Built in Seattle with Adam Schoenfeld: Recent Episodes
Adam Schoenfeld
Interviews with Seattle's top entrepreneurs, investors, and leaders. Hear how they think, how they operate, and how they're building in Seattle. Hosted by Adam Schoenfeld.
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Laura Jennings, Founder & CEO & at Knack (KnackShops.com).
For more stories and lessons from startup life in Seattle, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- Laura's 20+ years exploring consumer behavior.
- How Knack discovered the gifting market on route to a related vision.
- Thinking about consumers a creative force.
- How Laura learned an entirely new business model out of her basement.
- Why in-person tests were key to creating the right user experience.
- The choice to bootstrap and unbundling VC.
- Lessons from leading new products at Microsoft in the 80s and 90s.
- What happened when Knack ran out of boxes during the peak holiday season.
- How to face fears and failures with a forward-looking mindset.
- Why BabyList is Laura's Seattle business role model.
- Why Loria Yeadon is Laura's Seattle leadership role model
Where to follow Laura:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-jennings-51a93839/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Julian Alvarez, CEO & Co-Founder at Logixboard.
For more stories and lessons from startup life in Seattle, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- How to stay sane when people say you're crazy.
- No tech founder + No domain expertise = ??
- Selling first customers from PowerPoint
- Moving to Columbia to sit with an early customer.
- The 50+ rejections, 7 months, and 6 flights that it took to land the first customer.
- Smiling about mistakes.
- The formula for raising money. Behind the scenes on Logixboard series A.
- Why Symbol.ai is Julian's Seattle business role model.
- Why Jon Gelsey is Julian's Seattle leadership role model.
Where to follow Julian
https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-alvarez-751943126/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Jessica Eggert, CEO & Founder at LegUp (legup.care).
For more stories and lessons from startup life in Seattle, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- Making a 15-year life plan and why it doesn’t work.
- Entering the workforce at 19 while hiding her age.
- Moving forward without knowing what success looks like.
- How she learned to say "yes" and open to possibilities.
- How solving her own problems and wining it led to a business.
- Why she kept asking "let's see what this can be."
- Realizing she was solving the wrong problem.
- The challenges defining and naming a category.
- Developing company values toward diversity.
- Recruiting people from outside tech.
- Why Convoy is her Seattle business role model
- Why Rebekah Bastian & Ben Gilbert are her Seattle leadership role models.
Where to follow Gordon:
https://twitter.com/jess_eggert
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicalocheeggert/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Gordon Hempton, CEO & Co-Founder at Spot.xyz.
For more stories and lessons from startup life in Seattle, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- The early decisions that helped Outreach thrive.
- Why he was determined to return to the early stage.
- The different problems between startup and scale-up.
- Why it can help to have nothing to lose.
- The importance of using your own products, drinking your own champagne.
- The process of relearning 8 years later.
- How to hire early engineers and how it's gotten harder.
- How childhood experiences influenced the vision for Spot.
- Why space and proximal awareness matters.
- The potential competitive advantage for remote teams.
- Why Remitly is Gordon's Seattle business role model.
- Why Manny Medina is Gordon's Seattle leadership role model.
Where to follow Gordon:
https://twitter.com/ghempton
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ghempton/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Laura Clise, Founder & CEO at Intentionalist.
For more stories and lessons from startup life in Seattle, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- How a small startup formed partnerships with professional sports teams and top tier consumer brands.
- What Laura learn from running corporate social responsibility programs (before becoming an entrepreneur)
- How change management actually works.
- Why consumers should consider speningd with more intention.
- Reframing buying to ask "who benefits?" from our choices.
- How to craft a story based on human connection.
- The challenges and trade off in building a marketplace.
- Finding opportunity in a crisis.
- Lessons from small business owners.
- Why First Row Partners is Laura's Seattle business role model
- Why Jesse Wooley-Wilson is Laura's Seattle leadership role model.
Where to follow Laura
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraclise/
https://twitter.com/lauraclise
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Katie Curnutte, Founding Partner at KMG and former SVP of Corp Communications & Public Affairs at Zillow.
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- Why she likes to be behind the scenes building other people up.
- How a love for story telling got her into journalism.
- Why patience was key to Zillow's brand building success.
- How Zillow rose above the noise with data.
- How she saw leaders shine in a layoff.
- Why leads need to deliver the hardest messages.
- What reporters actually care about.
- How she got Zillow CEO to do a live event with President Obama.
- Finding the right channels for a startup brand.
- What most founders get wrong.
- How to explain marketing, PR, and brand to a tech founder.
- Why Joe Coffee and OwnTrail are her Seattle business role models
- Why Maria Colacurcio is her Seattle leadership role model.
Where to follow Katie
https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiecurnutte
https://twitter.com/katie_curnutte
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Dave Rigotti, co-founder & CEO at Inflection (inflection.io) and former VP of Marketing at Bizible.
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- Why he makes a habit of sharing hard lessons.
- The transition from Microsoft to a 6-person startup.
- A day in the life of a "first marketing hire."
- How he scaled from contributor to people manager to executive.
- Why learning to "let go" led to surprising results.
- How he shifted mindsets between big companies and small companies.
- What he learned from landscaping and car wash operators in Ohio.
- The biggest challenges in doing customer development.
- How to manage energy with weekly, daily, and hourly swings.
- Why relationships are his key to the very long game.
- How he find new insights from old call recordings.
- Why Esper and Ally are his Seattle business role models.
- Why Leslie Feinzaig and MH Lines are his Seattle leader role models.
Where to follow Dave
https://twitter.com/drigotti
https://www.linkedin.com/in/daverigotti/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Omri Mor, Co-Founder & CEO at Routable
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- How he raised a $30M series B in about 1 week.
- Why he did 300+ interviews before writing any code.
- Why proving the product in enterprise was critical.
- Why engineering velocity won investor confidence.
- How to validate a replacement solution.
- Why "assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups"
- How Routable has been inspired by Steven Segal movies.
- Why YC asked him "what the hell were you doing for the last 9 months?"
- How leading questions lead you to build the wrong product.
- The transition from mad scientist to CEO.
- Why Outreach is Omri's Seattle business role model.
- Why Matt Oppenheimer is Omri's Seattle leader role model.
Where to follow Omri:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/omrimor/
https://twitter.com/omri_mor
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Robert Wahbe, CEO & Co-Founder at Highspot.
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- How Highspot found the "oldest new category on the planet" with sales enablement.
- What Robert learned from working under Satya Nadella at Microsoft.
- The power of "listening hard."
- How to know when you actually have a new category.
- Finding the path from a nice to have to a should have to a must have.
- Why clarity and resonance is the key to category creation.
- The power of repeating a strong framework and analogy.
- The non-obvious benefits of serving both SMB and Enterprise.
- Product problem vs "How should I do it" problem.
- How over-investing in services early paid off later.
- Why Highspot attempts to create a "spark of magic" in everything they do.
- Learning from others, but recognizing that there is "no one right answer."
- Why Account Development is a top-level function at Highspot.
- Why Robert follows all Seattle unicorns, including Outreach, Auth0, Rover, Convoy.
- Why Pete Carroll is Robert's Seattle leader role model.
Guest Bio:
Robert is Highspot’s co-founder and CEO, leading their mission to transform the way millions of people work. Prior to founding Highspot in 2012, Robert spent more than 15 years as Corporate Vice President of the Server and Tools Division at Microsoft. A veteran entrepreneur, he also co-founded Colusa, a cross-language virtual machine that was acquired by Microsoft in 1996.
Where to follow Robert:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertwahbe/
https://twitter.com/RobertWahbe
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Rebecca Bastian, CEO & Co-Founder at OwnTrail (owntrail.com)
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- How she joined a 20-person startup called Zillow.
- The journey from PM to VP of Product over 15 years
- Why she built an "Equity and Belonging" program in 2017.
- How writing a single guest blog post led to writing a book.
- Why she has avoided a master plan in blazing her own trail.
- How "accidental entrepreneurship" pulled her away from Zillow.
- Why your goal shouldn't be to avoid all pain and failure.
- How designing the book launch website led to the idea for a company
- The 3 questions she asks to make big decisions.
- Why LegUp is her Seattle business role model.
- Why Laura Clise is her Seattle leader role model.
- Why she wouldn't give her 20 year old self any advice.
Where to follow Rebecca:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebekahbastian/
https://twitter.com/rebekah_bastian
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Nick Martin, CEO & Co-Founder at Joe Coffee (Joe.Coffee)
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- How the pandemic flipped Joe's business model from outbound to inbound.
- What happened when growth when from 15%/month to 3x in a month.
- Coming to terms with anxiety and self-doubt to become a founder.
- Why having a "burn the boats" moment helped clarify the path forward.
- How building storage sheds with his parents taught him the value of family businesses.
- Why the spirit of small business is important to maintain in a world of sameness.
- Using clear values to pick the right investors and partners.
- How to get started without "friends and family money"
- Why Remitly is his Seattle business role model.
- Why Yifan Zhang is his Seattle leader role model.
Where to follow Nick
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasbmartin
https://twitter.com/NickBMartin
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Michael Lagoni, CEO at Stackline.
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- How Stackline bootstrapped to profitability and 10s of millions.
- Why he raised a $50M series A as a profitable business.
- How his personal motivation changed from survival to duty and service.
- The answers he keeps finding in "the bottom of a spreadsheet."
- Why real-time customer feedback was the key to early growth.
- How getting carpel tunnel led to a popular product.
- The challenge in finding role models when you are different.
- Why promoting early employees to executives built trust.
- How he stays in the weeds with customers even at stay.
- Why the company's history matters today.
- How he is organizing to take bigger bets
Where to follow Michael
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lagoni/
https://twitter.com/mlagoni
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Heather Redman, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Flying Fish Ventures.
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- How ice cream can be a platform.
- Why "necessary" beats "fun and sexy."
- The rare attributes needed for startup founders.
- Why the immigrant mindset is a strong indicator for founder success.
- How to know if an entrepreneur is "just crazy enough."
- The psychology of early-stage investing.
- Why/how Heather is taking a broad view on DEI as an investor.
- The aha moment 15 years ago that changed how she operates.
- Why she has a passion for "knowing everybody"
- Thinking differently about community.
- The interrelatedness of everything.
- The value of being the only bridge between disconnected domains.
- When doing more things makes everything easier.
Where to follow Heather
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hredman/
https://twitter.com/heatherredman
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Howard Behar, former Starbucks President of North America, Founding President of Starbucks International, and Starbucks Board Member. Howard is the author of It's Not About the Coffee and The Magic Cup.
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- What it was like joining Starbucks in 1989 as a startup.
- Why it wasn't about the coffee.
- Why Howard spent 4 days per week visiting stores
- "The Person Who Sweeps the Floor Should Choose the Broom"
- "Only the Truth Sounds Like the Truth"
- How putting stores closer together highlighted product/market fit.
- The transition from a local niche business to international phenom.
- The questions Howard asked to connect with people on the frontlines.
- Why real conversations with 12 customers can beat 1M pieces of data.
- How brutal honesty led to an enduring leadership team.
- Why they entered Japan when people said "they aren't coffee drinkers"
- How incremental bets & learning led to big international growth.
- Why the most painful mistakes came from rushing.
- The principles of Servant Leadership from 50 years of study and practice.
Where to follow Howard
https://www.linkedin.com/in/howard-behar-24ba274/
https://twitter.com/HowardBehar
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Detlef Schrempf, Director of Business Development at Coldstream and NBA legend.
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
To learn more about Detlef's Erase the Hate campaign on Cauze.
Episode Highlights
- How the Sonics built a winning culture in the 90s.
- Why he got locked out of local gyms in college.
- How he learned to calm down, focus, and do less.
- Why he stopped trying to get a bigger house and car.
- How the Sonics defensive strategy got players to check their ego.
- Lessons from guarding Michael Jordan or Stockton/Malone.
- How self-affirmations helped overcome doubt in reaching new levels.
- Why business is not like hitting a winning shot for 20K screaming fans.
- The questions he asked to find motivation after the NBA.
- Why he started a foundation to help children.
- How simple principles create clarity.
- Why he reads and how we should use books.
- Taking action to Erase the Hate.
Where to follow Detlef
https://twitter.com/Dschrempf
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dschrempf/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with James Coyle, CEO at RealSelf.
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- How he made the transition from Amazon to startup executive.
- The unconventional career choices that have paid off.
- Lessons from watching great leaders at Amazon.
- How he creates frameworks for self-improvement.
- Why and how he does hiking meetings.
- How he learned to be a better listener.
- How great mentors changed the way he thinks.
- Finding the balance between results and kindness
- Lessons from Amazon's leadership principles.
- Why he moved his family to a different country multiple times.
- The key thing that most managers skip when interviewing employees.
- How Amazon 6-pagers really work.
- Why he doesn't need to be the smartest person in the room.
Guest Bio:
James Coyle is an executive with 18+ years of operating experience in Consumer and Retail facing industries connecting customers to key brands including Amazon, Microsoft and Sears/Kmart. Established track record of managing ($MM) and ($B) businesses profitably (full P&Ls) across growth, turnaround and mature situations with a core focus on the customer. Results and data-driven with functional expertise in Merchandising, Marketing, Operations, Sales and Finance, having managed all five of these functions.
Where to follow James:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-coyle-b044b12/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Peter Hamilton, former CEO at TUNE and startup advisor.
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- How responding to a Craigslist post changed his life.
- Why you can't predict the future.
- The transition from CMO to CEO.
- How they bootstrapped a chef program and served meals to 200+ employees every day.
- Why TUNE became two businesses inside one.
- How to build a culture around customer service.
- The transition from bootstrapping to VC-backed.
- How opera singing is similar to company building.
- The story behind TUNE's two acquisitions.
- Lessons on building a SaaS brand.
- Why startups work better as a Team than a Family.
Guest Bio:
Peter is a seasoned technology executive as well as an active advisor and investor in tech startups with passionate founders. As the former CEO of TUNE, he built the company’s path to market, raised $36.4M from Accel Partners and Icon Ventures, led the business to over $80M in ARR, and scaled teams to over 350 people across 9 offices worldwide. He went on to lead TUNE’s two major product lines through two separate acquisitions, one to Branch Metrics in 2018, and the second to Constellation Software in 2020.
Where to follow Peter:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterryanhamilton/
https://twitter.com/peterhamilton
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Maria Colacurcio, CEO at Syndio (synd.io)
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- The precision required to create a category.
- The parallels and differences between Smartsheet and Syndio.
- Why pay equity matters / why now.
- What really matters when serving big enterprises
- How parenting 6 kids helped Maria become a simplifier at work.
- Why skills matter more than experience.
- Lessons from working with veterans and "team over self."
- How to let people fail, but not become a failure.
- The trust <-> candor loop.
- How Maria learned the "religion of focus" from marketing.
- The difference between busy-ness and effectiveness.
- Why she took a risk and hired a lawyer as the first seller.
Guest Bio:
Maria Colacurcio is Syndio’s Chief Executive Officer. As CEO, Maria is responsible for the company’s vision and strategy for delivering innovative solutions, building an organization of the industry’s most talented people and developing organizational excellence to deliver the highest levels of business value to its customers. Most importantly, she is passionate about issues surrounding equal pay, employee wellness and equity at work.
Recognized as a thought leader in the HRM/HCM industry, Maria is a frequent speaker and author for various organizations, publications and conferences delivering the latest trends and solutions in workplace equality. She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) - the voice of all things work; and the WorldatWork Organization - the total rewards association.
Prior to joining Syndio, Maria co-founded Smartsheet.com, a work collaboration tool for companies of all sizes. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience in technology and communications at companies including Microsoft, Starbucks and technology start-ups you’ve never heard of, she has a proven track record of building successful companies with strong core values that are dedicated to its people and customers.
She is a mom to six kiddos and makes sure to talk about family finances at the dinner table.
Where to follow Maria:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mcolacurcio/
https://twitter.com/mcolacurcio/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
WHAT IS REVENUE DIARIES?
Join Kyle Lacy as he interviews the top revenue leaders from some of the fastest growing companies in the world about everything OTHER than work. 5 questions about family, life, fears, challenges and faith. No wrong questions. No wrong answers. Anything goes. The only catch? The questions are not shared ahead of the interview.
Join Kyle Lacy as he interviews the top revenue leaders from some of the fastest growing companies in the world about something other than work.
https://feeds.transistor.fm/revenue-diaries
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Elissa Fink, Board Director and Former CMO at Tableau.
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- The joy of building something from nothing in the long-term.
- Why the Tableau leadership stayed together from startup to IPO.
- What motivated Elissa to move across the country and take a risk on a startup.
- Why the Tableau CEO became a student of other tech companies.
- The common patterns Elissa sees on startup Boards.
- Why business is more like Poker than Chess.
- What great Boards do to help operators filter out the noise.
- How Elissa would build a team if she was starting over.
- Why "every demand generation touch is a brand touch"
- How to define a brand based on emotions.
- The importance of letting people be their true selves.
- How Elissa answers "What is marketing? Do I need it?"
- The constant balance between stretching and reinventing.
- The difference between a good CMO and a great CMO.
Guest Bio:
As a long time data-driven marketing executive, Elissa Fink retired from Tableau Software as Chief Marketing Officer. She now advises fast-growing companies and serves on multiple boards including Qumolo, Talend, and Pantheon. During her 11 years at Tableau, Elissa led all marketing strategy and execution, from pre-IPO start-up with ~$5 million annual revenue to public enterprise (NYSE:DATA) with $1+ billion in revenue. She knows growth, scale and building disruptive brands. Prior to Tableau, Elissa served in marketing, product management and product engineering executive positions at IXI (now Equifax), Tele Atlas (now Tom-Tom), and other technology companies. She began her career selling advertising for the Wall Street Journal. Elissa holds a BA from Santa Clara University and a MBA in Marketing and Decision Systems from the University of Southern California.
Where to follow Elissa:
https://twitter.com/elissafink
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elissafink/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Grant Goodale, Co-Founder and CTO at Convoy (convoy.com)
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- How Grant scaled himself by being humble and asking for help.
- Why title shouldn't define your work as a founder.
- How getting into the weeds outside his function helped hire the right executives.
- Why "innovate deliberately" rather than innovate everywhere.
- How to use values for decision-making and avoid "refrigerator values."
- The importance of "prevalence and repetition."
- How Amazon's leadership principles influenced Convoy.
- Learning trucking from top-down and bottom-up
- How multiple forces converged at the right time to make Convoy possible.
- Why "starting small" beat the emotional hurdles of complexity.
- How they attracted A-list investors.
- How early investors helped the founders think bigger.
Guest Bio:
Grant Goodale is the CTO and Co-Founder at Convoy. Additionally, Grant Goodale has had 7 past jobs including CEO at Massively Fun. Grant is an experienced engineering leader with a deep technical background and a passion for well-thought-out, scalable, highly reliable code. He is proven to bridge the gap between product and engineering requirements and have successfully managed large engineering teams around the globe using agile methodologies.
Where to follow Grant:
https://twitter.com/ggoodale
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ggoodale/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
For more content from me and updates on this podcast, subscribe to my weekly email
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
Or connect with my on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Galen Ward, co-founder and former CEO at Estately, Startup Advisor, and builder.
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- Why he had no business starting a company.
- The co-founder dynamics that worked for Galen and Doug.
- Why creative people need a good "editor"
- The path to profitably.
- How he created a culture that avoided "sandcastles."
- Lessons from a year focused on parenting.
- Learning to send himself an email when angry.
- How he decided to sell.
- The challenges of running a business while negotiating an acquisition.
- His process for vetting new startup ideas and suspending disbelief.
Guest Bio
Galen founded Estately to change the way people buy and sell homes. He quit his job as a GIS software engineer to create Estately with cofounder, Doug Cole. Together, they built and launched the V1 of Estately and bootstrapped it to thousands of users per month.
He raised over $1m from top tier angel investors including Jeff Clavier (Uncork Capital), 500 Startups and others.
When he sold Estately to Realogy (2015), millions of consumers started their search every month on Estately's website and iPhone app, Estately had triple-digit user growth, partnered with thousands of real estate agents covering more than 75% of the US population.
Galen is an advisor for three self-funded and venture-backed companies and has invested in a handful of tech companies over the last few years.
Where to follow Galen
https://twitter.com/GalenWard
https://www.linkedin.com/in/galenward/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Kristen Hamilton, co-founder of Onvia and Koru, SVP at Guild, and startup Board member.
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- How she realized that experience matters.
- Why she was operating from fear and what happened.
- The real magic of teamwork and recognizing emotions.
- The questions Kristen asked to get clarity of purpose during her time off.
- How she found calm and ease in her work.
- The problem with "swagger" in startup founder.
- How Kristen is learning from the way Millennials work.
- The added pressures facing female CEOs and executives.
- Why achievement for achievement sake can be dangerous.
- Being who you are versus what other people want.
- What she learned from helping other CEOs.
Guest Bio
Kristen Hamilton is a technology entrepreneur and CEO with multiple exits and is currently SVP at Guild Education. She is also currently a board director of growth stage companies Top Hat and Aduro, the WTIA’s private health benefits corporation, and is chair of the board of Directors’ Cup Invitational Ski Classic. Kristen co-founded predictive hiring software leader Koru, and was it’s CEO until it was acquired by UK based Capfinity. She previously co-founded e-commerce pioneer Onvia and took it public on NASDAQ. She has served as an executive for large enterprises including Microsoft, where she was head of educator strategy, and World Learning, where she was COO. The primary focus of her career has been driving impact in the technology, talent and education industries. She has a passion for skiing, biking, rowing, and spending time outdoors with her two daughters.
Where to follow Kristen
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristenm
https://twitter.com/Kristen_Hammy
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Joe Heitzeberg, CEO & Founder at Crowd Cow (crowdcow.com).
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Episode Highlights
- Why tech insiders laughed at the idea.
- What it looks like when you have more demand than supply.
- How to test a startup by talking to strangers at Starbucks.
- Why the idea for Crowd Cow broke Joe's spreadsheet.
- The phases of validation before prototyping.
- The secret to getting PR without doing PR.
- Balancing your north star while testing along the way.
- Weighing distractions vs opportunities.
- The evolution from a single cow to a marketplace for all meat.
- What Joe wanted to do differently as a serial entrepreneur.
- The challenges scaling a team from scrappy learners to vertical specialists.
- Why Joe wanted an "adventure" when picking a new company.
- Some interesting facts about chicken breeds
- How a tech entrepreneur and engineer built trust with farmers.
Guest Bio:
Joe Heitzeberg is the CEO and co-founder of Crowd Cow, a company offering the widest assortment of local, sustainable and delicious beef, pork, chicken and seafood direct from the producer, delivered to your door. Prior to Crowd Cow, he was the co-founder and President of Madrona Venture Labs, a startup incubator and was the co-founder and CEO of MediaPiston (acquired by UpWork in 2012, IPO in 2018) and Snapvine (acquired by WhitePages in 2008). Joe graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Computer Science and has a MBA from MIT.
Where to follow Joe:
https://twitter.com/jheitzeb
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeheitzeberg/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Juliana Stancampiano, CEO at Oxygen (oxygenexp.com)
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Episode Highlights
- The value of a beginner's mind when making big decisions.
- The story behind Oxygen's turnaround from bankruptcy to serving clients like Microsoft, F5, Red Bull, Starbucks, and more.
- How companies get stuck on content and frameworks.
- How to find founder/seller fit when building a sales team.
- What to look for in early sales hires.
- What is Sales Enablement and why does it matter?
- Why Juliana got approached to write a business book.
- How the book came together and the process of working with a publisher.
- Why manage for energy on a team.
- How managers can avoid death marches on their teams.
Guest Bio
Juliana Stancampiano is an author, business leader and strategist focused on helping business leaders and their teams modernize workplace education. For more than 15 years, she has helped leaders translate their company’s sales and business strategy into tangible achievements for people in sales, service and delivery, and retail channels, creating role-based experiences that help people succeed.
As CEO of Oxygen, Juliana leads her teams of consultants and designers to partner with clients in large companies across major industries, to help modernize the enabling functions that support sales, service and delivery. She has developed a unique perspective of modern enablement that spans effective hiring, end-to-end onboarding, and ongoing development that fits into the flow of work.
Juliana's book, Radical Outcomes: How To Create Extraordinary Teams That Get Tangible Results (Wiley) was published in January 2019. Her articles have appeared in HR.com, Chief Learning Officer Magazine, Training Industry, Talent Development Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women In Retail Leadership Circle and she has been interviewed by Business Insider, Forbes.com, and Investors Business Daily. She has appeared on podcasts for Sustainable Business, Sales 3.0, and the Peggy Smedley Show, and regularly speaks to audiences comprised of leaders in Sales, Service Delivery, Customer Service, Customer Experience, and HR.
Prior to her role as CEO fo Oxygen, Juliana worked across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, while she was based in Munich and London.
Where to follow Juliana:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jstancampiano/
https://twitter.com/jstancampiano
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Kelly Breslin Wright, Board Director and Former EVP of Sales at Tableau.
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Episode Highlights
- What really mattered in the journey from $0 to $850M in revenue.
- How long-term relationships were the biggest pay-off from success.
- Why having the right people is a practical imperative.
- What matters more than optimizing operations.
- How to make company values useful and fit the personality of a business.
- What it looks like when companies practice what they preach.
- How to approach a missionary sale. What works and what fails.
- Why companies need to answer "why?"
- The importance of clarity and consistency when articulating a company's mission.
- What's missing when sales people can't sell like the CEO/founder.
- How honesty creates credibility in sales, even when the answer is "no."
- Finding balance between big thinking and daily results.
- Driving for achievement vs being present to relationships.
- How to take tangible action on diversity and representing women in boards.
Guest Bio
Board Director for public and private high growth companies with specialized expertise in digital transformation, go-to-market, scaling, strategy, and culture. Seasoned Sales and Technology Executive with over 30 years of deep Go-To-Market and P&L experience in leadership, sales, and operational roles. As Board Director, Advisor, and Operator, has navigated through multiple stages of growth, IPOs and financings, global expansion, CEO and leadership transitions, strategy development, crisis management, economic downturns, planning, people operations, and change management. Audit Committee and Compensation Committee member.
Kelly helps companies create best-in-class sales and marketing organizations. She assists companies in creating purpose-driven companies and getting the most out of their people by developing great cultures and workplaces. Kelly teaches an MBA course on Go-To-Market Strategy at the University of Washington Foster School of Business. She is an active leader in multiple organizations that promote the support, education, sponsorship, and placement of women in board director positions. Kelly is a frequent speaker for company meetings, leadership panels, and in university courses.
Kelly's areas of expertise include Sales | Go-To-Market | Scaling | Hyper-Growth | Technology | Data | Digital Transformation | Global | Culture | Leadership | Diversity | Change Management | Strategy | ESG | B2B | SaaS | Cloud.
Where to follow Kelly
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellybreslinwright/
https://twitter.com/kellybwright
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Kirby Winfield, Founding General Partner at Ascend (ascend.vc)
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Episode Highlights
- How his identity and ego got into an unhealthy state.
- How he hit reset on his mental and physical health
- Why founders should be able to ask for help and let their guard down.
- The power imbalance for founders pitching VCs.
- What matters after the pre-seed round.
- How a writing and marketing background has helped Kirby as an investor.
- The value of being willing to look stupid in public.
- How he picks companies and teams in the earliest stage.
- How the challenges & expectations when raising money change between rounds.
- Why you need vision and selling more widgets is never enough.
- Why it needs to be "cool" to angel invest in startups to support a hub.
- The time Kirby got confused with a drug trafficking conspiracy on Twitter.
Guest Bio
Kirby Winfield is a seasoned startup operator and investor, and is currently the Founding General Partner at Ascend.vc, a pre-seed stage venture fund investing in marketplace, e-commerce/DTC, and B2B software startups in the Pacific Northwest.
Early in his career, Kirby was a founding team member and operating executive at back-to-back tech IPOs, with Go2Net (GNET) and Marchex (MCHX).
He is also a two-time venture capital-backed CEO, with AdXpose (DFJ, Ignition) acquired by comScore (SCOR), and Dwellable (Maveron, VersionOne) acquired by HomeAway (AWAY).
Kirby has invested in dozens of technology startups, and served as a Board Director of the real estate CRM platform Sharper Agent (sold to LEDR/Z), and the in-store customer experience platform Spectrio (sold to Bertram Capital).
He currently serves as a Board Director at Bean Box, the premier Direct to Consumer gourmet coffee gift and subscription brand, and Keepe, the leading vetted, on-demand contractor network for property managers. Other notable investments include Wrench, Crowd Cow, Dolly, Stackery and Blume.
Kirby has served as Board Chair at Special Olympics of Washington, where he helped bring the 2018 Special Olympics USA Games to Seattle. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Seattle Preparatory School, Board Member at the University of Washington's Haring Center Capital Campaign, and Board Advisor at the Friendship Circle of Washington. In his free time, Kirby coaches youth sports, and enjoys running, tennis, and traveling with his wife, son and daughter.
Where to follow Kirby
https://twitter.com/kirbywinfield
https://www.linkedin.com/in/winfield/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Matt McIlwain, a Managing Director at Madrona Venture Group.
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Episode Highlights
- Assessing founder/market fit and why it matters.
- Lessons from the dot-com boom and bust.
- Why Madrona wants to build a bigger pie of success in the community.
- How a multigenerational team has defined Madrona's values for 25 years.
- Why founders explaining complex ideas simply is an investor signal.
- How founders become the Chief Sales Officer
- How "the learning loop" works for the best founders.
- Why selling a vision starts with humility and curiosity.
- What it takes to get through the low points in company building.
- How Madrona decided to stick with Smartsheet in their hardest times.
- The intersection of computer science with biological and chemical sciences.
- What Matt is excited about next.
Guest Bio:
Matt McIlwain is a Manager Director at Madrona Venture Group where he invests in a broad range of software and data-driven companies with a focus on cloud computing, intelligent applications, and the intersection of the digital and physical world. He believes in the Learning Loop for entrepreneurs who journey from curiosity to triangulation and decision making. This leads to outcomes and ongoing learnings.
Before joining Madrona in 2000, Matt was vice president of business process for the Genuine Parts Company (NYSE: GPC). He also was an engagement manager at McKinsey & Company, concentrating on strategy and marketing in technology-driven sectors and prior to that worked in investment banking at Credit Suisse.
Matt is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and a board member of Washington Policy Center. Matt enjoys going on adventures with his family, discussing public policy issues, and trying out new technologies. He is also an avid runner, Peloton biker, and a major Sounders and Seahawks fan.
In 2017, Matt was named Emerging Company Director of the year by the Puget Sound Business Journal, in partnership with the prestigious National Association of Corporate Directors’ (NACD) Northwest chapter. In 2011, he received the Washington Policy Center’s Champion of Freedom Award. He has also been named several times to both the list of Top 100 Venture Capitalists by CB Insights and The New York Times and the Forbes Midas list.
Matt is a graduate of Dartmouth College and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Where to follow Matt
https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-mcilwain-692522/
https://twitter.com/mattmcilwain
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Yadhu Gopalan, CEO & co-founder at Esper (esper.io).
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Episode Highlights
- Why the pandemic forced quick changes at Esper.
- How shifting strategy led to new, bigger opportunities.
- Day in the life of startup CEO managing a global team and still writing finding time to write code.
- How Yadhu's builder mindset got him obsessed with solving this problem.
- The "what if" questions he asked to find a market insight.
- Why he likes have a co-founder who is his opposite.
- The power of following passion and curiosity
- Why start a company after 25 years at MSFT and AMZN.
- Why "all roles are open" and growing the team.
- Coffee as a continuity instead of a count.
Guest Bio
Yadhu Gopalan co-founded Esper with 25 years of experience and 35 patents in embedded systems and security. A former Chief Architect at Microsoft and Amazon, Yadhu worked on the Windows CE OS, the FireOS, AWS backend systems, and Amazon Go. Today, Yadhu is CEO and unofficial CTO of Esper, an Android DevOps minicorn.
Where to follow Yadhu
https://twitter.com/gopalanyadhu
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yadhug/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Sidney James, Founder at Inyore (inyore.com).
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights
- The experiences that led to the idea for Inyore.
- Transitioning from school teacher to tech founder.
- The results of his A/B test to indicate race (and not) on job applications.
- How he interviewed others to find related problems.
- His surprising discoveries from user interviews.
- Why people don't speak up inside companies and the fear of judgement.
- The scrappy first product that led to Inyore.
- How big company employees using his MVP led him to go full-time.
- The challenges of building social product for anonymous users.
- Why starting was the hardest part and how the community opened up after he took the first steps.
Where to follow Sidney:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sidneyjames/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Vetri Vellore, CEO & Founder at Ally (ally.io).
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Episode Highlights
- What really matters in the long-term and why it's easy to lose track.
- Why messing up values is hard to fix later.
- The tactics of values. How he builds values into every part of the operations.
- Why context matters more than control when setting goals.
- How a book from 20 years ago planted the seed for Ally today.
- Why the job of CEO is about creating the right environment.
- The difference between data-driven vs personality-driven.
- How he entered a competitive market with an uncommon point of view.
- How Ally's OKR solutions is the foundation for a new business performance solution.
- The difference between individual performance and company performance solutions.
- What are OKRs and how do they help teams succeed.
Guest Bio:
A serial entrepreneur, Vetri built Ally's OKR solution as an internal tool to help his team at his previous (and still successful) enterprise SaaS company.
The realization that we live in a new world where agility, alignment, and transparency are mission critical to growing businesses hit hard, and Vetri discovered the OKR framework; a simple, yet powerful model for improving organizational agility, alignment, focus and transparency.
Prior to founding two SaaS businesses, Vetri turned around the $200M+ Systems Management enterprise software business at Microsoft. He lead the Visual Studio platform team and managed the partner ecosystem, shipping several v1 and award-winning products over his 14-year tenure at Microsoft.
Where to follow Vetri:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vtvetrivel/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Leslie Feinzaig, Founder & CEO at Female Founders Alliance (FFA).
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Episode Highlights:
- Leslie's personal experiences raising VC that inspired FFA.
- Why FFA is a business, not a non-profit or "charitable cause."
- How Leslie knew she had founder/market fit.
- What needs to change in 20 years and how we'll know it's working.
- Why FFA started an accelerator to create a flywheel.
- How Leslie pivoted her way to product market fit and evolved with the community.
- Why Leslie just wanted to "do her job" and not have gender get in the way.
- The journey from 0 to 1500+ founders served.
- Why Leslie makes authenticity an advantage.
Guest Bio:
Leslie Feinzaig was born and raised in San Jose, Costa Rica, where her family — and her heart — still live to this day. She’s the granddaughter of Holocaust refugees who were refused entry into the U.S. in the 1930’s. Through generations, her family leaned on entrepreneurship, hard work and education to settle into their new home — values that, until recently, were mostly reserved for the males in the family.
After securing permanent residency in the U.S. — and with it, the ability to switch jobs and join smaller companies — Leslie moved into tech startups. She led product management and marketing at Big Fish Games, going into their $1 billion acquisition. She then joined Julep Beauty, an Andreessen-Horowitz backed ecommerce startup, leading product management, front-end engineering, and digital marketing. She left Julep in 2015 to start her own company.
The following year, when her daughter was 6 months old, Leslie launched Venture Kits — games that develop leadership skills through play. Her one-of-a-kind, inspirational concept quickly garnered critical acclaim and customer love. The experience of raising capital for this company, coupled with the realization that only two percent of venture capital is invested in female founders in the US, propelled Leslie to start the Female Founders Alliance in 2017.
Today, Leslie leads FFA full time, dedicated to her personal mission of creating a more just world for her daughter. She was named one of Forbes Magazine’s 100 Most Powerful Women from Central America & the Caribbean, Seattle Magazine’s Most Influential People, and Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40. She’s a frequent speaker at events like TEDx Pura Vida, SXSW Interactive, Geekwire Summit, NW Angel Capital Conference, Seattle Magazine’s Daring Women, and more. Her writing has been featured in publications like Forbes, Entrepreneur, and AllthingsD. She lives in Seattle, Wash. with her husband and 3-year old daughter.
Where to follow Leslie
https://twitter.com/LeslieFeinzaig
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesliefeinzaig/
https://www.lesliefeinzaig.com/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Craig Unger, Founder and CEO at Hyperproof (hyperproof.io).
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Episode Highlights:
Hyperproof raised $5.8M early on and pilled up customer logos almost overnight. They made it look fast + easy from the outside.
It turns out it was hard…
- Craig had the idea marinating for 15 years.
- He did 50+ customer interviews before writing a line of code
- And 100+ interviews before hiring a head of sales.
- And that was after 20 years at Microsoft.
The rigor and patience Craig had stood out in his story and lessons.
Guest Bio:
Craig Unger is the Found and CEO at Hyperproof. Prior to founding Hyperproof, Craig founded Azuqua and was a leader at Microsoft where he led the development of Microsoft Dynamics, Access, and Excel. He has 26 years of experience building software used around the world. Craig loves technology and he is addicted to designing software that delights and disrupts.
Where to follow Craig:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigunger/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Liz Pearce, co-founder and CEO at Fresh Chalk (freshchalk.com).
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Episode Highlights:
- How a spreadsheet that everyone wanted led to the insight for Fresh Chalk.
- Why Liz believes in "getting your fingernails dirty," even when you've had success.
- Why comparison happens, but doesn't work.
- How to get out of the losing game of comparison.
- How Liz became a connector and what that means.
- The role of CEO as a conductor.
- Building trust with co-founders.
- How Liz approaches the "ambiguous and amorphous responsibility of building culture"
Guest Bio:
Liz Pearce is the CEO of Seattle-based Fresh Chalk, a social network that helps you find professionals that your friends recommend. Prior to that, Liz was with LiquidPlanner for 11 years, starting as the company's marketing contractor and working her way up to COO in 2011 and ultimately to CEO in 2012. Before LiquidPlanner, she held marketing roles at Amazon, Google, and PlayStation and ran an independent marketing consulting business. She holds a B.A. and M.A. from The George Washington University.
Where to follow Liz
https://twitter.com/lizprc
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizpearce/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Prem Kumar, co-founder and CEO at Humanly (humanly.io).
For extras from this interview, subscribe to my weekly email
Episode Highlights:
- How he got accepted to Y Combinator from Seattle.
- The story that led Lisa Brummel to become an advisor.
- How culture can be built like a product.
- Thinking about diversity and remote work from the start.
- Why being honest about flaws helped raise money.
- How he stopped boiling the ocean.
- The importance of getting out of "sales mode" to listen.
Guest Bio:
Prem Kumar is CEO and co-founder of Humanly, an AI platform that screens and schedules job candidates for companies with high applicant volume. Previously to that, Prem led the product management and design teams at TINYpulse, an employee engagement company that empowers organizations to build world-class cultures with real-time people data. Prior to TINYpulse, Prem spent 10 years at Microsoft working in a variety of product capacities including within Microsoft's HR technology department.
In addition to his day job, Prem loves sharing his ideas through writing, as a member of the Forbes Business Council, representing the US as a Peter Drucker Essay Challenge winner in 2013, as well as receiving two “Best of ThinkWeek” awards for white papers aimed at breaking down cultural barriers at Microsoft.
Where to follow Prem
prem@humanly.io
https://twitter.com/premkumartweets
https://www.linkedin.com/in/premskumar/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Ambika Singh, the founder and Chief Bosslady at Amoire (amoire.style).
Highlights:
- The controversy of her "Chief Bosslady" title.
- Getting the confidence to share her ideas.
- Learning to pitch her product to friends and why it's important.
- How the idea for Amoire stood out from her other ideas.
- Ambika's religion of learning from others.
- Why "buddies" instead of mentors.
- Business school vs Microsoft vs startups.
- The obstacles in getting started.
- The logistics of moving 10s of thousands of garments.
- Finding positive in the pandemic
Guest Bio:
Currently on the journey of a lifetime, helping to revolutionize the way women dress. A graduate of Dartmouth College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School, I work to make women’s lives a bit easier with Seattle-based startup- high-tech, high-touch company, Armoire, which offers a true “wardrobe as service” experience. Busy women need no longer waste hours scrolling through endless retail webpages, or feeling their way through crammed racks of clothing; for a flat, monthly subscription fee, Armoire members gain access to an unlimited, curated virtual closet of high-end pieces from dresses, to sweaters, to jeans, and more. Passionate, upbeat, and success-driven, I have worked across diverse contexts in organizations both small and large, with roles in marketing, business development, product management, SEO and social media. Additionally, I played a key role in the creation of internet startups Rover.com and TravelPost.com as well as two major Microsoft product launches: Internet Explorer 8 and Windows 7. This year, I was fortunate enough to be featured on the Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list, in The Seattle Times, and was invited to speak at Amazon, Microsoft, American Express, Harvard Business School, MIT, and the UW Foster School of Business.
Where to follow Ambika and Armoire:
https://www.instagram.com/armoire.style/
https://www.facebook.com/armoire.style
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ambika-singh1/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Aaron Bird, former CEO and co-founder at Bizible.
Highlights:
- 0:00 - 1:41 - Introduction
- 2:16 - 4:28 -Aaron is an epic grinder, was his company an overnight success?
- 5:03 - 7:30 - How the acquisition of Bizible happened
- 7:55 - 10:50 - The mechanics of building relationships with third party executive teams as partners and potential acquirers.
- 10:58 - 16:00 - How did Aaron drive customers and partners to his platform?
- 17:00 - 24:00 - How did Aaron plant the seed to provide an option for the future acquisition of Bizible?
- 24:00 - 26:00 - Aaron disregarded negotiating advice and was the first one to mention a number in the negotiation process.
- 27:00 - 31:00 - How the acquisition came around and receiving the first term sheet and LOI after months of grinding.
- 32:00 - 35:00 - What were Aaron’s emotions while sitting with an offer to buy his company for the first time?
- 35:00 - 36:30 - Were there any emotional cases against selling Bizible?
- 37:00 - 42:00 - A year later, the company that acquired Bizible (Marketo) was sold to Adobe!
- 42:10 - 45:00 - Aaron is motivated to found another company and build something big and lasting for his next 30 years.
- 45:20 - 48:30 - Supersonic Six! Aaron answers rapid fire questions
- 49:00 - Wrap-up
Guest Bio:
Aaron is an Seattle-base entrepreneur. Aaron was the CEO and co-founder of Bizible, the market leader in B2B marketing attribution and measurement. He led Bizible from inception, raised $20 million in venture funding, and grew the company with thousands of customers before Marketo acquired Bizible in May 2018. He joined Marketo as Senior Vice President of Product Management and then was VP of Product at Adobe following their acquisition of Marketo. He has been building innovative marketing and ad tech products for 20 years. Aaron also held various roles in Bing and Azure groups at Microsoft, before co-founding Bizible.
Where to follow Aaron:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronbird/
https://twitter.com/aaronbird
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
Episode NotesOn this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Emily Carrion, CMO at Rubica.
Highlights:
- A day in the life of a the elusive startup CMO.
- How Emily made the transition into a new, complex industry.
- How she learned a new space and why her lack of inside knowledge was a benefit.
- How the Rubica leadership team put a focus on health and family.
- Why avoid a marketing message focused on fear. And how Emily developed the market message for Rubica around agency instead of fear.
- Marketing and story telling during a pandemic - how to talk to people like people rather than "opportunities."
- How Rubica expanded and positioned their products to be more helpful with the rise of remote work.
- Why Emily spends so much time talking to customers and the tactics she uses to get customer feedback.
Guest Bio:
Emily Carrion leads growth, marketing, sales, and customer success at Rubica. A five-time technology start-up veteran and executive marketing leader, Emily has been instrumental in growing brands such as Textio, Apptentive, Mixpo and Point Inside. She’s experienced in building brands that customers love, driving revenue growth, collaborating across the organization, and building high-performing teams. She’s equal parts strategic and tactical, data driven and creative storyteller, leader and a doer. She thrives in high-growth startup environments, and brings an obsession for learning, culture of experimentation, results-orientation, and contagious optimism. Emily has an MBA from Seattle University and now serves on the Board of Directors of Seattle University’s Entrepreneurship Center, and a BA from Whitman College.
Where to follow Emily:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilycarrion
https://twitter.com/emily_carrion
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Matt Oppenheimer, CEO and co-founder at Remitly.
Highlights:
- Matt's path on the road less traveled from Business School to Kenya to finding a customer problem.
- "Willful ignorance" and the irrational decision to start.
- Uncommon differentiation - respecting customers more than the competition.
- The "does it pisses you off" test for worthwhile problems.
- Pivoting without ego when people weren't using the product.
- Serving people in ways that doesn't scale during COVID-19.
Guest Bio:
The inspiration behind Remitly came when Matt was working for Barclays in Kenya and saw how difficult it was to send and receive money overseas. Matt was drawn to the global impact his business could have: remittances eclipse foreign aid in improving global wealth equality and give people who receive them upward mobility. He began working on the problem immediately as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Highway 12 Ventures in Idaho and launched the company from Techstars in Seattle. Matt was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 in the Pacific Northwest and has been recognized as a Puget Sound Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree for his work with Remitly. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Dartmouth College.
Where to follow Matt
https://twitter.com/matt_oppy
matt@remitly.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattoppenheimer/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview?
Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Dan Shapiro, CEO and co-founder at Glowforge.
Guest Bio
Dan Shapiro is the CEO and cofounder of Glowforge, the iconic 3D laser printer. Starting with the biggest 30-day crowdfunding campaign on record, designers have now used their Glowforge printers to create millions of products like wallets, lamps, and furniture. Dan is also the author of Hot Seat: The Startup CEO Guidebook, published by O'Reilly.
Before founding Glowforge, Dan launched the bestselling boardgame in Kickstarter history, Robot Turtles, a game that teaches programming fundamentals to preschoolers. Before his detour as a boardgame designer, Dan served as CEO of Google Comparison, Inc, a Google subsidiary. Shapiro landed at Google when they bought his previous company, comparison shopping website Sparkbuy. Before Sparkbuy, Shapiro was founder and CEO of Photobucket Inc. (formerly Ontela).
Dan's been featured on NPR, the Wall Street Journal, and on the front page of the New York Times. His game, Robot Turtles, as been sold everywhere from Target to MoMA. He has been awarded a dozen US patents, and received his B.S. in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College.
Where to follow Dan:
https://twitter.com/danshapiro
https://www.danshapiro.com/blog/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danshapiro/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview? Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Julie Sandler, Managing Director at Pioneer Square Labs (PSL).
Links Mentions:
- Brad Feld on "The Thee Crises"https://feld.com/archives/2020/03/the-three-crises.html
- The Founder's Dilemna by Noah Wasserman: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007AIXKUM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
- The Intentionalist: https://intentionalist.com/
- Shipium: https://www.shipium.com/
Guest Bio
Julie Sandler joined PSL as a managing director in June 2017, and spends most of her time running the venture capital arm, PSL Ventures.
Prior to PSL, Julie was a partner at Madrona Venture Group, where she led the firm’s investments in Integris, Poppy, and Julep. She is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Washington Foster School of Business and teaches an MBA course on Entrepreneurship for which she has been named a UW “Star Teacher” several years running. She is a member and Board Director of the Washington Roundtable, and was appointed in 2016 by Washington State Governor Jay Inslee to the board of directors of the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship. In addition to serving on several not-for-profit boards, she has also served on the boards of privately held companies, industry associations, and several advisory boards. In 2013, Julie launched the Seattle Entrepreneurial Women’s Network, an informal forum for women entrepreneurs and startup executives to connect in the Greater Seattle area. Julie was also one of 60 Americans selected as a Presidential Leadership Scholar in 2016 by the Clinton Foundation, LBJ Foundation, and the two Bush Presidential Centers. She was voted Geekwire’s 2014 “Geek of the Year” for her work supporting women innovators, was selected to Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40, and was named a Rising Star to Seattle Magazine’s Seattle Hall of Fame for her work with local entrepreneurs in 2016. She was also voted Geekwire’s 2018 “Hire of the Year” for joining PSL. She is a regular speaker at technology conferences and has appeared on CNBC, Bloomberg, and at WE Day.
Where to Follow Julie:
https://twitter.com/juliesandler
https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliesandler/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview? Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Build in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Aviel Ginzburg, General Partner at Founders Coop. FC is an early stage VC dedicated to the Pacific Northwest. Aviel is a founder turned investor.
Links:
https://twitter.com/aviel
https://www.trymystery.com/
On this episode of The Build in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Sara Icutas, COO and Co-Founder at LegalPad (legalpad.io).
She's an immigrant founder herself and her story is at the core of the company’s mission.
They just raised $10M and tripled the team size. The team felt like the world was their oyster.
Then a global pandemic started.
We talked specifically about how she's navigating the current environment, finding new opportunities, and delivering the right message for her team.
Sara mentioned the book "Decisive" by Chip Heath and Dan Heath as a source of inspiration right now.
Guest Bio:
Sara has dedicated her career to creating technology solutions around work visas. She began her career in immigration software at Teleborder, a Y Combinator company that was acquired in 2013. In addition to building software and managing a network of attorneys at TriNet, Sara also handled TriNet’s press inquiries from outlets that included The Wall Street Journal and CNN when they sought expertise in corporate immigration.
Sara’s passion for immigration stems from the value she places on her own immigration story: Sara immigrated to the United States from the Philippines at age 5, and she then grew up in Hawaii and Palo Alto.
Where to follow Sara:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-itucas-407a0632/
michel@usermind.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelfeaster/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview? Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Michel Feaster, CEO and Co-Founder at Usermind. Before Usermind, Michel was VP of Products at Apptio.
Highlights:
- Michel's learnings from her famous mentor, Ben Horowitz.
- Mistakes and learnings in making the transition from operator to founder.
- Michel's journey building enterprise software for 20 years at places like Mercury, HP, and Apptio.
- Why "running toward fear" is now baked into Michel's philosophy.
- How she sees the job of founder to build a learning machine and how she's learned to let go of fear and inner shaming to make that possible
- The mechanics of category creation and why it's important to "set your price" in enterprise software.
- Learnings from Apptio to Usermind - two category creation success stories.
- The path from $15K deals to $1M+ deals at Usermind.
Guest Bio:
Michel Feaster is the Co-Founder and CEO of usermind, responsible for company vision, strategic direction, planning and execution. Michel’s enterprise software career spans almost 20 years with roles in sales, products, strategic marketing and general management. Before founding usermind, Michel was VP of Products at Apptio, where she drove product strategy, defined the category and discipline of Technology Business Management and helped grow the company from 30 to almost 400 employees. Michel led the acquisition of Opsware by HP Software for $1.6B, managed the combined Opsware, Radia and AppIq product teams and defined the Service Automation category. She also spent almost 8 years at Mercury Interactive learning how to build world class products like LoadRunner and QualityCenter which made customer’s lives better. She aspires to do the same at usermind.
Books & blog posts mentioned:
- Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets
- The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
- Why way do your run? (Blog post by Ben Horowitz)
Where to follow Michel:
michel@usermind.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelfeaster/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview? Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
Joe Davy's first venture was feeding chickens in North Carolina. He came to Seattle to join Avalara. Then, at 26 years old, he co-founded Banzai. In just 4 years, he's bootstrapped the business to millions of ARR, grown his team to 50 employees, and been named to Forbes 30 under 30. We got behind the scenes on Joe's journey, the benefits and challenges of bootstrapping, and Joe's mental models for building his business.
Highlights:
- How Joe has developed patience and long term view after hearing "no" from 80 investors.
- How Banzai decided to bootstrap their business, where they are today, and how they thinking about execution.
- The back story - Joe's first venture feeding chickens in North Carolina.
- How working at Avalara shaped Joe's thinking and the lesson's he learned about listening to customers.
- How he did all this having just turned 30.
- Why/how he left Avalara to found his own company at just 26.
- Advice for other young founders.
- Lessons from Joe's journey bootstrapping and building a business in Seattle.
Guest Bio:
Joe Davy is an entrepreneur and investor in Seattle, WA. He has been the co-founder and CEO of Banzai since 2016. Forbes magazine named Joe to its 30 Under 30 list in 2019. Joe is also a board director at Legalpad and the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation. Today, Banzai is the leading event marketing automation platform, with over 200 customers including Microsoft, Dell, Vmware, SAP, and RingCentral. Prior to founding Banzai, Joe was General Manager at Avalara, where he oversaw small business and enterprise business units and was a member of the Avalara leadership team. During his tenure, Avalara grew to over 1,500 employees in 16 global offices with over $150M in revenues.
Joe is an avid bluegrass music fan and outdoorsman – hiking, skiing and fishing around the Pacific Northwest.
Where to Follow Joe:
https://twitter.com/jpdavy
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joedavy/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview? Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Built in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Sandi Lin, CEO and co-founder at Skilljar.
Highlights:
- How she struggled to raise a seed round, but then had a highly competitive series A.
- The mechanics of fundraising and the challenges for Seattle companies getting money from Sand Hill Road.
- The crazy story of her car breakking down between pitches.
- What happens when the tables turn and the VCs want you.
- Why she left Amazon, but doesn't see others doing the same.
- Sandi's lessons from building Skilljar and grinding out the enterprise sale.
- Her focus on preparation, he style as an introvert, and the way she thinks about customer success
Guest Bio:
Sandi Lin is the CEO and Co-founder of Skilljar. Prior to Skilljar, she led product management teams at Amazon. Sandi has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Where to follow Sandi:
https://twitter.com/sandislin
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
Feedback? Suggestions on who to interview? Email me anytime - adamseattlepodcast@gmail.com
On this episode of The Build in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Glenn Kelman, CEO at Redfin.
The highlights:
- The ways Glenn reinvents himself and challenges himself with each stage of growth to become a new CEO every year.
- Why humility matters for leaders.
- The 14-year journey of building Redfin, the big mission, and why Glenn is more motivated than ever.
- Questions Glenn has asked role models and other leaders, how Glenn has taken in other perspectives and even changed his mind about some things!
- How Glenn is starting to think like an investor and allocator of capital.
- Glenn's lessons about managing board meetings and talking to shareholders.
- Building Redfin's company culture and leadership team for the long-term.
Guest Bio:
Glenn is the CEO of Redfin. Prior to joining Redfin, he was a co-founder of Plumtree Software, a Sequoia-backed, publicly traded company that created the enterprise portal software market. In his seven years at Plumtree, Glenn at different times led engineering, marketing, product management and business development; he also was responsible for financing and general operations in Plumtree's early days. Prior to starting Plumtree, Glenn worked as one of the first employees at Stanford Technology Group, a Sequoia-backed start-up acquired by IBM. Glenn was raised in Seattle and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley.
Where to follow Glenn:
https://twitter.com/glennkelman
https://www.linkedin.com/in/glennkelman/
http://blog.redfin.com/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
On this episode of The Build in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Daniela Luzi Tudor, CEO and co-founder at WEconnect Health. The highlights:
- Daniela's personal story of substance abuse that led to the idea for WEconnect.
- How she met her co-founder, Murphy Jensen, former professional tennis player while on Richard Branson's island.
- The challenges building as a B2B2C business that doesn't fit the typical mold.
- How the principles that Daniela learned in recovery have helped influence her company culture, the way she runs meetings, and how she treats people.
- Raising money, growing the business, and building a company culture.
- Daniela's lessons along the way and her view on the Seattle startup community
Guest Bio:
Daniela Luzi Tudor is a serial entrepreneur. She is the co-founder and CEO of WEconnect Health, an on-the-go custom support and connection system for those in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. This venture is guided by Daniela's core mission: Using the vast potential of technology to connect people and communities for physical and spiritual health. Her belief in the combined power of art, music, and technology to build communities and solve problems stems from her own experience with overcoming adversity.
Daniela's career has had a dual focus on entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship. She has founded or been instrumental in three start-ups: WEconnect, The Beats Running Events, and SoundStrokes. She has a strong track record as an intrapreneur/tech. evangelist in the technology world. Her career also had a heavy focus on building successful engineering and development teams on a consulting basis for major enterprises such as Microsoft.
The story behind Daniela's inspiration for WEconnect and work on the WEconnect mobile app has been featured in Techstars Blog, Forbes, TechCrunch, Geekwire, Seattle Times and more.
Where to follow Daniela:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielatudor11/
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny
On this episode of The Build in Seattle Podcast, I talked with Manny Medina, CEO and co-founder at Outreach.io. The highlights:
- The story behind Outreach's successful pivot after struggling with their first business.
- Why keeping the team together after 2 years of "nothing" was Manny's proudest moment as CEO.
- Life as a $1B+ SaaS unicorn.
- How Manny hires for energy.
- How Outreach is building their culture.
- Manny's lessons on Seattle, founding, and growth.
Guest Bio:
Manny co-founded Outreach in 2014 and now serves as CEO. Prior to Outreach, Manny was employee number three on Amazon’s AWS team, and led the Microsoft mobile division from launch to $50M in annual revenue. He holds an MBA from Harvard and a Masters in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania. Manny is a model of vulnerable and transparent leadership to his employees, from his heartfelt weekly email to his employees, to the traditional Friday get-together where the whole company shares their highs and lows of the week. He is a proponent of saving the planet by consuming less and purchasing second-hand whenever possible (he might be the only CEO to take the stage at industry events in shirts purchased from Goodwill). Manny grew up in Ecuador and now lives with his wife and three children in Seattle.
Where to follow Manny:
https://twitter.com/medinism
https://www.linkedin.com/in/medinism/
https://twitter.com/Outreach_io
Where to follow Adam:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamschoenfeld/
https://twitter.com/schoeny