The Tech Industry and Being the Role Model You Needed as a Kid

The Tech Industry and Being the Role Model You Needed as a Kid

Author: BKBT Productions July 21, 2025 Duration: 35:23
Kendrick Trotter joins the show to talk about going from Uber driver to a major account executive at a public cybersecurity company, then founding his own business that created over $70 million in annualized salaries for underrepresented professionals. George K and George A talk to Kendrick about: * How a Division I football scholarship and one life-changing Uber ride with an Amazon VP changed everything * His game-changing approach to calling CISOs * Building Us and Technology - training 13,000+ people for free and placing them at companies like Zscaler and Airtable * The harsh reality of what happened to DEI initiatives and why diversity of thought drives 30% more revenue The bottom line: Kendrick's story proves that with the right mindset, genuine human connection, and "unreasonable hospitality," you can break barriers and create opportunities for others. ———— 👊⚡️Support the show! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the show and get exclusive member benefits, or send a one-time gift! https://ko-fi.com/bareknucklesbrasstacks Your contribution covers our hosting fees, helps us make cool events and swag, and it lets us know that what we're doing is of value to you.

There’s a lot of noise in the world of technology talk, but Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks cuts through it with a focus on the people behind the products and the societal currents shaping our digital landscape. Hosts George K and George A steer conversations that are less about specs and hype, and more about real-world consequences. You’ll hear them dig into topics like the messy rollout of new AI tools, the often-invisible backbone of digital infrastructure, and why communities adopt or reject certain technologies. This podcast regularly features guests from various fields who offer unvarnished opinions on what’s genuinely functional and what’s fundamentally flawed in our tech-saturated lives. The discussions move beyond simple commentary to challenge the standard narratives promoted by the tech industry, examining the cultural and social ripples of every new development. It’s a show for anyone who feels that technology coverage often misses the human element-the frustrations, the adaptations, and the ethical dilemmas. Tune in for a grounded, critical, and consistently engaging dialogue that connects the dots between code and culture. This production from BKBT Productions lives up to its name, getting down to the brass tacks of how technology is built and used, with a bare-knuckle honesty that’s increasingly rare.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks
Podcast Episodes
Using focused AI to help small farmers and reduce food insecurity [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:46
What if narrow #AI, rather than imagined AGI through scaling will be what changes the world? In some places, that's already happening. El Mahdi Aboulmanadel founded DeepLeaf [https://deepleaf.io/] after watching smallhol…
Deep Learning vs Intuition: AI models and venture capital investing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:14
What if the best investment decision is one where no human is involved? Brant Meyer, partner at Trac VC [https://www.trac.vc/] joins the show this week to talk about the firm's approach, where algorithms — not partners i…
Best Of: What are we building? And the future of human flourishing... [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:10
We've spent the last several months talking to people who live at the intersection of technology and the humans on the receiving end of it. A data privacy attorney. A corpus linguist. A clinical psychologist. A performan…
Why cybersecurity is broken and time is the enemy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:55
Why do your friends and parents still get breach notification letters from companies they've never heard of? John Watters aka "The Cowboy" joins the show this week for a hard look at information security. In the early 20…
What leaders get wrong about AI rollouts and employee adoption [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:33
What if your AI rollout isn't failing because of the technology, but because no one asked your employees how they feel about it? Dr. Marissa Alert is a clinical psychologist who works with organizations scaling AI. Her a…
The art and Science of grit, ambition, & betting on yourself [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:57
The voices telling you it won't work usually belong to people who never tried. Nobody gives you permission to take a chance. You just do it. Chris built a 50K MRR business without a formal education, a tech background, o…
Finding meaning and community in tech-fueled hustle culture [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:47
What happens when you get everything you thought you wanted and still feel empty? Tychon Carter won Big Brother Canada, gained fame and followers overnight, and felt completely lost. The success arrived before he was rea…