This week on Velocitea, Emily and Forrest discuss how the tech world is currently having a massive identity crisis, how AI is alienating developers from the very work they used to love, and explore the question: What happens when tech disrupts itself?

From the collapse of "tool-based identity" to the rise of vibe coding, they explore why this moment feels so chaotic. Along the way, they connect the dots between 19th-century naval battles, serverless hype cycles, and the very real possibility that we’re just in a messy transition phase. It’s a look at why the tech industry's ego is currently hitting a brick wall, and why the real disruption isn't the software, it's the incentives.

This week on Velocitea, Emily and Forrest are joined by product marketing legend Jim Walker for a deep, opinionated, and wildly practical conversation about what great product marketing really looks like. Jim shares his unconventional path from engineer to product marketer, why technical credibility matters more than buzzwords, and how the best marketers act as translators between complex systems and human understanding.

They dig into why names like CockroachDB work (and why analysts were wrong), how to build a durable message stack across product, value, and company identity, and why product marketing should sit squarely inside the revenue function—not as a helper role. Jim also breaks down how to think about developer audiences properly (hint: “developers” are not one group), why vague words like robust and enterprise are meaningless, and how bad messaging quietly kills trust.

This episode is a masterclass in clarity, audience empathy, and saying the real thing, even when it’s uncomfortable.

In this episode of Velocitea, Emily and Forrest break down what actually makes someone successful in this space (spoiler: do the work first). They also discuss why credibility beats clout and how to build an audience without giving off “desperate thought leader” energy.

They get practical on the nuts and bolts too: why you probably shouldn’t have your spouse manage you, what creators love about working with F&F (briefs, fast pay, no agent fees), and why the world is supply-side constrained on real tech voices. They also dig into the big question: should you quit your day job to create full time?