architect for ASEAN at Amazon Web Services (AWS). Before that, he was an Associate Vice President, Head of Infrastructure and Special Projects at GCash. A builder at heart, he is passionate about making people’s lives simpler with technology and has been helping customers solve some of the most challenging problems for over 20 years. When not assisting customers, JP can be found at home, either sipping a good cup of coffee, tinkering with IoT projects, or building crazy contraptions in Minecraft.   In this episode, we talk about pillars that make a great software architect; solutions architecture pitfalls in startup vs corporate environments; obsessing over what the customer needs; and how to solve problems through listening. JP's LinkedIn Watch more Fractional episodes Hire Fractional CTOs and Software Architects Learn more with Swarm

David Fallarme is the VP of Marketing at Owner.com. At the time of recording, he was a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer and Marketing Advisor for Series A and B startups. He's built and led marketing teams at companies big and small, from public companies like HubSpot and Electronic Arts to venture-backed startups like On Deck, ReferralCandy, and App Annie. David has seen versions of the "growth movie" a few times, having driven growth & acquisition for products with millions of users, leading regional marketing teams, and working with founders at growth-stage startups. In this episode, we talk about growth marketing advice for Series A and B founders; playing games of mastery and learning; what it takes to be a fractional CMO and marketer; and how to really build community. Follow David on LinkedIn Need to hire a tech consultant in AI, Software Engineering, Growth, or Design? Learn more about Swarm ⁠(00:00)⁠ Trailer  ⁠(00:19)⁠ Fractional Intro ⁠ (01:30)⁠ David’s introduction  ⁠(03:04⁠) What Fractional marketers get wrong ⁠ (04:59)⁠ Equation of Career Progression  ⁠(05:27)⁠ Playing the game as a Fractional CMO  ⁠(06:33)⁠ Working on mastery and learning  ⁠(09:15)⁠ 6 games you can play in your life  ⁠(11:39⁠) Introspection and choosing your path  ⁠(13:48⁠) Shifting to a business mindset in marketing ⁠ (15:44⁠) Working as VP marketing at SpotDraft ⁠ (16:55⁠) Common mistakes in marketing strategy ⁠ (18:44⁠) Learning from similar business models  ⁠(19:44⁠) Navigating changes on On Deck  ⁠(22:31⁠) Building marketing communities in APAC  ⁠(25:57⁠) Pain points as a Fractional CMO  ⁠(27:06⁠) David’s tech stack ⁠ (27:29⁠) Crafting service menus for clients  ⁠(31:25⁠) Final advice for fractional marketers

Andrei Gonzales, is a multi-disciplinary design mentor, human-centered design evangelist, and current Senior Manager for Service and Experience Design for Deloitte Digital Canberra. He has 20 years of professional experience in the digital industry across design, consulting, and digital innovation.  He held roles as an Experience Architect, Manager, and Designer at Salesforce, Fjord, BCG Digital Ventures, and the billion dollar start-up: InVision App. In this episode, we talk about building trust with clients as a consultant, using workshops for workshops to uncover client dynamics, pricing your work, and treating every bid as a high risk assumption. Be a Swarm Hive Leader Learn more about Swarm

Joshua Arvin Lat is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of NuWorks Interactive Labs, Inc. He is also an AWS Machine Learning Hero and he has been an international speaker on machine learning, engineering, security, and management.  He’s the author of three books — “Machine Learning with Amazon SageMaker Cookbook," "Machine Learning Engineering on AWS," and "Building and Automating Penetration Testing Labs in the Cloud." He’s also an AI Hive leader on Swarm. In this episode, we talk about how he got to write multiple books, leading as a CTO in large organizations, and how to execute digital and AI transformations with technology. (00:00) Trailer (00:16) Fractional Intro (01:04) Arvs Introduction (02:16) Books written (03:39) Writing journey for Sagemaker (07:40) Machine learning engineering on AWS (11:49) AI and security (17:42) Leading as a CTO (19:05) Utilizing tech to solve real business requirements (20:35) Using Sagemaker for custom AI solutions (21:45) Adapting to the AI Landscape (22:24) Prioritizing initiatives across problem areas (24:02) Using AI the right way (25:02) Listening and Understanding The Problem (27:59) What to focus on and specialize on as a CTO (29:53) Giving a buffer to solve challenges yourself (32:34) Hive leader advice

Tim Santos is the Director of Product for AI Cloud Solutions at Graphcore, He leads the product strategy and vision for enabling developers, plus AI & ML software organisations to build and deploy cutting-edge AI models in production. Tim also leads the AI Hive on Swarm. With over 13 years of experience in data science, AI, and MLOps, Tim has a strong background and passion for delivering impactful and scalable AI products and services that solve real-world problems and create value for customers and stakeholders. In this episode, we talk about understanding your business problem before building AI solutions, turning to the open source community for help, and building teams in the lens of the data science triangle. (00:00) Trailer (00:22) Fractional Intro (01:38) Tim's Introduction (02:56) Considerations for using AI as a founder and corporate innovator (04:41) Starting with the problem (05:31) Finding pain points (06:15) Following the hype (07:06) Foundational models (7:39) Executive buy-in and experiments (08:39) Building success stories with small wins (09:49) Doing research when you're new (10:27) The open source community (11:11) Why get help from community (12:01) Examples and use cases in healthcare (13:07) Getting strategists and advisers (13:48) Building teams with the data science triangle (15:18) Hiring AI consultancy teams (16:50) Final advice for founders and corporate innovators

Grace Walker is an independent web designer and Webflow developer building marketing sites that are visually stunning and technically sound. She has launched over 90 marketing sites in Webflow and has become a client favorite not only for her designs, but also her organization and project management. Her deep understanding of Webflow allows her to create custom solutions that are tailored to the unique needs of each of her clients, and her commitment to delivering high-quality work has earned her a reputation as a trusted and reliable designer and developer. 00:00 - Set goals and be patient 01:03 - Who is Grace? 02:14 - Grace's journey as a fractional worker 03:39 - Choosing the quality of your clients 04:50 - What she looks for in clients 06:42 - Grace's favorite client 08:10 - How to evaluate the impact of your work 11:57 - Alexis' positive feedback 13:56 - Finding the right tools 15:29 - "Every new project I do is the best" 17:34 - Personal taste + Industry appropriate 18:20 - Tips for increasing income 20:20 - PATIENCE (our fave part!) 22:14 - Working hard vs. Burning out 25:07 - Grace's hobbies :) 28:20 - Can working less be a goal? 30:18 - Webflow vs. Framer 32:26 - Designers that mentored Grace 34:34 - Grace's advice to fractional workers In this episode, we talk about what Grace looks for in clients, the thinking behind her projects, setting income goals and breaking them down to get there, Webflow vs Framer, being patient in your fractional career, and so much more.

Matthias Cordes is a Web Designer and Webflow Developer. He runs his own freelance business and creates high converting websites for fast growing technology startups. Matthias had his first freelance “gig” as a designer after highschool and while traveling around Australia and Bali. After graduating with a degree in Creative Technology at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, he pursued his passion by working on his agency full-time. Now, he supports tech companies as a team of one, with a specialty in Webflow development. In this episode, we talk about becoming a specialist in Webflow design and development, building trust and reputation as a freelancer, writing his case studies together with a copywriter, his design collaboration process with clients, ChatGPT for web development tasks, and so much more. 00:00 - LinkedIn videos 01:48 - Going freelance straight out of university 02:45 - Deciding to build a freelance career 05:17 - Client RED FLAGS 08:45 - Becoming a Webflow professional partner 11:41 - Results > Credentials 13:02 - Recent project + cool tricks 15:48 - Why his case studies are so good 18:15 - Basecamp for managing projects 22:00 - What clients did Mattias start with? 24:10 - "find a real job at a real company" 25:43 - The agency he started 28:11 - Professional video set up 29:48 - Video marketing for his freelance practice 31:41 - Web development vs. web design projects 34:54 - cheese with holes 36:14 - Switching from Sketch to Figma 38:00 - The adrenaline from collaboration 39:11 - What do you do when you get stuck? 40:17 - Using ChatGPT to build websites 42:21 - Coding as a non-coder 43:45 - Matthias' piece of advice

Lex Roman empowers early stage solopreneurs to find their clients without playing Google and Instagram’s games. A former Silicon Valley growth designer turned small biz growth marketer, Lex has been crafting winning conversion strategies for companies like Nissan, Macys, Gusto and The Black Tux since 2010. She popularized the term “growth design” and built a community of over 2k practitioners that’s still expanding called Growth Designers. Her work has been featured in MarTech, Monocle, KCRW, the LA Design Festival, the LA Times and Good Makers and she’s spoken at conferences around the world. Now, she’s on a mission to help solopreneurs get seen and get sales without being beholden to big tech. With her company Super Easy Digital, Lex supports small business owners with her signature marketing experimentation program Growthtrackers. Check out Lex’s referral toolkit! In this episode of Fractional, we talk about applying growth design to fractional work, capturing high quality leads, creating valuable referral systems, and building a trusted network whether online or offline. 00:00 This makes your business weaker 02:10 Who is Lex? 02:49 What is a growth designer? 04:10 Are all designers growth designers? 05:00 What most designers struggle with 06:25 How Lex got passionate for small business owners 08:17 Lex's evolution 11:10 The difference with small business owners 12:33 How Lex found her own leads 15:44 Upwork is exploitative 18:24 What worked best for Lex that aligns with her values? 19:37 How do you build good business relationships? 22:07 Why Lex is a referral queen 23:45 Amber!!!!!!! 24:40 Friends of Super Easy 25:55 The biggest blocker for fractional talent 26:50 So what's the solution? 29:02 The other solution 29:58 Lex and community networking 33:50 How Lex applied her own advice 35:30 Networking is not a quantity game 37:20 Used car salesman tactics 38:55 Lex's advice for fractional workers Swarm just released the the referrals leaderboard⁠⁠! Check out our thoughts about healthy competition.

Sergio Pereira has been a Software Engineer and CTO for 13 years. Sergio has built tech products for several fast growing startups, such as Bulk MRO, StudentFinance and Candidly. For the last 7 years, Sergio has managed fully remote teams, either full time or working as a Fractional CTO. He is also a public speaker on remote work and managing tech teams, having spoken at major tech conferences and being an instructor at O’Reilly, Udemy and Gumroad. We talk about what it takes to be a fractional CTO, how Sergio navigates chaos while building diverse engineering teams, the benefits of being a content creator, and his view on how to get jobs as a fractional engineer. Swarm just released the ⁠Amber store⁠! ⁠Learn more⁠ about our vision of the future of work. 00:00 Starting out is very challenging 00:30 Who is Sergio? 02:40 It was never his dream to go fractional 03:45 How Sergio started out 04:40 What does it mean to be a Fractional CTO? 05:50 Why clients hire fractional over full-time 07:25 What clients ask Sergio 08:50 What kind of chaos does Sergio prefer? 11:25 It gets fun once you're over the hump 12:35 How to build a great team (fave part) 14:33 Sergio started hiring remote very early 16:20 What he learned after interviewing 1000+ 19:25 How he manages diverse workforces 21:05 Why Sergio believes in written communication 22:27 Sergio's Remote Work Academy 24:41 Don't settle for the office! 26:50 How remote work will change the world 27:24 How Sergio manages Remote Work Academy 28:18 How Sergio became a content creator 31:45 Why Sergio wants to stay a content creator 32:25 Serendipity just by showing up online 33:00 How Sergio gets clients through Twitter 34:15 Sergio's advice for fractional workers

Karthik Puvvada, often called 'KP', is the founder & CEO of Build In Public Fellowship. It's an online program and community to help founders and creators put themselves out there and build in public fearlessly. He also runs a SaaS startup “LeaderBird” which helps people be more consistent on Twitter by gamifying the journey. He previously ran programs at Day One (funded by Gary Vee) and On Deck. You can find his writing here, check out his podcast and follow him on Twitter here. We talk about the how’s and why’s of building in public, how to increase your luck surface area, becoming a top Hunter on Product Hunt, finding your authentic content niche, and creating value while having fun. Swarm just released the Amber store! Learn more about our vision of the future of work. 00:00 Share as you go 01:56 What is build in public? 03:35 The risk of not building in public 04:45 Building community 05:50 People will ignore you 07:23 A healthy perspective to have 09:11 It's not just a patience game, but... 10:22 The game is about having fun 10:39 It's not about going viral, but... 11:52 How to feel free to create 12:25 Track OUTPUT, not OUTCOME 15:11 How Alexis focused on output (not outcome) 16:00 I feel like I'm some nobody 17:05 It's about consistently being you 18:08 The COURAGE muscle is more important 19:00 The downside of building in public 23:25 You can't think from a transactional perspective 24:43 Why KP is a top hunter on ProductHunt 27:05 How to get hunted by KP 28:11 How does KP choose a niche? 30:04 What provides real value to my audience? 32:00 No-code vs. AI 34:00 Advice for fractional workers 38:56 Where can people find KP?

Frances To is an Independent Designer who specializes in creating bespoke websites, digital products, and interactive stories on Webflow. Since the start of Frances’s independent design practice, her work has been recognized by Awwwards, CSS Design Awards, Typewolf, and Buried Signals. We talk about Frost Condensed Sans, a typeface made by the Frost Design team, which Frances is part of; the benefits of being a multidisciplinary designer; learning the language and domain expertise of your clients;  the power of introspection; and why scratching your itch matters for your fractional career. You can also watch this episode on YouTube! :) This podcast is brought to you by ⁠Swarm⁠ — ⁠social network⁠ for top tech freelancers looking for fractional work. Follow us for new Fractional episodes on ⁠Twitter⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠YouTube⁠, ⁠LinkedIn⁠, and ⁠Facebook⁠! 00:00 - Why not make it yourselves? 00:26 - What is Fractional? 03:08 - The only two tools Frances uses 03:50 - It’s easier to build in no-code if… 04:30 - Why Frances went fractional 05:13 - The good thing about being a fractional designer 5:50 - How Frost chief creative JP de Guzman and Frances designed the typeface 06:31 - Are typography courses actually helpful? 06:57 - Can self-taught designers make anything good? 07:39 - The one software she used to design a font 08:50 - Why small details can make a big difference 10:10 - How to get obsessed with your craft 10:54 - Is it better to be a multidisciplinary designer? 12:06 - Understanding your client’s domain expertise 13:13 - How to become more multi-dimensional as a builder 14:45 - Is it good to stalk your client? 15:38 - Top advice for cultivating unbridled curiosity 16:45 - How to become more self-aware 18:28 - The advantages of writing and blogging 19:46 - Generating proof for your skills 20:20 - Frances’ biggest piece of advice

Angela Salud Chua is the founder of Toffeenut Design Studio, an independent collectives studio based in the Philippines. She has been designing products with tech leaders for over a decade, helping with ideation and strategy, and building award-winning products that scale. We talk about fostering relationships and referrals, defending design decisions as a female Asian senior designer in Western teams, why doing unsolicited redesigns make sense, creating a fun mix of projects as a fractional worker, choosing a non-work-centric life, tips for new freelancers, and so much more. 0:00 Introductions 2:15 Journey into working independently 7:57 Product-led growth 9:52 Being an Asian woman in Western teams 11:53 Articulating design decisions 16:03 Work boundaries 19:47 Challenges as a designer 21:47 Advice for early-stage designers 27:35 Curating a non work-centric life 29:31 Advice for fractional workers This podcast is brought to you by Swarm — social network for top tech freelancers looking for fractional work. Follow us for new Fractional episodes on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook!

Dan Mall is a husband, dad, teacher, creative director, designer, founder, and entrepreneur from Philly. He runs Design System University, where he creates, collects, and curates curriculum, content, and community to help enterprise teams design at scale. Previously, Dan ran design system consultancy SuperFriendly for over a decade. Dan writes about design systems, process, and leadership and other issues on his site danmall.com, in his weekly newsletter, and on Twitter and Instagram. We talk about Dan’s network-based model for Superfriendly, creating leveling and growth paths for freelancers, intentionality behind your freelance work lifestyle, his top two tips for new freelancers, figuring out what he wants as he continues his fractional journey, the commodification of designers in the advent of AI, figuring out your value, and a lot more. This podcast is brought to you by Swarm — social network for top tech freelancers looking for fractional work. Follow us for new Fractional episodes on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook! 00:00 - “Work happens to you” vs. Intentionality00:30 - What is Fractional?00:52 - Who is Dan Mall?01:21 - Topics Overview01:57 - Dan introduces himself02:50 - What is SuperFriendly?03:59 - Dan’s superpower: Being a connector of people04:40 - Daily networking habit05:30 - I believe freelancers can simultaneously…06:20 - The dichotomy of freelancing vs. working in a team07:45 - Aligning incentives08:38 - Matching opportunities to what people are good at09:25 - How did Dan get where he is? What were his beliefs?11:37 - Mental health as a 9-5 freelancer???12:50 - The general zeitgeist = reaction mode13:25 - I want the power dynamic to be in favor of the service provider15:40 - I would rather ____ than sacrifice time with family16:34 - How do you get to a position of privilege as a freelancer?17:33 - One great thing anyone can do at any stage in their career18:06 - No one can invalidate your journey18:58 - Creating runway in order to do what I really want to do20:47 - Shutting down SuperFriendly22:49 - Dan’s new thing: Design System University23:41 - Different people learn in different ways24:41 - The Frequency Illusion Effect26:00 - What are ways I can teach people in a more accessible way?26:51 - What are you learning about yourself?27:29 - 95% intrinsic motivation, 5% extrinsic motivation28:00 - Wallpapers for my phone that say, “Are you having fun?”29:14 - If you can’t even answer what you want…29:46 - Facing your own reality30:16 - Will AI replace our jobs?30:48 - How AI works into design systems31:30 - Craft vs. Commodity32:55 - The hope despite commoditization33:22 - ChatGPT lies34:24 - ChatGPT is a remix machine36:23 - Before you take away a job, figure out the replacement first38:03 - AI will design for us. What do we do then?39:06 - I’m seeking fun39:36 - Message to freelancers and independent workers40:13 - You’re not cheaper as a freelancer. You’re more valuable.41:29 - Your value is so much more than “cheaper”