Recruit Rockstars Podcast
246 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsRecruit Rockstars is the only podcast on the people part of PE & VC portfolio companies.
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Episodes
Recruit Rockstars 368: This VC-Backed CEO Saves You From Ransomware
November 25, 2020 23:50 - 25 minutes - 24.1 MBWhen Joshua Motta’s dentist was attacked by ransomware, demanding $200K to open the files, he found it was cheaper to just shut his practice & retire. Sad. So Joshua’s doing something about it. He’s CEO & Co-Founder of Coalition. Based in SF, his fast-growing company now has 130 employees. It provides Cyber & Technology Insurance (up to $15 million of coverage) with reinsurance partners Lloyd’s of London and Swiss Re Group. And he’s onto something big. Coalition’s investors inclu...
Recruit Rockstars 366: 2-Time VC-Backed CEO Does It Again
November 18, 2020 23:24 - 22 minutes - 20.5 MBFew things are as painful as the home buying process. And in particular, the closing day. Max Simkoff started States Title in 2016 after personally experiencing the friction & labor caused by title insurance. Max Simkoff is Founder & CEO of States Title, the mortgage analytics software company focused on reducing friction & expense for several of the largest pain points across the $1.5 Trillion/year mortgage origination market. Prior to States Title, he was Founder and CEO of Evolv, an...
Recruit Rockstars 365: How to be the Ninja Sales Leader of Your Industry
November 16, 2020 17:05 - 17 minutes - 15.9 MBFew industries are more competitive & commoditized than real estate. If you can succeed in Sales there, you’ve got something. Larry Kendall’s got something. He is one of the founding partners of The Group, one of the nation’s largest real estate company - with 190 sales associates & 6 Colorado offices. He’s also the author of the terrific book Ninja Selling. It’s less about selling and more about how to create value for people. If you’re selling anything to anyone, my 20-minute con...
Recruit Rockstars 367: How His VC-Backed Team Made Drug Development Faster
November 15, 2020 19:16 - 20 minutes - 18.7 MBWhen creating new drugs, it’s often difficult to find enough patients for clinical trials. And that limits the number of trials you can run. Which slows down drug development. And costs lives. Charles Fisher is out to change all that. He’s CEO of Unlearn.AI Based in San Francisco, Unlearn helps biopharma companies develop drugs more efficiently by leveraging AI to reduce the number of patients required for placebo controls in clinical trials. In fact, Unlearn.AI enables clinical ...
Recruit Rockstars 363: The Future is Faster Than You Think
November 13, 2020 17:02 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MBYour company can’t operate at peak performance until you do. But how? Steven Kotler is one of the world’s leading experts on human performance. He’s a New York Times-bestselling author, an award-winning journalist, and Executive Director of the Flow Research Collective. Steven is the author of 9 bestsellers including The Art of Impossible, The Future is Faster Than You Think, and Stealing Fire. His work has been nominated for 2 Pulitzer Prizes, and translated into 40 languages. In ...
Recruit Rockstars 362: How a VC-Backed CEO Turned a $38B Industry Upside-Down
November 06, 2020 17:07 - 23 minutes - 21.7 MBIndustries don’t come much larger than self-storage. It’s $38 billion a year. And disruptors don’t come much more determined than Rahul Gandhi, CEO & Co-Founder of MakeSpace. Based in New York, it’s a convenient, simple, on-demand storage solution that takes the “self” out of “self storage.” To create a new kind of storage company, Rahul raised $100 million in venture capital from Founders Fund, Upfront Ventures, 8VC, Lowercase Capital, 8VC, Primary Venture Partners, Winklevoss Capital...
Recruit Rockstars 361: Are you doing Agile right?
November 03, 2020 19:00 - 24 minutes - 22.5 MBSad but true. Bain & Company rejected my application to join the firm… twice. But I’m still a fan. They hire one Rockstar after another. And I just had the chance to meet one. Darrell Rigby is a Partner who’s been with Bain for 40 years, and he leads the firm’s Global Innovation and Agile practices. Forget everything you think you know about Agile. It has the power to transform your company … but only if it’s implemented the right way. You’re painfully aware of the huge chasm bet...
Recruit Rockstars 360: Covid Hurts. How this VC-backed CEO Helps.
November 01, 2020 14:57 - 24 minutes - 22.9 MBIt’s been a rough year. As the pandemic grows, so have all sorts of unhealthy behaviors… including alcohol abuse. Fortunately, there’s Mike Russell. Mike is Co-Founder & CEO of Monument, an online treatment platform for those looking to change their relationship with alcohol. Designed to support sobriety or moderation, Monument plans are personalized to members’ goals, lifestyles, and preferences. Plans include access to therapist-moderated support groups, video therapy, and physicia...
Recruit Rockstars 359: From Glassblower to Square Co-Founder & Billionaire
October 30, 2020 15:25 - 23 minutes - 22 MBJim McKelvey had trouble selling a $2,000 art piece from his glassblowing studio. So, he co-founded the now-legendary payments firm Square with Jack Dorsey. Jim remains on Square’s board and has started a new company, Invisibly, which powers micropayments for journalism & publishing. He also sits on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (the only time he ever wears a tie) and started the nonprofit LaunchCode to teach people how to program. This year, Jim published the te...
Recruit Rockstars 358: How to Size People Up for Your Company
October 28, 2020 14:43 - 26 minutes - 24.2 MBSizing people up is hard. It takes getting under their skin to see what makes them tick. And deciding whether they’d be a good match with your company’s unique culture. In fact, getting it wrong with even just a few crucial hires can be a company killer. So I tracked down an expert. Robin Dreeke is a veteran FBI leader who just published “Sizing People Up” the outstanding box to help you predict behavior. And when it comes to hiring, that’s what it’s all about. The book starts wi...
Recruit Rockstars 357: A Top Private Equity Firm’s Secret Weapon
October 27, 2020 17:10 - 24 minutes - 22.4 MBWhen a leading Private Equity firm has 50 portfolio companies & 100 consolidating acquisitions, continuing to attract the best talent is crucial. Period. So, Boston-based Great Hill Partners added Heather Fox Ewing to the team. She’s Director of Talent & leads the firm’s executive talent network management. Heather collaborates with the firm’s investment team to engage the next generation of CEO’s & leadership teams with whom the firm can partner. Prior to joining Great Hill Partners...
Recruit Rockstars 356: How to Tackle Your Bottomless To-Do List
October 24, 2020 13:43 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBDo you have a To-Do List a mile long of all the things you need to accomplish for your business? Some days, I look at mine & feel stuck. (And hopeless.) Because I have no idea how to prioritize it. Can you imagine having a roadmap to help you prioritize your To-Do List and get rid of the junk that won’t add value? I tracked down the guy that can show us how. By his 35th birthday, Mike Michalowicz had founded & sold two multi-million dollar companies. Confident that he had the for...
Recruit Rockstars 355: Yes, You’re a Genius (…But What Type?)
October 22, 2020 18:05 - 26 minutes - 24.3 MBLong before he became legendary business speaker & bestselling author, Pat Lencioni was my executive coach. It was late 90’s in Silicon Valley. I was building my first startup, leading people for the first time, and wrestling with my own demons. He kicked my butt when I needed it most. Pat was brilliant. (And he still is.) As founder of The Table Group, he’s known as the pioneer of the organizational health movement. He is the author of 11 books, which have sold over 6 million copies...
Recruit Rockstars 354: How the Pandemic Set this Healthcare Company on Fire
October 20, 2020 16:51 - 24 minutes - 22.9 MBAmongst other things, 2020 has been the year of Telemedicine. And Heal.com is proof … With a twist. The LA-based company provides house call doctors for grownups & kids. You can get an experienced physician to your door in under an hour for $99. (Or if you prefer, via your phone or computer.) Founded by Nick Desai in 2015, Heal.com is now in network with Aetna, Anthem, Humana, and a host of others. So it’s covered. Investors have noticed too. Nick has raised $200M from Humana, Fideli...
Recruit Rockstars 353: Intelligence is Highly Overrated in Hiring
October 18, 2020 14:40 - 16 minutes - 15.4 MBRaw intelligence is one of the most highly-overrated qualities in hiring. I’m not going to tell you that high IQ doesn’t help in business. But without EQ, or Emotional Intelligence, to go with it - a leader is going nowhere fast. Because EQ is how we understand ourselves and the people we work with. What’s important to them. How we motivate & inspire them. How we negotiate with them. In short: EQ > IQ To dig in, I sought out an expert on the topic. Christopher Connors is a #1 bes...
Recruit Rockstars 352: How to Turn Around a Sinking Ship
October 15, 2020 22:40 - 23 minutes - 22.3 MBWant to empower your team to make better decisions & take greater ownership? Tired of micromanaging & babysitting them? Former US Navy Captain David Marquet is the author of 2 outstanding books: Leadership is Language and Turn The Ship Around! A U.S. Naval Academy graduate, David served in the U.S. submarine force for 28 years. After being assigned to command the nuclear-powered sub USS Santa Fe, (then ranked last in retention & operational standing) he realized the traditional leade...
Recruit Rockstars 351: How a Data-Driven CEO Scaled His Team
October 14, 2020 17:31 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MBCompanies have more data than they know what to do with. Kendall Clark, Founder & CEO of Stardog, helps them do something with it. Based in DC, his 65-person company has created an Enterprise Knowledge Graph. This platform helps you understand & interpret your data. And make more data-driven decisions. Customers include Morgan Stanley, Bosch, Ericsson, and NASA Stardog’s investors include Presidio Ventures, Dcode, Contour Venture Partners, Grotech Ventures, Tenfore Holdings, Boulder ...
Recruit Rockstars 350: Telemedicine is Alive & Well (…And His New IPO Proves It)
October 11, 2020 16:01 - 21 minutes - 20 MBIt took me a long time to finally book this guest. And it was worth the wait. Dr Roy Schoenberg is Co-Founder and CEO of Amwell, the transformative telemedicine company that IPO’d last month. After serving in the Israel Defense Forces & earning his MD, Roy co-founded the company (originally American Well) with his brother in 2006. It’s become one of the largest most important telemedicine & telehealth companies in the world Amwell connects on-demand telehealth visits between patients...
Recruit Rockstars 349: Growing the VC-Backed Team That’s Growing Crops Faster
October 10, 2020 15:07 - 16 minutes - 15.9 MBIn case you missed it, breakthrough discoveries about plant & environmental interactions have led to cutting-edge tools that tackle some of today’s biggest agriculture challenges. Which means opportunity to scale a business. Adam Litle is CEO of Sound Agriculture, the plant development company that helps producers grow more efficiently & enhance food taste, nutrition, and sustainability. Prior, Adam was part of the founding management team at Granular, the leading farm management softw...
Recruit Rockstars 348: How He Scaled from $0 to $100M SaaS Without VC or PE Funding
October 03, 2020 19:46 - 24 minutes - 22.9 MBYou may not know the name Russell Brunson. But you know his brainchild, the company ClickFunnels. Anyone who says you can’t build a $100M SaaS business in Boise Idaho - without funding from VC or PE firms - is wrong. Now, don’t get me wrong. His phone rings daily from prospective investors. But Russell chose the bootstrap self-funding path. He was right. After graduating college as a wrestling champion, Russell invented a potato gun. But unable to sell it, he conceived an online sa...
Recruit Rockstars 347: She’s Not Bluffing
September 30, 2020 16:40 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBYou can’t master your business until you first master your mindset. My first mentor taught me that. And I was reminded of it again during my interview with Maria Konnikova. Her story blew me away. (No bluffing.) Maria was born in Moscow & came to the United States when she was 4. She became a New York Times best-selling author, journalist, and professional poker player. But her trip is a fascinating one. She decided to take a journey into the world of high-stakes poker –and find ou...
Recruit Rockstars 346: What Happened When Facebook Bought Instagram For a Billion
September 26, 2020 16:35 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MBYou’ve probably seen Sarah Frier, since she’s been an award-winning tech reporter with Bloomberg News for 9 years. But have you read her thrilling new book “No Filter” ? It’s the inside story of how Instagram became the most culturally defining app of the decade. And how this 13-person company sold to Facebook for a Billion dollars. Sarah had unprecedented access… from the founders of Instagram, as well as employees, executives, and competitors; Anna Wintour of Vogue; Kris Jenner of ...
Recruit Rockstars 345: 2 Founders+2 Continents=1 Booming eCommerce Biz
September 19, 2020 18:20 - 15 minutes - 14.4 MBThis episode is guaranteed to help you sleep more soundly. Because ettitude (with offices in LA & Melbourne) is selling so much of its bamboo-based bedding, it’s landed on the Inc5000 list of fastest-growing companies. Bamboo? Isn’t that hard? Yes, but turns out it makes incredibly soft sheets, bedding, and jammies. So Co-Founders Kat Day & Phoebe Yu have scaled a team of 15 to make it soft on the skin, yet gentle on the planet. Bamboo doesn’t need much water to grow, or chemicals....
Recruit Rockstars 344: Why Hiring Sales Reps Can Make You Weep
September 12, 2020 16:04 - 21 minutes - 19.7 MBIf ever there was a role that’s a nightmare to hire, it’s the Rockstar salesperson. Most companies try. But fail. And for good reason. Salespeople are good talkers. So the typical interview can be highly-misleading. Not to mention, most sales managers haven’t agreed-upon what makes a great sales rep. Plus, there are 14 million full-time US salespeople, and most have never been formally trained. So when Bruce - tall, dark, handsome - walks into the room, it’s no wonder the sales man...
Recruit Rockstars 343: What You Can Steal From Amazon’s Culture
September 08, 2020 15:22 - 21 minutes - 19.7 MBAt Amazon, “Day One” is code for inventing like a startup, with little regard for legacy. Day Two is, in Jeff Bezos’s own words, “stasis, followed by irrelevance, followed by an excruciating, painful decline, followed by death.” Sadly, most companies today are set up for Day Two. They build advantages & then defend them fiercely, rather than invent the future. But Amazon and fellow tech titans Facebook, Google, and Microsoft operate in Day One: they prioritize reinvention over traditio...
Recruit Rockstars 342: Why VC’s Drilled Intro the Dental Market
September 05, 2020 17:32 - 20 minutes - 18.9 MBLast year, the SaaS company Curemint was just 1 person in Los Angeles. Now, it’s 15 people in Durham North Carolina. Brandon McCarty is CEO & Co-Founder. Curemint is the procurement solution for dental practices. Its intuitive ordering experience is optimized specifically for that sector. And the software increases spend visibility, automates workflows, and realizes increased operational efficiency. Its venture investors include Jumpstart Foundry and Cofounders Capital In this 20-min...
Recruit Rockstars 341: How the Pandemic Forever Changed Career Paths
September 03, 2020 20:06 - 18 minutes - 17.7 MBClearly, there’s a movement afoot. The more companies announce they’re going virtual/remote, the more it doesn’t matter where you live. So, companies can now hire the best talent in the world, not just in town. Everything is turned upside-down. I wanted to find an expert to help us make sense of it all. Patrick O’Brien is Chairman & Co-Founder of Patina Solutions, based in Milwaukee & serving clients nationally. It’s the leading professional services firm that provides executive exp...
Recruit Rockstars 340: CEO Turns His Industry Upside-Down
August 30, 2020 16:25 - 19 minutes - 18.2 MBThere’s a whole new way to increase your customers’ loyalty, and it’s called product protection. You know what this is. When you check out at Apple, they offer you AppleCare. When you buy something at Best Buy, same thing. Well, now you too can add this to your website, increase revenues, and more importantly better serve your customers. The company is Clyde (love the name!) and I tracked down the Founder & CEO Brandon Gell because he’s onto something big. He started Clyde 3 years ag...
Recruit Rockstars 339: He Leads the First Data-Driven Winery
August 28, 2020 14:02 - 19 minutes - 18.1 MBGeoff McFarlane is turning the $72B wine industry upside-down. He’s CEO of Winc Wines, which he co-founded 8 years ago. Now, annual revenues exceed $40M Geoff spent years in the hospitality industry, where he learned how to create experiences for people. Now, he’s brought that skill to the wine business to fundamentally change it. Winc builds direct relationships with vineyards, farmers, and winemakers to make exceptional wines. Distributing directly means you get them at a great value...
Recruit Rockstars 338: Scaling a VC-Backed Company in the Windy City
August 25, 2020 15:08 - 17 minutes - 16.4 MBFounded in 2013, Raise changed the way the gift card marketplace worked, with a goal to help others give themselves a raise. Based in Chicago, Raise has partnerships with over 500 national retailers including CVS, Chipotle, Subway, Macy’s, Domino’s, and Best Buy. Now, Raise is the easiest way for its 2.5 million members to buy discounted gift cards & get cash back for everyday purchases while helping retailers drive traffic in-store. CEO Jay Klauminzer joined the company in 2018 to add...
Recruit Rockstars 337: Meet the first Anti-VC
August 22, 2020 14:34 - 18 minutes - 17.2 MBYou’ve likely met some Venture Capitalists. But you haven’t met the Anti-VC. He’s Sammy Abdullah, who heads Dallas-based Blossom Street Ventures. He considers himself the ‘Anti-VC’ because he moves fast on investment decisions (often in 3 weeks), is a straight shooter, and tells you Yes or No without leaving you hanging on an investment decision. He’s already invested 22 portfolio companies - typically in Series A or B. Average check size is a cool million, and he usually leads the rou...
Recruit Rockstars 336: Investor in 120 Startups Spills His People Secrets
August 20, 2020 15:35 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBHiten Shah has built a reputation as one of the nicest guys in tech. But don’t be mistaken. He’s competitive, successful, and insightful. You may not know Hiten, but you’ve likely used his SaaS products. Hiten & his Co-Founder Neil Patel created Crazy Egg in 2005. The product creates a heatmap to show where people are clicking so you can get more insights about your website & improve it. He’s also Co-Founder of the popular KISSmetrics and Quick Sprout. And if that wasn’t enough, he...
Recruit Rockstars 335: From VC-Backed to Acquired in 3 Years
August 19, 2020 13:46 - 23 minutes - 22 MBIn just 3 years, Mike Schneider co-founded, funded, and sold First to the mega-real estate player ReMax. In this 20 minute conversation, he reveals how. Plus, how he scaled the team & perfected a unique culture along the way. First is a tech company that leverages data science, machine learning, and human interaction to help real estate professionals better leverage the value of their network. Its software is currently used by top real estate brokers at 200 companies nationally. Af...
Recruit Rockstars 334: Veteran CEO Rides Private Equity Rocketship
August 11, 2020 15:15 - 18 minutes - 17.4 MBRalph Dangelmaier has seen this movie before. He’s CEO of fast-growing BlueSnap, the Inc5000 ranked company based in Waltham MA. And he’s done it before. So he’s successfully scaling this leading payments platform company. With access to 100 different payment types, BlueSnap lets merchants increase their sales online & thru marketplaces. The product integrates fraud, chargeback, and reporting. And its deep tech stack delivers what matters most: higher payment authorization rates. N...
Recruit Rockstars 333: How She Lands Rockstars for a Top VC Fund
August 02, 2020 02:35 - 18 minutes - 17 MBIt’s hard to imagine anyone more qualified to find & land top talent for a Venture Capital fund than Amanda Mulay. She leads Talent Management for Lerer Hippeau, the New York-focused early stage fund. It’s invested in 250 companies such as Allbirds, Casper, Mirror, Warby Parker, and Axios. After recruiting at 2 Silicon Valley rocketships Zynga & Twilio, she brought her talents to Venture Capital. Starting with First Round Capital and Andreesen Horowitz. Now, she’s with Lerer Hippeau wh...
Recruit Rockstars 332: New VC Investor Shares His Secrets
August 01, 2020 16:48 - 19 minutes - 18.5 MBJust last week, Zach Coelius successfully announced his first Venture Capital fund, Coelius Capital with $45 million in new assets. Based in San Francisco, Zach has been an angel investor for years, backing hot startups such as Cruise Automation (which was acquired by General Motors for $1 billion, Branch Metrics, and HelloSign. Plus two dozen other companies. Earlier, Zach was Co-Founder of advertising technology startup Triggit. Now, he invests across sectors such as SaaS and Consume...
Recruit Rockstars 331: 3-Time CEO Rides Another Rocket Ship
July 29, 2020 18:40 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBIf you’re not outsourcing your company’s IT, you soon may be. Ryan Denehy, CEO & Founder of Electric AI, is on a mission to make that possible. He’s successfully scaled 3 technology businesses. After starting & selling one to Gannett, he did it again & sold Swarm to Groupon. He’s now leading NY-based Electric, which created the world’s first automated IT platform. It’s backed by top investors like GGV Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Bowery Capital, and Primary Venture Partners. E...
Recruit Rockstars 330: Raining Cats & Dogs in Private Equity
July 26, 2020 18:13 - 18 minutes - 17.5 MBHalf of us have a cat and/or dog (including my Winnie, an adorable Morkiepoo.) And even if you’re not a pet parent, you know that we spend a fortune on our besties. That spells opportunity for Private Equity investors. So I wanted to speak with an expert on our four-legged friends. I tracked down Steve Bell, CEO of Zesty Paws. Based in Orlando & backed by PE firm Maxim Partners, Zesty Paws markets premium-quality supplements to keep our besties feeling zesty. And business is booming....
Recruit Rockstars 329: 2,600-Mile Hike Prepared Her to Become C.O.O.
July 22, 2020 17:37 - 20 minutes - 18.7 MBEmma Stubbs is a Rockstar. After graduating from Harvard in Neurobiology, she decided to take a hike. Literally. Covering 2,600 miles from Mexico to Canada. Then, she joined a little-known startup called CircleUp. And after 4 promotions in 5 years, she’s now Chief Operating Officer. Since then, CircleUp has become the leading investment platform providing capital to innovative, early-stage CPG brands with a modern, scalable approach to private markets. In short, she helps CPG e...
Recruit Rockstars 328: How SpaceX & Lyft Took Off With The Right Talent
July 20, 2020 21:21 - 20 minutes - 19 MBYou may not be familiar with the venture capital firm M13. But you sure know their success stories… M13’s portfolio includes Pinterest, SpaceX, Lyft, and FanDuel. In fact, M13 has invested in 80 startups and already had 16 exits. Currently investing from its second fund of $175 million, M13’s secret isn’t just the $4M to $7M checks it writes. It’s in the expertise it lends to portfolio companies… And that includes Talent. Matt Hoffman is Partner & Head of Talent at M13. He works a...
Recruit Rockstars 327: How a Top VC Hires the Right Executive at the Right Time
July 20, 2020 00:03 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MBWhen it comes to talent at Venture Capital firms, they don’t come more seasoned than Tylee Holden. She leads the people part of the business at BOND. Spun out from Kleiner Perkins (where she was Talent Partner,) San Francisco-based BOND invests in Consumer & Enterprise growth companies. With over $1 billion in capital, BOND has made investments in companies like Hippo Insurance, Canva, and Nextdoor. Prior, she was Head of Executive Search at Uber. So she knows a thing or two about scal...
Recruit Rockstars 326: The CEO Who Does Just One Thing
July 14, 2020 20:55 - 28 minutes - 26.7 MBDennis Mortensen is Founder & CEO of x.ai, the company that does just one thing. They help you schedule meetings (without the phone tag & without the email back-and-forth). You may not even realize it, but you’ve likely used his company’s product. I sure have. So, I was lucky enough to grab him for a 20-minute conversation. x.ai is the super-sophisticated, automated way to schedule meetings. And it’s one of the first truly AI-focused companies built around a practical application. ...
Recruit Rockstars 325: How She Scaled From 9 Employees to 90
July 02, 2020 14:16 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBBrad’s Deals is a huge tech success story in Chicago. The site helps millions of shoppers save money by curating the best deals from 4,000 retailers & expert shopping tips. This profitable business has scaled from 9 employees to 90, without raising a ton of VC money. I wanted to find out how… So I tracked down Jessica Adams. She heads HR & Recruiting for Brad’s Deals. In 2020, she was named by Crain’s as a “Notable Leader in HR” for her innovative solutions to enhance employee well...
Recruit Rockstars 324: She’s a Hustler in Venture Capital
July 02, 2020 13:14 - 21 minutes - 20.5 MBElizabeth Yin is General Partner of Hustle Fund. It’s a pre-seed VC fund that invests at the earliest stage - typically in a founding team with a beta version of the product but no revenues. She writes the first check (after Mom is tapped out.) As Elizabeth says, she loves to invest in “hilariously early startups.” The average check is $25K. More importantly, invests hours each week with each of her portfolio companies. Previously, CEO of LaunchBit ad tech platform. Then became Partner...
Recruit Rockstars 323: How a Hacker, Hustler, and Hipster Joined Forces to Build a Red-Hot Startup
July 01, 2020 13:54 - 31 minutes - 29 MBSteven Galanis is CEO & Co-Founder of Chicago-based Cameo. (It’s red-hot.) He’s convinced that a winning startup founding team consists of a Hacker, a Hustler, and a Hipster. In this new interview, he explains. In case you don’t know Cameo, it’s the next-generation celebrity autograph. No more signed autographs. No more selfies. Now, you can get your favorite celebrity (Cameo has 20,000 athletes, actors, musicians, you name it) to record a personalized 30-second video. They’ll say whatev...
Recruit Rockstars 321: Unlocking Human Potential & Health
May 18, 2020 12:05 - 19 minutes - 18.3 MBThere's perhaps never been a better time for a fast-growing startup focused on unlocking human health & performance. It's called Whoop. And I just had a chance to interview its CEO Will Ahmed. Whoop combines hardware, software, and analytics to take people to a whole new level of health. Will conceived the idea as a top squash athlete at Harvard. Since then, he's assembled a world-class team of 100 professionals based in Boston. He's raised $100M in venture capital from Foundry Group...
Recruit Rockstars 320: How Top PE-backed Manufacturing Companies Manufacture Great Cultures
March 11, 2020 02:27 - 18 minutes - 18.7 MBYou might not think that St. Louis is a hotbed for Private Equity. You’d be wrong. I tracked down Stacy Shlenk. She heads up talent acquisition & onboarding for HBM Holdings, which acquires, builds, and operates middle-market businesses. HBM acquires majority positions in product-centric companies in Aerospace & Defense, Environmental, Medical Devices & Instruments, and Packaging. Its middle-market specialty manufacturing businesses generate $50M to $400M in annual revenue and togeth...
Recruit Rockstars 319: The Private Scoop on how Private Equity hires
March 08, 2020 12:45 - 17 minutes - 16.6 MBWhen it comes to P.E., there’s likely no better than Thoma Bravo. The firm has a 40-year history, $30 billion in investor commitments, and invests in software & technology companies Based in Chicago & San Francisco, Thoma Bravo has acquired over 200 companies. Such as Barracuda, J.D. Power, McAfee, TravelClick, and Ellie Mae. I wanted to get the scoop on how they’ve been so successful & how they hire at the portfolio company level. So I tracked down Hannah Johnson, Head of Human Reso...
Recruit Rockstars 318: How a Top Family Office Recruits a Rockstar Every Time
March 04, 2020 05:04 - 15 minutes - 14.8 MBJosh Salyer is VP People Operations of Wasson Enterprise, one of the nation’s highest-profile family offices. Wasson is the brainchild of Kim & Greg Wasson (in 35 years, he went to Intern to CEO of Walgreens.) They invest in companies who do well by doing good. Once they’ve invested, Josh advises the portfolio company CEO’s on how to build their teams. And he knows precisely how to do it. Prior, Josh spent 4 years hiring teams at Amazon. So, he’s seen Talent at the biggest company in...
Recruit Rockstars 317: How She Nailed a 4.8 Glassdoor Rating
February 28, 2020 17:17 - 18 minutes - 17.6 MBI rarely see Glassdoor ratings this high. And it’s vital, because Glassdoor is now the very first place that your prospective candidates look. Katy Shields is VP People at VSCO, the fast-growing creative tools company. She joined a business with 50 people, and has scaled it to over 170. Based in Oakland California, VSCO builds creative tools, spaces and connections driven by self-expression. (You should download their amazing mobile app today.) They’ve raised $90M from Accel, Glynn...