The facilitator experience is also an experience; the remote work hero with Jakob Knutzen
Featuring guest
Jakob Knutzen
In this episode, we explore the journey of building better collaborative tools with Jakob Knutzen, CEO and co-founder of Butter. We dive into how Jakob's previous startup failure provided crucial lessons for his current success, and discover why facilitators have been the overlooked users in remote work technology. Through our conversation, we examine the critical shift from focusing solely on participant comfort to empowering the facilitators who drive these sessions. We discuss building user engagement through thoughtful design, learning from extreme users, and how leadership styles evolve as companies grow. Jakob shares insights on holding space for feedback and the future of collaborative technology, making this a compelling discussion for anyone interested in remote facilitation and startup innovation.
Themes of Inquiry
- Remote facilitation
- Startup lessons
- User experience design
- Leadership evolution
- Collaborative technology
In this episode, we explore the journey of building better collaborative tools with Jakob Knutzen, CEO and co-founder of Butter.
Episode Summary
In this episode, we explore the journey of building better collaborative tools with Jakob Knutzen, CEO and co-founder of Butter. We dive into how Jakob's previous startup failure provided crucial lessons for his current success, and discover why facilitators have been the overlooked users in remote work technology. Through our conversation, we examine the critical shift from focusing solely on participant comfort to empowering the facilitators who drive these sessions. We discuss building user engagement through thoughtful design, learning from extreme users, and how leadership styles evolve as companies grow. Jakob shares insights on holding space for feedback and the future of collaborative technology, making this a compelling discussion for anyone interested in remote facilitation and startup innovation.
The Guest Biography
Jakob Knutzen
Jakob Knutzen is the CEO and co-founder of Butter, a comprehensive workflow platform designed specifically for complex collaborative sessions that supports facilitators. As one of three founders, Jakob has positioned Butter as a leading solution in the remote collaboration space. His journey includes valuable lessons learned from a previous startup failure, which he has leveraged to build Butter's success. Jakob is recognized in the facilitation community for creating what many consider to be one of the most engaging and thoughtful collaborative spaces available today. He is actively involved in discussions about remote work technology and the often-overlooked needs of facilitators in digital collaboration environments.
Continue the Dialogue
Connecting Multidisciplinary Points of View Through Metaphor with Jennifer Shinkai
In this episode, we explore the power of metaphor as a communication tool with Jennifer Shinkai, founder of the Ikigai podcast and Make March Matter community. We dive deep into how metaphor serves as a powerful facilitator for divergent thinking, particularly in diversity and inclusion workshops. Jennifer walks us through both the practical how-to and the compelling why behind using metaphor to open new perspectives in team communication. We learn how metaphor functions as a structured approach to going wide and broad before converging on solutions, similar to Design Thinking methodologies. The conversation reveals surprising results when metaphor is applied in workshop settings, demonstrating that if we only have conversations the way we've always had them, we'll only yield results we've already seen. We conclude with a real-time test of metaphor skills, showcasing its immediate practical application.
Listen Now