Uploaded September 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Max Sklar is the Engineering and Innovation Labs advisor at Foursquare. After seven years at a company as a machine learning engineer, previously he has worked on ad attribution, recommendation engine, ratings, etc.. He is the host of The Local Maximum podcast. Max studied CS from Yale, and holds a Master degree in information systems from New York university. We talked about his career journey and the projects he has worked on from junior engineer to senior engineer. If you like the show subscribe to the channel and give us a 5-star review. Subscribe to Daliana's newsletter on dalianaliu.com for more on data science.
Daliana's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dalianaliu
Daliana's Twitter: twitter.com/DalianaLiu
Max's Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/max-sklar-b638464
Max’s website: localmaxradio.com/about
Interviews he mentioned during the podcast:
Andrew Gelman, Statistics at Columbia University: localmaxradio.com/episode/201-andrew-gelman-statistical-insights
Shirin Mojarad on Causality: localmaxradio.com/episode/31-shirin-mojarad-causality
Johnny Nelson on Free Speech and Moderation online: localmaxradio.com/episode/204-free-speech-moderation-and-censorship-with-johnny-nelson
Stephanie Yang talking about Foursquare's Venue Rating System: localmaxradio.com/episode/3-stephanie-yang-foursquare-rating-system
Dennis Crowley on Labs: localmaxradio.com/episode/66-dennis-crowley-hypertrending-at-foursquare
Dennis Crowley on Innovation: localmaxradio.com/episode/7-dennis-crowley-on-inspiration-innovation-and-future-tech
Sophie Carr (Bayesian Mathematician): localmaxradio.com/episode/105-sophie-carr-bayes-rule-belief-networks-and-aerodynamics
Will Kurt (Bayesian): localmaxradio.com/episode/229-fun-with-bayesian-statistics-with-will-kurt
Marsbot for Airpods: localmaxradio.com/episode/142-marsbot-for-airpods-launched
Other Episodes Mentioned
Bayesian Thinking: localmaxradio.com/episode/78-bayesian-thinking-and-the-mises-brothers
P-Hacking: localmaxradio.com/episode/22-bayes-rule-death-to-p-hacking
Interview on Learn Bayesian Statistics: localmaxradio.com/episode/228-all-things-bayesian
Highlights:
0:00 Intro
00:01:23 from computer science to machine learning
00:05:35 Bayesian methods in rating system
00:14:53 how to choose a Bayesian prior
00:20:10 p-hacking and how to deal with it
00:26:57 causality model in ad attribution
00:35:20 Bias-correction methods
00:45:43 negative lift in advertising
00:51:05 unexpected consumer behaviors
00:52:08 why he didn't climb the "engineer ladder"
00:56:46 the challenges of org change
01:01:38 using the 3rd-party software vs building his own
01:04:18 how he approaches ML problems
01:07:51 his tech stack
01:09:25 his advise on learning machine learning
01:12:40 projects he is working on
01:17:10 Bayesian for his life decisions
01:22:00 how writing helps him
01:23:48 the confusion, stress and excitement in his career
Max Sklar is the Engineering and Innovation Labs advisor at Foursquare. After seven years at a company as a machine learning engineer, previously he has worked on ad attribution, recommendation engine, ratings, etc.. He is the host of The Local Maximum podcast. Max studied CS from Yale, and holds a Master degree in information systems from New York university. We talked about his career journey and the projects he has worked on from junior engineer to senior engineer. If you like the show subscribe to the channel and give us a 5-star review. Subscribe to Daliana's newsletter on dalianaliu.com for more on data science.
Daliana's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dalianaliu
Daliana's Twitter: twitter.com/DalianaLiu
Max's Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/max-sklar-b638464
Max’s website: localmaxradio.com/about
Interviews he mentioned during the podcast:
Andrew Gelman, Statistics at Columbia University: localmaxradio.com/episode/201-andrew-gelman-statistical-insights
Shirin Mojarad on Causality: localmaxradio.com/episode/31-shirin-mojarad-causality
Johnny Nelson on Free Speech and Moderation online: localmaxradio.com/episode/204-free-speech-moderation-and-censorship-with-johnny-nelson
Stephanie Yang talking about Foursquare's Venue Rating System: localmaxradio.com/episode/3-stephanie-yang-foursquare-rating-system
Dennis Crowley on Labs: localmaxradio.com/episode/66-dennis-crowley-hypertrending-at-foursquare
Dennis Crowley on Innovation: localmaxradio.com/episode/7-dennis-crowley-on-inspiration-innovation-and-future-tech
Sophie Carr (Bayesian Mathematician): localmaxradio.com/episode/105-sophie-carr-bayes-rule-belief-networks-and-aerodynamics
Will Kurt (Bayesian): localmaxradio.com/episode/229-fun-with-bayesian-statistics-with-will-kurt
Marsbot for Airpods: localmaxradio.com/episode/142-marsbot-for-airpods-launched
Other Episodes Mentioned
Bayesian Thinking: localmaxradio.com/episode/78-bayesian-thinking-and-the-mises-brothers
P-Hacking: localmaxradio.com/episode/22-bayes-rule-death-to-p-hacking
Interview on Learn Bayesian Statistics: localmaxradio.com/episode/228-all-things-bayesian
Highlights:
0:00 Intro
00:01:23 from computer science to machine learning
00:05:35 Bayesian methods in rating system
00:14:53 how to choose a Bayesian prior
00:20:10 p-hacking and how to deal with it
00:26:57 causality model in ad attribution
00:35:20 Bias-correction methods
00:45:43 negative lift in advertising
00:51:05 unexpected consumer behaviors
00:52:08 why he didn't climb the "engineer ladder"
00:56:46 the challenges of org change
01:01:38 using the 3rd-party software vs building his own
01:04:18 how he approaches ML problems
01:07:51 his tech stack
01:09:25 his advise on learning machine learning
01:12:40 projects he is working on
01:17:10 Bayesian for his life decisions
01:22:00 how writing helps him
01:23:48 the confusion, stress and excitement in his career
