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The Early Team
Shawhin
44 episodes
3 days ago
Conversations with early employees at startups, and how they figured it out.
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Conversations with early employees at startups, and how they figured it out.
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Careers
Business
Episodes (20/44)
The Early Team
Episode 044 - Vishak Visvanathan, Early Engineer

Vishak was one of the first engineering hires at Postscript. He is a coding bootcamp graduate with a background in mechanical engineering, and has worked at early stage SaaS startups since 2015.

Vishak is currently a Staff Engineer at Postscript, where he leads product strategy and architecture, drives solutions and tech partnerships, and helps hire and onboard high-performing engineering teams.

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • The benefits and challenges associated with going the coding bootcamp route
  • The importance of tailoring communication that resonates and is easy to digest by non-technical colleagues
  • And the impact triaging customer support tickets, while radically prioritizing them, can have on your progression at an early stage startup
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1 year ago
1 hour 9 minutes 50 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 043 - Taylor Udell, Early Heap & Champify

Taylor is Head of Growth at Champify, which monitors job changes to help go-to-market teams turn existing relationships into new business opportunities that actually close. 

She began her career as a classroom teacher through Teach for America, before transitioning into tech as an early employee at Heap.

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • The overlaps between teaching and working as an early stage startup employee
  • How working at Twilio helped her sharpen her product marketing craft, within a large organization 
  • And why staying hyper-focus on a particular persona is even more critical during the current market conditions
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1 year ago
1 hour 6 minutes 4 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 042 - Jessie Gold Koester, VP of Operations

Jessie was the fourth employee at Collectly, starting as Head of Customer Success. Her background is in Customer Success and Account Management at start-ups, specifically focusing on developing relationships and growth within existing accounts. 

She is currently the Vice President of Operations where she focuses on overseeing multiple internal teams, building the strategy and plans for the company, hiring new employees, and more. 

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • Lessons learned from managing up in roles that face high management attrition
  • Her approach to building trust with clients in order to achieve win-win scenarios
  • And her recommendation for advocating for yourself and getting a seat a the table
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1 year ago
1 hour 6 minutes 16 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 041 - Alessandro Chesser, 1st Sales Hire at Carta

Alessandro was the 1st sales hire at Carta. During his 8 year tenure, he played a major role in helping Carta find product market fit, managed hundreds of people, and took Carta from 0 to 300m+ ARR. 

Now, Alessandro is taking his learnings from Carta and transferring them to his new company GetDynasty.com where he is democratizing access to the most powerful wealth creation tool available to Americans - the living trust.

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • His approach to building deep and long term trust with his clients
  • How he established the sales function at Carta and built out the team over time
  • And the signals to look out for that indicate both success and that it’s time to move on from your current role and/or company 
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2 years ago
1 hour 7 minutes 8 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 040 - Kasra Khalili, Product Marketing Leader

Kasra's career is set at the intersection of product strategy and marketing leadership — composed of his time building products as a founder (Mintor and IntroHero), driving community growth (Startup Grind, On Deck), and leading marketing initiatives (Coho). 

His career also includes studying for and working in occupational safety, running a restaurant, and even penning a book.

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • The parallels between working in safety (OSHA) and at startups
  • How his background, both as a founder and as an immigrant, has contributed to his confidence  of figuring it out, as an early stage employee
  • And the premise of his book, Who We Know, The Power of Physical and Digital Networks in Our Lives
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2 years ago
1 hour 12 minutes 35 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 039 - Ashley Acosta, Early Brex & Pipe

Ashley is the CEO & Founder of Maca, building the first platform for iterative pricing. She went through hyper-growth as the 7th employee of Brex, the fastest company in B2B history to surpass $100M ARR in 18 months. 

She then joined Pipe’s founding team as VP of Revenue to stand up the operations and early go-to-market teams - they issued $1B+ in capital in 10 months and became the fastest fintech to reach a $2B valuation in history.

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • How “figuring it out” has been a pillar for her career, both in the medical & startup fields
  • How a culture of taking ownership and wearing many hats contributed to her and Brex’s success
  • And what she looks for in both founders and potential direct reports, prior to deciding to work with them
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2 years ago
1 hour 1 minute 40 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 038 - Jackie Miller, Corporate Innovation Leader

Jackie Miller has had a dynamic career spanning NGOs (Amnesty International), social enterprise (Venture for America), major corporate brands (Chobani and Chanel), and venture backed startups (On Deck), with the red thread criss-crossing of accelerators, corporate venture, and strategic partnerships. 

She's exploring her next chapter and weighing the thrill of joining the early team of a dynamic, fast-paced growth company or the stability and ready resources of an established player. 

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • How learning to be resourceful while working at a non-profit enabled her success working at startups
  • What it takes to launch innovation programs from scratch at major well known brands
  • And the common traits she has observed in early stage founders that set up their teams for success
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2 years ago
1 hour 3 minutes 39 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 037 - Shweta Shrivastava, Founding Engineer

Shweta is a Founding Engineer at Leda Health. She has worked within core engineering teams at different B2B SaaS, EdTech, and now Health-Tech startups, building out the product vision and implementing best practices for engineering teams. 

She currently works on full-stack web development, cloud technologies, compliance, and security. She strives to work on projects big or small, that not only challenge her professional skills but also help her empower more women in tech.   

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • How an internship during her masters program introduced her to the world of startups
  • The lessons she learned from being a part of successful business that had to pivot due to COVID
  • And how she approaches building complex products from 0-1 in the healthcare space
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2 years ago
1 hour 1 minute 40 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 036 - Kera DeMars, Head of Marketing

Kera is the head of marketing at Hustle Fund, where she oversees their content and events. Previously she was the first employee at The Hustle, a media company with 1m+ subscribers (acq by HubSpot), where she held a variety of roles including Director of Operations and Director of Events.    

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • How her separate experiences in both the restaurant and events industries, paired with her major in English, set her up for success in wearing many hats in her first startup role
  • The challenges of planning successful conferences and her advice for startups looking to do the same
  • And how she guides individuals on deciding whether to join a startup or a larger company
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2 years ago
51 minutes 41 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 035 - Alex Valeyev, Mechanical Engineer

Alex is a mechanical engineer based out of the Bay Area working in the field of fluidics and water chemistry. At Sutro he has worked on developing low-cost, automated water monitoring technology with the mission of ensuring access to safe, clean water to all.    

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • How his curiosity and the ability to figure things out led his role at TechShop
  • The challenges of being an early employee and what it took to get Sutro to its current stage
  • And the critical role his advisors have played in his growth
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2 years ago
58 minutes 12 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 034 - Nate Elliot, Chief of Staff
Nate is a dad of 3 boys, bar licensed attorney, and early-stage generalist. He’s currently chief of staff at web3 design studio, Airfoil, and was previously employee #1 at Barracuda. When not working, he’s playing with his kids, drinking soda, or attending a concert. 

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • How his law degree enables his success working  at early stage startups
  • How he landed his first role at a startup through cold direct messaging on Twitter
  • And what the role of the chief of staff means to him and his approach to excelling in the role
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2 years ago
53 minutes 46 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 033 - Anthony Nardini, Job Seeker Advocate

Anthony is the founder of NEXT, a community for entrepreneurial mid-career and exec-level job-seekers who want to be intentional about their next career chapters. 

He's helped hundreds and hundreds of job-seekers during his past 4 years in the career development space, which is his second act after spending a decade at Goldman Sachs.

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • How his tenure at Goldman Sachs set the trajectory of his growth, founded on team-success mentality
  • His learnings from building the On Deck First 50 program, focused on helping fellows navigate the startup ecosystem
  • And his advice for those searching for their next role in current market conditions
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2 years ago
1 hour 9 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 032 - Ankit Raj, Product & Growth Expert

Ankit is a product & growth expert who has worked with multiple early stage startups, playing a crucial role in scaling them from pre-seed to Series B.

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • His experience at ELSA and how he was able to introduce and expand the product in the Indian market
  • His insights into assessing major trends and whether to adopt them or stay the course
  • And how he currently supports startups and founders at different stages, based on the growth challenges they’re experiencing
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2 years ago
57 minutes 2 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 031 - Thalida Noel, Engineering Leader

Thalida is a Product Engineering Leader who loves a good spreadsheet. They've spent their entire career in Product Engineering and Engineering Management at companies like OkCupid, Etsy, and Webflow. 

Thalida is now the Co-Founder and CTO of Tourus, a prop-tech startup with a mission to improve the rental experience for everyone involved. Thalida is a queer Trinidadian-American and avid Minecrafter based in New York. 

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • How they mapped out their career journey as an engineer, by gaining experience at various sized startups
  • The challenges they faced in the industry and the resources that have supported them along the way
  • And how their unique experience and love for coding has empowered them to become a great manager and leader
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2 years ago
1 hour 1 minute 31 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 030 - How to scale intimacy, with Community Architect Taylor Harrington

Taylor is on a mission to create the opposite of loneliness in the world. She’s Head of Community at Groove, which is an extraordinary, free app for solo workers from all over the world to instantly connect and conquer their to-dos alongside each other. 

Before joining Groove, Taylor designed online learning experiences with best-selling author, Seth Godin. In her free time, she hosts special gatherings for community leaders and friends in New York City.

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • How a wacky job opening with no description or title led to her working with Seth Godin at altMBA
  • How she embraces dancing with fear to catapult her personal and professional growth
  • And what drives her passion for bringing folks together to build communities where they want to be part of
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2 years ago
59 minutes 23 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 029 - EJ Oruche, Product Leader

EJ is a Husband, Father, Entrepreneur, and a first-generation America raised by Nigerian parents. 

He is an experienced leader in launching new products in both startup and corporate environments, including CBS Interactive and Seed&Spark, and co-founded his own startup, Bosa, a life management platform for working moms.

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • His first experience at a startup, right after graduating from college
  • Packing up his bags, moving to LA, and building his product craft at CBS
  • And how “figuring it out” has been a pillar in his success, especially when navigating the unknown
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2 years ago
1 hour 7 minutes 54 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 028 - Gabrielle Turner, HR Director

Gabrielle is an HR Director, with extensive experience as a leader at both startups and large companies. She is passionate about empowering her team and enabling their growth, while cultivating a culture that focuses on belonging. 

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • Her approach to setting up and scaling the HR function at early stage startups
  • How she has navigated the layoff environment and the impact it has had on her
  • And the questions she asks during the interview process, when assessing potential new employers 
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2 years ago
1 hour 6 minutes 10 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 027 - Tamara Dottin, Lead Engineer

Tamara has been a career Software Engineer, working on complex systems. She is currently a Lead Engineer at Acre, a growing real-estate tech startup redefining how we buy and live in our homes, where she joined as employee #1.

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • Her experience working at larger companies, such as Raytheon and Red Hat, where she gained the expertise that empowered her work at early stage startups
  • How she has been able to level up, at each stage, while managing imposter syndrome as part of the process
  • And how she has been able to lead at Acre, both as employee #1 and as an engineering leader
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2 years ago
57 minutes 50 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 026 - Jonatan Littke, Early Spotify

Jonatan is a founder, engineer, and product leader. He was an early employee at Spotify, where he began as the first web-developer on the team. Currently, he’s the CEO at Squadformers, working to build exceptional Squads that accelerate meaningful missions.

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • How at the age of 12, he started and grew a gaming community to over 20 million active users
  • Lessons learned while working at Spotify in the early days
  • And what it’s like to work at an early stage startup, while relocating from Sweden to the US
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2 years ago
1 hour 2 minutes 29 seconds

The Early Team
Episode 025 - Tyler Hall, CEO Coach & Advisor

Tyler is a successful founder, CEO, tech leader, investor, advisor, motorcycle enthusiast, dad and husband. As the founder and CEO of a VC backed automotive tech company Drivably, Tyler led the company through an acquisition in 2022.  

Prior to that was an early employee and executive at Domo and HireVue. He currently coaches, advises, and invests in start up companies, CEO's and executive teams.

In this conversation, we talk about:

  • How his mentality and grit of flipping cars, while in college, set the foundation for his success at his first startup role and thereafter
  • Lessons learned as a sales leader, through coaching others and building teams from scratch
  • And recommendations for founders that can also be applied to early stage employees
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2 years ago
1 hour 1 minute 19 seconds

The Early Team
Conversations with early employees at startups, and how they figured it out.