Recruit Rockstars Podcast artwork

Recruit Rockstars Podcast

246 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 24 ratings

Recruit Rockstars is the only podcast on the people part of PE & VC portfolio companies.

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Episodes

Coffee, Anyone? (Recruit Rockstars 467)

December 16, 2022 14:28 - 27 minutes - 25.3 MB

As a rule, I don’t have many guests back on the Podcast. (I like to keep it fresh.) But in this case, I made a rare exception. Because Jonathan Treble, Founder & CEO of WithMe, is en fuego. He heads the Chicago-based leader in apartment community amenities. Their shared printers (PrintWithMe) and shared coffee makers (SipWithMe) are now in countless apartment buildings & dorms across the country. Not only is a great perk, but also it allows owners & managers to control expenses &...

He’s Driven to be Mission-Driven (Recruit Rockstars 466)

October 28, 2022 21:01 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MB

You don't meet many people like Tony Huang. After graduating from Harvard, he pursued education as a fourth grade teacher outside of Boston. He then transitioned to a business career at Axon where he helped commercialize & create the body camera industry that is integral to public safety. Now he is on a new mission: to make financial products more fair & affordable for everyday people. For the past 5 years, he's been CEO and Co-Founder of Possible Finance, which helps communities br...

How This Founder/CEO Hired His First 30 (Recruit Rockstars 465)

August 26, 2022 12:30 - 16 minutes - 15.4 MB

Akshay Krishnaiah is CEO & Founder of Line, the fast-growing fintech company. After a successful career at Paypal & eBay, he stepped out on his own. And he personally interviewed hundreds of people to find his first few employees. Based in SF, Line is the Venture-backed company helping American working-class Americans who are underbanked. Their first offering is a “Get cash now, pay later” service. Akshay & team have built a highly-scalable model. With a team of just 30, Line pro...

How to Hire for DNA Fit

August 22, 2022 20:10 - 20 minutes - 19.6 MB

How does a startup with a dozen people change a monolithic industry? Simple (but not easy): Hire for DNA Fit And Brian King does it consistently. He's CEO of Realto, the Kansas-based Private REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) marketplace. Brian & his team saw a gap in the market: there were limited options to buy and sell privately-held real estate. So they created one. Now, what used to be a manual paper-laden process is streamlined to days instead of months. And he's onto some...

How They Assess Candidates for Culture Fit

August 17, 2022 19:34 - 27 minutes - 25.7 MB

The only thing better than talking culture & leadership with a progressive talent leader? Talking with two of them. Aparavi helps organizations that desperately need a solution to the mountains of data they need to manage. It's the cloud based platform for finding & consolidating your company's unstructured & distributed data.  Speaking of distributed, Aparavi has a distributed team of 100. In this episode, Tania Williams (People & Culture Strategist) and Luis Zambrano (Chief of Staff)...

Transitioning from VC to PE Backed

August 17, 2022 19:18 - 23 minutes - 32 MB

There's a SaaS platform for everything... And everyone. Including SimpleLegal, the fast-growing SaaS platform for in-house counsels. It's part of Onit, the leading provider of enterprise legal management & contract lifecycle management software, which is backed by the PE firm K1 Investment Management.  Mark Weidick is President & General Manager of SimpleLegal, and he has a unique perspective having joined when the business was VC-backed. Now that the company is PE-backed, it has a diffe...

Lure Them to the Office with Free Food (Recruit Rockstars 461)

July 29, 2022 19:55 - 21 minutes - 20.4 MB

Jeff Grass knows how to get your hesitant employees back to the office.  This serial entrepreneur is Co-Founder & CEO of Hungry Marketplace. Based in Arlington VA, Hungry is tackling the $100 Billion business food & events industry with a food-tech marketplace & logistics platform that provides unparalleled food & engagement solutions for businesses, powered by top local chefs. In short, Hungry partners with local chiefs to bring food to your office. So far, they operate in 9 markets w...

And You Thought Your Team Was Complex? (Recruit Rockstars 460)

July 28, 2022 14:46 - 14 minutes - 13.6 MB

Whether your team is hybrid or distributed or global, you’ve got nothing on Chad Mattix. He’s CEO & Founder of Kinettix, the leading IT field service support company. Based in Cincinnati, Chad & his team deliver 24/7/365 IT field service support on-site in over 100 countries. He’s built a fulltime team of 80 with a remote distributed team of thousands! Their customers are large IT service providers. And for them, they Install & service cameras, digital signage, POS systems, kiosks, n...

How CNBC’s Careers Expert Nabbed the Job She Wanted (Recruit Rockstars 459)

July 10, 2022 14:23 - 26 minutes - 37.4 MB

(Hint: She didn’t click “Apply” on some job board) Morgan Smith is Work Reporter with CNBC and its industry-leading careers website “Make It” Previously, you’ve read her pieces in People Magazine, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and The Associated Press.  Morgan discovered her passion for some meaty topics: the future of work, interviewing, hiring, job search. So, she proactively went after the job she wanted. CNBC wasn’t looking. But she didn’t let that hold her back. In this 20...

How She Brings Lofters Aloft (Recruit Rockstars 458)

June 16, 2022 19:51 - 17 minutes - 16.8 MB

Growth-stage companies don’t get much hotter than Salesloft, the leading platform for sales reps to execute their day to day selling tasks.  Put simply, they enable sales teams to drive more revenue. Customers include Stripe, ServiceNow, and Shopify.  And the company’s leadership team is committed to culture like few others.  Katie Branham is VP People at Salesloft, where she’s tripled headcount to 750 Lofters in just 4 years.  Unlike most, Katie & team have developed a crystal clear...

They Put the Tech in Foodtech (Recruit Rockstars 457)

June 10, 2022 14:07 - 20 minutes - 19.3 MB

Few early-stage companies combine as many distinct components as Tovala. Based in Chicago, the company pairs a smart oven with a meal subscription service. It truly makes foolproof food. Weekly meals are delivered fresh to the your door. Scan the barcode & you’re done. Home-cooked meals that cook themselves. And clearly Tovala is onto something big.  They’re venture investors include: Comcast Ventures, Finistere Ventures, Left Lane Capital, New Stack Ventures, Origin Ventures, Pritzk...

5 Questions to Unleash Your Company’s Hidden Power (Recruit Rockstars 456)

May 19, 2022 21:14 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MB

Few things wag my tail like meeting with a CEO who puts talent at the top of their agenda. Here’s one. Matt Hulett is CEO of publicly-held PetMeds, America’s most trusted pet pharmacy with 11 million customers. Matt has driven more than $2 billion in value creation as a four-time public company CEO/President and a two-time private company CEO.  He’s led multiple turnaround successes at companies you know, including Rosetta Stone, RealNetworks, and Expedia. And this week, he release...

2 to 80 employees in just 2 years (Recruit Rockstars 455)

April 26, 2022 16:22 - 17 minutes - 16.3 MB

In business, few missions are more vital than protecting & improving the health of Americans.  Sadly, 89M of us are pre-diabetic. Dan Zavorotny & his team are out to change that.  He’s Chief Operating Officer & Co Founder of NutriSense, the fast-scaling VC-backed company that helps people prevent diabetes & heart disease. NutriSense’s innovative model pairs glucose monitors, predictive software, and a team of live dietitians. They combine to form a cohesive program to improve health....

How He Went from Startup ➡️ IPO ➡️ $4.5B Revenues (Recruit Rockstars 454)

March 27, 2022 20:13 - 30 minutes - 27.9 MB

So few entrepreneurs “go the distance” from startup to IPO. Most are “promoted to Chairman” at some point by their board of directors, because they fail to scale their personal skills as rapidly as their business. But I found one. Martin Babinec is Founder & Former CEO of TriNet, the legendary hypergrowth Professional Employer Organization (PEO) that got its start in Silicon Valley before becoming a global phenomena. Serving more than 15,000 clients and their 325,000 employees, TriNe...

How Talent Experts Clean Up Talent Problems (Recruit Rockstars 453)

March 21, 2022 10:21 - 16 minutes - 15.5 MB

The bigger a company becomes, the bigger its organizational challenges become. Liz Steblay saw it over & over at the large companies she joined. Now, she’s Founder & President of ProKo Agency, the consulting matchmaker that connects Fortune 500 leaders with pre-vetted consultants who specialize in organizational effectiveness. ProKo represents high-calibre organizational health consultants, who are deployed to help companies clean up their talent-related messes. Business is booming. ...

How he invented the ‘Functional Healthwear’ category (Recruit Rockstars 452)

March 11, 2022 19:48 - 15 minutes - 14.5 MB

Healthcare fashion used to be horrid. But Chat Razdan is rapidly changing that.  He’s Founder & CEO of Care+Wear. Based in New York, they combine fashion & function to take people from home to hospital and everywhere in between.  Their products include scrubs, port access shirts, post surgical bras & a ton more.  The goal is a more human healthcare experience for patients & clinicians everywhere. Between the aging population and a global pandemic, it’s no wonder business is booming. In...

He’s Behind the eCommerce Brands You Love (Recruit Rockstars 451)

March 07, 2022 16:29 - 18 minutes - 17.4 MB

Whew! I finally finished paying off all my Amazon holiday gifts. Guess I’m hooked on eCommerce. Turns out I’m not alone.  And I have proof… I just interviewed Dusty Holcomb. He’s CEO of fast-growing Red Stag Fulfillment.  Based in gorgeous Knoxville, Red Stag is the world-class order fulfillment company designed to unleash scalable growth for eCommerce companies. In short, they do the picking, packing, storage, shipping, and returns for a ton of eCommerce companies (including the...

Our Spiciest Episode Ever (Recruit Rockstars 450)

February 18, 2022 22:19 - 16 minutes - 15.1 MB

Sir Wellington? An amazing mustard, mushroom and shallot blend Smashing Salmon? The mystical miso, soy and Shiitake blend Vampire Killer? Garlic parmesan blend, of course. Yum. Chip Overstreet is CEO of Spiceology, the nation’s fastest growing direct-to-consumer and direct-to-chef provider of innovative spices. And apparently, investors are hungry for it. Spiceology has raised capital from the likes of Jackson Square Ventures and Cowles Company. Formerly, Chip was VP Business Dev...

Compare Hiring Notes with a CEO (Recruit Rockstars 449)

January 27, 2022 23:57 - 20 minutes - 19.5 MB

Isaiah Bollinger is Co-Founder & CEO of Trellis, the fast-growing full service eCommerce digital agency. Based in Boston, Trellis creates eCommerce businesses on Magento, BigCommerce, and Shopify. And he’s onto something. Trellis recently was named to the Inc 5000 list, making it one of the nation’s fastest-growing companies. Isaiah invests the better part of his week on recruiting & leading a team of 80. This conversation reveals how he does it.

How He Reached Near-Perfect Employee Retention (Recruit Rockstars 448)

January 22, 2022 19:49 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MB

How’d you like to build a company with a 90% offer acceptance rate? With near-perfect employee retention? And with 50% of employees comprised of under-represented minorities? Sean Byrnes has done it (and the company doesn’t interview candidates… at all) Based in San Francisco, he’s Founder & CEO of Outlier, the VC-funded business intelligence company. His customers are large consumer-facing companies with an  immense amount of data. Outlier watches all of your business data & lets y...

Miserable Apple Employee ➡️ Successful Amazon Entrepreneur (Recruit Rockstars 447)

January 15, 2022 23:48 - 21 minutes - 20.4 MB

Seth Kniep has a remarkable entrepreneurship origin story. He found himself working at Apple, leading a 20-person team of tech support advisors. But he was miserable, working as a cog in the world’s most valuable company. Fascinated with an idea, he went about doubling one dime 20 times. He shared his vision with random strangers & asked them to double his dime. He turned it into $400, just by asking. Discouraged, $24,000 in debt, and living the death-by-paycheck cycle, Seth believed...

The Real Skinny on Writing Your Résumé (Recruit Rockstars 446)

January 07, 2022 23:15 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MB

There are a gazillion ways to write your résumé (or LinkedIn profile). Because everyone has advice: “Do it this way.” “No, do it that way.” But what if you want to do it the best way? The right way? I wanted to find an expert… the guru… who has the answers and can tell you everything you’ve always wanted to know about résumés. I found him. Marc Cenedella is uniquely-qualified to answer these questions, because he’s spent decades on the topic. Based in New York, he’s Founder & CEO...

How a Husband & Wife Built an 8-Figure Business in 3 Years (Recruit Rockstars 445)

January 03, 2022 17:39 - 19 minutes - 18.3 MB

“I now pronounce you successful entrepreneurs.” Nothing brings out the romantic in me like a New Year. The fresh possibilities, the clean start. And a super-cool online business. John Ruggiero & his wife are co-Founders & co-CEO’s of Manly Bands, one of the fastest-growing direct-to-consumer brands in wedding retail. The couple quit their jobs, drove cross-country, and setup shop in Utah. Following their own endless search for wedding rings, they decided to redefine the formerly-co...

How Smart VC’s Give Their Companies an Edge (Recruit Rockstars 444)

December 24, 2021 16:59 - 24 minutes - 22.4 MB

The smartest Venture Capital firms invest heavily in talent for their portfolio companies. After they cut the check, the hard work just begins. Here’s an example. Jason Felger is Head of Operating Platform at Chicago-based Jump Capital. He works with the CEO’s across Jump’s portfolio to help them scale their businesses, particularly by putting a Rockstar in every seat. Says Jason: “Right now, it’s all about the recruitment & retention of talent, more than I’ve ever seen.” Jump Capita...

2 IPO’s ➡️ 8x Midas Venture Capitalist (Recruit Rockstars 443)

December 22, 2021 13:39 - 22 minutes - 21.2 MB

If you’re like most business leaders, you spend plenty of time designing your company’s business model. Mike Maples warns that you need to spend as much time designing your team, based on your company’s stage & strategy. He should know. Mike is Co-Founder & Partner at Floodgate, one of the original early-stage venture capital firms (i.e. writing the first $1M check) he formed 15 years ago. Mike’s been named to the Forbes Midas List 8 times in the last decade, and for good reason.. ...

What He Learned by Interviewing 2,000 CEO’s (Recruit Rockstars 442)

December 21, 2021 20:53 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MB

Like you, I’m just too busy to listen to cruddy podcasts. So, very few survive on my Podcasts app for more than an episode or two. Mixergy is one of them. I never miss it. Its creator & host Andrew Warner started Mixergy back in 2006, making it one of the top-ranked & longest-running business podcasts. Since then he’s interviewed over 2,000 entrepreneurs, business thought leaders, and authors. (…including me in 2012 when my hair was thick & lustrous) Andrew’s story is fascinating. ...

How He Built an Inc5000 MarTech Company (Recruit Rockstars 441)

December 19, 2021 20:43 - 17 minutes - 16.7 MB

Charleston, South Carolina might seem like an unlikely place to find one of the nation’s fastest-growing tech companies. But it’s home to Digital Ignite. Mike Samet leads this rollup of adtech, martech, and data businesses that was recently named to the Inc5000 list. The full-service digital marketing agency using radical data-informed strategies to grow businesses & ignite sales Their clients include national players like Hoover, Dominos, and Harris Teeter. In this 20-minute conve...

How He Earned Inc5000 by Dominating His Niche (Recruit Rockstars 440)

December 12, 2021 23:24 - 19 minutes - 18.4 MB

They say that “the riches are in the niches.” Well, Jason Hennessey proved them right. He’s built a highly-successful SEO firm within the legal vertical (a niche of a niche?) He’s CEO & Founder of Hennessey Digital. His LA-based agency has been named multiple times to Inc5000’s list of the nation’s fastest-growing companies. Since 2001, Jason has been reverse-engineering the Google algorithm as a self-taught student & practitioner of SEO and search engine marketing. He started Hennes...

How He Earned Inc5000 by Dominating His Niche (Recruit Rockstars 440)

December 12, 2021 23:24 - 19 minutes - 18.4 MB

They say that “the riches are in the niches.” Well, Jason Hennessey proved them right. He’s built a highly-successful SEO firm within the legal vertical (a niche of a niche?) He’s CEO & Founder of Hennessey Digital. His LA-based agency has been named multiple times to Inc5000’s list of the nation’s fastest-growing companies. Since 2001, Jason has been reverse-engineering the Google algorithm as a self-taught student & practitioner of SEO and search engine marketing. He started Hennes...

How He Built a 2-Time Inc500-ranked Company (Recruit Rockstars 439)

December 05, 2021 16:01 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MB

Based in Golden, Colorado, Scott Lewis is CEO of Spartan Investment Group. Spartan syndicates investor capital to develop & operate real estate assets. Under Scott’s leadership, the business has pivoted from residential real estate to commercial, much of which is self-storage. It’s the 2-time Inc500 ranked company, making it one of the nation’s fastest-growing. Following a successful career in the US Army, Scott started the company which now has 70 employees. He’s got some no-nonsens...

Top-Rated Software VC Reveals The People Part of Startups (Recruit Rockstars 438)

December 03, 2021 16:19 - 21 minutes - 20.3 MB

Few VC investors have seen more than David Hornik. He’s Founding Partner at Lobby Capital, which he co-founded after 20 years as General Partner of the legendary VC firm August Capital. Based on The Lobby Conference, David admits that Lobby Capital is about one simple understanding: “it’s all about the people.” He’s invested in 40 companies, 5 of which grew into multi-billion-dollar businesses. His success stories include Splunk, Bill.com, Fastly, GitLab, MaintainX, Vowel, PayNearMe. ...

How He Became “The Student of Startups” (Recruit Rockstars 437)

November 27, 2021 14:22 - 24 minutes - 23 MB

Before Disrupt & TechCrunch, there was Technori, the original startup showcase. Its Co-Founder is Scott Kitun. Based in Chicago, Technori helps promising upstart companies secure visibility & funding. If that wasn’t enough, Scott is creator & host of a nationally-syndicated crowdfunding radio show, in partnership with Republic. He’s also Co-Founder of Songfinch, the platform to buy custom songs from professional artists. I was thrilled to finally interview Scott, because he knows w...

Burnt-out Attorney ➡️ Private Equity CEO (Recruit Rockstars 436)

November 22, 2021 21:50 - 18 minutes - 17.3 MB

Digital publishers in every field are trying to figure out how to best monetize their website. Kurt Donnell, CEO of Freestar, shows them the way. Combining industry-leading tech, data, and scale, Freestar works with the leading online publishers to help them better personalize & increase their ad revenue. And they’re onto something big… Freestar’s been ranked as an Inc. 5000 company for 3 years in a row. That makes it one of that nation’s fastest-growing companies. And it’s backed ...

How to Build One of the Nation’s Fastest-Growing Companies (Recruit Rockstars 435)

November 14, 2021 22:19 - 18 minutes - 17.7 MB

He’s not just some tech CEO. Jason Schubert is CEO of inBrain.ai, ranked as one of the fastest-growing companies in the US according to the Inc5000. inBrain.ai is a people-based insights & survey monetization platform that connects and rewards people to surveys designed for them. It facilitates research for market research firms and brands by connecting them to consumers on monetizable mobile applications. Based in Atlanta, Jason led the company’s recent successful acquisition by Dyn...

How This LA Dodger Became an Inc5000 CEO (Recruit Rockstars 434)

November 10, 2021 21:01 - 23 minutes - 21.5 MB

Brian Nickerson’s story captivated me. He began his career playing on the Los Angeles Dodgers. 6 knee surgeries and 1 Harvard Business School degree later, he found himself as an unlikely entrepreneur. And started MagicLinks. Based in LA, MagicLinks is the social commerce provider for social media influencers. They connect moments of inspiration to action. Example: viewers can buy the sweater they see the influencer wearing. Think of it as a marketplace that connects brands & influen...

3 Must-Do’s to Put a Rockstar in Every Seat (Recruit Rockstars 433)

November 04, 2021 21:03 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MB

This episode rocks, because it combines 3 of the hottest themes in the venture world: Fintech + Outdoor power sports + Talent Adam Redlich is VP Talent Acquisition of Octane, the specialty fintech company that makes your ‘passion purchases’ seamless. They’ve started with the $21B powersports equipment industry (motorcycles & ATV’s for example) Instead of processing a loan in days or weeks, their team of 400 people do it nearly instantaneously. Clearly they’re onto something big… Oc...

How he built an Inc5000 company (Recruit Rockstars 432)

October 31, 2021 19:15 - 22 minutes - 20.8 MB

Josh Watts is Co-Founder of one of the nation’s fastest growing companies. Recently ranked as an Inc5000 company, MedTrust Medical Transport is a private EMS company providing emergent & non-emergent medical transport services Based in gorgeous Charleston, Josh has scaled a 400-person team. In this 20-minute conversations, he reveals how he’s done it.  

How she makes Fintech fabulous (Recruit Rockstars 431)

October 30, 2021 19:21 - 20 minutes - 18.8 MB

Supply Chain is the topic of the day. Covid has turned it upside down & inside out. Fortunately, a wave of novel companies have come to the rescue & straighten things out. Including Relay Payments, the fintech company reinventing payments for the logistics category. (Think of it as the “Venmo for Logistics”) Badly needed in this industry that’s due for an overhaul. I just met with Amy Zimmerman, Relay’s Chief People Officer. With over 100 people, they’re onto something big. Investo...

From Nuclear Sub Engineer to Inc5000 CEO (Recruit Rockstars 430)

October 22, 2021 22:53 - 22 minutes - 21.3 MB

Andrew Amann wasn’t always CEO & Founder of one of the nation’s fasting-growing companies. He started as a Nuclear Sub Engineer. And taught himself business. ...And hiring. ...And how to lead a team. When he was ready, he set out on his own course… a fascinating one. Now, Andrew is CEO of NineTwoThree Digital Ventures, an Inc5000-ranked company with 1,344% growth over the past 3 years. Based in Boston, NineTwoThree is an outsourced innovation studio that helps big companies gro...

Meet the Guru of SaaS & Leadership (Recruit Rockstars 429)

October 15, 2021 17:42 - 21 minutes - 20.2 MB

If you lead a SaaS company, you likely know Dan Martell, as the Founder & CEO of SaaS Academy. But even if you’re in a different industry, Dan has a ton to teach about how to scale your business. Fast. Because he’s built & exited 5 companies. Most noteworthy, Dan was Founder & CEO of Clarity.fm which connects business leaders with experts in any field (I’m a customer). It was successfully acquired by Startups.co Now, Dan is Founder & CEO of SaaS Academy. He coaches & teaches over 1...

CEO with 4 Startups & 3 Exits. How he hires (Recruit Rockstars 428)

October 11, 2021 21:49 - 23 minutes - 22 MB

Joseph Ansanelli makes leadership look deceptively easy. Perhaps it’s because he’s done it more times than most. Or because he brings the humility to know that it’s a lifelong journey. Based in SF Bay Area, he’s CEO & Co-Founder of Gladly, the company he incubated during his time at Greylock Partners. Joseph is fond of saying “People first. Strategy second.” He believes that one of the keys to effective leadership is ensuring that teams have the right tools to succeed. With his team ...

The Inc5000 CEO Behind The Swag (Recruit Rockstars 427)

October 09, 2021 14:19 - 22 minutes - 21.4 MB

These days, if you’re not sending swag to your candidates & new hires, you’re missing out. I’ve been doing it for years… Books. Wine glasses. Electronics. Shirts. Anything to tip the scales in my favor - when they’re signing a job offer. But it’s been a logistical nightmare. …Until now. Meet Michael Martocci, CEO & Founder of SwagUp. This 26-year-old has built an Inc5000 company, one of the nation’s fastest-growing. I’m a customer & a raving fan. SwagUp is an API-first platform t...

How He Predicts if Your Candidate Will Bomb (Recruit Rockstars 426)

October 02, 2021 21:09 - 23 minutes - 22 MB

If you’re like most leaders who hire, you’ve experimented with using online assessments to see if your candidates have the right stuff. You’ve probably also wondered how accurate they are & whether you’re using them the right way. Let’s find out. The Predictive Index is considered the industry leader. This talent optimization company uses behavioral, cognitive, and job assessments to make hiring & managing people more effective. Clients include AstraZeneca, Blue Cross Blue Shield, TD...

How She Leads 200 People... Remotely (Recruit Rockstars 425)

September 28, 2021 22:09 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MB

Tracy Tobin is Chief People Officer of Denver-based Adswerve, the leading Google Marketing Analytics & Cloud Partner. Following a 13-year career leading HR at The Integer Group, she was ready for something new. Enter Adswerve. Adswerve is a team of media & analytics veterans who believe that smart marketing is built on data discovery. The firm helps thousands of digital marketers, data analysts, and agencies make stronger connections with their customers through data-driven strategies....

How She Built a Culture of Authenticity (Recruit Rockstars 424)

September 23, 2021 16:55 - 21 minutes - 20.2 MB

Ten years ago, Jilliene Helman was working in Union Bank’s wealth management group. She couldn’t help but notice that the bank’s wealthiest clients earned their fortunes in real estate. When our government passed the 2012 JOBS Act (intended to encourage funding of small businesses by easing securities regulations), Jilliene saw an opportunity. So she quit the bank. And created RealtyMogul. Her new way of investing in real estate has caught on. To put it mildly. Her firm has done over...

VC Brad Feld Gets Philosophical (Recruit Rockstars 423)

September 18, 2021 13:46 - 27 minutes - 25.5 MB

Brad Feld is one of the nation’s most prolific Venture Capital investors & business authors. He’s been investing in early-stage companies since 1995, with dozens of successes to his credit. Based in Boulder, Brad is Co-Founder of both Foundry Group and Techstars. Foundry’s portfolio companies include Whoop, Suzy, Ordermark, Glowforge, and Drip. When he’s not investing, Brad is writing. He’s got 8 books on entrepreneurship to his credit. And now, he’s got a new one “The Entrepreneur’s...

How This CEO Built a Unicorn Team (Recruit Rockstars 422)

September 16, 2021 13:49 - 22 minutes - 21 MB

Nothing lights me up more than a meaty conversation with a successful entrepreneur. I just bagged the elephant (You can thank me later.) Godard Abel is one of the most successful SaaS entrepreneurs you’ll meet. And G2 is his Unicorn baby. After wrapping his studies at Stanford MBA and MIT Engineering, Godard was Co-Founder & CEO of BigMachines, a pioneer of the Configure, Price, Quote software category. He scaled the business from scratch to $50M revenues & 300 people, before its acqui...

How P.E. Investors Really Hire (Recruit Rockstars 421)

September 14, 2021 13:42 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MB

Private Equity is so mysterious to so many people. But it doesn’t have to be. With billions of capital sitting on the sidelines, P.E. funds are making investments & recruiting talent like never before. I wanted to find a P.E. investor to show us how it’s done, and pull no punches. Paul Stansik is Principal at Chicago-based ParkerGale Capital. The P.E. firm leads buyouts of profitable B2B software companies with $10M+ revenue. ParkerGale’s portfolio companies include Contelligent, P...

How He Went From VC to CEO (Recruit Rockstars 420)

September 10, 2021 21:48 - 21 minutes - 20.4 MB

Few people make the transition from being a Venture Capitalist to running an operating company. Even fewer do it successfully. I just met one of them. His name is David Wald, CEO & Co-Founder of Aclaimant. After years at Bain & Company and dough, he was a successful venture investor at Lightbank. Now, his fast-growing Chicago-based SaaS platform helps companies manage their risks. Specifically, tracking the processes around people who get hurt & property that gets damaged. With ove...

How She Makes Board Meetings Un-Boring (Recruit Rockstars 419)

September 04, 2021 15:34 - 18 minutes - 17 MB

If you’ve never served on a Board of Directors, you may envision it as a country club day filled with palm fronds & chardonnay. The reality is that most Board meetings are …well… boring. And ineffective. Indianapolis-based Boardable, the SaaS platform, is out to change that. And to make Boards far more effective in this pivotal role. It manages the agenda, notes, voting, every aspect of communications. It was specifically designed for mission-driven community organizations & non-profit...