Back in the day, it was hard to turn the TV off, knowing there might be something interesting waiting on the next channel. Now, with personalized recommendations and algorithmically-curated feeds, much of the technology we interact with is optimized for so much more than core functionality.

While it can sound scary, this type of ubiquitous code isn’t all bad. The software evolution has produced highly effective educational tools, significant advances in medical technology, and much more. It's up to us to ensure that technology serves us rather than the other way around.

Today I’m excited to be joined by someone I've known and respected since I moved to Austin, Bill Leake. As the CEO of Apogee Results, Bill draws on deep expertise in both business and marketing to help increase revenues for a wide range of clients. He has been driving provable revenues through Internet marketing techniques since the early 1990s when, as part of the management team at Power Computing, he built the first company to sell $1 million of product over the Internet. As founder of Apogee Results, he has guided the company from inception to its current position as the largest search engine marketing company in Texas, one of the 20 largest independents in North America, and one of the fastest-growing companies on the Inc. 500 / 5000 list.

In this conversation, Bill and I discuss where Austin is going as a city, the evolution of digital marketing over the last three decades, good versus bad technology, what ChatGPT and advancements in AI mean for humanizing software, and more.

Highlights

How Bill ended up in Austin and his experience founding and growing companies here

Austin’s growth and evolution into a tech hub

The impactful OGs of the Austin tech industry

Bill’s accidental entry into digital marketing through his work at Power Computing

The early days of the internet and lesser-known Austin success stories

Challenges of humanizing software

Differentiating between cute and ubiquitous from a user experience perspective

The changing expectations for digital marketing

Positive examples of technology being used for the greater good

The negative impact of social media, which rewards conflict instead of censoring it

Tremendous opportunities in the internet space

What people-driven tech means to Bill

The trade-off between privacy and convenience

Bill’s perspective on the pros and cons of ChatGPT

Connect with Bill Leake

Bill Leake on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/leake/

Apogee Results https://www.apogeeresults.com/

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