A couple of weeks ago I sat down with Kurt Schmidt to record a session of his The Schmidt List podcast. Kurt is the President of Foundry (@FoundryMakes | Instagram) and he can be found by clicking LinkedIn, @KRTS & The Schmidt List with (as I post this) 36 podcast episodes. We’ve bumped into each other a number of times over the years and had a bunch of quick chats. But this is the first time we had some quality time. Here is his current bio:

Kurt Schmidt began his career as a graphic designer and filmmaker in the skateboarding and BMX biking industry.

In 1991, while recognized as one of the top twelve professional bike riders in the world, he co-founded Standard Byke Company.

In 2010, he was tapped by The Nerdery to be the Director of Project Management and has been responsible for the delivery of over $300 million in software development and design.

Currently, as the President of Foundry, he leads product design workshops, drives digital transformation initiatives, and hosts a weekly Podcast called “The Schmidt List” where he interviews leaders in design and technology.

While well versed on his business and technology background, I did not know about his BMX skills until after we recorded. Where have I been???

Here is what we covered over the hour (we had wayyy more things we could have riffed on) and you can listen below. Be sure to check out The Schmidt List on iTunes.

We start by talking about how I got into recruiting (old school, answered an ad in the newspaper) and how “Minnesota Headhunter” came to be and my then lack of SEO knowledge.

We talk about how the Minnesota Recruiters group started including a nod to John Sumser.

“What makes a good recruiter” is a fantastic question.

I get to ramble a bit on why some recruiters suck and I stick up for my corporate recruiter and HR friends.

I take to task the line CEO’s give that they want the best and the brightest and why I think that is BS.

Can a technologist burn a bridge with a recruiter?