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Brian McClendon was one of the earliest investors & later VP of Engineering at Keyhole, which got acquired by Google in 2004. Brian become VP of Engineering and led Google Geo, overlooking the development of Google Earth & Google Maps. He also worked at Uber & is now at Niantic, which you might know for thri most popular app: Pokemon Go

Sponsor: OpenCage
Use OpenCage for your geocoding needs with their API: https://opencagedata.com/
Geomob: https://thegeomob.com/

About Brian
- LinkedIn:   / brianmcclendon  
- Niantic: https://nianticlabs.com/

Listen to this episode audio only as a podcast on your favourite app
- Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast...
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0u5guiZ...
- Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/search/Mi...

Shownotes
Note: Links to books are Amazon Affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy any of these books.
- Never Lost Again by Bill Kilday (Affiliate Link): https://amzn.to/41OsUI6
- Brian’s University of Kansas course: “Startups Rasing Money”:    • Startups Rasing Money - Professor Bri...  
- @Home Network: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/@Home_N...
- Keyhole Inc: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_...
- Google Earth: https://earth.google.com/web
- I think you can find a link to Google Maps on your own :)
- Nicaragua border story: https://www.theguardian.com/technolog...
- Books & Podcast
- 3 Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Affiliate Link: https://amzn.to/3vAuukC
- Marketplace podcast: https://www.marketplace.org/shows/

Timestamps
(00:00) - Introduction
(01:16) - Sponsor: OpenCage
(02:42) - Brian describes himself
(03:33) - Getting into computer graphics
(05:15) - From engineer to building companies
(08:06) - The Beginnings of Keyhole
(12:42) - EarthViewer demo
(14:33) - Going through rough times
(21:00) - What made Keyhole so unique
(25:56) - How much of Keyhole's work is still in Google Earth?
(32:08) - Borders are hard
(37:20) - Changing borders
(43:15) - Google's rationale for spending so much on mapping
(45:37) - Use for Google Maps vs Earth
(47:22) - Google Earth Engine
(51:16) - Earliest Google Earth Image
(52:20) - Working at Uber
(57:03) - Self-driving
(58:30) - Project Ground Truth
(01:04:01) - Where is self-driving today?
(01:10:29) - Trains vs Cars
(01:14:15) - Niantic
(01:17:07) - Future predictions
(01:19:28) - Glasses over phones
(01:21:05) - The next iPhone moment
(01:23:33) - Using Tech to get people outside
(01:25:57) - Teaching
(01:28:11) - The need for tech companies outside the Bay Area
(01:30:21) - Remote work
(01:34:59) - Recommendations to students
(01:36:10) - Book/Podcast Recommendations

- Support the podcast on Patreon:   / mindsbehindmaps  
- My video on an introduction to satellite images:    • I Couldn't Find a Video Explaining Sa...  
- Website: https://mindsbehindmaps.com/
- My Twitter:   / maxlenormand  
- Podcast Twitter:   / mindsbehindmaps  
- Read Previous Issues of the Newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/nzc796ym
- Edited by Peter Xiong:   / cellobuddy  
- Find more of his work: https://symphoniclandscapes.squarespa...