Marco Labs: Recent Episodes
Marco Experiences
At Marco, we set out to partner with the creators and trailblazers that are injecting fun into our daily lives. From ice cream makers to VC's and CEO's, Marco Labs is bringing you the types of stories that will inspire and leave an impression.
Sam Parr is an entrepreneur and the founder of The Hustle, a business and technology-focused email newsletter and media company that was acquired by HubSpot in 2021. He started The Hustle as a side project and grew it into a significant media presence, focusing on providing news and insights on startups, business trends, and technology. Parr is known for his expertise in digital marketing, content creation, and building a loyal audience. His entrepreneurial journey and success with The Hustle have made him a prominent figure in the digital media and startup communities. Sam Parr is also recognized for his skills in storytelling and creating engaging content that resonates with a wide audience of entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts.
Bonin Bough s one of the foremost-awarded marketing executives in his field, the host of The Cleveland Hustles, and the author of Txt Me (646) 759-1837. Throughout his illustrious career as one of the youngest C-suite executives in a Fortune 50 company, Bonin has spearheaded some of the industry’s largest global marketing campaigns across digital, mobile, television, print, and experiential, including the premier of the first ever 3D printed food product, the customizable, real-time 3D printed Oreo at SXSW.
We sat down with him at Marco Labs to discuss the importance of community and the impact it has on company growth.
Suman the CEO of Marco Experiences sat down with Rob Sadow, the co-founder and CEO of Scoop for a captivating Marco Labs Podcast. With a rich background in customer strategy and marketing at Bain & Company, one of the world's leading management consulting firms, Rob brings a wealth of experience in connecting employers with their customer base.
As a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied Management, Legal Studies, and Business Ethics, Rob's expertise lies in understanding and enhancing the dynamics between companies and their employees.
In our conversation, he shares his journey of transforming traditional work models, offering valuable perspectives on the evolving landscape of work and the pivotal role of technology in shaping future work cultures.
Mac Reddin stands out as a dynamic force in the realm of community building and remote work. As the CEO of Commsor, his journey is marked by a decade of shaping diverse communities across gaming, tech, and fashion sectors. His early venture, The Chunk, a Minecraft gaming network, showcases his talent for community-led growth, having successfully bootstrapped it to an exit in 2016.
Mac is dedicated to forging authentic connections and pioneering innovative go-to-market strategies. His newsletter, "The Good, the Bad, and the Weird," reflects his unique path in the startup world, offering a window into the unorthodox methods of nurturing a venture-backed startup. From his beginnings in bootstrapping startups at 17 to navigating the complexities of Commsor.
Chris Schembra, a distinguished Wall Street Journal and New York Times Best Selling Author, has carved a niche in the realms of leadership and community building with the 747 Club, backed by his acclaimed books "Gratitude and Pasta: The Secret Sauce for Human Connection" and "Gratitude Through Hard Times: Finding Positive Benefits in Our Darkest Hours." As a member of the Rolling Stones Culture Council, Schembra brings a unique perspective to fostering authentic connections and community within the workplace. A clear testament to how great leadership and a focus on fostering deep connections can drive substantial economic growth and create a more inclusive and vibrant community.
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One of our favorite parts of our conversation with Mark Levy, a pioneering Head of Employee Experience at Airbnb and Allbirds, was the insights he dropped around what belonging actually meant at Airbnb. Mark has dedicated his career post-Airbnb to working with ambitious teams that further employee experience and ensure employees truly belong in their organizations.
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Inclusive communities in the workplace are more vital than ever. While many companies have expanded diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) initiatives, only 41% of employees feel comfortable being themselves at work.
To shed light on this topic, Marco chatted with Arthur Woods, Partner at Plenty Search: an executive search firm for venture-backed startups focused on diversity. He’s also a Co-Founder of Out in Tech and Mathison, as well as author of the national bestseller Hiring for Diversity.
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In episode 7 of our podcast Marco Labs, Marco CEO Suman Siva spoke with Leslie Crowe — Talent Partner at Bain Capital Ventures. With a portfolio of over 200 companies, Leslie has an excellent perspective on overarching trends in terms of culture in startups.
Michele Bousquet, Chief People Officer at Strava shares that people and culture aren’t after-thoughts at Strava — they’re key elements that define decision-making across the leadership team and beyond.
Suman speaks with Jenn Cornelius, Chief People Officer at Ritual, a fast-growing direct-to-consumer vitamin brand that is keeping culture fluid and focused on employee choice.
In this episode, we sit down with Growth Company Advisor and author of Scaling for Success, Andrew Bartlow to get his take on how growth companies can maintain their company culture and retain top talent in what's become an even more competitive landscape.
We had a blast catching up with Nick from Gnarwhal Coffee Co. in our second episode of Marco Labs. Give it a listen to find out about the story behind his Gnarwhal tattoo, and how surfing and driving down the California Coast inspired one of the coolest coffee brands in the game.
Great time catching up with Alec, founder of Alec’s Ice Cream - even better time going through a substantial portion of that ice cream during the interview. Give the third episode of Marco Labs a listen to hear how Alec transitioned from a USC running back, to working in software sales, to starting his own ice cream brand!
In Marco Labs, we share the stories of hosts on our platform who we have the pleasure of working with and how they’ve built their businesses.
Book an BTS ice cream tour with Alec for your friends or team on Marco Experiences at: https://app.marcoexperiences.com/expe....
Episode 3: I met Nick through my co-founder - also named Nick - and we’ve been big fans since. He’s worked with his brother to start an ice cream company that prides itself on hyper-local and high-quality ingredients. It’s a company that prides itself on making a dent in a category that can get boring through extremely high quality. Before working with Alec I didn’t really understand what “high-quality” ice cream actually was.
P.S. Honey Blueberry Lavender is probably one of the top 3 ice cream flavors you’ll try.
TL;DR:
🍨 Treat yo’self - you deserve it. As Alec says, “In a complicated world, we’ve made things seriously simple. Ice cream should taste great and leave you feeling even better…” When you’re going to indulge (and you should), indulge with something that you love
🌱 + 👨🏼🎨 A combination of a commitment to natural and organic high-quality ingredients, coupled with a unique approach to developing unique flavors is what makes this brand stand out
🏊🏻♂️ Sometimes, you just need to dive in. Alec knew he wanted to try his hand at entrepreneurship - whether through a sock company or ice cream. He left a secure job to pursue his passions of entrepreneurship and ice cream and hasn’t looked back since. Big props.
In the first episode of Marco Labs, we interview Julia Marsh, CEO and co-founder of Sway. Her and her team are taking on the audacious goal of rethinking single-use plastics based packaging by replacing with seaweed - something we can all get behind.