The Early Team: Recent Episodes
Shawhin
Conversations with early employees at startups, and how they figured it out...or didn't... Cover art: Vic de Aranzeta...Music intro: Alex MakeMusic
Vishak was one of the first engineering hires at Postscript. He is a coding bootcamp graduate with a background in mechanical engineering, and has worked at early stage SaaS startups since 2015.
Vishak is currently a Staff Engineer at Postscript, where he leads product strategy and architecture, drives solutions and tech partnerships, and helps hire and onboard high-performing engineering teams.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- The benefits and challenges associated with going the coding bootcamp route
- The importance of tailoring communication that resonates and is easy to digest by non-technical colleagues
- And the impact triaging customer support tickets, while radically prioritizing them, can have on your progression at an early stage startup
Taylor is Head of Growth at Champify, which monitors job changes to help go-to-market teams turn existing relationships into new business opportunities that actually close.
She began her career as a classroom teacher through Teach for America, before transitioning into tech as an early employee at Heap.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- The overlaps between teaching and working as an early stage startup employee
- How working at Twilio helped her sharpen her product marketing craft, within a large organization
- And why staying hyper-focus on a particular persona is even more critical during the current market conditions
Jessie was the fourth employee at Collectly, starting as Head of Customer Success. Her background is in Customer Success and Account Management at start-ups, specifically focusing on developing relationships and growth within existing accounts.
She is currently the Vice President of Operations where she focuses on overseeing multiple internal teams, building the strategy and plans for the company, hiring new employees, and more.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- Lessons learned from managing up in roles that face high management attrition
- Her approach to building trust with clients in order to achieve win-win scenarios
- And her recommendation for advocating for yourself and getting a seat a the table
Alessandro was the 1st sales hire at Carta. During his 8 year tenure, he played a major role in helping Carta find product market fit, managed hundreds of people, and took Carta from 0 to 300m+ ARR.
Now, Alessandro is taking his learnings from Carta and transferring them to his new company GetDynasty.com where he is democratizing access to the most powerful wealth creation tool available to Americans - the living trust.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- His approach to building deep and long term trust with his clients
- How he established the sales function at Carta and built out the team over time
- And the signals to look out for that indicate both success and that it’s time to move on from your current role and/or company
Kasra's career is set at the intersection of product strategy and marketing leadership — composed of his time building products as a founder (Mintor and IntroHero), driving community growth (Startup Grind, On Deck), and leading marketing initiatives (Coho).
His career also includes studying for and working in occupational safety, running a restaurant, and even penning a book.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- The parallels between working in safety (OSHA) and at startups
- How his background, both as a founder and as an immigrant, has contributed to his confidence of figuring it out, as an early stage employee
- And the premise of his book, Who We Know, The Power of Physical and Digital Networks in Our Lives
Ashley is the CEO & Founder of Maca, building the first platform for iterative pricing. She went through hyper-growth as the 7th employee of Brex, the fastest company in B2B history to surpass $100M ARR in 18 months.
She then joined Pipe’s founding team as VP of Revenue to stand up the operations and early go-to-market teams - they issued $1B+ in capital in 10 months and became the fastest fintech to reach a $2B valuation in history.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How “figuring it out” has been a pillar for her career, both in the medical & startup fields
- How a culture of taking ownership and wearing many hats contributed to her and Brex’s success
- And what she looks for in both founders and potential direct reports, prior to deciding to work with them
Jackie Miller has had a dynamic career spanning NGOs (Amnesty International), social enterprise (Venture for America), major corporate brands (Chobani and Chanel), and venture backed startups (On Deck), with the red thread criss-crossing of accelerators, corporate venture, and strategic partnerships.
She's exploring her next chapter and weighing the thrill of joining the early team of a dynamic, fast-paced growth company or the stability and ready resources of an established player.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How learning to be resourceful while working at a non-profit enabled her success working at startups
- What it takes to launch innovation programs from scratch at major well known brands
- And the common traits she has observed in early stage founders that set up their teams for success
Shweta is a Founding Engineer at Leda Health. She has worked within core engineering teams at different B2B SaaS, EdTech, and now Health-Tech startups, building out the product vision and implementing best practices for engineering teams.
She currently works on full-stack web development, cloud technologies, compliance, and security. She strives to work on projects big or small, that not only challenge her professional skills but also help her empower more women in tech.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How an internship during her masters program introduced her to the world of startups
- The lessons she learned from being a part of successful business that had to pivot due to COVID
- And how she approaches building complex products from 0-1 in the healthcare space
Kera is the head of marketing at Hustle Fund, where she oversees their content and events. Previously she was the first employee at The Hustle, a media company with 1m+ subscribers (acq by HubSpot), where she held a variety of roles including Director of Operations and Director of Events.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How her separate experiences in both the restaurant and events industries, paired with her major in English, set her up for success in wearing many hats in her first startup role
- The challenges of planning successful conferences and her advice for startups looking to do the same
- And how she guides individuals on deciding whether to join a startup or a larger company
Alex is a mechanical engineer based out of the Bay Area working in the field of fluidics and water chemistry. At Sutro he has worked on developing low-cost, automated water monitoring technology with the mission of ensuring access to safe, clean water to all.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How his curiosity and the ability to figure things out led his role at TechShop
- The challenges of being an early employee and what it took to get Sutro to its current stage
- And the critical role his advisors have played in his growth
Nate is a dad of 3 boys, bar licensed attorney, and early-stage generalist. He’s currently chief of staff at web3 design studio, Airfoil, and was previously employee #1 at Barracuda. When not working, he’s playing with his kids, drinking soda, or attending a concert.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How his law degree enables his success working at early stage startups
- How he landed his first role at a startup through cold direct messaging on Twitter
- And what the role of the chief of staff means to him and his approach to excelling in the role
Anthony is the founder of NEXT, a community for entrepreneurial mid-career and exec-level job-seekers who want to be intentional about their next career chapters.
He's helped hundreds and hundreds of job-seekers during his past 4 years in the career development space, which is his second act after spending a decade at Goldman Sachs.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How his tenure at Goldman Sachs set the trajectory of his growth, founded on team-success mentality
- His learnings from building the On Deck First 50 program, focused on helping fellows navigate the startup ecosystem
- And his advice for those searching for their next role in current market conditions
Ankit is a product & growth expert who has worked with multiple early stage startups, playing a crucial role in scaling them from pre-seed to Series B.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- His experience at ELSA and how he was able to introduce and expand the product in the Indian market
- His insights into assessing major trends and whether to adopt them or stay the course
- And how he currently supports startups and founders at different stages, based on the growth challenges they’re experiencing
Thalida is a Product Engineering Leader who loves a good spreadsheet. They've spent their entire career in Product Engineering and Engineering Management at companies like OkCupid, Etsy, and Webflow.
Thalida is now the Co-Founder and CTO of Tourus, a prop-tech startup with a mission to improve the rental experience for everyone involved. Thalida is a queer Trinidadian-American and avid Minecrafter based in New York.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How they mapped out their career journey as an engineer, by gaining experience at various sized startups
- The challenges they faced in the industry and the resources that have supported them along the way
- And how their unique experience and love for coding has empowered them to become a great manager and leader
Taylor is on a mission to create the opposite of loneliness in the world. She’s Head of Community at Groove, which is an extraordinary, free app for solo workers from all over the world to instantly connect and conquer their to-dos alongside each other.
Before joining Groove, Taylor designed online learning experiences with best-selling author, Seth Godin. In her free time, she hosts special gatherings for community leaders and friends in New York City.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How a wacky job opening with no description or title led to her working with Seth Godin at altMBA
- How she embraces dancing with fear to catapult her personal and professional growth
- And what drives her passion for bringing folks together to build communities where they want to be part of
EJ is a Husband, Father, Entrepreneur, and a first-generation America raised by Nigerian parents.
He is an experienced leader in launching new products in both startup and corporate environments, including CBS Interactive and Seed&Spark, and co-founded his own startup, Bosa, a life management platform for working moms.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- His first experience at a startup, right after graduating from college
- Packing up his bags, moving to LA, and building his product craft at CBS
- And how “figuring it out” has been a pillar in his success, especially when navigating the unknown
Gabrielle is an HR Director, with extensive experience as a leader at both startups and large companies. She is passionate about empowering her team and enabling their growth, while cultivating a culture that focuses on belonging.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- Her approach to setting up and scaling the HR function at early stage startups
- How she has navigated the layoff environment and the impact it has had on her
- And the questions she asks during the interview process, when assessing potential new employers
Tamara has been a career Software Engineer, working on complex systems. She is currently a Lead Engineer at Acre, a growing real-estate tech startup redefining how we buy and live in our homes, where she joined as employee #1.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- Her experience working at larger companies, such as Raytheon and Red Hat, where she gained the expertise that empowered her work at early stage startups
- How she has been able to level up, at each stage, while managing imposter syndrome as part of the process
- And how she has been able to lead at Acre, both as employee #1 and as an engineering leader
Jonatan is a founder, engineer, and product leader. He was an early employee at Spotify, where he began as the first web-developer on the team. Currently, he’s the CEO at Squadformers, working to build exceptional Squads that accelerate meaningful missions.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How at the age of 12, he started and grew a gaming community to over 20 million active users
- Lessons learned while working at Spotify in the early days
- And what it’s like to work at an early stage startup, while relocating from Sweden to the US
Tyler is a successful founder, CEO, tech leader, investor, advisor, motorcycle enthusiast, dad and husband. As the founder and CEO of a VC backed automotive tech company Drivably, Tyler led the company through an acquisition in 2022.
Prior to that was an early employee and executive at Domo and HireVue. He currently coaches, advises, and invests in start up companies, CEO's and executive teams.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How his mentality and grit of flipping cars, while in college, set the foundation for his success at his first startup role and thereafter
- Lessons learned as a sales leader, through coaching others and building teams from scratch
- And recommendations for founders that can also be applied to early stage employees
Valerie is a community manager, avid writer, and digital content creator with a Gen Z outlook on the world. She founded the popular Instagram entertainment community, Astrowonders (420k followers), where she has worked with big-name companies like Urban Outfitters, Estrid, and Parade.
She’s currently leading & growing community at an early-stage startup Melon, a social platform for self-learning and upskilling.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How she managed to break into tech and how her freelance experience set her up for success
- What she has learned from imposter syndrome and how she has built up her confidence overtime
- And recommendations she’d pass on to new grands searching for their first employment in the current environment
Lucy is a product leader based in San Francisco, with 9 years of experience in early stage startups, across various industries. She lives with her fiancee, their husky, two cats, and a fan of natural wine.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How raising her hand for a project that was outside her scope of responsibilities began her journey of becoming a product manager
- Lessons learned from building high quality products that were met with initial adoption friction
- And the art of knowing when to recreate the wheel to gain leverage
Nick is an early stage growth leader, most recently at Carrot (addtocarrot.com), a visual bookmarking app for shoppers. His experience working with over a dozen companies across varied industries has given him a unique perspective on the universal aspects of growth in any business, the technology sphere we live in, and the tradeoffs of different modes of working.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- The structural lessons he gained while working at large companies and how they enabled his success at smaller ones
- How his music background continues to show up in his individual and leadership roles
- And how he has been able to succeed by utilizing his breadth of working in various sectors and verticals
Janice is a Community Growth and Brand Marketing Specialist based in Vancouver, with a passion for early-stage mission-driven startups. She’s currently the Head of Community at Pineapple, the professional network for Gen-Z.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- Her eagerness to take ownership of new initiatives, while in her first role as an Executive Assistant, becoming the brand manager at Blume
- How her experience building a DTC brand enabled her to build a community in the tech space
- And lessons learned from building an authentic community focused on Gen-Z
Amna is an early employee and Sr. Product Manager at Zus Health, empowering an entirely new wave of healthcare builders to create technologies and services without the usual blockers.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- Her transition from a software developer to a product manager
- Her experience at Zus and the efforts required for taking initiatives from 0-1, in the HealthTech space
- And the similarities between being a PM and writing RomCom scripts for movies
Michelle is the Head of Community Growth at Scale, building the go-to platform and community that helps ambitious people supercharge their success at work with guided sprints & 1:1 guidance from experienced coaches.
Prior to Scale, she co-founded FLIK and has been recognized as BC Business’ 30 Under 30.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How her entrepreneurship craft began developing during college that led to starting her own company
- How she transitioned from being a founder to an operator and the lessons learned along the way
- And how building a community begins by first creating immense value for your intended audience
Katy is a Director of Customer Success at Dover, a recruiting orchestration platform built for hiring managers and talent leaders to hire faster and more seamlessly. Prior to that, she was a strategy consultant at Accenture, focused on growth and digital strategy in the retail space.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How she was able to say no opportunities that didn’t align with her intentions, during her startup search
- What consulting elements enabled her to succeed early on, while others she had to unlearn
- And how her curiosity and passion for shipping new projects is guiding her career
Hanna and Drew were respectively employees #1 and #6 at Fellow, a design driven coffee gear company. Hanna helped build the brand from the ground up. Drew developed a handful of Fellow's early products. Now as co-founders of NANU, they've shifted their focus from coffee to products that recalibrate our relationship with time and routine.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How they adapted to the startup environment, specifically building and marketing physical products
- How they adjusted to the company’s hyper-growth success, during the pandemic
- And how their experience is now enabling them launch their own company and products
Charles is Head of Business Operations at Zestworld, which enables creators to control and monetize their IP rights. Previously, he spent extensive time building and lead consulting teams.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- His journey as a consultant and the transition to a startup
- How his passion for entertainment and using technology as a connector led him to Zestworld
- And what he had to learn and unlearn, in order to succeed in this new world
Zaz is a serial investor and employee #1 at VGS (Very Good Security). Currently, he’s part of the VGS Sales team and advises numerous startups.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- His initial approached to employment at VGS
- His process for engaging with the founders when he needed support
- And how being early at the company enabled him to transition into a sales role
In this episode, I speak with Simran Handa. Simran is a Business Operations Manager at Sequin (YC S21), helping women get better access to credit. She was the second employee of the company and is passionate about feminism, financial freedom and fashion!
In this conversation, we talk about:
- Her transition to a FinTech company and how her role has evolved over time
- How her time at an early stage company is enabling her own project
- And how her mindset shift about sales is empowering her to shoot her shot
In this episode, I speak with Pablo Pinto. Pablo is a talent-oriented founder and product manager with experience in startup recruiting, go-to-market strategy, and ops. Currently, he’s the Director at On Deck First 50, a program helping people get jobs at startups.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How he sets an over-arching theme for every five-year-segments of his career
- The 3-pillars of risk that he evaluates, before making a move to a new startup
- And how his experience is empowering him to support others making similar transitions
With that, let’s dive in. Enjoy.
In this episode, I speak with Elizabeth Dlha. Elizabeth is the Head of Partnerships & Community at Deepnote, a company building a collaborative workspace for data teams. Before Deepnote, Elizabeth spent her career as an analyst and building analytics tooling, first as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, later as a Product manager at Periscope.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How working at a global consulting firm enable her to go deep in many industries, quickly
- How her role has grown over the last 2 years at Deepnote, moving from an Individual contributor to a hybrid of both leading a team and continuing doing IC work
- And how setting a north star and being intentional with it, is empowering her and Deepnote to continue their growth and success
In this episode, I speak with Sanjay Krishna. Sanjay leads growth at Quolum, an early stage startup backed by Sequoia. He started his journey in corporate law, and then ran his own Ed-tech venture for a soft exit to a unicorn.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- His career and the force behind wanting to join a smaller company
- How his corporate law experience is empowering his success in his sales role
- And the similarities he sees between playing tennis and working at an early stage company
I speak with Rich Burke. Rich is Head of Growth at Parentaly, an employee benefit startup that helps improve the parental leave experience. Prior to that, he spent time at CEB, Manage by Q, and Vista Equity Partners.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- Similarities, differences and lessons learned between corporate America and startups.
- Playing the long-game and filling in the skill gaps to get there
- And his approach to understanding and executing in a new industry that’s ripe for change.
In this episode, I speak with Mariah Sharp. One notion that I love about this conversation is the ability to feel how mission driven Mariah is, focusing her energy towards making an impact. She is a former 6th grade social studies teacher, turned People Ops lead at an Educational Tech company, to now one of the co-founders of Envision Inclusion.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- How she transitioned from teaching to an early stage tech company and the similarities between the two
- What it was like to define her role and how it evolved during her time at the company RaiseMe
- And how that experience & the pandemic opened up the doors for her to really go deeper within the DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) avenue.
Hey y’all and welcome to another episode of The Early Team. In this episode, I speak with Juraj Pal. Juraj was one of the first hires at Slido, the Q&A and polling platform where built out the partnerships function from scratch and led the product team. Juraj is based in Vancouver, BC and currently in-between things, spending time with his family as a new dad.
In this conversation, we talk about:
- Being able to say yes to opportunities that came his way, enabling him to live globally
- Dealing with imposter syndrome, while joining the exec team at the age of 24
- And how he has been able to navigate through the burnout that came with the responsibilities
Let’s dive in. Enjoy.
Hey y’all and welcome to another episode of The Early Team. I’m excited to introduce you to Melissa Henderson, Head of Community at ApeWorx and Founder of the Violet Summer Exchange.
During our conversation, we talk about:
- How she made the transition from working at traditional large publications to a small, fully remote company
- Her approach to adapting to a new environment and using her journalism experience to establish herself in a new space
- And what it takes to run a community without burning out
Before we get started, I want to point out that in this conversation, you’ll hear terms like web3, crypto, blockchain, DeFi, coins, and NFTs. If you’re not familiar with these terms, don’t worry. Although they come up often, given the nature of the industry Melissa works in, they do not hinder the ability to appreciate her journey and experience at an early stage company.
With that, let’s jump in. Enjoy.
Hey y’all and welcome to another episode of The Early Team, where I speak with Jet Zhou.
Jet is a software engineer with 10 years of industry experience. He has worked across different company sizes and different verticals, including Amazon, ClassDojo, an EdTech company, and Gem, which focuses on recruiting. Currently, he is aiming to hike all the dog friendly trails around the Bay Area.
During our conversation, we talk about:
- What it was like for him, transitioning from a global company to a much smaller one
- How things changed as the team around him grew from 4 people to over 250
- And what it took adapt to those changes
With that, let’s jump in. Enjoy.
Welcome to another conversation on The Early Team, where I speak with Harrison Johnson. Currently, Harrison is a co-founder at Driveway, a powerful tool that helps remote employees ramp up faster. However, the scope of our chat revolves around his time at Managed by Q, an office management platform, where he was employee #1.
In our conversation, we talk about:
- The concept of house of cards and what failing fast means when you’re at an early stage company
- How he had to learn to detach his passion for the company & his line of responsibilities, so that he could make better decisions and implement changes
- And how chasing titles at a startup isn’t necessarily the best approach for your growth
This conversation was full of reflection and insight. Enjoy and let’s jump in.
Hey y’all, and welcome to another conversation on The Early Team, where I speak with Vic de Aranzeta. I’ve known Vic for a while now, and even then, her story had me at the edge of my seat. She is a 2x founding product designer at early stage startups, has a background in cultural anthropology and field archaeology, and began her journey as an illustrator and designer. She’s passionate about environmental and animal justice, and finding the perfect cannoli.
She’s currently in San Francisco and was previously in Portland, Oregon for 8 years.
In our conversation, we talk about:
- The overlap between designing museums and digital products
- What it means to be a founding designer at an early stage company and how she continues to level up
- And how she immerses herself, when entering a new industry that she’s not familiar with
This was a fascinating conversation. Enjoy and let’s jump in.
In this episode, I speak with Neil Eads, a technical quality manager at Figma. Neil has spent roughly the last 15 years at tech startups, and with it, has an abundance of insight into what it’s like to be at various early stage companies.
In our conversation, we talk about:
- What QA is and how it fits into the overall team & company
- How he has been able to navigate across many industries, with success
- What characteristics he looks for when he’s hiring someone to join his team
Enjoy and let’s jump in.
In this episode, I speak with Nihana Porbanderwala, a member of an early stage company, called Drop Party, where she runs Creative Ops. Her background is in film and fashion - her love lies in culture and trend. The perfect party mix! She currently lives in Austin, TX and is originally from South Florida.
In our conversation, we talk about:
- How she navigated her interests, transitioning from the corporate world to a startup
- The habits she had to unlearn that were no longer serving her and the new ones she had to learn
- What its like creating a new approach in an industry that has always done things it in a particular way
Enjoy and let’s jump in.
Welcome to the inaugural episode of The Early Team. In this short episode, I walk through:
- Why this podcast has been created
- What to expected from the upcoming conversations
- Who it is geared for and will benefit from it