This week I had the opportunity to chat with Denver tech leader Janackeh Blackwell. Janackeh has been hosting the Black Tech Denver meetup at Code's space in RiNo since last year. We got into the details of her career, the Denver community, Black Tech Denver, and more. Continue reading to hear all about Janackeh and what makes her a rising tech leader in Denver.
The technical interview is different from any other interview. But, that doesn’t mean it has to be daunting. The more you know about and are prepared for this type of interview, the more likely it is that you will do well. So what is a technical interview? And what are some tips to ace it?
Code is now hosting in-person meetups! Our space was feeling very empty during COVID-19. But, with everything calming down, our space is being utilized!
In tech, there are many companies openly state the desire to hire engineers who are female or non-white, which isn’t a bad thing on its own. But it doesn’t address the root issue - that many companies aren’t comfortable or welcoming to everyone. We should be creating companies that girls growing up see and think that they want to work there when they grow up. It’s not the most appealing to everyone if they see companies that look more or less like a frat house, and simply trying to hire females for specific positions doesn’t fix the root issues.
Located in Golden, HomeAdvisor aims to take the hassle out of the process and make home improvement easier and more efficient—and they recently became the #1 industry leader. Learn their full story.
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with someone who helped fuel the start of the Denver tech scene, and continues to do so to this day, Josh Churlik.
Josh and I met at Well Data Labs — the sixth company he's founded— to talk about the progression of our Mile High City, his past entrepreneurial experiences, his current company, and more.
As a renewable energy leader, Colorado's energy industry has more opportunities than ever, especially with the renewable market growing steadily. The Colorado State Energy Office emphasizes just that in the introduction of their 2014 report:
"Colorado's diversity of energy resources, business-friendly environment, and world-class research institutions puts the state on a path toward a more secure energy future."
With these perfect conditions, people are merging Denver's love for tech with the opportunities in the energy industry. Companies are innovating new ways to save money, power, and other resources; whether it be connecting power consumers to investors or putting them at the center of everything.
Last week, I had the opportunity to interview Denver tech leader Dan Hannigan! Dan is the founder of DenverDevs, an organizer for Develop Denver, and a general role model for the community.
Read our full interview and learn about the "accidental" founding of DenverDevs, Dan's thoughts on the open office plan, why he came to Denver, and more!
Company Profile on Shutterstock: leading provider of high-quality images, vectors, illustrations, videos, and music to businesses, marketing agencies, and media organizations around the world. With over 125 million images and 6 million videos available, and increasing each week, Shutterstock has revolutionized the stock imagery industry. Continue reading and see how.
Even if you're not into arts and crafts, we bet this Denver native can pique your interest. Craftsy is an online community of over 11 million artists, makers, and crafters that also provides all the supplies you could ever need to make your ideas come to life. Read our newest company profile on Craftsy and, who knows, you may be quilting by next week.
The Denver-based company shifted network security to the cloud with their platform: ProtectWise Grid. The platform provides enhanced visibility and detection of security threats, in addition to accelerated incident response. Think of it like a traditional security system, only instead of cameras monitoring a warehouse, ProtectWise monitors your network.
As described by TechCrunch, ProtectWise’s security strategy is surprisingly simple: it records all networking activity and provides customers with forensic tools to search and review it. Companies can see threats in real-time while also being able to continuously go back and discover previously overlooked threats. With ProtectWise’s “unlimited visibility and detection of complex threats that develop overtime,” you can also stop threats in their tracks.
Since their beginning in 2013, ProtectWise has been featured for their innovative solutions and elite team. The company has been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, Xconomy, The Denver Post, The Denver Business Journal, and other prominent channels. In their most recent success, the company raised $25 million in a round with investors that included Arsenal Venture Partners, Top Tier Capital Partners, and others. Scott Chasin, CEO, said that the round was further proof of their uniqueness as a cloud-based platform. With the new $25M, Chasin intends to invest in sales and marketing to broaden their impact in the industry they're disrupting.
ProtectWise has raised a total of $67 million to date, with other rounds including:
$3.05M in 2013
$14.1M in 2014
$20M in 2015
On top of all that, ProtectWise also has a strong company culture that emphasizes high collaboration, helping "the good guys win," and building a future where we are all stronger together. As an industry disrupting company, you'll find a high-paced environment with advanced technology needing new solutions constantly—and all at a massive scale. Off of that, CTO Gene Stevens says, "as such, we look for candidates who are just as good at what they don't know as they are at what they do know."
If you're looking to get into the cybersecurity industry or you're just interested in it, the ProtectWise blog is a invaluable resource to check out. Blogs are published at least twice a month, with authors including the entire team—even CEO Chasin himself has written a few posts.
