Meeting Title: Brainforge Project Management Structure Discussion Date: 2025-12-29 Meeting participants: Amber Lin, Uttam Kumaran
WEBVTT
1 00:02:57.360 ⇒ 00:02:58.520 Amber Lin: Hello!
2 00:02:58.520 ⇒ 00:02:59.480 Uttam Kumaran: Hello!
3 00:02:59.760 ⇒ 00:03:00.950 Amber Lin: How are you?
4 00:03:00.950 ⇒ 00:03:02.200 Uttam Kumaran: Good, how are you?
5 00:03:02.830 ⇒ 00:03:06.800 Amber Lin: I am very cozy. It’s very cold here, so I’m not.
6 00:03:06.800 ⇒ 00:03:07.859 Uttam Kumaran: Where are you at?
7 00:03:07.860 ⇒ 00:03:09.680 Amber Lin: I’m in… I’m in DC.
8 00:03:09.680 ⇒ 00:03:11.200 Uttam Kumaran: Oh, that’s right, that’s right.
9 00:03:11.470 ⇒ 00:03:11.920 Amber Lin: Yeah.
10 00:03:11.920 ⇒ 00:03:13.140 Uttam Kumaran: It’s probably freezing.
11 00:03:13.520 ⇒ 00:03:18.489 Amber Lin: We Californians, us Californians, are used to that.
12 00:03:18.760 ⇒ 00:03:19.600 Amber Lin: Are you…
13 00:03:19.600 ⇒ 00:03:20.610 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
14 00:03:20.610 ⇒ 00:03:21.499 Amber Lin: In the Bay.
15 00:03:21.800 ⇒ 00:03:23.379 Uttam Kumaran: I’m in Austin, actually.
16 00:03:23.620 ⇒ 00:03:24.220 Amber Lin: Oh.
17 00:03:24.220 ⇒ 00:03:33.140 Uttam Kumaran: My parents are, my parents and my sister are actually visiting India right now, so, nope, I’ve just spent… I spent Austin here with, with Jess.
18 00:03:33.430 ⇒ 00:03:35.890 Amber Lin: That’s so nice, because her family’s there, right?
19 00:03:35.890 ⇒ 00:03:40.579 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, yeah, yeah, her family’s here, and then we’re going… we’re going up to Maine for New Year’s.
20 00:03:41.360 ⇒ 00:03:43.459 Amber Lin: Oh, Maine and…
21 00:03:43.930 ⇒ 00:03:46.109 Uttam Kumaran: Like, Maine the state, Maine, yeah.
22 00:03:46.110 ⇒ 00:03:48.140 Amber Lin: Oh, Portland, I see.
23 00:03:49.240 ⇒ 00:03:52.189 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, so we’re going to this place called Bethel, Maine, but it’s, yeah, maybe an hour.
24 00:03:52.190 ⇒ 00:03:52.820 Amber Lin: to it outside.
25 00:03:52.820 ⇒ 00:03:53.889 Uttam Kumaran: Is that a Boston?
26 00:03:54.340 ⇒ 00:03:55.980 Amber Lin: Oh, I see, I see very…
27 00:03:55.980 ⇒ 00:03:58.150 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, staying with some friends there.
28 00:03:59.070 ⇒ 00:04:00.329 Amber Lin: That’s awesome.
29 00:04:01.900 ⇒ 00:04:10.599 Amber Lin: Yeah. Robert was asking if I want to go up to New York. I was like, I think New York… New York and New Year’s Eve is a horrible idea.
30 00:04:10.600 ⇒ 00:04:24.880 Uttam Kumaran: Well, yeah, I wouldn’t do anything regarding New Year’s there if you… if you… I would just go to say hi to him. Like, treat it like, I’ll take the train, let’s get lunch, and let me go home.
31 00:04:25.080 ⇒ 00:04:31.119 Amber Lin: Yeah. I’ll see. The train and the bus is very different, and…
32 00:04:31.120 ⇒ 00:04:32.800 Uttam Kumaran: True, yeah, yeah, I would not say…
33 00:04:32.800 ⇒ 00:04:33.700 Amber Lin: good options.
34 00:04:33.700 ⇒ 00:04:43.089 Uttam Kumaran: I would not take the bus. Tell me if you want to take the train, but since you’re… I don’t know if you met Pranavia, he’s new, but he’s gonna go see…
35 00:04:43.310 ⇒ 00:04:45.300 Uttam Kumaran: He’s gonna go see Robert, I think.
36 00:04:45.300 ⇒ 00:04:46.659 Amber Lin: Oh, when is he going?
37 00:04:47.210 ⇒ 00:04:51.599 Uttam Kumaran: I think they’re texting about it, but I think maybe the 1st? Like, the day of the 1st.
38 00:04:51.600 ⇒ 00:04:54.659 Amber Lin: Cool! I was thinking about that, too, so…
39 00:04:54.850 ⇒ 00:04:59.570 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, I mean, yeah, so I feel like it could be good for you all to say hi.
40 00:05:01.310 ⇒ 00:05:07.519 Amber Lin: Great, I’ll also say that… Pranov might be going that day, so…
41 00:05:08.290 ⇒ 00:05:10.130 Amber Lin: I might also go that day.
42 00:05:15.740 ⇒ 00:05:21.739 Uttam Kumaran: So we’ve been working on this thing for, like… I mean, it’s maybe been, like, 3 or… 3 or 4 weeks, but, like…
43 00:05:21.740 ⇒ 00:05:22.069 Amber Lin: last year.
44 00:05:22.070 ⇒ 00:05:22.840 Uttam Kumaran: two weeks.
45 00:05:23.420 ⇒ 00:05:26.780 Uttam Kumaran: I… a lot of it came together. Yeah.
46 00:05:27.380 ⇒ 00:05:28.839 Uttam Kumaran: And yeah, I’m just like…
47 00:05:29.100 ⇒ 00:05:41.460 Uttam Kumaran: I mean, Clarence is driving it, and… you know, I told him, like, look, there’s only… there’s a few people who we really need to get it right for, and we should really make sure to get your feedback, Awash.
48 00:05:42.040 ⇒ 00:05:42.840 Uttam Kumaran: Nope.
49 00:05:42.970 ⇒ 00:05:46.779 Uttam Kumaran: And, I mean, and then we got feedback from Demolade.
50 00:05:48.050 ⇒ 00:05:51.809 Uttam Kumaran: The usual suspects, I think, feel pretty good about it.
51 00:05:51.930 ⇒ 00:05:57.439 Uttam Kumaran: But I think since you and I worked super close on just, like, how
52 00:05:57.980 ⇒ 00:06:04.420 Uttam Kumaran: how we’re gonna do delivery overall, you know, I felt like, okay, we should… I told Clarence to make sure
53 00:06:04.630 ⇒ 00:06:09.680 Uttam Kumaran: That once we’re… this is in a good spot, we… we get your, you know, opinion on it.
54 00:06:11.650 ⇒ 00:06:14.830 Uttam Kumaran: And basically, the goal is, like.
55 00:06:15.150 ⇒ 00:06:21.130 Uttam Kumaran: I mean, I would say right now, we’re at, like, about… 14 or 15 clients.
56 00:06:22.570 ⇒ 00:06:31.320 Uttam Kumaran: delivery is just a lot tougher. And so, I think we’ve tried a… me and you have tried a lot of things, like, including, like, the project management structure, and I think.
57 00:06:31.320 ⇒ 00:06:31.680 Amber Lin: This is a.
58 00:06:31.680 ⇒ 00:06:32.830 Uttam Kumaran: A little bit of, like, a…
59 00:06:33.220 ⇒ 00:06:41.240 Uttam Kumaran: A new way of us getting, like, our existing staff to fill in more gaps that typically a project manager would do.
60 00:06:41.890 ⇒ 00:06:48.270 Uttam Kumaran: But also being able to pay people more for that, you know? Like, not just saying, like, hey, do you mind…
61 00:06:48.880 ⇒ 00:06:58.220 Uttam Kumaran: You know, doing these project management or different sort of client management-related things, but also, if you do take those, we’re gonna end up comping people more for that.
62 00:06:58.370 ⇒ 00:07:03.260 Uttam Kumaran: And what that allows us to do is continue to run projects where it’s mostly engineering-led.
63 00:07:04.090 ⇒ 00:07:04.800 Amber Lin: Mmm.
64 00:07:05.150 ⇒ 00:07:07.479 Uttam Kumaran: And give people an opportunity to make more.
65 00:07:07.700 ⇒ 00:07:13.750 Uttam Kumaran: And then, ultimately, like, So, continuing to… Remove stuff off of…
66 00:07:13.930 ⇒ 00:07:19.639 Uttam Kumaran: mine and Robert’s plate by really clearly articulating, like, what are all the things that we’re doing for a client, you know? So that’s…
67 00:07:20.010 ⇒ 00:07:21.309 Uttam Kumaran: That’s sort of, like.
68 00:07:21.550 ⇒ 00:07:25.739 Uttam Kumaran: I feel like a lot of it, but yeah, I’m curious, like, what you read and what you think.
69 00:07:26.470 ⇒ 00:07:44.459 Amber Lin: I see. I read through, and I like the idea of breaking up the… your and Robert’s ownership into measurable chunks. I think that’s what we’ve been trying to do for a long time. I’m happy to see that Clarence was able to put it in writing and give it an actual structure to implement.
70 00:07:44.500 ⇒ 00:07:51.369 Amber Lin: My main question is, where would… where would I fit in, and how would it…
71 00:07:51.530 ⇒ 00:07:57.400 Amber Lin: How would it be different from my current or, say, previous responsibilities?
72 00:07:58.430 ⇒ 00:08:04.570 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, so I think probably two… two questions that I have for you is, is, like…
73 00:08:05.570 ⇒ 00:08:12.079 Uttam Kumaran: Like, two points that I have for you is… is one to think about
74 00:08:12.320 ⇒ 00:08:15.469 Uttam Kumaran: Where you sit, but then also
75 00:08:15.660 ⇒ 00:08:18.879 Uttam Kumaran: I’m interested in your opinion broadly as, like.
76 00:08:19.080 ⇒ 00:08:23.069 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, what do you think the risks are for Brainforge to adopt this?
77 00:08:23.310 ⇒ 00:08:29.319 Uttam Kumaran: As someone who’s seen, like, the multiple structures, but to talk about you, so…
78 00:08:31.260 ⇒ 00:08:38.769 Uttam Kumaran: After today, we’ll have clarity on… on where you fit.
79 00:08:42.919 ⇒ 00:08:44.639 Amber Lin: But for the most part, You’re…
80 00:08:44.640 ⇒ 00:08:56.080 Uttam Kumaran: explain to Clarence that on a lot… because you were also doing, like, PM work for a while, I think your square client success, but most likely in engagement, is, like, how much…
81 00:08:59.370 ⇒ 00:09:00.640 Uttam Kumaran: Hold on one second.
82 00:09:00.640 ⇒ 00:09:06.490 Amber Lin: Your… your internet broke up a little bit, I think it got a bit better, but…
83 00:09:06.740 ⇒ 00:09:08.429 Amber Lin: The voice…
84 00:09:08.430 ⇒ 00:09:11.590 Uttam Kumaran: No, no, I’m…
85 00:09:14.730 ⇒ 00:09:17.189 Uttam Kumaran: Can I cut… maybe I’ll call you on your cell?
86 00:09:17.470 ⇒ 00:09:18.930 Amber Lin: Sure, yeah, let’s do that.