7 - People skills & data analytics at Netflix, Shopify & Playboy - David Lennie

"Good data work has nothing to do with technical skill"

David Lennie is currently SVP of Data & Analytics at Shopify, a booming ecommerce startup that has seen steep growth recently, up more 400% since they went public in May 2015. 

Before Shopify, he spent almost 5 years at Netflix where he managed a team of 60 employees and delivered a big data analytics platform across all areas of Netflix.

And before both of those he was head of Business Intelligence for Playboy, where he designed and deployed the company's first corporate data warehouse.

David is a thoughtful and reflective manager who discusses at length the human parts of managing a team, even if the work itself is all about the numbers. We discuss mentoring, hiring and firing and everything in between as it relates to running a business.

We also spend a fair amount of time discussing corporate culture, specifically the infamous Netflix culture of Freedom & Responsibility. David shares his first-hand account of the positive and negative impacts of working in that culture.

Music:

http://www.bensound.com/

For more info about this podcast in Shanghai visit:

http://beertelligence.com/the-beertelligence-podcast/