Exploring data, code, culture, and everything in between.

Data Renegades

In this debut episode of Data Renegades, CL Kao and Dori Wilson dive into the unconventional paths that led them into developer tools, civic tech, and machine learning systems. CL recounts his experience building early open source infrastructure, mobilizing communities through data transparency projects, and now shaping how we design software around LLMs. This episode sets the tone for the show’s mission: celebrating builders who redefine the boundaries of what tools can do.

Data Renegades - Ep. #1, Introducing Data Renegades

In episode 2 of Data Renegades, CL Kao and Dori Wilson speak with Simon Willison. Together they dive into the origins of Datasette, the evolution of data journalism, and the surprising ways open source tools shape global reporting. Simon also explains how LLM-based agents will redefine data cleaning, enrichment, and analysis. A must-listen for anyone building or scaling data teams.

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Data Renegades - Ep. #2, Data Journalism Unleashed with Simon Willison

On episode 3 of Data Renegades, CL Kao and Dori Wilson sit down with Maxime Beauchemin. They explore the origins of Airflow and Superset, the evolution of open source in the data ecosystem, and how today’s tooling reshapes the role of the data practitioner. Max also shares a forward-looking perspective on agentic workflows and how AI is accelerating everything from BI to pipeline development.

Data Renegades - Ep. #3, Building Tools That Shape Data with Maxime Beauchemin

In episode 4 of Data Renegades, CL Kao and Dori Wilson sit down with Micah Wylde. They trace his journey from building fraud detection at Sift Science to architecting massive real-time systems at Lyft and ultimately founding Arroyo. In this conversation, Micah breaks down the real complexity of streaming systems, why schema evolution is still the hardest challenge in data, and where the industry might move over the next five years.

Data Renegades - Ep. #4, Streaming Made Practical with Micah Wylde

Heavybit is the leading early-stage investor in enterprise infrastructure. Since 2013, we've helped launch and scale visionary technical startups—from DevSecOps and feature flagging to AI code generation and beyond. We go hands-on from day 0, backing founders as they turn code into companies and build the future of software from the bottom up to the top down.