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Friday Aug 19, 2022
Friday Aug 19, 2022
We sat down with Neerav Vyas, VP Head of Data, Insights, and Analytics at Homer to learn his tips and tricks on how to turn data into tangible strategic insights.
In this episode, we discuss how to effectively use data science to hit your business goals, when to hire a Data Scientist, and what you should look for when doing so. Neerav also shares his tips for those who want to get into data science and changes to expect from the industry in the next 24 months. All this and so much more!
Here’s What We Discussed:
[00:35] Neerav shares his background and how machine learning plays into uncovering patterns to make decisions
[02:17] How HOMER uses deep data to reach growth targets, reduce churn, increase retention & more
[04:59] If data isn’t driving decisions, it’s just a fancy algorithm that doesn’t add any value
[09:08] How to cultivate a collaborative relationship within your teams
[12:03] When a company should hire a Data Scientist and what to look for
[17:31] Neerav’s advice for those who want to get into data science
[20:17] How the landscape of data analytics is shifting
About Neerav
Neerav Vyas helps organizations to accelerate innovation, drive growth, increase operational efficiencies, facilitate large-scale transformations, and turn around ailing business units/ brands. He’s an award-winning leader, using a combination of Human Centered Design and Advanced Analytics to help ensure these transformations and product launches are more likely to succeed and have a meaningful impact.
Finally, he’s served as an advisor to a number of Fortune 500 CMOs. CEOs, CFOs, COOs, CTOs, and several of their boards. As well as served on the Executive Team of a Fortune 500 company and a successful series B (now series C) venture back startup. He’s twice led teams to become finalists for the AiConics Awards for Innovation in AI (in 2019 with Realogy Holdings and in 2020 with HOMER Learning). He’s also won the Ogilvy Award for research in advertising twice.
About Our Moderator
Anish Shah is the CEO & Founder of executive search agency Bring Ruckus. Anish has worked in-house in Growth roles at Snapfish and Getable. He started Bring Ruckus as a Growth consultancy 11 years ago working with 40+ clients, then re-focused his firm on executive recruiting for Growth leaders.
Quotes
“At the end of the day, if data is not driving decisions, if it's not driving tangible strategic insights, then it's gonna be a fancy algorithm that doesn't really drive a lot of value.” – Neerav Vyas
“If you take a design-led or human-centric approach to how you're coming to it, and you're really being thoughtful about how people are going to use this [data], then you're gonna become a partner in helping shape those recommendations and turn it into something tangible.” – Neerav Vyas
“Try to avoid being enamored with the technology itself, right? Technology is a tool to an outcome. If you focus on what those outcomes are, you are much more likely going to be successful and happy as a data scientist.” – Neerav Vyas
ABOUT RUCKUS
We are growth leaders who recruit your game changers. Visit https://bringruckus.com and connect on LinkedIn. Subscribe and listen to more episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify Google Podcasts, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts!
Friday Aug 19, 2022
Friday Aug 19, 2022
In June of 2020, we sat down with Evan Horowitz, the founder of Movers+Shakers, as he discussed the buzz of TikTok and the unique opportunities it offered. TikTok is a fast-growing and quick-changing platform, but Evan hits some key principles and strategies for how brands can win on the platform, that are still implementable today.
TikTok is the fastest-growing social platform ever, and the window is still open for brands to get in on the ground floor. Come learn from Movers+Shakers, the agency that produced the #eyeslipface challenge for e.l.f. comestics. As the fastest-growing TikTok campaign of all time, #eyeslipface attracted 3 MILLION user-generated videos, 5 BILLION views, and unsolicited celebrity participation from Ellen, Reese Witherspoon, Jessica Alba, Kevin Hart, Howie Mandel, and more.
Here’s What We Discussed:
[03:15] TikTok 101: How to WIN as a brand on TikTok
[04:14] Evan introduces Movers+Shakers and how they positively impact the creative space by spreading joy
[08:44] The window of opportunity TikTok offers with its growing users and unprecedented reach
[13:25] Key things you should know as a marketer about TikTok and why it stands out among other platforms
[18:43] FOUR main ways brands are entering TikTok – Creating a brand channel, influencer campaigns, in-feed ads, viral hashtag challenges
[32:44] Where do I start? Some next steps and practical tips to get started on TikTok
[34:42] How can more ‘serious’ companies thrive on a platform that seems to be all about fun?
[38:31] How do you leverage and maximize a video that’s beginning to go viral?
[40:42] How can brands with small budgets make original music or buy licenses to participate in trends?
[43:26] How to create a viral campaign
[44:37] Creating serious or sensitive content on TikTok
About Evan
Evan Horowitz, founded Movers+Shakers with a mission to spread joy. They have quickly become the #1 fastest-growing marketing agency in the world (as measured by Adweek). Brands hire them to connect them to culture and drive buzz and relevance. They work across social with a focus on emerging platforms & technology, from TikTok to the Metaverse.
Fast Company named Movers+Shakers one of the world’s “Most Innovative Companies,” Glossy calls us “the TikTok whisperers,” and Inc. Magazine ranked them the 78th fastest-growing company in the United States.
Evan is an Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS Engineering from Stanford. For Evan’s industry insights, follow him on LinkedIn.
About Our Moderator
Anish Shah is the CEO & Founder of executive search agency Bring Ruckus. Anish has worked in-house in Growth roles at Snapfish and Getable. He started Bring Ruckus as a Growth consultancy 11 years ago working with 40+ clients, then re-focused his firm on executive recruiting for Growth leaders.
Resources Mentioned
How to know what’s trending: The TikTok Trends Report
Quotes
“TikTok is a place where people come for joy. They come for relief, they come for positivity, and for brands that want to lean into that, they wanna provide that to their consumers and connect with them in that sort of positivity, playful, joyful way.” – Evan Horowitz
“TikTok is just so different from other platforms. The creativity that exists on the platform, it's that sort of expression and creativity that brands wanna bring when you're entering the platform. You wanna be having your point of view, engaging in the conversation, and sharing something that's new and unexpected.” – Evan Horowitz
“Creating good organic content is really the best thing. I'm not a big believer in gaming the algorithm. If people like the content it's gonna go viral.” – Evan Horowitz
“The first step [to creating a viral campaign] is the brand strategy. What are the KPIs that we're really trying to accomplish here? What's the personality of the brand? Everything needs to stem from that because there's no one size fits all type virality.” – Evan Horowitz
“Just have fun. This is a platform that's having fun and your brand should have that experience too when entering the platform.” – Evan Horowitz
ABOUT RUCKUS
We are growth leaders who recruit your game changers. Visit https://bringruckus.com and connect on LinkedIn. Subscribe and listen to more episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify Google Podcasts, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts!
Friday Aug 19, 2022
Friday Aug 19, 2022
The dust has more than settled over the bombshell that has been Apple’s App Tracking Transparency framework.
With Google announcing their Privacy Sandbox for Android, the march toward a more privacy-focused internet is not slowing down. For marketers, adapting to & thriving in this post-identifier world is more critical than ever.
Join us in this webinar hosted by RocketShip HQ and Ruckus, in which our panelists share strategies that have worked for them across the web and app ecosystems, along with their best tips and pointers to prepare for a post-identifier future.
Here’s What We Discussed:
[00:35] Our panelists introduce themselves and share their backgrounds and experience
[03:05] Shamanth explains the limits that ATT has placed on marketer’s abilities to target
[05:42] How performance has changed since ATT – Real-time data from our panelists to help you make informed decisions
[13:13] DTC Vs. E-commerce – The difference in impact ATT has on both
[20:00] The power of contextualized storytelling – How Poppy Seed Health’s creative strategy overcomes targeting limitations
[27:58] Our panelists share how they’ve diversified channel mix and expansion
[40:40] Strategies for smaller channels that perform well with audiences and save CAC
[47:10] Tips on redoing your infrastructure and moving out of Facebook and Google dependency
[50:44] How metrics have evolved and upgraded since ATT
About Our Speakers
Grace Ouma-Cabezas, Head of Growth, Poppy Seed Health – Grace is a Growth Marketing Executive and Consultant with more than 15 years of experience at high-growth digital brands & startups. She focuses on delivering customers and audiences through performance-driven, brand-enhancing marketing. Featured in Digiday, AdWeek, The Muse, and more, Grace’s impact on digital marketing is widely celebrated.
Evan Woods, General Manager, DT.Co – Evan is a growth marketer, advisor, and investor with over 12 years of experience driving success for a wide range of businesses, from Fortune 500 brands to start-ups. He currently is the General Manager at DT.Co, a growth studio focused on helping high-growth, DTC start-ups scale. Prior to DT.Co, Evan led growth & retention teams at Haus & Ollie, and he has also held Marketing and Sales leadership roles at Aaptiv, Jet.com, HelloFresh, and Twitter.
Shamanth Rao, Founder & CEO, Rocketship HQ – Shamanth is the founder and CEO of the boutique growth marketing firm RocketShip HQ and host of the podcast Mobile User Acquisition Show. In the past, he’s led growth leading to 3 acquisitions(Bash Gaming, by GSN Games; PuzzleSocial, by Zynga; FreshPlanet, by GameLoft).
Matej Lancaric, User Acquisition & Marketing consultant – Matej is a true mobile marketing enthusiast who has been in the gaming industry for almost a decade. He develops multi-channel acquisition strategies and marketing campaigns that are designed to drive the overall growth for his partners. Matej partners with talented developers across the globe with multi-channel user acquisition strategies, soft launch, and global launch planning and general marketing and business advising.
About Our Moderator
Anish Shah is the CEO & Founder of executive search agency Bring Ruckus. Anish has worked in-house in Growth roles at Snapfish and Getable. He started Bring Ruckus as a Growth consultancy 11 years ago working with 40+ clients, then re-focused his firm on executive recruiting for Growth leaders.
Quotes
“The first 24 hours in games especially on iOS now is really important. Now when I’m looking at the [Information and Content Exchange] network schema, I’m able to actually evaluate the raws and run value optimization campaigns.” – Matej Lancaric
“Really digging into the emotion and storytelling and trying to show [potential users] where they would be when they would need us, really contextualizing ourselves in an emotional way has been the most powerful thing. And I think it's helped us overcome some of these targeting challenges.” – Grace Ouma-Cabezas
“With blended aggregate, trying to isolate how much you're spending on one particular channel at one given time and seeing if there is marginal efficiency overall for the business as you’re making these larger changes, could have a really big impact and allow you to allow to scale.” – Evan Woods
“How you evaluate campaigns is so critical because you cannot evaluate as deterministically as you used to. In fact, a number of folks we work with have grown, they’ve done well, but they’ve had to embrace the fact that they cannot evaluate campaigns anywhere as clearly.” – Shamanth Rao
ABOUT RUCKUS
We are growth leaders who recruit your game changers. Visit https://bringruckus.com and connect on LinkedIn. Subscribe and listen to more episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify Google Podcasts, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts!
Friday Aug 19, 2022
Friday Aug 19, 2022
Andrew Mitchell and Wesley Gottesman join our panel to talk about getting started in venture capital, what skills will help you excel in the industry, and why people and relationships are so integral. They also dive into what key metrics they look at when investing in early-stage companies and how to meet founders and find investment opportunities.
Brand Foundry Ventures invests in early-stage companies that emerge into brands you can’t live without. Marrying extensive entrepreneurial, manufacturing, and operational experience, the Brand Foundry team has been “seed” financing consumer brands since 2009. With a presence in New York City and Austin, the team offers early-stage entrepreneurs the insight and support they need to scale their brands into industry-leading companies. They partner with entrepreneurs that build long-lasting connections with their consumers, driving consumer trends through elevated customer experiences. Portfolio companies include Allbirds, Birchbox, Bonobos, Harry’s, LOLA, Peloton, The Wing, Warby Parker, and more.
VC Insights with Ruckus is a series of conversations with Venture Capitalists to learn about what they look for in companies to fund, how they spot the best talent, and what is their advice for startup founders looking to grow or get funding.
Here’s What We Discussed:
[00:24] Our speakers introduce themselves and share their backgrounds and experience
[04:24] On shifting from an Operator to a VC – What skillsets are required to excel in each industry?
[08:04] Wesley shares his advice on the best ways to get into venture capital
[10:34] Andrew shares why people are the best part about working in VC
[13:09] How has your current consumer investing perspective shifted or changed as you’ve grown in the industry?
[16:54] Spotting founders with potential but are lacking relevant experience
[23:26] Andrew and Wesley share their advice for pre-revenue consumer product companies
[29:10] What KPIs to look for in early-stage companies that are good indicators for future success
[36:27] How COVID impacts the current DTC landscape – Does it affect criteria for investing in the future?
[43:25] Tips on how to meet companies and founders for a new firm starting out in early-stage startup investment
[52:38] The best ways agencies or consulting firms can show value and work with VCs or their portfolio companies
[55:01] Andrew and Wesley share how a new seed investor can meet founders to invest in through relationships and people
About Our Speakers
Andrew Mitchell is the founder of Brand Foundry Ventures and leads its strategy. A successful entrepreneur with dual experience as an operator and investor, Andrew has sourced, monitored, and executed over 50 early-stage investments in the consumer and retail technology space with a total combined enterprise value today of over $3 billion.
Wesley Gottesman joined Brand Foundry in 2017 after an extensive operating experience at consumer start-ups. He launched an apparel company, Nine Brand, with Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees and has led product departments at two consumer technology businesses: PHLUR, a digitally-native fragrance brand, and Buzz Points, a growth stage fin-tech business.
About Our Moderator
Anish Shah is the CEO & Founder of executive search agency Bring Ruckus. Anish has worked in-house in Growth roles at Snapfish and Getable. He started Bring Ruckus as a Growth consultancy 11 years ago working with 40+ clients, then re-focused his firm on executive recruiting for Growth leaders.
Quotes
“I’ve used a lot of the good, bad, and ugly of those operating experiences to translate in my decision making for investments.” – Andrew Mitchell
“Initiative and energy are two things that I definitely look for when I talk to a founder. The energy piece is huge because if you can come and make me excited that I'm a part of this pitch, it's definitely like a step in the right direction. Then if you take the initiative to reach out to founders, that's a really strong sign that somebody is willing to break the conventions of just sending a cold email and figure out the best way to connect.” – Wesley Gottesman
“If you want to angel invest, be a good person, work your way in through the relationship somehow, be credible, and just stay really active and hungry.” – Andrew Mitchell
“It doesn't make a ton of sense to be very reactionary to economic trends. We can't predict how deep the recession is or how long it will last, but I can promise you that American ingenuity and American progress will keep marching forward. In 5 or 10 years, we're gonna have some amazing companies that were started during this time of hardship.” – Wesley Gottesman
“If you're trying to get into investing at seed, what's the best way to invest? It's very much a people and relationship business. We're very open to anyone investing with us if they can show some value and have a good reputation.” – Andrew Mitchell
ABOUT RUCKUS
We are growth leaders who recruit your game changers. Visit https://bringruckus.com and connect on LinkedIn. Subscribe and listen to more episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify Google Podcasts, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts!
Friday Aug 19, 2022
Friday Aug 19, 2022
Where people work, how they work, and what they expect from work, continue to shift significantly, year over year. And it’s an organization’s People Leaders who hold a seat at the very heart of this transition.
Today’s People Leaders not only need to stay up to speed, and adapt to the ever-evolving ways of working but they are also tasked with finding key talent and keeping up with candidate demands.
In Redefining People Leadership, we explore the ways in which today’s People Leaders can do more than just adapt to today’s ever-changing landscape, but prosper.
Joining us will be, Brittany Blumenthal, VP of People Ops at The Block, Cassidy Gonzalez, VP of People at Pura, and Maggie Duvall, Head of Recruiting at Veho.
Here’s What We Discussed:
[00:32] The panel tells us about their background and experience.
[03:37] Why transparency is key to how People Leaders will need to respond in an upcoming recession.
[11:02] Maggie and Brittany talk about maintaining strong cultural values while scaling rapidly by being invested from the top-down and integrating it into everything you do.
[15:51] Cassidy shares why you should consider how your values scale and how to embed them as you grow
[17:58] Our panelists share what the evolution of People/HR Leadership looks like to them
[22:56] As the future of People Leadership becomes more data-driven, do you track key metrics within your organization to test the health of your culture?
[25:36] Our panelists share their best practices for providing value to Executives in a startup environment
[30:35] When sitting down with your Executives, are there any metrics you make sure to present?
[35:39] How our panelists have responded to the rise of remote work and faced its challenges
[43:12] Virtual culture-building practices that have been helpful
[47:33] Final tips for managing remote teams
About Our Speakers
Brittany Blumenthal (she/her/hers) has over ten years of progressive experience in talent and people operations. Currently, Brittany is the Vice President, of People Operations, at The Block Crypto, a digital asset information company experiencing hyper growth. Previously she was the Head of People at Holler, a conversational media company, where she built the people operations function in preparation for scale as well as the Vice President, of People Operations at Reorg, a financial technology company. When she’s not focused on how to create a more inclusive and engaging workplace, she enjoys strolling through Central Park, finding a really great sushi restaurant, and spending time with her family. Brittany received her bachelor of science from The University of Texas at Austin (hook em) after growing up in a small town in Texas, Cut and Shoot.
Cassidy Gonzalez is a builder of great places to work. She is a self proclaimed career strategist, perpetual optimist and queen of getting stuff done. A people leader for over a decade, she has made her career leading people programs and teams at Google, SanDisk, Peek.com, and currently holds the role of VP of People at Pura. She is a wife and mother of two beautiful, rambunctious toddlers.
Maggie Duvall is an experienced talent acquisition leader, with a niche in building high performing recruiting teams, at hyper growth startups. Driven by the opportunity to build, she takes pride in helping companies identify top tier talent, while facilitating exceptional candidate experiences. Maggie currently leads recruiting at Veho, a logistics tech platform that puts the customer in the center, and has helped the company grow from 200 to 850 teammates within the last 12 months. Prior to that, she was part of the Uber recruitment team that grew the company from 5,000 to 25,000 employees globally, over the course of 5 years.
About Our Moderator
Anish Shah is the CEO & Founder of executive search agency Bring Ruckus. Anish has worked in-house in Growth roles at Snapfish and Getable. He started Bring Ruckus as a Growth consultancy 11 years ago working with 40+ clients, then re-focused his firm on executive recruiting for Growth leaders.
Quotes
“Transparency is the biggest key to keeping things from not falling apart… To do nothing is probably the worst thing you can do.” – Cassidy Gonzalez
“Even if you don't have all the answers, saying that you don't have all the answers, but talking about it is important.” – Brittany Blumenthal
“When scaling your values over time, there has to be top-down investment… It is up to us and the people organization to bring those values to life throughout the entire employee journey. And that actually starts with recruiting.” – Maggie Duvall
“You have to have a no-tolerance policy for people who are not living up to your values. If you're not willing to address those issues immediately, then those values are not going to be as impactful as you want them to be if people in the organization see that you don't hold everybody accountable to them.” – Brittany Blumenthal
“Make sure that no employee is just left in the dark so that no one is feeling left out in this remote realm.” – Cassidy Gonzalez
“something that oftentimes needs to be flushed out is what is the skillset that you need today? But more importantly, what is the skillset you're gonna need a year from now? Because at hyper-growth companies, the role as it exists today is gonna be very different from the role a year from now.” – Maggie Duvall
ABOUT RUCKUS
We are growth leaders who recruit your game changers. Visit https://bringruckus.com and connect on LinkedIn. Subscribe and listen to more episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify Google Podcasts, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts!
Friday Aug 19, 2022
Friday Aug 19, 2022
Finding the right candidates in B2B not only means employing the standard hiring strategies, but also finding folks who can bring your products and services to life, all in a talent pool that’s smaller than ever. But, hey, recruiting in B2B is notoriously challenging.
That’s why it’s more crucial than ever to not just attract anyone but the right person for every role.
In this episode, we explore how a variety of B2B recruiters are maintaining strong and diverse talent pipelines, and keeping up with high demands. Diving into this topic with us will be, Sierra Kaslow, Head of Business Recruiting at Miro, and Neetu Parab, Director Talent Acquisition, ex-Uber, Mercedes-Benz.
Here’s What We Discussed:
[00:19] Sierra and Neetu introduce themselves and share their backgrounds
[01:37] What are the most important skills recruiting teams need to develop and what do you look for when hiring a new recruiter with no past experience?
[04:40] Leading with data – What key metrics should you focus on and influence?
[10:45] How do you scale teams while maintaining strong cultural values?
[14:28] How do you evaluate candidates with B2C experience for B2B roles?
[20:48] How do you identify diverse candidates and push the internal agenda of maintaining a diverse pipeline and employee base?
[29:33] What roles should you keep in-house with your internal recruiting team versus working with external partners?
[34:03] Tips and processes for creating a great candidate experience
[38:48] What are the best ways to attract talent in joining very early stage B2B startups?
[41:52] has remote hiring been an obstacle or a win? What are the biggest hiring challenges you see in the next 6-12 months?
About Our Speakers
Sierra Kaslow started her recruiting career at Box where she lead the G&A Recruiting team. After 5 years, she moved to Miro where she owns Global Business Recruiting and manages a team of 60 recruiters, sourcers, coordinators, and program managers globally. She’s seen scale from 200 to 2000 and loves the challenge of managing managers through hyper-growth.
Over two decades of tenure in Talent Acquisition, Neetu S Parab has held various leadership roles focused on building technology teams for companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Uber, Electronic Arts, and Mercedes Benz R&D. At Uber, she led sourcing and recruiting teams to grow Engineering orgs including Infrastructure, Marketplace, Driver, Rider, etc. during their hyper-growth period prior to going public. In her current role, she leads a global team at a high-growth B2B startup called 6sense, where she has built a technical recruiting team, defined hiring processes and best practices ground up to scale hiring for the engineering, product, and design. With the breadth of experience working for various companies across industries, Neetu is passionate about providing data-centric talent acquisition solutions.
About Our Moderator
Anish Shah is the CEO & Founder of executive search agency Bring Ruckus. Anish has worked in-house in Growth roles at Snapfish and Getable. He started Bring Ruckus as a Growth consultancy 11 years ago working with 40+ clients, then re-focused his firm on executive recruiting for Growth leaders.
Quotes
“I think being very intentional and actually moving it into your interview process is the best way to [maintain strong cultural values] at scale.” – Sierra Kaslow
“When I'm hiring recruiters that are early in their careers, I'm really looking at the attitude. If they've not experienced what recruiting is or the problem areas, but they have the right attitude and you throw situations at them, they can navigate through that.” – Neetu S Parab
“I would say, the number one skill, if you're really getting into recruiting, is sourcing. Unless you work for a really massive company where you have a dedicated sourcer, you're gonna need to build a pipeline in addition to what's coming through inbound. So becoming a really strong sourcer, first, is the foundation and then developing further skills.” – Sierra Kaslow
“When you're hiring, you can solve for two of three things; quality, cost, or speed. Very rarely can you get all three of those.” – Sierra Kaslow
ABOUT RUCKUS
We are growth leaders who recruit your game changers. Visit https://bringruckus.com and connect on LinkedIn. Subscribe and listen to more episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify Google Podcasts, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts!
Friday Aug 19, 2022
Friday Aug 19, 2022
We sat down with Sam Nasserian, Founder and CEO of Cozymeal, the top marketplace for culinary experiences in North America. We’ll learn how he has built one of the biggest networks of chefs worldwide and has managed remote teams for companies including Upwork, Cozymeal, and JustAnswer.
World’s Best Boss with Ruckus is a series of conversations with business leaders, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders that explore how the best bosses attract fantastic people, build up their teams, and keep their employees happy.
In this episode, Sam shares the keys to maintaining culture and keeping your teams mission-aligned even when handling a growing remote team. He talks about the traits he looks for when hiring and why it’s important to prepare case studies and ask practical questions. Lastly, Sam reveals the lessons he learned from failed products of Cozymeal. All this and more!
Here’s What We Discussed:
[00:16] Sam tells us about his background and experience
[02:22] Sam shares how his passion for cooking began and his favorite cuisine
[04:47] Why asking real-world questions is a great indicator of culture fit when hiring
[07:50] The traits Sam looks for when hiring someone
[07:50] How to invoke strengths within your teams
[12:54] Sam shares his tips and mistakes for handling cross-continent remote teams
[17:10] How has Covid caused you to shift gears?
[23:06] How to maintain culture and excitement in the company while growing
[26:00] Sam shares the mistakes and lessons learned from a failed product
About Our Speakers
Sam Nasserian, is an entrepreneur, speaker, and startup advisor. In 2014, he founded Cozymeal, the #1 marketplace in the U.S. and Canada featuring the best culinary experiences and products, including top-rated cooking classes, private chef experiences, team-building activities, cookware, and more!
About Our Moderator
Anish Shah is the CEO & Founder of executive search agency Bring Ruckus. Anish has worked in-house in Growth roles at Snapfish and Getable. He started Bring Ruckus as a Growth consultancy 11 years ago working with 40+ clients, then re-focused his firm on executive recruiting for Growth leaders.
Quotes
“[Asking real-world questions] not only helps us better assess if they can think analytically, or if they can solve a problem, but they'll also help us assess to a certain extent if they could be a good culture fit.” - Sam Nasserian
“It's very important to me that I empower the team members, and I think it's good for the team member, but also ultimately it's good for the company. When we hire team members we should define clear goals, and give the individual enough responsibilities that that individual owns part of the business.” - Sam Nasserian
“It's also important that they see a purpose in the job. That really helps get the best out of the individual, when they know there's really a purpose. It's not just like they’re meeting their goal, making a salary and bonuses, but also, they’re actually helping our partners have a better life
and a better income.” - Sam Nasserian
“The things we were trying to do in terms of culture when we were a much smaller team, it's important to try to maintain them even when you're a big team… You want to make sure that everyone is aware of the company vision, and ideally, you wanna have the buy-in of every single team member.” - Sam Nasserian
ABOUT RUCKUS
We are growth leaders who recruit your game changers. Visit https://bringruckus.com and connect on LinkedIn. Subscribe and listen to more episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify Google Podcasts, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts!
Friday Aug 19, 2022
Friday Aug 19, 2022
Jascha’s coaching philosophy drives high‐performing teams with an emphasis on valuing team success above individual achievement, developing inclusive work practices, and building ‘T’ shaped professional skills.
World’s Best Boss with Ruckus is a series of conversations with business leaders, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders that explore how the best bosses attract fantastic people, build up their teams, and keep their employees happy.
In this episode, Jascha dives into his thought process when finding his next career opportunity. By viewing his work through the lens of ‘being a tourist,’ he aligns himself with those roles that leave him feeling excited about his work and continue to point him towards his greater goals. Jascha shares the methods he uses with his teams to help them navigate what they enjoy doing, what they're great at doing, and how to help them align that towards the ultimate goals they have for their careers. All this and more!
Here’s What We Discussed:
6:45 – Jascha explains how he became CMO of various popular companies and the mindsets that helped him get there
9:56 – Jascha compares his current role to past one at Mozilla as CMO
13:31 – Anish shares advice for interview process that lights CEOs’ eyes up
15:05 – Jascha comments on the biggest risks he’s taken along his career
18:40 – Jascha shares why understanding what your team defines as success is so important
20:20 – Jascha speaks about the true role of a manager in any organization
25:07- Jascha shares how you can create a system to create an opportunity for your employees to be successful
26:26 – Jascha advises on how to onboard new team members and how to get them up to speed in the company’s culture
28:20 – Jasha’s former Microsoft manager questioned him and shared the heart, tree, and star system – system used for career development
38:28 – Jascha’s anecdote about how he didn’t get a role he wanted and how it had nothing to do with his qualifications
49:19 – Jascha encourages leaders to create scenario planning into their cultures moving forward
52:33 – Jascha focuses on online mentorship and how to approach this new virtual reality
56:00 – Jascha replies on “What makes a good marketing leader and which attributes you appreciate in leaders around you?”
1:07- Jascha dives into his current role as Lytics president
About Our Speaker
Jascha Kaykas-Wolff, is an executive business leader with a creative flair, who has built teams that transformed the customer and user experience.
A champion for supporting company values and mission; his coaching philosophy drives high‐performing teams with an emphasis toward valuing team success above individual achievement, developing inclusive work practices, building ‘T’ shaped professional skills and constantly reinforcing the importance of business acumen in addition to functional expertise.
In his current role as President of Lytics, Jascha is responsible for Go-To-Market, Customer Success and operations. Previously, at Mozilla, BitTorrent, Webtrends, Microsoft and more. Jascha has a strong track record of building robust brands with hockey-stick growth trajectories for new products.
About Our Moderator
Anish Shah is the CEO & Founder of executive search agency Ruckus. Anish has worked in-house in Growth roles at Snapfish and Getable. He started Bring Ruckus as a Growth consultancy 11 years ago working with 40+ clients, then re-focused his firm on executive recruiting for Growth leaders.
ABOUT RUCKUS
We are growth leaders who recruit your game changers. Visit https://bringruckus.com and connect on LinkedIn. Subscribe and listen to more episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify Google Podcasts, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts!
Thursday Aug 18, 2022
Thursday Aug 18, 2022
Anish Shah speaks with growth experts Adam Gassman and Luke Fernandez about the importance of delegating and elevating key people in order to grow a scaling startup and avoid burnout. They also talk about the shift from just solving problems to creating systems that are made up of the right processes and people.
When it comes to structuring teams, Luke explains that the mistake he learned at Wikibuy was not hiring quickly enough. Adam shares that hiring to fill the ‘hole of today’ was not the right strategy for Freshly. Lastly, the two share their reflections on what they would do differently or better if they could go back.
Here’s What We Discussed:
[00:42] Our speakers share their backgrounds and experience
[02:33] What were the most important decisions you made when transitioning from a small startup to a scaling business?
[6:37] How do you create a system that empowers employees and informs them to make correct decisions?
[10:07] Adam discusses his tenure at Freshly and the importance of maintaining relationships even when leaving a company
[16:37] The value of executive coaching and how it benefits companies long term
[19:41] Luke talks about how he almost left Wikibuy twice and what kept him at the company
[25:20] Lessons learned and mistakes made when attempting to structure teams
[31:12] How to define the right outcome KPI’s and north star metrics as a company matures
[39:15] In retrospect what are some things you could have done better?
[43:41] Tips for hiring the right team
About Our Speakers
Adam Gassman is a Growth & Marketing executive with a decade of experience driving user growth for both content & D2C brands. Adam previously led growth at Freshly from its earliest days through its 1.5B sale to Nestle. Currently, Adam is leading Lane 529, the boutique marketing shop he founded after leaving Freshly.
Luke Fernandez is a Consumer SAAS and e-commerce user growth leader and advisor who is always looking to share knowledge and meet great teams. An early hire at Wikibuy, Luke worked as Head of Growth to lead the company to its 2019 acquisition by Capital One where he went on to become Head of Growth Marketing for Capital One Shopping. Today, Luke is a growth advisor and angel investor.
About Our Moderator
Anish Shah is the CEO & Founder of executive search agency Bring Ruckus. Anish has worked in-house in Growth roles at Snapfish and Getable. He started Bring Ruckus as a Growth consultancy 11 years ago working with 40+ clients, then re-focused his firm on executive recruiting for Growth leaders.
Quotes
“One of the most critical decisions is really knowing that if you don't start to delegate to and elevate people, you're gonna reach a ceiling rather quickly.” - Adam Gassman
“When you're working as a first hire for a startup, you are the go-to person to provide the best answer for the problem in front of you. When you start scaling up, you move from having to be the person to solve the problem, to being the person who has to build a system to solve the problem.” - Luke Fernandez
“There's nothing more critical than making sure you leave on just as good of terms as when you got hired. And sometimes that could be difficult, but I think it's really important because we also work in a very small world and relationships are critical.” - Adam Gassman
“I think most early stage companies burn because they're not thoughtful enough. Because they lean in too aggressively on building teams and spending dollars without a clear return… I would characterize the thing that we could have done better as being the exact opposite of that.” - Luke Fernandez
“Scaling is like building muscle; You have to bulk and then cut. You can't build muscle quickly by dieting.” - Luke Fernandez
“All of our clients want to hire people who have the hottest backgrounds, coming out of the hottest companies, that have scaled the best, and have the best track records. Those aren't always the best people for early stage anymore.” - Anish Shah
ABOUT RUCKUS
We are growth leaders who recruit your game changers. Visit https://bringruckus.com and connect on LinkedIn. Subscribe and listen to more episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify Google Podcasts, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts!