WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:10.904 --> 00:00:16.004 Hey friends and welcome to the small tech podcast from Éphémère Creative. 00:00:16.064 --> 00:00:17.124 I'm your host Raph. 00:00:17.144 --> 00:00:19.184 And this is our very first episode. 00:00:20.084 --> 00:00:23.684 In this podcast, we'll dive into the world of small tech development. 00:00:23.834 --> 00:00:28.094 We'll bring you the latest in tools, strategies, and technologies that can 00:00:28.094 --> 00:00:30.074 help you build a technology product. 00:00:30.104 --> 00:00:33.764 So whether you're a startup founder, trying to launch a world, changing 00:00:33.764 --> 00:00:38.264 platform, a nonprofit building, an app to serve your community, a small 00:00:38.264 --> 00:00:41.864 business, trying to augment your existing services, or just curious 00:00:41.864 --> 00:00:44.084 about the future of building technology. 00:00:44.294 --> 00:00:45.554 You're in the right place. 00:00:46.254 --> 00:00:50.934 On today's episode, we'll break down some core concepts about building technology 00:00:50.994 --> 00:00:55.494 as a small organization, we'll go over the importance of staying agile, how 00:00:55.494 --> 00:01:00.984 to maximize your tech budget and why it's crucial to stay focused on people. 00:01:01.644 --> 00:01:04.974 This is the kind of stuff we'll touch on in every episode. 00:01:05.094 --> 00:01:08.214 Though we'll be more focused on the specifics down the line. 00:01:08.914 --> 00:01:10.834 All righty, let's jump in. 00:01:11.464 --> 00:01:13.144 First thing's first agility. 00:01:13.204 --> 00:01:15.484 This is absolutely key. 00:01:15.844 --> 00:01:20.434 As you navigate the ever changing landscape of technology, it's important 00:01:20.434 --> 00:01:24.724 to remain open to new ideas and be ready to pivot when you need to. 00:01:24.844 --> 00:01:29.254 Often this can mean embracing cutting edge tools that help you stay ahead of the 00:01:29.254 --> 00:01:33.814 competition to do that right, you'll need to stay informed about the latest trends 00:01:33.814 --> 00:01:38.344 and advancements and be prepared to learn from your successes and your failures. 00:01:39.044 --> 00:01:43.154 There are times when you'll spend a lot of effort getting set up with a new 00:01:43.154 --> 00:01:46.874 technology that seemed promising, but if you see that it's not bringing you 00:01:46.874 --> 00:01:51.644 the rewards that you were expecting, you have to be ready to drop it and move on. 00:01:51.974 --> 00:01:55.484 To do that effectively, you'll need to think about how tech fits 00:01:55.484 --> 00:01:59.894 into your processes and how you can plug things in and remove them 00:01:59.924 --> 00:02:01.994 without completely throwing you off. 00:02:02.174 --> 00:02:06.254 But most importantly, it's about building a culture that embraces 00:02:06.284 --> 00:02:08.624 change and is open to new things. 00:02:09.104 --> 00:02:13.244 That applies to your organization, but it also applies to you as an individual 00:02:13.544 --> 00:02:17.864 . Now let's talk about maximizing your tech budget when you're working with 00:02:17.894 --> 00:02:20.654 limited resources, every dollar counts. 00:02:20.714 --> 00:02:24.674 So it's crucial to prioritize your technology investments wisely. 00:02:25.124 --> 00:02:28.244 Start by identifying your most pressing needs and then researching 00:02:28.244 --> 00:02:31.034 the tools and services that can best address those needs. 00:02:31.544 --> 00:02:35.084 Prioritizing is definitely the hardest part, but as you 00:02:35.084 --> 00:02:36.654 experiment, you'll figure it out. 00:02:37.514 --> 00:02:42.014 Don't be afraid to explore open source solutions or less expensive alternatives 00:02:42.014 --> 00:02:47.354 to popular software and always consider the longterm value of your investments. 00:02:47.564 --> 00:02:51.674 Think about how they could benefit your organization, not just today, 00:02:51.704 --> 00:02:53.984 but like years down the line. 00:02:54.614 --> 00:02:58.534 With that in mind though, make sure to consider that cheap tools 00:02:58.594 --> 00:03:00.544 sometimes end up being more costly. 00:03:00.574 --> 00:03:03.784 If they require technical staff to spend more hours getting 00:03:03.784 --> 00:03:05.134 them to do what you need. 00:03:05.584 --> 00:03:08.944 If you're spending 50 bucks a month, for example, on tooling. 00:03:09.274 --> 00:03:14.284 But spending 200 on the human hours required to make it do what a hundred 00:03:14.284 --> 00:03:17.704 dollar tool could do out of the box, you might want to just switch and 00:03:17.704 --> 00:03:19.414 spend on the more expensive tool. 00:03:19.834 --> 00:03:23.404 Similarly open source can be really compelling and is often a great 00:03:23.404 --> 00:03:28.594 choice, but you need to have a good sense of how much money it's 00:03:28.594 --> 00:03:33.094 actually going to take to run both in terms of server and staff costs. 00:03:33.364 --> 00:03:35.104 Sometimes the trade off makes sense. 00:03:35.224 --> 00:03:38.074 And other times it just doesn't. 00:03:38.944 --> 00:03:42.154 Finally, let's talk about one of the most important aspects of building 00:03:42.154 --> 00:03:46.954 technology, keeping people at the center of your tech strategy. 00:03:47.494 --> 00:03:50.584 Technology ultimately serves people. 00:03:51.184 --> 00:03:52.984 And it should improve their lives. 00:03:53.304 --> 00:03:58.764 Always ask yourself, how is this actually going to make people's lives better? 00:03:59.154 --> 00:04:02.874 You can and should keep track of quantitative metrics as you build. 00:04:03.174 --> 00:04:07.434 But ultimately, especially in the early stages, the human element 00:04:07.434 --> 00:04:09.234 is what's going to keep you going. 00:04:09.934 --> 00:04:13.834 So listen to feedback and be willing to adapt your approach if necessary, 00:04:13.864 --> 00:04:17.824 by focusing on people you'll foster loyalty, you'll drive engagement and 00:04:17.824 --> 00:04:19.804 set yourself up for longterm success. 00:04:20.614 --> 00:04:25.384 Technical folks in particular and I'm technical and I'm guilty of this tend to 00:04:25.384 --> 00:04:27.844 get lost in how cool their systems are. 00:04:27.934 --> 00:04:29.284 We're building cool tech. 00:04:29.314 --> 00:04:31.444 We like the shiny new thing. 00:04:31.834 --> 00:04:35.674 But in the end, we're all just building products to help people. 00:04:35.704 --> 00:04:39.904 And we've got to remember that if you're not serving a human being at the end 00:04:39.904 --> 00:04:42.394 of the day, what are you really doing? 00:04:43.234 --> 00:04:48.844 So that's it folks to recap when it comes to building small tech, remember to stay 00:04:48.844 --> 00:04:53.914 agile, optimize your tech budget and keep people at the heart of your strategy. 00:04:54.334 --> 00:04:58.084 And that's all for the intro to the small tech podcast. 00:04:58.504 --> 00:05:02.794 Thanks for tuning in, in our upcoming episodes, we'll be diving deeper 00:05:02.794 --> 00:05:08.044 into specific tools, strategies, and technologies that can benefit you and keep 00:05:08.044 --> 00:05:11.014 you up to date on the latest innovations. 00:05:11.074 --> 00:05:14.404 Don't forget to subscribe if you want to keep up with this stuff, I've been 00:05:14.404 --> 00:05:19.534 your host Raph and remember, we all want to do some good in the world so go 00:05:19.534 --> 00:05:21.754 build something good out there, friends.