Hardware Podcasts

80: Most of Us Are Human Beings

Embedded.fm · 10 Dec 2014 · 1h 15m

What this episode covers

Bill Winterberg, founder of FPPad, discusses his career transition from embedded systems engineering at LeapFrog to becoming a financial planner and technology adviser for financial advisors. He details his work on the LeapPad Learning System's audio library, the company's IPO, and his subsequent shift into financial services to help engineers navigate wealth management. Winterberg explains the rise of robo-advisors like Wealthfront and Betterment, the importance of fee-only fiduciaries, and resources like XY Planning Network and NAPFA for finding trustworthy advisors.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies and companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
LeapFrog, FPPad, Wealthfront, Betterment, XY Planning Network, NAPFA, Garrett Planning Network, Vanguard, Domini Social Investments
Products
LeapPad Learning System

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • How I Built This · 53m

    Betterment: Jon Stein

    Jon Stein, founder of Betterment, explains how he launched an online investment platform in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, targeting everyday investors with a robo-advisor model. He details the bootstrapped early days, the critical TechCrunch Disrupt launch that forced a working product, and the subsequent fundraising from Bessemer Ventures. The episode also covers the operational challenges of managing withdrawals during a market crash and the complex renegotiation of equity with co-founders Eli Braverman and Sean Owen.

    Starting a product companyValidation & product-market fit
    7 chapters

  • How I Built This · 39m

    LearnVest: Alexa von Tobel

    Alexa von Tobel, founder of LearnVest, explains how the unexpected death of her father when she was 14 left her mother struggling with family finances, inspiring her to build a tool that simplifies financial planning for young people. She details leaving Morgan Stanley and Harvard Business School in 2008 to launch LearnVest, raising $11 million in seed funding by hustling to meet investors despite the financial crisis. The company grew to serve millions of users with a software platform that aggregates finances and provides affordable planning advice, eventually leading to its acquisition by Northwestern Mutual for a rumored $250 million. In a postscript, Dillon Hill discusses co-founding Gamers Gift, a nonprofit that provides VR headsets and video games to bed-bound and disabled patients in hospitals and assisted living facilities.

    Starting a product companyValidation & product-market fit
    7 chapters

  • Being an Engineer · 50m

    S7E31 Stanley Leong | Engineering Your Finances: A Former Electrical Engineer’s Guide to Building Wealth

    Stanley Leong, a former electrical engineer at IBM and Agilent Technologies who now runs Wisdom Pointe Wealth Advisors, explains how to apply engineering principles like systems thinking and process optimization to personal finance. He details the psychological biases that affect technical professionals, such as the disposition effect and regret aversion, particularly regarding concentrated stock positions in their employer's company. Leong also outlines specific tax-advantaged strategies like the mega backdoor Roth and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) to help high-income earners build wealth efficiently.

    Careers & educationPricing, margins & unit economics
    7 chapters

  • How I Built This · 29m

    How I Built Resilience: Live with Tobias Lütke and Jon Stein

    Tobias Lütke, founder of Shopify, discusses how the pandemic accelerated digitalization trends and drove traditional businesses like Heinz to launch e-commerce sites, while Jon Stein, founder of Betterment, explains why the 2008 recession was the ideal time to start his fintech company and why current economic downturns present similar opportunities for new ventures in financial services, healthcare, and education.

    Growth, exits & acquisitionsDirect-to-consumer & e-commerce
    8 chapters

  • OnTrack · 36m

    Is FPGA the Best Engineering Career? With Adam Taylor

    Adam Taylor, founder of Adiuvo Engineering and FPGA Horizons, explains why he considers FPGA engineering a top career choice, citing the evolution of FPGAs from simple glue logic to advanced compute platforms with AI engines. He discusses how modern FPGA tools are more accessible and how AI-driven agentic coding assistants are changing RTL development by acting as a new layer of abstraction rather than replacing engineers. Taylor also details the success of his vendor-neutral conference, FPGA Horizons, and its expansion to the US through a partnership with PCEA at PCB East, highlighting the critical need for collaboration between FPGA and PCB designers to handle high-speed signaling and complex power requirements.

    Microcontrollers & dev platformsCareers & education
    7 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Embedded.fm. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.