Meeting Title: LMNT Stand Up Date: 2026-05-04 Meeting participants: Uttam Kumaran, Greg Stoutenburg, Jasmin Multani, Advait Nandakumar Menon, Robert Tseng
WEBVTT
1 00:00:26.750 ⇒ 00:00:30.300 Greg Stoutenburg: What’s Early bird gets the worm. Here we are.
2 00:00:31.340 ⇒ 00:00:32.570 Greg Stoutenburg: Alright, eat some worms.
3 00:00:33.680 ⇒ 00:00:35.340 Uttam Kumaran: It’s been eating worms all day.
4 00:00:43.000 ⇒ 00:00:44.240 Uttam Kumaran: How’s the weekend?
5 00:00:49.450 ⇒ 00:00:51.260 Uttam Kumaran: How’s moving? Everything done?
6 00:00:51.260 ⇒ 00:01:07.549 Greg Stoutenburg: Yeah, I was trying to think about it, I was like, what did I do this weekend? Yeah, mostly, like, a lot of moving stuff, and but, like, great step, and you messaged me on the right day. It was, I finally got my motorcycle back here. I let my friend hang on to it for, like, 3 weeks. As the weather went from, you know, 39, or, like, 50 and rainy, to, like.
7 00:01:07.680 ⇒ 00:01:15.179 Greg Stoutenburg: 65 and sunny, and I was like, I’d been, like, itching and growling at my desk all day, waiting to get it back. Finally got it back.
8 00:01:15.780 ⇒ 00:01:16.900 Greg Stoutenburg: Life is good.
9 00:01:17.540 ⇒ 00:01:18.739 Uttam Kumaran: Nice, hell yeah.
10 00:01:18.740 ⇒ 00:01:32.180 Greg Stoutenburg: Yep, yep, it’s good. And then went to a, a local… I can’t remember what league they are, but went to a baseball game on Friday. The kind of baseball game where, like, the local team… it’s a real stadium, but it only costs 15 bucks to get in.
11 00:01:32.680 ⇒ 00:01:34.500 Greg Stoutenburg: Which is just the best.
12 00:01:34.750 ⇒ 00:01:36.180 Greg Stoutenburg: Because it’s cheap.
13 00:01:36.470 ⇒ 00:01:39.200 Greg Stoutenburg: There are no real consequences. You just have a good time.
14 00:01:39.500 ⇒ 00:01:40.240 Uttam Kumaran: Nice.
15 00:01:40.240 ⇒ 00:01:40.780 Greg Stoutenburg: Yeah.
16 00:01:41.190 ⇒ 00:01:51.389 Uttam Kumaran: What did I do? My sister was visiting, so we kind of did play tourists a little bit, and then… we did a surprise… I don’t know if you… did you… have you met Mickey yet? He’s helping on, like.
17 00:01:51.740 ⇒ 00:01:52.330 Greg Stoutenburg: Just on the call.
18 00:01:52.330 ⇒ 00:02:01.260 Uttam Kumaran: marketing stuff. It was his birthday, so we threw a surprise party for him on, on, Saturday. Nice. He was very surprised. He actually came to my house
19 00:02:01.390 ⇒ 00:02:07.439 Uttam Kumaran: earlier that day, because I was making a bunch of juice, and I said, come, come over, I made…
20 00:02:07.700 ⇒ 00:02:09.110 Uttam Kumaran: Like, a ton of juice.
21 00:02:09.220 ⇒ 00:02:18.360 Uttam Kumaran: And… it was just gray, like, tons of juice. Like, watermelon juice, orange juice, pineapple juice…
22 00:02:18.680 ⇒ 00:02:20.649 Uttam Kumaran: Some lemon juice in all the…
23 00:02:20.840 ⇒ 00:02:28.629 Uttam Kumaran: And then… but then I had to refrain from being like, see you later. So I had to keep reminding myself, don’t say see you later, we don’t have plans to see each other later. So I was like.
24 00:02:29.100 ⇒ 00:02:32.059 Uttam Kumaran: Just text me if you’re around later.
25 00:02:32.060 ⇒ 00:02:35.970 Greg Stoutenburg: Are you one of those people, like, you worry about the literal truth of, like…
26 00:02:35.970 ⇒ 00:02:40.589 Uttam Kumaran: No, I just, like, I will make a mistake with, like… I’m not worried about… I’m not, like… I could…
27 00:02:40.800 ⇒ 00:02:45.110 Uttam Kumaran: I could lie, be like, we’re not gonna see each other later, but I may accidentally be like.
28 00:02:45.240 ⇒ 00:02:51.499 Uttam Kumaran: See you later, like, because I… I don’t know, it’s, like, subconsciously, so… Yeah. But he was very, very surprised.
29 00:02:51.830 ⇒ 00:02:52.160 Greg Stoutenburg: That’s.
30 00:02:52.160 ⇒ 00:02:52.980 Uttam Kumaran: party.
31 00:02:52.980 ⇒ 00:02:54.780 Greg Stoutenburg: Yeah, so you make juice?
32 00:02:55.780 ⇒ 00:02:59.919 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, if I have time, I have a little juicer I got from a restaurant.
33 00:03:00.290 ⇒ 00:03:07.020 Uttam Kumaran: restaurant store closing, that I went to, and I got, like, a really good deal on, like, a Breville juicer.
34 00:03:07.260 ⇒ 00:03:10.630 Uttam Kumaran: And it’s really great, yeah.
35 00:03:11.230 ⇒ 00:03:12.179 Uttam Kumaran: It’s really great.
36 00:03:12.330 ⇒ 00:03:16.269 Greg Stoutenburg: I bought one of the big metal ones, you just… you put the half of the thing on, and…
37 00:03:16.270 ⇒ 00:03:18.320 Uttam Kumaran: I have one of those, too, yeah.
38 00:03:18.320 ⇒ 00:03:20.899 Greg Stoutenburg: Yeah. So, yeah, made some lemonade this weekend.
39 00:03:21.090 ⇒ 00:03:22.040 Uttam Kumaran: Great, great.
40 00:03:22.040 ⇒ 00:03:22.740 Greg Stoutenburg: Yeah.
41 00:03:25.400 ⇒ 00:03:27.290 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, so maybe I can,
42 00:03:27.500 ⇒ 00:03:35.430 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I have a cast… I have a cast iron one. My girlfriend got it for me for my, like, birthday, like, 2 years ago. It’s great, but it’s…
43 00:03:35.940 ⇒ 00:03:44.279 Uttam Kumaran: So, yeah, it’s great, but, like, this is, like, I was trying to do, like, a whole watermelon and, like, so much that it’s nice to have the electric sometimes.
44 00:03:44.710 ⇒ 00:03:45.940 Greg Stoutenburg: Yeah, agreed.
45 00:03:45.940 ⇒ 00:03:46.640 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah.
46 00:03:47.380 ⇒ 00:04:04.840 Uttam Kumaran: Cool, I guess, like, I can just, like, set the stage a little bit for this month. So we got some good feedback today. I think, maybe, basically, I could just share, sort of, like, changes and, like, how I think May’s gonna… So one is, like, yeah, I think April was, like, probably the busiest month
47 00:04:05.020 ⇒ 00:04:08.430 Uttam Kumaran: for me, in terms of, like, Brainforge, and probably, like.
48 00:04:09.210 ⇒ 00:04:22.480 Uttam Kumaran: since November. This tends to ebb and flow like this in the company, but we just had a lot of, like, business and stuff come our way. We have, like, this new element contract, we have, like, a bunch of people joining, so, like.
49 00:04:23.140 ⇒ 00:04:40.840 Uttam Kumaran: I felt like I wasn’t as involved, outside of just, like, helping away from all the ingestion stuff, and, like, I’m still calling Shivani a bunch, like, so I’d like to see my time sort of shift a bit more to… so broadly across delivery, like, I’m gonna be focused on… We’re doing some work for EY, for Element, and for CTA.
50 00:04:40.900 ⇒ 00:04:51.479 Uttam Kumaran: On the element side, you know, I think, like, I kind of sent a message, but, like, Garrett is no longer going to be working on, you know, this client with us, so…
51 00:04:51.730 ⇒ 00:04:57.639 Uttam Kumaran: what’s gonna happen is, like, Greg is sort of gonna step in as, like, sort of the glue.
52 00:04:57.790 ⇒ 00:04:59.260 Uttam Kumaran: Across everything.
53 00:04:59.320 ⇒ 00:05:18.519 Uttam Kumaran: which I think includes, like, just, like, the pulse of, like, the daily, weekly, monthly pulse of the client, but that doesn’t mean that he’s, like, running all of these without the subject matter experts. So a good example is, like, Jasmine, I think Greg should just come alongside of you onto whatever calls you’re probably having.
54 00:05:18.530 ⇒ 00:05:23.079 Uttam Kumaran: And then just basically be the guide on, like, hey, this meeting is for this goal.
55 00:05:23.170 ⇒ 00:05:31.480 Uttam Kumaran: We need this, Jasmine, you need to do this, Shivan, do we feel like a good spot? Okay, I could get this into the slide. I think, like, that’s gonna be really helpful.
56 00:05:31.810 ⇒ 00:05:37.210 Uttam Kumaran: So, that’s how things are gonna change. I still think, like, we probably need
57 00:05:37.430 ⇒ 00:05:44.950 Uttam Kumaran: like, I’m interested to see, like, does this team need Abdullah to join when he joins for additional, like, support on analysis and strategy?
58 00:05:45.330 ⇒ 00:05:52.049 Uttam Kumaran: On the ingestion modeling side, like, me and Awash kind of, like, can handle everything. I’m not, like, as… not as worried about that.
59 00:05:52.390 ⇒ 00:06:04.139 Uttam Kumaran: So… and then I’m still playing this, like, higher level role where, like, I’m helping Shivani with some recruiting stuff, I’m calling her, I’m, like, taking feedback. So I think, Greg, like, that’s how… I think this is a good example of, like.
60 00:06:04.420 ⇒ 00:06:13.580 Uttam Kumaran: how I can operate as, like, that executive sponsor, I’m still able to help out on, like, the ground level, but you’re the through line. She likes you, I think.
61 00:06:14.040 ⇒ 00:06:25.100 Uttam Kumaran: So maybe I’ll just pause there, like, that’s how I think this is gonna change. I do have some feedback, kind of, for everybody on the call, on, like, how last month went, and how we want to change a little bit this month, but…
62 00:06:25.350 ⇒ 00:06:27.870 Uttam Kumaran: Does that make sense, broadly?
63 00:06:28.880 ⇒ 00:06:30.409 Greg Stoutenburg: That makes sense to me. Yeah.
64 00:06:31.300 ⇒ 00:06:31.840 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
65 00:06:35.770 ⇒ 00:06:37.740 Uttam Kumaran: Jasmine, I’ve made, makes sense.
66 00:06:38.310 ⇒ 00:06:39.980 Jasmin Multani: Yeah, exactly.
67 00:06:41.270 ⇒ 00:06:45.079 Jasmin Multani: I’ve also added Greg to,
68 00:06:45.900 ⇒ 00:06:52.700 Jasmin Multani: the QA dashboard meetings that we have with Shivani on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
69 00:06:54.550 ⇒ 00:07:03.059 Jasmin Multani: it’s us just, like, going over, like, what her asks are, and I think, Rick, where you can lean in is being able to battle, like, where…
70 00:07:03.470 ⇒ 00:07:08.760 Jasmin Multani: there’s a slippery slope of her being like, well, this would be great, I want this, I want this, and it’s like…
71 00:07:08.900 ⇒ 00:07:13.720 Jasmin Multani: I need help, like, reining her in, and saying, hey, this is part of our contract, like…
72 00:07:14.260 ⇒ 00:07:17.340 Jasmin Multani: I just like having a tally on that.
73 00:07:17.340 ⇒ 00:07:17.780 Greg Stoutenburg: Yep.
74 00:07:20.120 ⇒ 00:07:24.730 Greg Stoutenburg: What sorts of things has she been throwing at you as a surprise that looks like scope creep?
75 00:07:27.560 ⇒ 00:07:45.689 Jasmin Multani: just, like, additional cuts for retail. She’ll send over, like, another, like, sales cut, and I’m like, mmm, I don’t want to speak on this, like, this doesn’t look like PO… point of sales, I don’t know how this, like, dashboard… like, this report is being generated, so…
76 00:07:46.250 ⇒ 00:07:50.420 Jasmin Multani: There is a point where, she agreed that, like, yeah, some things will be, like.
77 00:07:50.480 ⇒ 00:08:01.719 Jasmin Multani: some things for retail will be met for the May 22nd milestone, some other things will be, like, later in the summer. But I anticipate this is gonna get hairier for supply chain.
78 00:08:01.720 ⇒ 00:08:11.309 Jasmin Multani: Because it’s such a big scope. So I think, like, if you and I can, like, sanity check each other and, like, keep each other honest of how…
79 00:08:11.340 ⇒ 00:08:29.730 Jasmin Multani: much should be promised. Like, I… I have a habit of, like, being very yes woman, and, like, being trigger-happy, but, it’d be helpful for you to tell me, like, hey, Jasmine, realistically, you spent 4 days turning this around, like, do you really think we should be adding more?
80 00:08:29.730 ⇒ 00:08:40.019 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, so I want to double… I want to double down on this. I think the feedback, Jasmine, that we got from Shivani is, like, which I think you probably know, is that I think you tend to go really deep on an example.
81 00:08:40.320 ⇒ 00:08:44.119 Uttam Kumaran: And then, the thing with this client, which is difficult, is that
82 00:08:44.620 ⇒ 00:08:47.510 Uttam Kumaran: She is asking us for us to go deep.
83 00:08:47.750 ⇒ 00:08:49.409 Uttam Kumaran: And kind of leave her out of it.
84 00:08:49.620 ⇒ 00:09:04.169 Uttam Kumaran: At the same time, I think, like, in meetings with her, if you’re finding yourself, like, drilling into one piece, that, like, her tendency is to be like, okay, this is too narrow, like, let’s keep a higher level
85 00:09:04.430 ⇒ 00:09:17.550 Uttam Kumaran: like, perspective. So, like, for example, and I kind of noticed this as well, on the sampling piece, and we all kind of did this, where we’re like, oh, awesome, we can get sampling data, we can tie it to everything. She was just like, all I want is, like, a bar chart.
86 00:09:17.670 ⇒ 00:09:36.950 Uttam Kumaran: our job is to be like, cool, what could we do with sampling? But also, like, Greg, in that conversation, I think how I wasn’t on the call, how that could have gone better is you basically interrupt and say, like, okay, I think we have enough that we need to, like, wrap this call up. And that’s actually good, because it’s difficult for one person to do both of those.
87 00:09:36.950 ⇒ 00:09:52.010 Uttam Kumaran: Like, very hard, right? So, Jasmine can continue to go deep, and then you just, like, wrangle the call, even if Shivani goes deep, or whatever, like, Greg, you know, it’s like, okay, if we’re starting to pull up Omni and asking, like, random questions, yo, like, Nix.
88 00:09:52.170 ⇒ 00:10:04.320 Uttam Kumaran: mix that, right? Similarly, if, like, one of us is on a call and we’re, like, just falling into, like, a rabbit hole, you just, like, pull it out, right? And I think you do a great job of that, and so that’s… that’s what I want you to do, and, like.
89 00:10:04.860 ⇒ 00:10:15.589 Uttam Kumaran: that’s… I think that’s, like, that’s Greg’s role in the meeting, basically. And then I think Greg, it’s just, like, classic, like, if you could wake up or end the day and just shoot something, like, here’s what our team did.
90 00:10:15.710 ⇒ 00:10:19.770 Uttam Kumaran: Kind of like we were doing with default, in fact, I think this is actually just gonna be a lot easier.
91 00:10:19.890 ⇒ 00:10:20.930 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah.
92 00:10:21.390 ⇒ 00:10:31.030 Uttam Kumaran: that’s, like, a great thing. On the weekly level, it’s like, can we let… can we land into a Thursday call? That you… you basically… I think if you could run, and then call on each person.
93 00:10:31.150 ⇒ 00:10:33.220 Uttam Kumaran: That’s also in a really great spot.
94 00:10:33.330 ⇒ 00:10:36.640 Uttam Kumaran: And then, on the sprint level, it’s sort of like…
95 00:10:36.870 ⇒ 00:10:40.950 Uttam Kumaran: for example, she does have, like, in May, I want to accomplish XYZ.
96 00:10:41.060 ⇒ 00:10:45.529 Uttam Kumaran: It’s almost like if we just screenshot it, and every Thursday, we’re like, are we doing that?
97 00:10:46.350 ⇒ 00:10:55.310 Uttam Kumaran: And I think, like, that would be great, because ultimately, what I’m finding is, like, she’s kind of, like, managed me more. She’s like, you guys need to manage up
98 00:10:56.030 ⇒ 00:11:01.490 Uttam Kumaran: And I’m like, okay. So, if we all play these roles, I think it’s gonna be good.
99 00:11:01.780 ⇒ 00:11:02.800 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah.
100 00:11:03.980 ⇒ 00:11:06.589 Uttam Kumaran: And then, one thing broadly is, like.
101 00:11:06.720 ⇒ 00:11:10.270 Uttam Kumaran: If we put out AI stuff in front of her, and we don’t know it.
102 00:11:10.660 ⇒ 00:11:23.070 Uttam Kumaran: it’s just gonna… we’re just gonna get jammed. Not necessarily… I think we’re doing a good job. I don’t think our stuff, like, reads, like, we just generated this, but I think, like… I don’t know, Robert, what your takeaway from today was.
103 00:11:23.430 ⇒ 00:11:27.550 Uttam Kumaran: like… Part of dealing with her is twofold, like.
104 00:11:27.740 ⇒ 00:11:40.260 Uttam Kumaran: she kind of wants you to be like, we fucked up on this, and say that out loud, and so you guys all have to just do that. I think, Robert, feedback for you, I don’t think you did that, like, super well today. I think you probably know that.
105 00:11:40.360 ⇒ 00:11:41.569 Uttam Kumaran: And that’s okay.
106 00:11:41.570 ⇒ 00:11:44.459 Robert Tseng: Yeah, she, she rubbed me the wrong way on that one.
107 00:11:44.460 ⇒ 00:11:44.829 Uttam Kumaran: I know.
108 00:11:45.060 ⇒ 00:11:45.750 Robert Tseng: And I slide…
109 00:11:45.750 ⇒ 00:11:53.060 Uttam Kumaran: Greg, yeah, I think Greg, you do… you do… maybe, but Greg, you probably apologized too fast, and I’m somewhere in the middle.
110 00:11:53.330 ⇒ 00:11:59.419 Uttam Kumaran: we all have to get better at this. This is a particular client where, like, just doing that is actually gonna…
111 00:11:59.580 ⇒ 00:12:13.489 Uttam Kumaran: save a lot of face. And yeah, I think, like, Jasmine, it’s not on you, it’s on… it’s on all of us, right? Like, we all are presenting, and turns out what she wanted was like this. She… I told her, like, this is where I push back. I said, I need all that depth.
112 00:12:13.640 ⇒ 00:12:20.440 Uttam Kumaran: for, like, ingestion and modeling, right? But then also, she wanted, like, something that’s, like, a one-pager on, like.
113 00:12:20.810 ⇒ 00:12:31.760 Uttam Kumaran: Has Brainforges seen a bunch of supply chain shit before? How does their supply chain stuff compare to what we’ve seen? She’s gonna take that, and then basically, like, send something above. So those are 3 separate docs.
114 00:12:32.940 ⇒ 00:12:43.669 Uttam Kumaran: The reason I got the synthesis is because I know I kind of… she didn’t give me that answer, though. That’s, like, my answer to her being, like, this doc is super ugly, I didn’t read it, it’s a piece of shit. I was like, okay, we need, like.
115 00:12:43.790 ⇒ 00:12:48.649 Uttam Kumaran: One big doc, I need that. We need a dock for you, and then you take a doc to the VP.
116 00:12:49.180 ⇒ 00:13:06.600 Uttam Kumaran: So part of this is, like, I think, Greg, like, you need to become kind of the voice of the customer on, like, look at the shit we’re about to send and be like, yo, we’re gonna get flamed for this. I also can help with doing that, but I think broadly, like, all of us are gonna get trapped in the conversation where you kind of, like, are being like.
117 00:13:07.360 ⇒ 00:13:12.570 Uttam Kumaran: damn, like, this sucks, I don’t want… like, this feedback is bad, just don’t worry.
118 00:13:12.760 ⇒ 00:13:17.140 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah. Just breathe and be like, you’re totally right, we can get better.
119 00:13:17.710 ⇒ 00:13:22.859 Uttam Kumaran: I will say this out loud, whether you believe it or not is not interesting to me, or the client, just…
120 00:13:23.180 ⇒ 00:13:23.700 Greg Stoutenburg: Yup.
121 00:13:23.700 ⇒ 00:13:31.790 Uttam Kumaran: Believe it, and let’s improve. I… I was… I was way… I went through this, like, 2 months ago, it was really bad.
122 00:13:31.870 ⇒ 00:13:49.110 Uttam Kumaran: And I’ve, like, fed her now at being like, this is just it, like, we agree. The faster we agree, the faster we take the feedback, the faster we arrive at the solution. So you’ll see, and maybe it’s even worth reviewing the call, it’s like, I literally just said, like, cool, we’re with you, it’s our bad, here’s, like, what I think we should do, and…
123 00:13:49.260 ⇒ 00:13:53.519 Uttam Kumaran: it worked out. But I think Robert, she could totally tell that you weren’t there.
124 00:13:53.950 ⇒ 00:14:00.899 Uttam Kumaran: And so, like… I don’t know, it’s sort of these, like, weird politics things that matter, you know?
125 00:14:01.560 ⇒ 00:14:03.530 Uttam Kumaran: So, I mean, you know that, Adam.
126 00:14:04.930 ⇒ 00:14:10.229 Robert Tseng: Yeah, I mean, I… I was too defensive today. I think I was…
127 00:14:11.540 ⇒ 00:14:15.530 Robert Tseng: She just likes gaslighting us for things that, like, we.
128 00:14:15.530 ⇒ 00:14:17.609 Uttam Kumaran: No, and it minimizes our work, you know.
129 00:14:17.740 ⇒ 00:14:18.250 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah.
130 00:14:18.250 ⇒ 00:14:27.600 Robert Tseng: Yeah, I mean, no one said that was the VP-facing doc. The message that was sent to her never communicated that. It was always a working doc, mostly internal-facing.
131 00:14:27.600 ⇒ 00:14:39.400 Robert Tseng: she chose… I mean, whatever, she chose to just, you know, pick it apart however she felt fit, which is… I think, yeah, we can’t… we can’t just share stuff with her willy-nilly. She’s always like, oh, I want to jam on something, but she doesn’t actually want to jam on it. She just…
132 00:14:39.640 ⇒ 00:14:49.769 Robert Tseng: Yeah, I think… I think, I think I… I said, I did… I sent that over to her without, like, telling her what it was and what it was not, but even… even if I packaged it all nicely that way.
133 00:14:50.100 ⇒ 00:15:05.289 Robert Tseng: it still needed to just be, like… it can’t… it can’t include everything on there. It just has to be, like, a layer of abstraction above what we would… what we would send internally. So, I… I… yeah, that’s my fault for sending that doc the way it was.
134 00:15:07.160 ⇒ 00:15:13.480 Jasmin Multani: Yeah, and… Just, like, one more thing. Sorry, sorry if I’m just, like, dumping. No, no, no.
135 00:15:13.480 ⇒ 00:15:16.299 Uttam Kumaran: So just get it out, yeah, this is just how this is gonna be, yeah.
136 00:15:16.300 ⇒ 00:15:18.049 Jasmin Multani: But we did ask for, like.
137 00:15:18.160 ⇒ 00:15:24.840 Jasmin Multani: I’ve asked for copies of docs multiple times to pattern recognize, like, how does she want to do this?
138 00:15:24.860 ⇒ 00:15:40.019 Jasmin Multani: On top of that, I asked her explicitly, like, hey, there are multiple docs happening. You wrote one that’s VP-facing. We wrote one that’s very detailed. Shivani, tell us which one to work on. Like, what does the finished product look like?
139 00:15:40.150 ⇒ 00:15:44.390 Jasmin Multani: there are things like… basic things like that, if she… I think…
140 00:15:45.880 ⇒ 00:16:02.410 Jasmin Multani: I agree, this is a client, and this is very different than, like, working with a VP within the same company. Yes. So… I think, Greg, where we have to step in is, like, fill in… when we’re, like, oh, she’s not answering this question, and we need it, we have to, like…
141 00:16:03.150 ⇒ 00:16:13.859 Jasmin Multani: be imaginative and figure out how should… well, how would Shivani, want this deliverable? Because she literally doesn’t answer… she…
142 00:16:13.860 ⇒ 00:16:20.550 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, and this… I also think what’s gonna happen here is you’re just gonna… just assume we’re gonna get flamed about something every month, and don’t worry about it.
143 00:16:21.100 ⇒ 00:16:21.720 Jasmin Multani: Yeah.
144 00:16:21.720 ⇒ 00:16:25.559 Uttam Kumaran: I’m just telling you guys, like, and Jasmine, this is, like, an immigrant parent situation.
145 00:16:26.010 ⇒ 00:16:26.450 Jasmin Multani: Oh.
146 00:16:26.450 ⇒ 00:16:27.160 Uttam Kumaran: assume
147 00:16:27.810 ⇒ 00:16:43.479 Uttam Kumaran: something is gonna go wrong every month. I don’t know, Greg, if… I don’t know, I mean, maybe your German parents or whatever, but this is a common… I mean, I’ve been, you know, we all know. So, just assume that we’re gonna get yelled at about something. Don’t worry about it. Just don’t worry about it. Just, like.
148 00:16:43.900 ⇒ 00:16:54.209 Uttam Kumaran: Just persevere. Do not do the teenage angst. Like, think about what your teenager self would do, and don’t do that, which is talk back, say anything. Just accept it.
149 00:16:54.400 ⇒ 00:16:55.400 Uttam Kumaran: And…
150 00:16:56.240 ⇒ 00:17:08.489 Uttam Kumaran: I got it, don’t worry. And this time, it’s not, like, apparent, because we’re getting paid a lot of money, so… we’re getting something, don’t worry. We’re gonna get ours, but I think I’m just telling you, like, that’s…
151 00:17:08.680 ⇒ 00:17:10.250 Uttam Kumaran: For me, that helped, because
152 00:17:11.400 ⇒ 00:17:15.670 Uttam Kumaran: she’s just gonna do these things. You’re right in that, like, we didn’t get all of the stuff.
153 00:17:15.910 ⇒ 00:17:19.570 Uttam Kumaran: You’re also gonna see that she’s very strong, but then she’ll be like.
154 00:17:19.839 ⇒ 00:17:24.960 Uttam Kumaran: But can you actually help me, like, with this wording? And I’m like, What? Okay, like…
155 00:17:25.190 ⇒ 00:17:38.200 Uttam Kumaran: it’s… don’t try to figure… don’t figure anything out. Just assume that once a month, something like this is gonna happen. What I would prefer is that, like, Greg and me are there, or whoever is in the lightest mood in that day, go and…
156 00:17:38.200 ⇒ 00:17:45.290 Uttam Kumaran: sort of, like, take the feedback and deliver it, but I’m just telling you, like, if you’re in a meeting and this… you start to have those feelings, like.
157 00:17:45.870 ⇒ 00:17:48.740 Uttam Kumaran: just like… Proceed, you know?
158 00:17:48.970 ⇒ 00:17:52.980 Uttam Kumaran: But that’s sort of, like, what I’ve learned in the last few months.
159 00:17:53.420 ⇒ 00:17:58.869 Jasmin Multani: That’s a good metaphor, and good to be like, don’t do your angsty teen thing.
160 00:17:58.870 ⇒ 00:18:13.779 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I just… I’m the same… I also did it, so I got… we got… wait, I got flayed, so don’t worry about it. But again, that was when we weren’t making as much money, or making the money. We also are doing well, like, sometimes she will say these things and be kind of threatening, and there’s no, like.
161 00:18:13.950 ⇒ 00:18:18.649 Uttam Kumaran: there’s nothing behind it, but it will feel very direct. So, like, don’t…
162 00:18:19.150 ⇒ 00:18:24.580 Uttam Kumaran: you’re a part of a team, and we have a bunch of us. So, for example, if you’re in a call like that, and you’re like, hey, I’d love to loop Greg in.
163 00:18:24.730 ⇒ 00:18:27.969 Uttam Kumaran: Right? And so Greg should be the first line of attack.
164 00:18:28.530 ⇒ 00:18:38.729 Uttam Kumaran: Greg is amazing, and is seeing a lot of clients sort of do some drama like this, and I feel like it’s getting better and better every day at handling this, and so…
165 00:18:38.730 ⇒ 00:18:40.070 Greg Stoutenburg: Right now.
166 00:18:40.070 ⇒ 00:18:44.470 Uttam Kumaran: Greg, I think Greg will loop me in if it goes further, so… yeah, it’s fine.
167 00:18:44.470 ⇒ 00:18:45.010 Greg Stoutenburg: No.
168 00:18:45.910 ⇒ 00:18:49.010 Jasmin Multani: She’s also, like, in her mid… how old? Mid-30s?
169 00:18:49.280 ⇒ 00:18:52.279 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, she’s also getting married this year.
170 00:18:53.180 ⇒ 00:18:56.409 Jasmin Multani: Yeah, it could be, like, nerve… like, she… her…
171 00:18:56.410 ⇒ 00:19:02.500 Uttam Kumaran: No, no, no, this is what, don’t try to figure it out, don’t figure it out. It’s not worth it. Just assume, just assume it’s coming.
172 00:19:02.650 ⇒ 00:19:05.289 Uttam Kumaran: The more trust battery we can build up.
173 00:19:06.250 ⇒ 00:19:12.750 Uttam Kumaran: the, like, the better, the better it is. So, you know, Yeah.
174 00:19:12.910 ⇒ 00:19:26.119 Uttam Kumaran: So, okay, cool. So that’s one thing. So I think, Rob, before you came, like, Greg is gonna kind of be the through line. I think Greg, try to go to as many of these meetings as you can. If I can… if I’m on a meeting, or Waisha’s on a meet, it’s like.
175 00:19:26.550 ⇒ 00:19:42.210 Uttam Kumaran: I’ll… you can just say, can I… can I not be on here? But just assume you’re gonna be on all these calls, and we’ll figure out the ones where you don’t need to be on. And again, you can just kind of be there, but make sure just these don’t go off the rails. And in particular, like, just being the, like.
176 00:19:42.670 ⇒ 00:19:45.630 Uttam Kumaran: Person in between the doc and her, or whatever.
177 00:19:45.630 ⇒ 00:19:46.100 Greg Stoutenburg: Yeah.
178 00:19:46.100 ⇒ 00:19:48.499 Uttam Kumaran: So, that’s great.
179 00:19:50.570 ⇒ 00:20:03.689 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I feel like on the ingestion side, like, I’m pushing stuff. On the modeling side, away… I think we’re doing fine. I’m… I think, like, we have now supply chain and e-com that are, like, getting some love. I think, like.
180 00:20:04.090 ⇒ 00:20:14.160 Uttam Kumaran: between the three of y’all on the call here, just, like, if you guys can continue to own that and push it on a daily basis, then I can continue, like, for example, I’m, like, helping her with recruiting.
181 00:20:14.920 ⇒ 00:20:17.139 Uttam Kumaran: Right, so I’ll go play, like.
182 00:20:17.300 ⇒ 00:20:29.489 Uttam Kumaran: a little bit of a higher level game, just to make sure things are smooth. And I told her, like, we’re gonna try to send daily feedback, but don’t feel obliged to, like, read everything. So I’m trying to, like, hedge the…
183 00:20:29.630 ⇒ 00:20:32.880 Uttam Kumaran: We’re… we’re still operating on a…
184 00:20:33.400 ⇒ 00:20:35.830 Uttam Kumaran: What do we accomplish this month basis, you know?
185 00:20:38.960 ⇒ 00:20:40.159 Robert Tseng: Your headphones just die?
186 00:20:40.970 ⇒ 00:20:42.650 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah.
187 00:20:42.860 ⇒ 00:20:43.950 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, they did.
188 00:20:44.840 ⇒ 00:20:46.070 Uttam Kumaran: Can you hear me, though?
189 00:20:46.070 ⇒ 00:20:47.370 Robert Tseng: Yeah, yeah, we can show you.
190 00:20:47.370 ⇒ 00:20:48.480 Greg Stoutenburg: We hear ya.
191 00:20:49.800 ⇒ 00:21:00.390 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, cool. I guess that’s all… that’s all on my side. Yeah, what else?
192 00:21:02.120 ⇒ 00:21:12.269 Robert Tseng: I already chatted with Jasmine and Awash before on, like, what we needed to do by Wednesday, I guess, so, yeah, let’s just try to…
193 00:21:13.090 ⇒ 00:21:17.119 Robert Tseng: I mean, I could bring it up so everyone just briefly is on the same page.
194 00:21:26.710 ⇒ 00:21:34.229 Robert Tseng: So… I… Understand that we have…
195 00:21:34.730 ⇒ 00:21:40.169 Robert Tseng: you know, this list of the sample reports. What we’re trying to do is…
196 00:21:40.470 ⇒ 00:21:43.450 Robert Tseng: Having seen the actual reports that
197 00:21:43.880 ⇒ 00:21:47.279 Robert Tseng: I guess the stakeholders are presenting to us.
198 00:21:47.430 ⇒ 00:21:55.049 Robert Tseng: We, on our end, are, like, lining up what the data sources are, how we prioritize them. We need to, like, put…
199 00:21:55.250 ⇒ 00:22:06.219 Robert Tseng: kind of, like, timelines on things. So, before we can put a timeline on this, I think we kind of need to explore the data, which I understand that the team has already been doing that on Stored.
200 00:22:06.310 ⇒ 00:22:17.269 Robert Tseng: There’s a few… there’s a bunch of other ones to click through. We need to build out, like, what the supply chain, metrics are, which…
201 00:22:18.190 ⇒ 00:22:23.510 Robert Tseng: right now are just these, like, mostly placeholder ones here, so…
202 00:22:23.550 ⇒ 00:22:43.219 Robert Tseng: If we can lay out what the metrics are, and it’s not like we need to find every metric possible from these, because, like, as we click through a couple of these reports, like, there’s a lot going on in here, obviously. But we’re just, like, from an ingestion perspective, what would be complete, you know, for getting this, like.
203 00:22:43.760 ⇒ 00:22:48.120 Robert Tseng: Ingesting this lot quality release kind of, like, sheet.
204 00:22:48.610 ⇒ 00:23:01.629 Robert Tseng: So, I think this is gonna be more of an art than a science at the start, just to, like, really know what’s important from each of the reports that we’re looking at, and we’re gonna just, like, lay them all out. We should hop on another call, debate them on, like.
205 00:23:01.890 ⇒ 00:23:14.430 Robert Tseng: you know, you can see most of these are, like, aggregations, so just, like, making sure that we can verify by counting number of SKUs, or whatever it is, on this report, or… and there’s gonna be some overlap, too, right? Like.
206 00:23:14.430 ⇒ 00:23:23.360 Robert Tseng: I don’t think, you know, is every SKU that they have going to be captured here, and also on other reports? Like, maybe? I guess, love to see when we get there.
207 00:23:23.360 ⇒ 00:23:36.369 Robert Tseng: But I feel like this is more of an exercise for, like, me and Jasmine to kind of go through, but Greg, for your visibility, you can kind of see where… why we don’t have a timeline yet. So, I think that’s kind of the process we need to go through.
208 00:23:36.830 ⇒ 00:23:50.469 Robert Tseng: She did share with us, like, a doc on, like, what the VP-level facing doc was. Maybe we’ve already covered it, but we will make a copy, share it with the team, so we know, like, when we’re creating these three different levels of documentation.
209 00:23:50.470 ⇒ 00:24:02.249 Robert Tseng: you know, one is just, like, this is a system of record, just to kind of, from a project management perspective, keep track on, like, the milestones, everything is kind of just, like, in that place. I think Greg and I will probably be touching this the most.
210 00:24:02.320 ⇒ 00:24:12.380 Robert Tseng: Just to anchor us when we’re in a conversation that goes, like, kind of off the rails, or, like, she’s adding new scope, we can go back and reference what we do have already set up here.
211 00:24:12.500 ⇒ 00:24:20.480 Robert Tseng: And then… I think for the rest of it… well, yeah, I mean, like, you know, to…
212 00:24:20.790 ⇒ 00:24:33.199 Robert Tseng: Utam’s point, this was really, like… I mean, we hadn’t really built out an artifact like this. I built this out specifically to kind of be the one dock that, like, our team needs internally to break everything out into
213 00:24:33.200 ⇒ 00:24:35.060 Robert Tseng: Milestones and tickets or whatever.
214 00:24:35.060 ⇒ 00:24:53.450 Robert Tseng: we will never share this thing with her again. I think maybe certain parts she’d like, we can kind of pull into it, but what she will want is going to be something that’s, like, you know, closer to what she had drafted here, but we’ll… we’ll have, like, more of a… I can help put together more of a template for that. So, I think that’s… those are…
215 00:24:53.450 ⇒ 00:24:57.359 Robert Tseng: Those are kind of just some heads up for how I think we’ll adjust.
216 00:24:58.340 ⇒ 00:25:15.069 Greg Stoutenburg: Let’s grab a handful of docs. I mean, this can be on me, but I’d appreciate if you, give some samples. This is something we’ve come into before, where Shivani has certain expectations around the level at which docs are presented to her, and I think we could just take a handful that she’s given a thumbs up to.
217 00:25:15.070 ⇒ 00:25:18.929 Greg Stoutenburg: Or written herself, and just feed them into AI, and go.
218 00:25:18.930 ⇒ 00:25:24.189 Greg Stoutenburg: Exactly. Give us Shivani’s writing style, and we’re gonna use this going forward anytime we put…
219 00:25:24.190 ⇒ 00:25:30.889 Uttam Kumaran: I don’t think, Greg, that these are gonna… like, I don’t think she’s gonna arrive at, like, this is the one we’re always gonna use, I have a feeling.
220 00:25:30.890 ⇒ 00:25:33.029 Robert Tseng: He doesn’t think like that, yeah.
221 00:25:33.030 ⇒ 00:25:36.019 Uttam Kumaran: The faster you can get to, like.
222 00:25:36.200 ⇒ 00:25:43.139 Uttam Kumaran: something as a B+, the better, you know what I mean? Because I don’t think she’s good… she… like, this project plan…
223 00:25:43.140 ⇒ 00:25:43.540 Robert Tseng: Come on.
224 00:25:43.960 ⇒ 00:25:45.810 Robert Tseng: So different than what we do normally, okay?
225 00:25:45.810 ⇒ 00:26:03.900 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, but she doesn’t… I don’t think she, like, yeah, but she doesn’t have the conviction to, like, settle on, like, a template. So, like, whatever we get her, though, the first round, literally can look like this fucking doc on the left, is, like, what we should try, every time, I think.
226 00:26:03.950 ⇒ 00:26:08.969 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah. Or, like, or we just have, like, SKUs, but the way you said it is probably the
227 00:26:09.090 ⇒ 00:26:12.930 Uttam Kumaran: The better, smarter thing, which is, like, how does she like to write, but…
228 00:26:13.340 ⇒ 00:26:16.339 Uttam Kumaran: I think the faster we can get to something B+.
229 00:26:16.590 ⇒ 00:26:17.150 Greg Stoutenburg: Yeah.
230 00:26:17.350 ⇒ 00:26:26.029 Uttam Kumaran: is better, you know? And then think about the levels, like, the problem with her is that she may at one point be like, I want to see, like, super, super granular stuff.
231 00:26:26.650 ⇒ 00:26:28.410 Uttam Kumaran: So, I would say…
232 00:26:28.410 ⇒ 00:26:31.900 Robert Tseng: But we just don’t default show that to her. Obviously, we have to have that, like…
233 00:26:31.900 ⇒ 00:26:33.040 Uttam Kumaran: Exactly, exactly.
234 00:26:33.610 ⇒ 00:26:46.239 Robert Tseng: Yeah, because, like, on the right, this was her draft, she had Jasmine edit it, pretty much, and then she threw it into this format, which… I mean, whatever, it is what it is. So, looks like our classic SOW format.
235 00:26:46.390 ⇒ 00:26:47.730 Robert Tseng: Yeah.
236 00:26:49.950 ⇒ 00:26:50.490 Greg Stoutenburg: Yep.
237 00:26:52.720 ⇒ 00:26:53.450 Greg Stoutenburg: Okay.
238 00:26:56.120 ⇒ 00:26:59.860 Uttam Kumaran: I mean, also, Greg, I think it’s good for you to be document czar across
239 00:27:00.150 ⇒ 00:27:05.160 Uttam Kumaran: all of delivery, bro, so, like, I… I’m… it’s… I’m… I’m…
240 00:27:05.490 ⇒ 00:27:10.760 Uttam Kumaran: I feel like it’s a good spot for you to be in, because you’re dealing with a lot of clients who have this same problem.
241 00:27:11.390 ⇒ 00:27:14.289 Uttam Kumaran: Or, like, you’re seeing sort of the sprawl happen in real time.
242 00:27:14.700 ⇒ 00:27:15.940 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah.
243 00:27:16.320 ⇒ 00:27:19.929 Greg Stoutenburg: Yeah, I’m seeing the downsides of when you give someone something that they asked for.
244 00:27:21.430 ⇒ 00:27:22.810 Greg Stoutenburg: Yeah.
245 00:27:22.810 ⇒ 00:27:23.940 Uttam Kumaran: Yes, put… yeah.
246 00:27:23.940 ⇒ 00:27:26.580 Greg Stoutenburg: Sometimes they really hate it, and
247 00:27:26.720 ⇒ 00:27:30.000 Greg Stoutenburg: Yeah, I think we can… we can better lock that down in advance.
248 00:27:30.210 ⇒ 00:27:30.680 Robert Tseng: Yeah.
249 00:27:30.680 ⇒ 00:27:36.110 Uttam Kumaran: I just think, like, we… yeah, and maybe we can talk about this, we have our, like, sort of delivery leads later, like…
250 00:27:36.430 ⇒ 00:27:38.820 Uttam Kumaran: This is just something that the client…
251 00:27:39.140 ⇒ 00:27:43.360 Uttam Kumaran: it’s sort of like what Steve Jobs said, right? Like, customer doesn’t know what they want.
252 00:27:43.360 ⇒ 00:27:43.980 Greg Stoutenburg: Yeah.
253 00:27:43.980 ⇒ 00:27:49.969 Uttam Kumaran: But we could… we’re not a product company either, like, we can’t just say, like, shove it, this is what you get.
254 00:27:50.440 ⇒ 00:27:51.530 Uttam Kumaran: Yep.
255 00:27:51.710 ⇒ 00:27:57.099 Uttam Kumaran: But we also cannot listen to them, because we will not build the thing that works.
256 00:27:57.380 ⇒ 00:28:00.889 Greg Stoutenburg: Yeah. And then they will notice at the end, which is…
257 00:28:00.890 ⇒ 00:28:02.800 Uttam Kumaran: And it’s still our fault, so…
258 00:28:02.800 ⇒ 00:28:03.989 Greg Stoutenburg: And then they’ll blame you, yes.
259 00:28:03.990 ⇒ 00:28:10.109 Uttam Kumaran: Ultimately, I… this metaphor I have doesn’t… I don’t know what the answer is, but we should find…
260 00:28:10.570 ⇒ 00:28:15.039 Uttam Kumaran: Some balance of, like, how do we, in certain times, push back?
261 00:28:15.240 ⇒ 00:28:23.140 Uttam Kumaran: But then also, what are the customizations we’re making it so it seems like this is a bespoke thing just for you, when in fact.
262 00:28:23.520 ⇒ 00:28:40.819 Uttam Kumaran: like, the fact that no… she… she clearly doesn’t know anything about DBT or Snowflake or anything, so me and Awash are, like, in heaven, because we just drive, like, we’re just driving, it’s great. And, like, that’s what we’re… we can push, like, a million miles an hour, and actually, that’s what I need to do there, and, like, so the eyes are off of that.
263 00:28:40.920 ⇒ 00:28:46.379 Uttam Kumaran: So that’s, like, when there’s a failure of, like, there’s a data load issue or something, okay, that’s on us to, like, fix.
264 00:28:47.070 ⇒ 00:28:53.540 Uttam Kumaran: But you guys are gonna have a lot of the love, and so it’s like, I just think as much as we can align, and like.
265 00:28:53.750 ⇒ 00:29:03.710 Uttam Kumaran: figure that out, but yeah, something where people get… they have a feeling of customization, but ultimately, it’s maybe just the last mile is, like, written differently, right? Or something.
266 00:29:03.710 ⇒ 00:29:12.250 Robert Tseng: Yeah. One more thing before I jump, is, like, kind of… well, so we have these stand-ups, and then between Greg, me, and Jasmine, we will probably have to have, like, a weekly touchpoint.
267 00:29:12.330 ⇒ 00:29:23.979 Robert Tseng: kind of what the CSOSL kind of, like, meeting should have been. I think at that point, you know, Jasmine’s kind of serving up, like, you know, all the things that she’s working on. Greg’s thinking about what the last mile should be.
268 00:29:23.980 ⇒ 00:29:30.090 Robert Tseng: And then I’m kind of maybe there just trying to help, like, kind of middleware the thing as well, and just trying to, like, actually
269 00:29:30.090 ⇒ 00:29:48.360 Robert Tseng: Yes, to Budav’s point, it’s not going to be bespoke every time. We do have to kind of, like… I do feel like we’re learning from learning how to communicate at different levels. All of this will be repurposed into other… other clients as well. Like, I’m going to be thinking about it from that… that perspective. So, yeah, I think hopefully, you know, when we meet, like, we’ll be able to kind of just, like.
270 00:29:48.360 ⇒ 00:30:07.629 Robert Tseng: align on form, form, unless… yeah, align on form and content, I think, is really all we need, like, so I think, that… that should be… we should just do that before we, before, before those weekly calls with her on Thursdays. So, sometime between, you know, Monday, Monday and Thursday. Up to you guys when you want to schedule that.
271 00:30:08.140 ⇒ 00:30:08.970 Greg Stoutenburg: Sounds good.
272 00:30:09.150 ⇒ 00:30:09.690 Robert Tseng: Yeah.
273 00:30:10.680 ⇒ 00:30:17.389 Robert Tseng: Okay, cool. I mean, I gotta jump, I don’t know how long this call was supposed to be, but, I will see y’all.
274 00:30:18.390 ⇒ 00:30:19.060 Uttam Kumaran: left.
275 00:30:19.060 ⇒ 00:30:19.540 Robert Tseng: Yep.
276 00:30:19.540 ⇒ 00:30:20.949 Uttam Kumaran: Thanks, guys. Okay, bye.