Austin Hay

Technology should always be viewed as a means to solve a specific problem rather than an end in itself.

"I have this adage I always say, which is tools are just meant to solve problems. And the problem set for marketing technologists and business technologists is you focus on the tools."

The most effective technology strategy often involves buying a core tool and building custom layers on top of it.

"It's B and B as opposed to BVB. So, build and buy as opposed to build versus buy. People all the time just think the second that you're talking about implementing a tool or procuring a solution, it's,..."

Technical roles that sit between departments require high levels of persuasion and cross-functional 'quarterbacking' to succeed.

"I think that this person, the secret sauce is more of how good of a cross-functional team player are they. I almost view them like a true quarterback... marketing technology because it lives between s..."

Preventing future technical debt requires architecting systems that are 'minimally invasive' today but scalable for needs 1-2 years out.

"The job of a marketing technologist is to think often one to two years down the road about what we're going to need to solve for and design systems in an elegant way, not to break the bank, but to at..."

Asking how a candidate prepared reveals their planning process, seriousness, and systems-thinking capabilities.

"I like to ask people how they prepared for the interview. This is not, I can't take credit for this. My wife told me about, gave me this idea and I loved it. I think it was a16z partner. But I love th..."

Vulnerability-based questions help reset the interview atmosphere and reveal the candidate's true character and resilience.

"Tell me about the most difficult or challenging thing you've overcome in the last year in your life. It doesn't have to be work related, it could be personal. And I think it's a great way to just rese..."

In rapidly evolving technical fields, intellectual curiosity is more valuable than static expertise in specific tools.

"The first thing that I always gravitate towards is just intellectual curiosity. And I know that's very, maybe a little bit overrated, but I think you can tell pretty quickly if somebody's just interes..."

Avoid using educational prestige or resume gaps as shortcuts for evaluation, as they often mask high-potential candidates.

"I look less for red flags and more for false identifiers on the resume application that may shortcut me towards the decision. Another one is just school people just look at your school where you went..."

Delaying a decision until the last possible moment ('Thinking Gray') allows for more information gathering and better outcomes.

"This concept of thinking gray is so often in life and in our jobs, we are forced to make decisions very quickly. We have to think black or white about a problem set or a solution, and then decide. One..."

Effective problem solving requires a sequence: define the problem, identify the stakeholders, and only then design the system.

"PPS framework that I talk about a lot, which is problem, people and system. So, whenever there's a challenge that comes up... I like to first say what's the problem? Who are the people involved and wh..."