In the full Episode 37 of The Generalists Podcast we sit down with Jeremy Snyder — CEO of FireTail and one-time member of AWS Singapore’s eight-person “day-zero” crew — for a free-wheeling chat about wrangling rogue APIs, reading the room (literally, through improv), and why three design partners are never enough. Recorded just after FireTail was named a Startup Spotlight finalist at Black Hat Asia (“Hacker Summer Camp”), this conversation traces Jeremy’s loop-de-loop from early cloud evangelist to API-security contrarian.

From leaky S3 buckets to shadow-API gremlins, we unpack why most “breaches” start with boring misconfigurations, how CISOs can’t protect what they don’t know exists, and the simple calendar tricks a remote-first founder uses to keep both code and kettlebell reps moving.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why API inventories, not firewalls, are the real first line of defense — and how most companies are still flying blind
• Lessons from AWS’s earliest days in Southeast Asia and how those shape Jeremy’s startup playbook today
• The “×3 Design-Partner Rule”: getting written commitments before you write a single feature
• How misconfigurations made Capital One & Optus infamous — and what they teach about org culture
• Productivity hacks for fully remote teams (calendar blocking, fiction breaks, RSS over doom-scrolling)
• Why improv comedy beats an MBA for leadership training and boardroom persuasion
• The upside of speaking seven languages when selling security tech across continents
• Jeremy’s advice to his 20-year-old self on risk, compounding skills, and building before you’re “ready”

Hosts:

• Michael Smith Jr.: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/smittysgp⁠⁠⁠
• Razko Kotler: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/razko282⁠⁠⁠

Guest:

• Jeremy Snyder: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremysnyder/⁠

Resources & Links:

• FireTail: ⁠https://www.firetail.ai⁠
• AWS: ⁠https://aws.amazon.com⁠
• DropSuite: ⁠https://dropsuite.com⁠

• Black Hat: ⁠https://www.blackhat.com⁠
• DEF CON: ⁠https://defcon.org⁠
• BSides: ⁠https://www.securitybsides.com⁠
• Microsoft Azure: ⁠https://azure.microsoft.com⁠
• Google Cloud Platform (GCP): ⁠https://cloud.google.com⁠
• Oracle Cloud: ⁠https://www.oracle.com/cloud⁠
• Capital One: ⁠https://www.capitalone.com⁠
• Optus: ⁠https://www.optus.com.au⁠
• Pocket: ⁠https://getpocket.com⁠
• Hugh Howey “Silo”: ⁠https://hughhowey.com/books/silo-series⁠