For the 54th episode of our podcast, I interviewed Mike Phillips, Co-Founder and CEO of Sense.

Mike is a serial entrepreneur and a pioneer in speech recognition technology. What was so interesting about my interview with Mike is that it was basically a history lesson through the evolution of speech recognition—a very difficult and complex technology to build. After years and years, it is technology that we now take for granted with things like Siri, Alexa, and Ok Google.

After spending time in research at Carnegie Mellon and MIT, Mike co-founded SpeechWorks, a company that created software that allowed you to interact with an automated attendant in call centers in a natural way, which was groundbreaking technology at the time.

Mike went on to be a co-founder of Vlingo, which was often referred to as the “Siri for Android,” which helped make consumer adoption of this form of technology a reality.

Today, Mike is doing something completely new with Sense, which is making our homes smarter with their intelligent home energy monitor. The company has raised a total of $38.6M in funding, including a $18M Series B round of funding back in October.

In this episode of our podcast, we cover:

• Mike’s background, and how his interest in electronics started to bloom at a young age by building things like his own computer and an electronic piano tuner.
• The details on the early research projects he was working on at Carnegie Mellon and MIT.
• Building SpeechWorks to the point of going public, and their evolution of the company through mergers and acquisitions to eventually becoming known as Nuance.
• How he was able to convince investors that mobile was the next frontier for speech recognition, which led to Vlingo and was acquired for $225M.
• The vision for Sense and how they are letting consumers know what is going on in their homes, all while making them safer, more efficient, and more reliable.
• Plus a lot of advice for entrepreneurs.

To make sure you receive future episodes, please subscribe to us on iTunes, Google Play, or Soundcloud. If you enjoyed our show, please consider writing us a 5-star review—it will definitely help us get the word out there!

Lycos was one of the dominant companies from the web 1.0 era and at the one point, the search engine and web portal company was the most visited destination on the web. 

Lycos made history as the fastest company to ever go public on the NASDAQ and was later acquired by Terra Networks for $12.5B. If you are looking to hear more of the story behind Lycos, you can listen to our podcast interview with Bob Davis, the Founder & CEO of the company.

It may come as no surprise that several of its former employees have gone on to make an impact on the Boston tech sector in some way shape or form. Many of them have gone on to executive roles at other prominent tech companies, have started their own, or have become board members at other tech companies in the area. We've compiled a slideshow of 20+ alumni to showcase what they are up to now.

For this slideshow, we used the following criteria:

• Must be based in the Boston area.
• Tenure at Lycos for at least two years.
• Currently a founder, executive, or board member.

Take a look at the slideshow below!

In the chaotic world of rapidly growing companies, taking risks to innovate and move forward is part of the deal and, coupled with those, chances can be rewarding successes as well as some notable fails. What happens next in either scenario can significantly shape the culture of your company.

Accountability is a common buzzword, and it’s one most companies seem to value. And yet, aside from the notion of someone taking responsibility for their actions, we don’t dive deep into what it means and the implications of what happens if you create an environment where it thrives - or doesn’t.

WALK THE WALK

Whether you are the CEO, a leader, a new manager, or an individual contributor, accountability begins with you. Behave in the way you want others to in your organization. Stated intentions are irrelevant; you must walk the walk.  If you take ownership of something, people need to experience you meeting those obligations. As a leader, this is extraordinarily critical. It’s imperative to take accountability for the failures your team has; not just the successes. The more senior you become, the more important the ability to take accountability becomes. When your team doesn’t believe that your words will match your actions, you lose serious credibility. Worse, their behaviors will begin to emulate yours. One person’s failure to take accountability contributes to a culture devolving into one where no one feels compelled to take responsibility.

Bottom line:  Your words must match your actions.

NOT A CHECKBOX ITEM

Taking accountability isn’t just an on-time action; it’s a mindset and behavior that should always be lived in.  Those who choose not to subscribe to the importance of accountability will often look for loopholes or opportunities to take it only when it suits them. This approach lacks the consistency and credibility that comes from your colleagues understanding taking accountability is core to your behavior patterns.  People don’t want to be in the position of second-guessing your motivations and where you stand.

Bottom line: You need to be seen as being accountable at all times.

EXPECTATIONS FOR ALL

You can only control your own behavior, not anyone else’s.  That said, you can be clear and consistent about your expectations for those you surround yourself with. If you hold the accountability bar high for some members of your team, but let it slip with others, you are setting the tone for inconsistency and selective accountability. This way of operating requires support and nurturing; it’s rare you can say “I expect you to take accountability” and people just do it. You can build the skills and lessen the anxiety that often comes with taking accountability by being clear about your expectations, providing a safety net to share when things are going off course and redirecting them, and giving encouragement when their actions are leading to positive results.

Bottom line: There has to be a clear and consistent strategy on how accountability is implemented and validated on your team and in your company.

THE KEY TO SUCCESS OR FAILURE

No one enjoys failing. Even if we can rationalize the great learning experiences that often accompany it, it can still leave one feeling anxious and unmotivated. However, when individuals and/or teams choose to take accountability in these situations, they are putting themselves in the driver’s seat. They are able to take control, move to solution mode, and course correct. Failure to take accountability can result in the work becoming a spectator sport.  Worse yet, finger pointing and throwing others under the proverbial bus ensues. When this happens, teams suffer and culture erodes.

Bottom line: Accountability is the single biggest differentiator between successful and unsuccessful teams.

Regardless of where you operate in the company, accountability touches everything from doing your job to the way you interact with your co-workers. When every person takes responsibility for their work, they contribute to further the goals of the company.  When inconsistent accountability exists, it can not just make or break a team. It can ultimately make or break your company.

Christina Luconi is Chief People Officer for Rapid7. Follow her on Twitter: @peopleinnovator

What does the career path and a day-in-the-life look like for a Technical Recruiter at athenahealth? We connected with Addison Maupin to find out.

Visit athenahealth's BIZZpage for their latest job opportunities!

Where did you grow up?  What did your parents do for work?  What was your very first job (before any internships)?

I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. My dad owned his own landscaping company, and my mom was a teacher. My very first job was starting my own lawn mowing business.

You graduated from Boston University in 2008, right as the financial crisis was about to hit.  What were your initial jobs out of school and what did that period teach you?

My initial job out of school was to lead the writing program for an ESL tutoring organization. I was laid off after a year-and-a-half there. Following that, I was unemployed for the better part of a year. No period of time post-college has taught me more. It’s what I think of the most as I interact with job-seekers. I’ll never forget how brutal it was to search for a job during that time with minimal work experience that was relevant to the areas I wanted to take my career.

How did you get into recruiting?

I fell into it. I was called by a recruiting firm that was willing to train me, and I didn’t have many other options. I realized very quickly how much I loved it. It allowed me to help people every day, and eventually teach and train new employees on what I had learned. Those were two things I was interested in doing before starting my career in recruitment, so it was a natural fit.

What did you learn in terms of running recruitment process outsourcing programs at large companies like CVS Health, General Motors and other companies?

I learned that even the largest and most successful companies in a given industry undergo large-scale, tumultuous change with surprising frequency. Companies are merging, getting acquired, and buying out other companies like never before. It helps me greatly to structure conversations with people that get caught up in those situations and are affected personally by them.

Why did you decide to join the recruiting team at athenahealth and can you share the high-level responsibilities of your current position as Technical Recruiter?

First and foremost, I wanted to join a software company that builds products that genuinely help people. Athenahealth is the epitome of that. Secondly, I wanted to find a team that I liked as much as my team at my last company, which set a high bar. I’ve never felt more aligned with an interviewing team as I did following my interviews with athenahealth.

As a Technical Recruiter, I support some of the most niche areas of the business, including Infrastructure-as-a-Service, Platform Engineering, and Business Intelligence. IaaS and Platform are working towards enabling microservice architecture via automated solutions across the entire technology stack. Business Intelligence is working towards providing reporting services across all areas of the business. Needless to say, it’s an exciting time to join any of these three groups!

I spend most of my time fleshing out a sourcing strategy for finding the best talent in these areas. I’m always exploring new ways to source, organize and present information, and collaborate with technical teams to build an airtight end-to-end hiring process.

Day in the Life

Coffee, tea, or nothing?

Coffee

What time do you get into the office?

Usually 8:30 AM.

What is something you look forward to everyday in your role?

Using tools that are new to me, and discovering ways of using them to make my life and my managers’ lives easier.

Every day is different, but can you outline what a typical day looks like for you?

I’ll always spend a chunk of time in the morning organizing my day. I’ll usually source and reach out to candidates in the morning, and schedule phone screens for the afternoon. These activities are spread around meetings I have with my internal team, and also with my hiring leaders. I do also spend time every day learning more about the roles i’m staffing for and the techniques I can utilize to best fill those roles. This involves watching online classes in Cloud Engineering and other subjects, watching product demos, etc.

What time do you head out of the office?

Usually about 5:30 PM.

Do you log back in at night or do you shut it down completely?  

I log back on. Often candidates cannot talk during working hours, so I need to make sure I make myself available to them as needed.

Any productivity hacks?

Yes - the system that I use to track all progress on a given position is the same tool I use to correspond/collaborate with the hiring teams that I work with. It’s saved me a lot of time.

What are the 3 apps that you can’t live without?

Mint, Spotify, and Reddit

What professional accomplishment are you proudest of?

My best stretch of hiring when I was supporting Equifax for Sevenstep. I went over 13 months without a single offer decline, which included a month with 18 hires (3 of which were SVP level, 1 of those 3 had been open for over two years before I filled it).

Who do you admire or call upon for professional advice?

My best friend Tom. He began his career for a marketing agency, and he’s made his way into a DevOps engineering role without a degree in Computer Science or any formal training on the subject. He’s a great example of how much someone can do professionally when they dedicate themselves to moving into areas that might be out of their comfort zone.

Keith Cline is the Founder of VentureFizz.  Follow him on Twitter: @kcline6.

Image courtesy of Addison Maupin.

For the 53rd episode of our podcast, I interviewed Jodi Goldstein, Executive Director at Harvard Innovation Labs.

The Harvard i-lab is an incubator and ecosystem to help Harvard students build their startups and gain valuable connections. Since starting seven years ago, the i-lab has helped incubate over 1,200 companies, and altogether, they have gone on to raise over $1.5 billion. This includes companies like Handy (which was just acquired), Lovepop, Catalant, and Artlifting.

Another amazing statistic from the companies participating in the i-lab is the fact that 50% of their founders are female.

In this episode of our podcast, we cover:

• Jodi’s background going back to her early foundational years in Vermont, being part of an entrepreneurial family in the hospitality industry, and what that taught her.
• Why she choose the startup path out of HBS, and the details behind early-to-market companies that ended up being precursors to Facebook and Instagram.
• What led her down the path of starting her own company, Drync, one of the first apps in the App Store.
• How she got involved in the Harvard i-lab, the mission behind this initiative at Harvard, and why they don’t take equity in companies.
• Her views on what are the best measures for success, and how they are striving to give students an unfair competitive advantage.
• Advice for founders who are looking for a technical co-founder.
• Plus, a lot more!

To make sure you receive future episodes, please subscribe to us on iTunes, Google Play, or Soundcloud. If you enjoyed our show, please consider writing us a 5-star review—it will definitely help us get the word out there!

When it comes to Halloween, the Boston tech community doesn't mess around. This is our fourth year publishing this slideshow and each year the costumes keep getting better and better.

This year, you'll see a lot of Disney-related costumes, famous musicians, The Wizard of Oz... but you'll see some incredibly elaborate costumes like a Transformer, some hysterical groups having fun with their theming, and even the ubiquitous Deadpool hanging around! We also highlighted some of the parties the companies had.

It looks like everyone brought in the Halloween spirit into the offices! Enjoy the slideshow below!