#JudgesOnFire Roundup: The 13 podcasts to help you submit a trailblazing entry

Rose Ross, Founder and Chief Trailblazers has been #OnFire with the podcast schedule this year – picking the brains of our global pool of judges, trailblazing alumni and even Gigaom Research analysts for the new #TechOnFire series each week. 

In our #JudgesonFire podcast series, we aim to let you get to know our judges a little better. They also get the chance to share their wisdom and tips about entering the Tech Trailblazers Awards to give you the best shot at success. After all, there’s just under a week left to enter the 2021 awards. 

Therefore, here’s a lineup of the latest #JudgesOnFire podcasts to press play on while you complete your Tech Trailblazers 10th Edition application!

• Ben Kepes, Principal at Diversity – Ben’s been with us from the beginning. Joining us from his rural home in New Zealand, Ben shares his views of how his category of interest, Cloud, has changed for startups over the last 10 years. He also shares his experiences from having been an angel investor and being part of a startup himself, 
• Sam Johnston, CEO of Acumino – Also back for his tenth season, Singapore-based judge Sam shares his interesting history, having begun as a founder/entrepreneur at 17 years old, through working at big corporations, to being head of a startup that creates startups, bringing valuable experience to the Tech Trailblazers Awards’ judging team. He has good advice about how startups should stay hyper-focussed. 
• Brian Honan, CEO & Principal Consultant of BH Consulting – Joining us from Dublin, loyal judge Brian shares his view on what it takes an Enterprise Tech startup to catch the eye of a judge and what to avoid. He also talks about the opportunities that there are in cybersecurity firms to solve the fundamental problem of providing protection without ruining employees’ workflows. He also shares his view on how cybersecurity is like a car. Intrigued? Give this one a listen.
• Eleanor Dallaway, Editorial Director at Infosecurity Magazine – Joining the panel for 2021, Eleanor offers her tips for the things she will be looking for in an entry. The London-based judge also shares her rise up through the ranks at Infosecurity Magazine and how she has, over time, become more and more passionate about diversity and inclusion in the industry. She also reports on how startups seem to be surviving the challenges brought on by the global pandemic.
• Gerald Brady, Managing Director, Silicon Valley Bank Network at SVB Financial Group – A long-term supporter of the Tech Trailblazers Awards, Gerald joins the 2021 panel from California, paying close attention to the Diversity and Investment categories. We quiz him about the variety of roles he’s held over the years and how he’s now in a position to have a finger on the pulse of the innovation economy. He also makes predictions for what will happen in the world of technology over the next 10 years. Will quantum computers be a thing?
• Enrico Signoretti, Senior Data Storage Analyst at Gigaom – Italy-based Enrico’s been with us since the very beginning. In a fascinating conversation, Enrico shares his life story, including how his career path changed after starting a blog. He also talks about how storage has changed in the last decade, to move beyond primary/secondary storage to a new way of viewing data.
• Joe Baguley, VP and CTO EMEA for VMware – UK-based Joe has been a judge since the very beginning, and was even involved in the conversations before the initial launch. Joe elucidates what cloud will really be like and the opportunities it could bring for startups. He also describes the difference between invention and innovation, how he sees plenty enough ‘frying pans’, and how that’s key for entrants and successful startups. Listen to his cautionary tale of how diversity, equity, and inclusion are very different things, and how they need to be dealt with differently.
• Steve O’Donnell, CIO – As Head Judge, Steve is one of our most experienced judges and has had many roles during his varied career. In an enlightening conversation, he chats about the value for startups in winning awards, and explains how the Tech Trailblazers Awards in particular are designed to help young firms to prepare themselves for investors and how it’s the most cost-effective way to stand out from the crowd.
• Jessica Li, Head of Content at Elpha – Joining us from San Francisco, Jessica first judged in 2020. In a fascinating conversation, Jessica describes her past experience and what she looks for in an entry. Having been on both sides of the startup process, both involved with startups and also being part of deciding Angel investments, Jessica shares what she’s learnt, including the importance of founders and that you can’t get everything you need to judge a potentially worthy investment with a quick internet search. 

• Jeff Vance, Founder and Editor, Startup50 – Having joined us in 2020, Jeff judges the Networking and Big Data categories. In this podcast you’ll find out all about how Jeff has been writing about technology trends for 20 years and his experience in evaluating startups, how VC funding has changed during the pandemic, and why startups should be focussing on “the steak not the sizzle”, with a little dash of Chinese espionage thrown in too.
• Stephen Foskett, Organizer in Chief, Tech Field Day – Stephen shares more about Tech Field Day, a series of invite-only technical meetings between influencers and sponsoring enterprise IT companies. Their events focus on enterprise IT topics from the datacenter to the cloud, mobility and networking to security and storage. He explains how Tech Field Day was born, what will impress and inspire him in a Tech Trailblazers entry.
• Teresa Cottam, Chief Analyst, Omnisperience – UK-based Teresa shares her enthusiastic passion for the technology industry, particularly the mobile space which she focuses on. You will discover her top tips for entering the Tech Trailblazers Awards, the startup potential in the “new normal”, how the mobile communications industry is inherently diverse.
• Justin Lodge, Principal Architect in Financial Services – Singapore-based Justin joined us right at the beginning. In a fascinating chat, find out about Justin’s wide variety of jobs during his career, what he is looking for in an entry to the Tech Trailblazers Awards, and what disruptive technology is going to shake the world in the future. 

Do you know a company who you think should be in the running? Share this article with them. Extended deadline – 22nd September at 23:59pm Pacific Time. 

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For more information, visit www.techtrailblazers.com, follow @techtrailblaze, or listen to the #OnFire podcasts.