Our guest on this week’s podcast joins us from San Jose, California – Julie Kunstler, Senior Principal Analyst at Omdia. Julie is responsible for Omdia’s coverage of the broadband access industry, which we learn more about throughout the episode. We cover a wide range of topics, including Julie’s previous experience working with startups, her travels in Japan, the importance of broadband connectivity for all and which conferences she hopes to attend later this year.
Here are the biggest takeaways from our conversation. If you like what you’re reading be sure to listen to the whole episode linked at the bottom of this page.
The benefits of being an analyst… Prior to Omdia, Julie worked in finance, where she helped companies prepare business plans and look for market opportunities for different types of product solutions and technologies. Over time, Julie became more involved in the technology side, and she started work in fundraising for a PON MAC chip start-up company that was eventually acquired by Broadcom. That’s when Julie started the next chapter of her career and joined Omdia as an analyst.
“I love start-ups, but I really love my job right now. I find it very interesting to have the pulse on an area like broadband connectivity and see how important a role it’s playing in the world right now. I also love the fact that I can see the whole ecosystem freely. I can talk to the chip makers, optical component makers, the vendors and the service providers really freely as an analyst.”
This isn’t a one-way conversation… Julie appreciates it when briefings with companies are a two-way conversation. She noted that when she was doing fundraising for the PON MAC chip start-up, she always made sure to leave time for questions during her meetings with venture capital firms. Julie would ask the firms for their opinion and feedback because when she did, she found the conversation was more interactive and worthwhile.
At Connect2 Communications, we tell our clients that conversations with analysts are a way to help us refine the story and consider new ways of thinking about a topic that may not have been considered before. It’s also important to remember that interactions with the press are different. The press are on record and write based on what the client says, whereas analysts can help give insight that might change the client’s perspective and advance their messaging.
Stewardship and volunteering… In our conversation with Julie, we learned that she is a big advocate for broadband connectivity for all. In fact, in her spare time Julie volunteers with the elderly and helps them get better connected to their computers. She teaches them how to respond to emails and how to get in touch with their grandchildren online. She said if she wasn’t covering broadband access, the next thing she’d cover would be how to make technology even easier for people as they age.
(Northern Elephant Seal)
Julie is also passionate about wildlife and nature, and she often does remote travel with her husband. Julie’s husband is an expert on northern elephant seals, and they go to California’s Año Nuevo State Park to educate the locals there on these fascinating, colossal seals.
They had the opportunity to see the much larger southern elephant seals in South Georgia, a remote island near Antarctica. Julie observed, “What I love most about nature, whether it’s standing next to a massive California redwood tree or being on South Georgia Island, you realize just how small you are but in a positive way. You realize how big and amazing the world is and how your role in it is to help protect it. So, your worries are very little compared to this bigger world out there. It changes your perspective.”
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If you've enjoyed these takeaways be sure to listen to our full interview linked below. Also, be sure to listen to, rate and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, iHeartRadio or Soundcloud.
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