The Blind Ambition with Jack Kelly

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Katya Laviolette, Chief People Officer at 1Password: How to Stand Out Among 12,000 Resumes Jan 17, 2024

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Katya Laviolette, Chief People Officer at 1Password

Katya gives us a sneak peek into how recent mass layoffs in the tech, banking and finance industries have impacted the job market. She reveals that 1Password receives as many as 12,000 resumes every month and job postings for internships can add another 20,000.

We ask Katya to break down how to polish your resume and improve your candidacy to stand out in the hiring process and land the job offer. Notably, we dig into whether it's necessary to have domain experience in an industry like cybersecurity and why the secret just might be listening in a job interview.

https://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/39uiaz33

Michelle Gonzalez, Corporate Vice President and Global Head of M12: The Secret to Networking and Meeting the Most Influential People Out There Jan 11, 2024

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Michelle Gonzalez, Corporate Vice President and Global Head of M12, Microsoft's Venture Capital Fund

Michelle explains how to really network and why most people think it's so artificial, transactional, or even cringe-inducing. She tells us about the cold emails she would send to entrepreneurs, investors, professors and other notable figures and what it was like to have dinner with Sam Altman and the founders of Lyft before they became household names.

Michelle then teaches us the importance of taking risks to develop professionally. She shares how to get on the radar of some of the busiest and most influential people and how building relationships and seeking regular feedback, even from people you've just met, can pay off.

https://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/qfyopjuj

Gleb Yushin, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Sila Nanotechnologies: The Importance of Working on Big Problems and How to Get Started Jan 03, 2024

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Gleb Yushin, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Sila Nanotechnologies

Gleb has long been sought out for his background in materials sciences and physics background. Now, he's taken his expertise to clean energy and industries as diverse as connected devices and electric vehicles. We explore how Sila Nanotechnologies was born and how Gleb transitioned from his life in academia as a professor at Georgia Tech to the founder and CTO of a startup designing integral components for Mercedes-Benz and its iconic G-Class SUV or "G Wagon."

Gleb gives us a walkthrough of the hardware industry and how he navigates the pace of product and technological innovation. We also dig into how the culture at a hardware startup differs from one focused on software. Gleb also shares insight into how Elon Musk and other tech pioneers think about complex problems, such as climate change or working with government agencies like NASA. Finally, we get tactical advice about how technologists and senior professionals can advance their careers by finding impactful professional opportunities.

https://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/r39xf01y

Jack Mardack, Co-Founder of Oyster: How I Created a Human-Centric Unicorn Startup as a B Corp Dec 27, 2023

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Jack Mardack, Co-Founder of Oyster

Jack began his career as an "accidental" marketer before working in banking and finance. Then, he had enough and decided to move to the San Francisco Bay Area to join the startup scene. There, he met like-minded, smart people who shared his interests in entrepreneurship and finding a way to create a human-centric sustainable business that aligned its business model with a positive impact.

We explore why Jack and his co-founders decided to tackle global employment, local benefits and payroll. He shares how companies have started to use business as a force for good and what sets Oyster apart. Finally, we dig into what it means to be a certified B Corp and how Oyster achieved a $1-billion private valuation to become a unicorn startup.

https://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/mhe5kscq

Amanda Richardson, CEO of CoderPad: How I Became CEO Just by Asking and Learning to Share What You Want Dec 20, 2023

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Amanda Richardson, CEO of CoderPad

Amanda says her career has been a windy journey. She admits that, at times, she didn't have a clear career path and has primarily created opportunities for herself. It's paid off, as she was hired to become the CEO of a high-performing startup she didn't start.

We learn how she became CEO and how a frank conversation with a recruiter proved to be a significant catalyst. Amanda also explains what it's like to interview to become a CEO and even how it feels to lay off your entire team because the startup is shutting down.

https://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/r39xf01y

Amir Nathoo, Founder and CEO of Outschool: How a Blog Post Led to a $3 Billion Startup Dec 13, 2023

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Amir Nathoo, Founder and CEO of Outschool

We explore what it is like to be a startup founder from the perspective of Amir Nathoo, who knew he wanted to be a software entrepreneur at an early age. Interestingly, he explains how a blog post he published in 2015 about a personal experience led to where he is today, as a founder and CEO of a startup last publicly valued at $3 billion.

Amir also shares his top advice about entrepreneurship and when he knew it was time to quit a high-paying software development job to start a new company. He also explains why a non-linear or atypical career path might be a key to success.

https://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/mhe5kscq

Max Tagher, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Mercury: How to Enter a Field Without Prior Professional Experience Dec 06, 2023

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Max Tagher, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Mercury

Max had never worked at a bank, financial services company or even a financial-technology startup before starting Mercury. Instead, he drew from his firsthand experience as a customer of Silicon Valley Bank, the once-popular bank with many startups, and noticed others like him were also dissatisfied. Max explains how he entered the field without having prior professional experience.

We explore the challenges of co-founding a fintech startup and working with banking partners who often aren't used to operating the same way as a startup founder or technologist. He also outlines why startup founders shouldn't necessarily focus on the technology or engineering first and why a multi-disciplined and user-focused approach was key to Mercury's early success.

http://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/emzrwxp9

Lia Garvin, Former Team Operations and Organizational Effectiveness Lead at Google: Lessons From Big Tech You Can Use to Improve Your Performance Nov 29, 2023

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Lia Garvin, Former Team Operations and Organizational Effectiveness Lead at Google

Lia gives us an in-depth look into Google's program management and team operations. We explore how she became a program manager and what program managers do at Google and other Big Tech companies, including how they work with software engineers, product managers, designers and executives to map risks, ship regularly to meet deadlines, and help people perform at their best.

Lia explains why imposter syndrome can be so common in the tech industry and how she recommends getting over it. We also got her to reveal what she did at Google to improve team performance and the communication and feedback tooling and frameworks they used so that you can use them to level up your career, build relationships, and land your next, better role.

http://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/y39nyrco

Ingrid De Clercq, Chief People Officer at Deliverect: An Inside Look into How Belgian and European Startups Recruit Talent Nov 22, 2023

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Ingrid De Clercq, Chief People Officer at Deliverect

Ingrid shares how four startup founders in Ghent, Belgium, developed the idea for Deliverect and what it was like conceptualizing and implementing a multinational company's vision, hiring process and performance philosophies from scratch.

We also get a sneak peek into how a Belgian and European startup hires and retains talent from all over the world from one of the first employees of Deliverect, a software-as-a-service startup last publicly valued at $1.4 billion. Ingrid also shares what she thinks sets Deliverect apart and how the company thinks about total rewards and total compensation.

http://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/3dl4nmej

Jesse Tinsley, Former Recruiter at 23andMe: What Happens When the Recruiter You're Talking to Doesn't Actually Work at the Company? Nov 15, 2023

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Jesse Tinsley, Former Recruiter at 23andMe

Jesse Tinsley was a recruiter at 23andMe, Coinbase, Stellar Development Foundation, Protocol Labs and more. Now, he's the founder and CEO of a recruitment process outsourcing company, a largely unknown cog in the job recruitment process.

We explore what RPO companies are and how you can work together with these recruiters to land your next job. While it might be bizarre to find out that the recruiter you're working with might not technically work at the company, the experience is essentially the same. You might have even worked with an RPO recruiter already without knowing it!

http://blindap.onelink.me/ttCg/l1lv2nfp

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