Erin Peterson and I first crossed paths when she was in a senior role at Microsoft, and I luckily added her to an advisory board for a trade show I was running at the time. I have since appreciated all the wisdom from her years of experience in the industry. Erin has a very impressive background and shares with us what’s happening in her current role at Synacor, along with what she has learned while holding leadership positions at AOL and Time Inc. and her work with philanthropic organizations.
She then talks about what positive changes we will be able to look forward to both in the short and long term development of blockchains, and what challenges we may face as we shift towards this relatively obscure technology.
Takeaways:
[3:46] Synacor provides all the backend services to Talko service providers and ISPs. They have had a ton of work and responsibility this year, including powering all the sign-ins for HBO GO.
[5:46] For a lot of people, blockchain has become synonymous with cryptocurrency. However, the potential for blockchain is so much bigger than cryptocurrency. It will be able to store data on any machine that has extra storage available on it, as well as speed up the pace of authenticating transactions.
[8:23] One of the valuable opportunities that will come in a blockchain based world — you can record every transaction that has happened and you can prove that something was or was not sent. Things will become simpler and faster.
[11:19] One of the challenges of blockchain technologies that we will need to develop before it becomes actionable for consumers is matching the verification and monitoring of data.
[15:25] When it’s easier to pay for a technology then get it for free, that’s a great indicator of it being ready for consumer adoption.
[16:37] Erin says that we have just hit the point now where we see the first real blockchain operating system around the corner, thanks to the EOS team.
[23:25] In the recent years, digital advertising has lost its way, and has taken away investment in the tools to develop advertising which deeply resonated with the human experience.
[32:59] Not only have we not seen a resurgence in engaging advertising, but only a handful of campaigns to rise to the quality of what we have seen in the editorial and creative media distribution.
[39:21] Erin speaks on the shocking information she has uncovered in the data with her philanthropic and volunteer work on women in the workplace.
[49:48] Erin’s focus is to bring more people with diverse backgrounds and ideas into the technology workforce.
Mentioned in This Episode: