I’m Chris Martin, CTO of Pandora, and This Is How I Work
For over a decade, Pandora has been streaming music online through customizable smart radio stations. With over 1.5 million songs, Pandora is the soundtrack for many of our lives – in fact, I’m using it right now.
I often have the Pandora tab open when I’m working, when I feel the need for a specific soundtrack to my set of lyrics, but I don’t mean a specific song. Of course, like a radio; radio is a purely vestigial term these days of digital streaming.
Chris Martin is behind the technology behind the company. Chris joined Pandora about eleven years ago during the initial development of radio products and is now their CTO. To learn a little about what makes it work and support music streaming, we spoke with Chris about how it works.
Location: Oakland, California. Current position : CTO, Pandora. One word that best describes how you work: it describes a little more of what I do, but using [that] word, I think it describes how I work: I consider myself a facilitator.
As for your phone, because everyone lives off their phone, are you an iOS person or an Android person?
I am an iOS person and I have 5, but I am very happy to have 6, I have been patient.
And your computer that you use every day is also a Mac?
I’m a Mac person too. I’ll admit I used a 13-inch MacBook Pro – I just switched from a MacBook Pro from the Air. I felt the Air was the best computer I have ever had in my career in terms of weight, speed, battery life, and I found that my new MacBook Pro doesn’t have the same battery life as mine. … A 3-year-old MacBook Air. So, I’m using a MacBook Pro, but I’ll probably be looking for the Air.
Yes, I’m still waiting for them to update the Air, but I think they will probably let it die.
It is sad. Because [MacBook] doesn’t have enough computer power.
What apps do you use every day that you can’t live without?
I’m kind of like a news junkie. I follow current and local events very actively, so for me Twitter is what I probably use most often as a source of information. I don’t think I can live without any opportunity to get the latest information and what is happening around the world; it will be the only thing I cannot live without. You know, before Twitter, I was a huge fan of Google Reader.
Do you use Twitter or Tweetdeck or something else?
I mainly use a mobile application.
What is your workplace? Are you guys an open office or do you have your own personal account?
No, we really value the open office culture. I have a writing desk; we have honeycomb furniture, so it is a little more mobile than some of the rectangular pieces. Pretty standard 24-inch Apple monitor and keyboard.
I’m unique in using a trackball – a Microsoft trackball that I’ve been lugging around with me in the last three or four companies. All it takes is a little periodic cleaning.
Why trackball? Is it just a habit that has stuck?
Yes, I think so. To me it feels more like a natural transition between trackpad and desktop. It’s just more convenient that way. The movement seems to be less and easier to navigate.
And at home my workplace is probably a sofa. I don’t have a home office.
What would you say is the best way to save time?
To save time, I try to focus on just a few things. So I’m not really trying to stay up to date with my email. They say that we can really only keep seven things in our head, so I constantly try to manage these seven most important things. Usually in my head since I don’t use a bunch of different tools. I use to-do lists and the like, but [I] try to focus on these seven things and work with them effectively, replacing them as new things come up. When I finish an activity, task or responsibility, [I] remove it and shift it to something else.
In a similar vein, do you use a to-do list manager? How do you deal with what you have to do?
Probably the only native iOS app I use is Apple’s to-do list. Syncing is pretty easy and it’s a simple interface. I don’t need anything complicated; I need to make a short list of no more than ten things, so from this point of view it works pretty well.
What device, besides a phone and a computer, can you not live without and why?
I tried many different watches. We have many interesting watch partners and have done a lot here with devices. The device I currently use for my current lifestyle is the Garmin Forerunner 220 running watch. Usually, if he is not with me, I feel naked. It’s just a running watch.
What are some of your best everyday activities?
I think that the point is, perhaps, even that I am incredibly straightforward. People interact with me and meet me, and they say, “… wow.” So it gave me a lot of benefits, but it also poses problems.
Here’s what they said about Steve Jobs! That he was directly to blame, so there you have it.
We’ll be able to see a staged version of this as early as Wednesday, right?
Aha! With Michael Fassbender. [Actually this version opens in October, but an Alex Gibney documentary is on air now ].
Anyway, when you work, what do you listen to? Do you listen to music when you work?
Yes, if I’m really trying to focus on something, I’ll put on some tunes. If this is a very intellectual task, I will pose the classic one. I love the littleAaron Copeland , which is kind of an intense classic but works for me and helps me focus. If I do a nicer assignment, I’ll put on some reggae. I like to listen to a lot of hip-hop, maybe a little jazz for less focused tasks; jazz may require some active listening. I love listening to hip-hop and I find that hip-hop does require quite active listening, so I’m usually not very productive with hip-hop.
Out of curiosity, because you work for Pandora, do you have a personal relationship with music? Have you ever played a musical instrument?
Yes, I played instruments from the age of ten to 18. I started with the trumpet, picked up the sousaphone, aka baritone, and played it in a local organization that really traveled the world. We went to Scandinavia, played at festivals. It was a really big wind ensemble; there were 30 clarinets and eight baritones. People came from all over the bay to take part in this program, and we took some escorts (I was in the eighth grade) and we went to Scandinavia. Then, when I was in the tenth grade, we went to Austria, Germany and Switzerland and played at this huge festival in Vienna. So yeah, I’ve always had a very strong relationship with music.
My brothers – two older brothers – they always brought home vinyl and played different things for me, and my dad his favorite songs. So music has always been a big part of my life.
Are you currently reading any books that you really like? What are you reading now?
I am currently reading a book called Prepared . It is the nonfiction of Michael Pollan, a journalist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who is famous in the local health food movement. As such, this book is a fascinating dive into the history of cooking and how people have cooked over the years. The first part is on fire, which I really like. He dabbles in the way we cook today and then goes back to how fire was originally used and how the first cooked meat was even discovered. I find this quite interesting as an amateur; one of my main hobbies is cooking, so I am very passionate about it.
I just wanted to ask when you’re not at work, what do you do to recharge? Is cooking your big hobby?
Yes, this is it. I probably have three things I do to recharge. I’m a little withdrawn, so being alone is usually the fastest way for me to regain strength. Even if I have half an hour, I’ll go for a run, hence the need for a watch, because I’m in some way pursuing a goal. A watch is useful because I like to look at it and say, “Oh, another half mile, another mile, or another quarter mile.” So I use this to control my running. But I find that jogging for 25-30 minutes is quite refreshing.
I love to play golf, so sometimes I go out at dawn on weekends and play golf for a couple of hours. If I have more time, I will. Then I cook a lot during the week. I cook for my family, I cook for my friends. [I am] not ashamed to cook really heavy or very simple dishes. I like to cook in an empty cupboard; it’s always difficult when you don’t go to the store, but cook what you have. Usually I can cook something very tasty if my kids’ [reaction] is in any sign of it. They love to cook for dad.
Some of us have set up some chefs here. We had a competition with the marketing team – making chili. I finished second. I was very disappointed!
Sounds good, second place!
The engineering team won the overall overall score because it was actually about the top five versus the top five. But yes, I finished second.
I would take the second one, I think that’s enough. So my next question is about your sleep patterns. Are you an owl or a lark? What is your sleep pattern?
I wake up early. I usually get up with the sun. I don’t use an alarm clock, and I don’t need one unless I’m trying to catch a flight.
We’ve had chickens for the last five years. Chickens, and actually ducks, and we just parted. One of the reasons we broke up with them is because one particular chick would get up between 5:50 and 6:15 every day and just scream. None of my neighbors cared; I was the only one who bothered.
I have to write an article on chickens – how to manage my chicken alarm clock.
I could tell you many stories.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
I think one of the shortest pieces of advice I’ve ever received and shared with some of the people here, some of our interns and new graduates, is probably: “Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, just don’t repeat one and the same mistake twice. “
If you were to choose who would answer these questions, who would you choose to share how they work?
I would be really interested to hear how Obama manages his schedule. He is not very transparent in this matter. I know he is an avid reader and reads all the time. I can’t imagine he sleeps a lot. You hear tidbits about some of these things, but it would be interesting to hear how he ruled over the last seven years of his reign.
Definitely yes. He’s definitely on my list! But I don’t think the White House will get my emails back yet.
Ha, yes. Maybe in a couple of years.
What else would you like to say to our readers or Pandora users?
I think that from a life hack point of view, people tend to get carried away by things that we cannot control, and those that are not within our immediate sphere of influence. Even in a corporate setting – the only thing that I thought was really important to me in maintaining my career and being able to manage my life was really trying to influence things around me in a productive and passionate way, trying my best to heal everyone around me. with respect and humility.
This interview has been edited for clarity.