In this episode, Fahd Alhattab sits down with Nora Beatty, VP of People Operations at Cohere, to unpack how small, high-trust teams scale in high-stakes environments. Nora shares her journey from Cohere’s 40-person startup stage to its 500-person rocketship rise—and what she’s learned about leadership, mentorship, and risk along the way. Together, they break down why the “self-made” leader is a myth, how founders can’t outsource culture, and what it really takes to compete for top talen...
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In this episode, Fahd Alhattab sits down with Nora Beatty, VP of People Operations at Cohere, to unpack how small, high-trust teams scale in high-stakes environments. Nora shares her journey from Cohere’s 40-person startup stage to its 500-person rocketship rise—and what she’s learned about leadership, mentorship, and risk along the way. Together, they break down why the “self-made” leader is a myth, how founders can’t outsource culture, and what it really takes to compete for top talen...
Ep. 24 - Taking on Google: The People Strategy Behind Ecobee’s David vs. Goliath Win with Penny Farinha
Unicorn Leaders
39 minutes
5 months ago
Ep. 24 - Taking on Google: The People Strategy Behind Ecobee’s David vs. Goliath Win with Penny Farinha
In this episode of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, Fahd Alhattab sits down with Penny Farinha, former VP of People at Ecobee, to unpack what it really takes to scale a mission-driven startup through every phase of growth—without losing your soul (or your best people). Penny shares the behind-the-scenes story of how Ecobee went from 75 employees to a billion-dollar acquisition, all while competing head-to-head with Google Nest. She reveals why values-based hiring (not just skill) helped them bui...
Unicorn Leaders
In this episode, Fahd Alhattab sits down with Nora Beatty, VP of People Operations at Cohere, to unpack how small, high-trust teams scale in high-stakes environments. Nora shares her journey from Cohere’s 40-person startup stage to its 500-person rocketship rise—and what she’s learned about leadership, mentorship, and risk along the way. Together, they break down why the “self-made” leader is a myth, how founders can’t outsource culture, and what it really takes to compete for top talen...
