# firstround.com > AI-optimized mirror of firstround.com containing 1232 pages totalling 5,126,029 words of clean markdown content, structured data, and semantic HTML. Original source: https://firstround.com. Last updated: 2026-08-09T04:13:17.354Z. Each page is available as HTML (with JSON-LD structured data) and Markdown (text-only, ideal for LLMs and RAG). ## Homepage - [angeltrack/index.html](/content/angeltrack/index.html) (1,042 words) - [First Round Review](/content/review/index.html): Tactical advice for founders and startup leaders — from interview questions and tips for new managers, to how to find a co-founder and product-market fit. (464 words) - [Home | First Round](/content/site-root.html): First Round is a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (1,262 words) ## Articles & Blog Posts - [D:\Research\Link\Loss\Lossqje7.wpd](/content/review/content/files/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/323-pdf.html) (12,811 words) - [review/how-supabase-became-the-essential-infrastructure-for-the-ai-era-paul-copplestone-co-founder-ceo-md.html](/content/review/how-supabase-became-the-essential-infrastructure-for-the-ai-era-paul-copplestone-co-founder-ceo-md.html) (11,337 words) - [review/how-to-build-a-beloved-tech-brand-sheila-joglekar-vashee-cmo-figma-md.html](/content/review/how-to-build-a-beloved-tech-brand-sheila-joglekar-vashee-cmo-figma-md.html) (10,488 words) - [Finding a startup idea - First Round](/content/review/articles/finding-a-startup-idea/index.html): Tactical advice for founders and startup leaders — from interview questions and tips for new managers, to how to find a co-founder and product-market fit. (524 words) - [article/30-best-pieces/index.html](/content/article/30-best-pieces/index.html) (4,411 words) - [review/firsthand-clay-md.html](/content/review/firsthand-clay-md.html) (5,209 words) - [If you're transitioning from scrappy founder to established CEO:](/content/review/if-youre-transitioning-from-scrappy-founder-to-established-ceo.html): How to step up as your startup's leader (80 words) - [review/positioning-playbook-for-ai-products-md.html](/content/review/positioning-playbook-for-ai-products-md.html) (1,767 words) - [review/servals-path-to-product-market-fit-md.html](/content/review/servals-path-to-product-market-fit-md.html) (3,282 words) - [review/firsthand-applied-intuition-md.html](/content/review/firsthand-applied-intuition-md.html) (2,464 words) - [review/guidelines-path-to-product-market-fit-md.html](/content/review/guidelines-path-to-product-market-fit-md.html) (898 words) - [review/listen-snowflakes-former-cro-scaling-0-35b-surviving-4-ceos-md.html](/content/review/listen-snowflakes-former-cro-scaling-0-35b-surviving-4-ceos-md.html) (421 words) - 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(542 words) - [Strategy - First Round](/content/review/articles/strategy/index.html): Tactical advice for founders and startup leaders — from interview questions and tips for new managers, to how to find a co-founder and product-market fit. (515 words) - [Minimum viable product - First Round](/content/review/articles/minimum-viable-product/index.html): Tactical advice for founders and startup leaders — from interview questions and tips for new managers, to how to find a co-founder and product-market fit. (335 words) - [Growth - First Round](/content/review/articles/growth/index.html): Tactical advice for founders and startup leaders — from interview questions and tips for new managers, to how to find a co-founder and product-market fit. (419 words) - [Pivoting - First Round](/content/review/articles/pivoting/index.html): Tactical advice for founders and startup leaders — from interview questions and tips for new managers, to how to find a co-founder and product-market fit. (373 words) - [Risk - First Round](/content/review/articles/risk/index.html): Tactical advice for founders and startup leaders — from interview questions and tips for new managers, to how to find a co-founder and product-market fit. (47 words) - [Operations - First Round](/content/review/articles/operations/index.html): Tactical advice for founders and startup leaders — from interview questions and tips for new managers, to how to find a co-founder and product-market fit. (405 words) - [Growth marketing - First Round](/content/review/articles/growth-marketing/index.html): Tactical advice for founders and startup leaders — from interview questions and tips for new managers, to how to find a co-founder and product-market fit. (156 words) - [Pricing - First Round](/content/review/articles/pricing/index.html): Tactical advice for founders and startup leaders — from interview questions and tips for new managers, to how to find a co-founder and product-market fit. (319 words) - [Product-led growth - First Round](/content/review/articles/product-led-growth/index.html): Tactical advice for founders and startup leaders — from interview questions and tips for new managers, to how to find a co-founder and product-market fit. (137 words) - [Brand Marketing - First Round](/content/review/articles/brand-marketing/index.html): Tactical advice for founders and startup leaders — from interview questions and tips for new managers, to how to find a co-founder and product-market fit. 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It's an immersive retreat with a curriculum built on two decades of early-stage investing where you'll join a community of 400+ exceptional alumni. (665 words) - [An Vu](/content/team/operating/an-vu/index.html): An Vu is a Recruiter at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (282 words) - [Jeff Donnon](/content/team/finance-and-administration/jeff-donnon/index.html): Jeff Donnon is Chief Financial Officer at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (157 words) - [Mathilde Roussel](/content/team/operating/mathilde-roussel/index.html): Mathilde Roussel is a GTM Enablement Manager at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (220 words) - [Caroline Min](/content/team/operating/caroline-min/index.html): Caroline Min is an Event Coordinator at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (155 words) - [The Art of Evals: How Figma Put People at the Center of Its AI Product | First Round](/content/ai/figma/index.html): Figma’s AI evaluation process revealed: See how the team behind Figma Make used rapid prototypes, human-centered feedback and clear metrics to ship standout AI features. (980 words) - [Whitney Zavilla](/content/team/finance-and-administration/whitney-zavilla/index.html): Whitney Zavilla is an executive assistant at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (91 words) - [Elijah Lewis](/content/team/operating/elijah-lewis/index.html): Elijah Lewis is a Software Engineer at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (163 words) - [Jessi Craige Shikman](/content/team/operating/jessi-craige-shikman/index.html): Jessi Craige Shikman leads editorial at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (122 words) - [Will Moldow](/content/team/operating/will-moldow/index.html): Will Moldow is a Chief of Staff at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (176 words) - [Hayley Barna](/content/team/investing/hayley-barna/index.html): Hayley Barna is a partner at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (407 words) - [Roy Rosin](/content/team/board-partners/roy-rosin/index.html): Roy Rosin is a Board Partner at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (350 words) - [Nate Springer](/content/team/finance-and-administration/nate-springer/index.html): Nate Springer is an Assistant Controller at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (152 words) - [Anne Loeslein](/content/team/finance-and-administration/anne-loeslein/index.html): Anne Loeslein is an Executive Assistant at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (138 words) - [Chris Fralic](/content/team/board-partners/chris-fralic/index.html): Chris Fralic is a Board Partner at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (324 words) - [Annie Duke](/content/team/investing/annie-duke/index.html): Annie Duke is a Special Partner in Decision Science at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (400 words) - [Nyle Sykes](/content/team/investing/nyle-sykes/index.html): Nyle Sykes is an Investor at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (239 words) - [Tory Macdonald](/content/team/operating/tory-macdonald/index.html): Tory Macdonald is a Chief of Staff at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (146 words) - [Lizzy Price](/content/team/operating/lizzy-price/index.html): Lizzy Price is a Associate Technical Recruiter at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (104 words) - [A Selfless Partner](/content/news/a-selfless-partner/index.html): Josh Kopelman reflects on his decades-long partnership with Chris Fralic—from Half.com to First Round—as Chris transitions to Board Partner after 12 years at the firm. (562 words) - [Amy Fu](/content/team/investing/amy-fu/index.html): Amy Fu is a Vice President at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (126 words) - [Sid Rajgarhia](/content/team/investing/sid-rajgarhia/index.html): Sid Rajgarhia is an Investor at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (299 words) - [Bonnie Porter](/content/team/operating/bonnie-porter/index.html): Bonnie Porter is a Recruiter at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (270 words) - [Steven Aldrich](/content/team/board-partners/steven-aldrich/index.html): Steven Aldrich is a Board Partner at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (388 words) - [Agent + Human Ops: How Brex is Changing Roles and Workflows | First Round](/content/ai/brex/index.html): How AI product thinking is shaping Brex’s internal operations — changing roles, workflows and the skills needed to succeed. (416 words) - [Anisha Gupta](/content/team/operating/anisha-gupta/index.html): Anisha Gupta leads GTM Strategy and Ops at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (206 words) - [Ryan Donnon](/content/team/operating/ryan-donnon/index.html): Ryan Donnon is Director of IT at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (128 words) - [Sofia Mendez-Nuñez](/content/team/operating/sofia-mendez-nunez/index.html): Sofia Mendez-Nuñez is an Event Coordinator at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (88 words) - [Cole Helms](/content/team/operating/cole-helms/index.html): Cole Helms is an Investment Insights and Operations Lead at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (157 words) - [Margarette Jung](/content/team/operating/margarette-jung/index.html): Margarette Jung is the Growth Marketing Director at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (185 words) - [Locke Luhnow](/content/team/operating/locke-luhnow/index.html): Locke Luhnow is an Associate Technical Recruiter at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (269 words) - [Richard Alfonsi](/content/team/board-partners/richard-alfonsi/index.html): Richard Alfonsi is a board partner at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (414 words) - [Nate Martins](/content/team/operating/nate-martins/index.html): Nate Martins is Head of Content at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (195 words) - [Khym Brees](/content/team/finance-and-administration/khym-brees/index.html): Khym Brees is an Executive Assistant at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (61 words) - [Investing](/content/team/investing/index.html): The investing team at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (46 words) - [Bruno Garcia Gonzalez](/content/team/operating/bruno-garcia-gonzalez/index.html): Bruno Garcia Gonzalez is a Senior Software Engineer at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (113 words) - [Jason Devor](/content/team/finance-and-administration/jason-devor/index.html): Jason Devor is a Controller at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (106 words) - [Simon Zhou](/content/team/investing/simon-zhou/index.html): Simon Zhou is an investor at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (164 words) - [Manifesto](/content/news/manifesto/index.html): First Round is a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (340 words) - [Julianna Marchant](/content/team/operating/julianna-marchant/index.html): Julianna Marchant is a Senior Writer at at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (132 words) - [Rachel Ruggieri](/content/team/operating/rachel-ruggieri/index.html): Rachel Ruggieri is an Associate Technical Recruiter at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (201 words) - [Kristen Reinert](/content/team/operating/kristen-reinert/index.html): Kristen Reinert is a Chief of Staff at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (213 words) - [Joe Carlucci](/content/team/finance-and-administration/joe-carlucci/index.html): Joe Carlucci is an Operations Specialist at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (129 words) - [Board partners](/content/team/board-partners/index.html): Board partners at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (22 words) - [Dana Fetch](/content/team/finance-and-administration/dana-fetch/index.html): Dana Fetch is a Senior Operations Specialist at First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (113 words) - [Get the best advice in tech delivered right to your inbox.](/content/review/newsletter/index.html): When you sign up for a First Round Review membership, you’ll also unlock our fan-favorite weekly(ish) newsletter — and become the first to hear about every new Review story. (12,316 words) - [First Round PMF Method - Application](/content/apply/pmfmethod/index.html): Apply to join First Round's PMF Method, a free, intensive experience designed to help exceptional B2B founders build epic companies (161 words) - [Levels of PMF | First Round](/content/levels/index.html): PMF Method from First Round is a free, intensive experience designed to help exceptional B2B founders increase their odds of finding extreme product-market fit. Read about the four levels of PMF in this preview of PMF Method content. (13,205 words) - [What startups get wrong about enterprise | Lindsey Scrase (COO, Checkr)](/content/review/what-startups-get-wrong-about-enterprise-lindsey-scrase-coo-checkr.html): In the latest episode of Executive Function, Brett sits down with Lindsey Scrase, COO of Checkr. Before joining Checkr as CRO and later stepping into the COO seat, Lindsey spent nearly a decade at Google Cloud as global managing director for SMB, mid-market, and startups. (13,106 words, Jul 30, 2026) - [How Gamma pulled off their AI pivot | Jon Noronha (Co-founder and CPO of Gamma)](/content/review/how-gamma-pulled-off-their-ai-pivot-jon-noronha-co-founder-and-cpo-of-gamma.html): In this episode of In Depth, Brett sits down with Jon Noronha, co-founder and CPO of Gamma, the AI-native presentation platform used by more than 100 million people. In this conversation, he walks through Gamma’s distinct eras of product-market fit: from a pre-AI struggle with (14,189 words, Jul 24, 2026) - [Watch: Launching Gravitas, one of the highest-powered spacecraft ever built](/content/review/watch-launching-gravitas-one-of-the-highest-powered-spacecraft-ever-built.html): The story of making the impossible, possible (130 words, Jul 23, 2026) - [Why Plaid’s COO cold-calls new hires | Eric Sager (COO of Plaid)](/content/review/executive-function-eric-sager-coo-plaid/index.html): In the latest episode of Executive Function, Brett sits down with Eric Sager, COO of Plaid, following stints as CRO of Bluevine and Head of Sales at Square. (15,164 words, Jul 16, 2026) - [How Supabase became the essential infrastructure for the AI era | Paul Copplestone (Co-founder, CEO)](/content/review/how-supabase-became-the-essential-infrastructure-for-the-ai-era-paul-copplestone-co-founder-ceo.html): In this episode of In Depth, Brett sits down with Paul Copplestone, co-founder and CEO of Supabase, the open-source Postgres platform now serving more than seven million developers. Before Supabase, Paul launched a Thumbtack-style marketplace in Southeast Asia and co-founded an office-management startup called Nimbus, (12,385 words, Jun 25, 2026) - [Listen: Figma’s CMO thinks safe marketing is risky](/content/review/listen-figmas-cmo-thinks-safe-marketing-is-risky/index.html): Brand lessons from the Opendoor and Dropbox alum (629 words, Jun 7, 2026) - [How to build a beloved tech brand | Sheila Joglekar Vashee (CMO, Figma)](/content/review/how-to-build-a-beloved-tech-brand-sheila-joglekar-vashee-cmo-figma.html): In today's conversation, Brett sits down with CMO of Figma, Sheila Joglekar Vashee. Previously the second marketing hire at Dropbox, where she helped scale the company past $1 billion in revenue, she now leads marketing at Figma fresh off its IPO. (12,887 words, Jun 4, 2026) - [What it’s like to work at Applied Intuition, the quietly dominant AI company](/content/review/what-its-like-to-work-at-applied-intuition-the-quietly-dominant-ai-company.html): From the POV of an early engineer turned Deputy CTO (246 words, Jun 3, 2026) - [Firsthand: Seven Years Inside Applied Intuition, the Quietly Dominant Physical AI Company](/content/review/firsthand-applied-intuition/index.html): I joined Applied Intuition as a new-grad engineer back in early 2019, when it was just a handful of us working above a bar on Murphy Ave in Sunnyvale. Today I'm Deputy CTO of the company (that now has over 1,000 engineers). Here's why I've stayed all these years. (2,498 words, Jun 3, 2026) - [Listen: Why AI makes great salespeople matter even more](/content/review/listen-why-ai-makes-great-salespeople-matter-evemore.html): Learn from an elite GTM leader (377 words, May 24, 2026) - [Why old-school sales work still wins in the AI era | Graham Moreno (Head of GTM, Parallel)](/content/review/why-old-school-sales-work-still-wins-in-the-ai-era-graham-moreno-head-of-gtm-parallel.html): In the latest episode of Executive Function, Brett sits down with Graham Moreno, Head of GTM at Parallel Web Systems. (16,140 words, May 21, 2026) - [“AI-Powered” Isn’t a Position](/content/review/positioning-playbook-for-ai-products/index.html): A playbook for building a distinctive brand when too many AI products sound the same, look the same and have the same positioning. (3,349 words, May 14, 2026) - [Why founders should bet on first-time executives | Praveer Melwani (CFO, Figma)](/content/review/why-founders-should-bet-on-first-time-executives-praveer-melwani-cfo-figma.html): In this latest episode of Executive Function, Brett sits down with Praveer Melwani, CFO at Figma. Praveer joined Figma in 2017 as the company's first business operations and finance hire —when the team was around 30 people and not yet charging for the product. (1,025 words, May 14, 2026) - [From the inside: What it's like to work at Clay](/content/review/from-the-inside-what-its-like-to-work-at-clay/index.html): A personal essay from the company’s tenth employee. (165 words, May 6, 2026) - [Firsthand: How I Bet On Clay (And It Bet On Me)](/content/review/firsthand-clay/index.html): I joined Clay as one of its earliest employees and a reluctant marketing hire. This is how, over the last three years, we built a role around my strengths as a storyteller, scaled past $100M ARR, and created a brand that startups study. (5,244 words, May 6, 2026) - [Why great product leaders should stop obsessing over the roadmap | Diya Jolly (CPO & CTO of Xero)](/content/review/why-great-product-leaders-should-stop-obsessing-over-the-roadmap-diya-jolly-cpo-cto-of-xero.html): Diya Jolly, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Xero unpacks her three-bucket framework for delegating decisions, why the most important part of a CPO’s role is to drive team-wide ambition, and why the best executives need to spend half their time thinking, not doing. (12,489 words, Apr 30, 2026) - [Inside Artemis' "AI vs AI" war | Shachar Hirshberg & Dan Shiebler (Co-founders, Artemis)](/content/review/inside-artemis-ai-vs-ai-war-shachar-hirshberg-dan-shiebler-co-founders-artemis.html): In this episode of In Depth, First Round Partner Josh Kopelman sits down with Shachar Hirshberg and Dan Shiebler, co-founders of Artemis, the AI-native security platform that just emerged from stealth with $70M in combined seed and Series A funding. (11,434 words, Apr 21, 2026) - [You don't know Lenny Rachitsky](/content/review/you-dont-know-lenny-rachitsky/index.html): Read our in-depth profile (339 words, Apr 19, 2026) - [Scaling DoorDash to market dominance | Christopher Payne (Former COO, DoorDash)](/content/review/scaling-doordash-to-market-dominance-christopher-payne-former-coo-doordash.html): In this latest episode of Executive Function, Brett sits down with Christopher Payne, who spent a decade as President and COO at DoorDash, helping scale the company from roughly 70 employees to the dominant food delivery platform in the US. Before DoorDash, Christopher held senior operating roles at Amazon and (13,485 words, Apr 17, 2026) - [What really motivates Lenny Rachitsky?](/content/review/what-really-motivates-lenny-rachitsky/index.html): Read our in-depth profile (166 words, Apr 15, 2026) - [Reluctantly Influential: Inside Lenny Rachitsky’s Demandingly Chill Life](/content/review/reluctantly-influential-inside-lenny-rachitskys-demandingly-chill-life.html): With millions of subscribers across platforms, Lenny Rachitsky is one of the most prolific people in tech media. But what drives him — and what keeps him up at night — is a story most people don’t know. (6,869 words, Apr 15, 2026) - [The most politically dangerous role in the C-suite | Katie Burke (COO, Harvey)](/content/review/the-most-politically-dangerous-role-in-the-c-suite-katie-burke-coo-harvey.html): In the latest episode of Executive Function, Brett sits down with Katie Burke, who recently became COO of Harvey after joining as Chief People Officer. Before Harvey, Katie spent 11 years in HR leadership at HubSpot, where she built one of tech's most distinctive cultures. (17,521 words, Apr 10, 2026) - [What nobody tells engineers about becoming a CEO | Jay Kreps (Co-founder and CEO, Confluent)](/content/review/what-nobody-tells-engineers-about-becoming-a-ceo-jay-kreps-co-founder-and-ceo-confluent.html): Jay Kreps is the co-founder and CEO of Confluent, the company built around Apache Kafka — the open-source data streaming platform he originally built while at LinkedIn. (14,278 words, Mar 26, 2026) - [How fixing 401(k) the hard way led Guideline's founder to a major exit](/content/review/how-fixing-401-k-the-hard-way-led-guidelines-founder-to-a-major-exit.html): Inside Guideline's path to PMF (290 words, Mar 24, 2026) - [Guideline's Path to Product-Market Fit — The Early Decisions That Powered Its Acquisition by Gusto](/content/review/guidelines-path-to-product-market-fit/index.html): Ten years after shaking up the retirement fund industry for SMBs, Guideline has been acquired by Gusto. Here, co-founder Kevin Busque shares the early-stage decisions and pivots that put the startup on the path to success. (4,052 words, Mar 24, 2026) - [Listen: Why crazy deadlines produce better products than strategy docs](/content/review/listen-why-crazy-deadlines-produce-better-products-than-strategy-docs.html): Vanta CPO Jeremy Epling is on Executive Function (442 words, Mar 22, 2026) - [The product wisdom every CPO should ignore | Jeremy Epling (CPO, Vanta)](/content/review/executive-function-jeremy-epling-cpo-vanta/index.html): In the latest episode of Executive Function, Brett is joined by Jeremy Epling, CPO of security and compliance platform Vanta. Jeremy details his career journey, unpacking what it took to make the jump from tenured Microsoft executive to startup CPO. (17,124 words, Mar 19, 2026) - [Building Zipline: From launch disaster to drone-delivery giant | Keller Cliffton (Co-founder, CEO)](/content/review/podcast/building-zipline-from-launch-disaster-to-drone-delivery-giant-keller-cliffton-co-founder-ceo.html): Keller Cliffton is the co-founder and CEO of Zipline, the world's largest commercial autonomous delivery system, which today serves 5,000 hospitals across multiple countries and saves an estimated 17,000 lives per year. (16,245 words, Mar 12, 2026) - [Stop asking “What’s your biggest pain point?” in customer discovery](/content/review/stop-asking-whats-your-biggest-pain-point-in-customer-discovery.html): The discovery question that uncovered a billion-dollar startup idea (349 words, Mar 10, 2026) - [Serval's Path to Product-Market Fit — Win Enterprise Buyers by Treating Them Like Consumers](/content/review/servals-path-to-product-market-fit/index.html): Notes from an AI founder taking a swing at a hundred-billion-dollar incumbent. (3,245 words, Mar 10, 2026) - [Listen: Snowflake’s former CRO on scaling from $0 to $3.5B (and surviving 4 CEOs)](/content/review/listen-snowflakes-former-cro-scaling-0-35b-surviving-4-ceos.html): Chris Degnan joins Executive Function. (427 words, Mar 1, 2026) - [Snowflake’s first sales hire on scaling from $0 to $3.5B | Chris Degnan (Former CRO, Snowflake)](/content/review/executive-function-chris-degnan-cro-snowflake/index.html): Chris Degnan was the first sales hire at Snowflake and spent 11 years scaling the company from zero to $3.5 billion in revenue as its CRO, working alongside four different CEOs and learning from each one. (13,192 words, Feb 26, 2026) - [Do you really need a forward deployed engineer?](/content/review/do-you-really-need-a-forward-deployed-engineer/index.html): A founder’s guide to building an FDE team (397 words, Feb 24, 2026) - [So You Want to Hire a Forward Deployed Engineer](/content/review/so-you-want-to-hire-a-forward-deployed-engineer/index.html): Founders and operators who’ve successfully built forward deployed engineering teams share the nuances that make this idiosyncratic role work. (1,642 words, Feb 24, 2026) - [Listen: Most CROs are salespeople. Vanta’s CRO says that's changing](/content/review/listen-most-cros-are-salespeople-vantas-cro-says-thats-changing.html): Stevie Case joins Executive Function (521 words, Feb 22, 2026) - [Why 90% of CROs will fall behind in the next 2 years | Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta)](/content/review/executive-function-stevie-case-cro-vanta/index.html): Stevie Case is the CRO of Vanta, the trust management platform serving everyone from founders to Fortune 100 CISOs. A former pro-video gamer who stumbled into sales through a mentor's bet, Stevie has built one of the most unconventional paths to the C-suite in tech. (13,489 words, Feb 19, 2026) - [Listen: Why Rippling’s VP of Design thinks speed improves quality](/content/review/listen-why-ripplings-vp-of-design-thinks-speed-improves-quality.html): Ryan Lucas joins Executive Function (475 words, Feb 15, 2026) - [Figma is not the source of truth | Ryan Lucas (VP of Design, Rippling)](/content/review/figma-is-not-the-source-of-truth-ryan-lucas-vp-of-design-rippling.html): In the second Executive Function episode, Brett sits down with Ryan Lucas, VP of Design at Rippling. Before Rippling, Ryan led design at Retool and co-founded multiple startups, bringing a rare founder's perspective to design leadership. A trained industrial designer, Ryan traces the roots of modern software design (15,638 words, Feb 12, 2026) - [A new podcast from First Round: How the top 0.001% of scaleup execs operate](/content/review/a-new-podcast-from-first-round-how-the-top-0-001-of-scaleup-execs-operate.html): Listen to the first episode with Vercel’s COO (506 words, Feb 5, 2026) - [Executive Function: Building systems that can make decisions without you | Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel)](/content/review/executive-function-jeanne-dewitt-grosser-coo-vercel.html): In the first Executive Function episode, Brett sits down with Jeanne De Witt Grosser, Chief Operating Officer at Vercel. Before Vercel, Jeanne spent nearly a decade at Stripe, where she built and scaled global revenue teams and led product partnerships. (15,160 words, Feb 5, 2026) - [Executive Function](/content/review/executive-function/index.html): The most actionable, tactical company building advice around for founders and startup leaders. (310 words, Feb 3, 2026) - [Mastering the skill of company-building, from Applied Intuition’s founder](/content/review/mastering-the-skill-of-company-building-from-applied-intuitions-founder.html): The $15B vehicle intelligence company’s origin story (269 words, Jan 28, 2026) - [Applied Intuition’s Path to Product-Market Fit — The $15B Founder’s Formula for a Winning Company](/content/review/applied-intuitions-path-to-product-market-fit/index.html): Co-founder and CEO Qasar Younis lays out the personal and business moves he's made to build a company only he could start. (2,513 words, Jan 28, 2026) - [What cold-calling from a closet taught Gusto’s founder about PMF](/content/review/gustos-path-to-product-market-fit-newsletter/index.html): A laser focus on what customers really want paid off. (279 words, Jan 20, 2026) - [Gusto’s Path to Product-Market Fit — How Listening to Customers Built a $9.6B Company](/content/review/gustos-path-to-product-market-fit/index.html): Cold-calling from a walk-in closet taught Tomer London how to recognize what PMF really feels like. (3,190 words, Jan 20, 2026) - [The unconventional growth levers that made Canva a $42B company](/content/review/canvas-path-to-product-market-fit/index.html): Early evangelists and an ambitious SEO strategy (278 words, Jan 13, 2026) - [Canva’s Path to Product-Market Fit — How a Two-Hour Founder Date Led To a $42B Design Platform](/content/review/canvas-path-to-product-market-fit-2/index.html): Cameron Adams goes deep on finding early evangelists, the unconventional tactics that led to massive growth, and more. (4,033 words, Jan 13, 2026) - [The best company building advice we heard in 2025](/content/review/the-best-company-building-advice-we-heard-in-2025/index.html): The 13th edition of our annual roundup is here (421 words, Jan 6, 2026) - [The 30 Best Pieces of Company Building Advice We Heard in 2025](/content/review/the-30-best-pieces-of-company-building-advice-we-heard-in-2025.html): A roundup of the standout startup wisdom we collected last year. (9,448 words, Jan 6, 2026) - [The most honest lessons about the path to product-market fit](/content/review/the-most-honest-lessons-about-the-path-to-product-market-fit.html): Featuring founders from Gusto, Mercury, Meter and more (548 words, Dec 19, 2025) - [Notion put an engineer in sales to build better AI tools](/content/review/notion-put-an-engineer-in-sales-to-build-better-ai-tools.html): This week on Applied Intelligence, we learn how an AI engineer at Notion joined the sales team for a month to understand their challenges and build better tools to solve their problems. Context Before Code: How Notion Put an AI Engineer on the Sales Floor to Discover What Actually Needed (398 words, Dec 18, 2025) - [Building Meter for decades, not an exit | Anil Varanasi (Co-founder and CEO)](/content/review/podcast/building-meter-for-decades-not-an-exit-anil-varanasi-co-founder-and-ceo.html): Anil Varanasi is the co-founder and CEO of Meter, which provides full-stack networking infrastructure as a service for businesses. (16,143 words, Dec 10, 2025) - [The merger playbook: A founder’s firsthand story of the deal that beat the odds](/content/review/the-merger-playbook-crossbeams-ceo-breaks-down-every-detail-of-the-deal-that-worked-2.html): And how it changed the trajectory of both companies (302 words, Dec 2, 2025) - [The Merger Playbook: Crossbeam’s CEO Breaks Down Every Detail of the Deal That Worked](/content/review/the-merger-playbook/index.html): A founder's firsthand account of how he merged with a competitor to materially change the trajectory of his company. (2,524 words, Dec 2, 2025) - [Listen: How this two-time billion-dollar founder wins in the enterprise](/content/review/listen-how-this-two-time-billion-dollar-founder-wins-in-the-enterprise.html): GTM lessons from Jyoti Bansal (303 words, Nov 25, 2025) - [How Harness runs 16 “startups within a startup” at scale | Jyoti Bansal (Co-founder and CEO)](/content/review/podcast/how-harness-runs-16-startups-within-a-startup-at-scale-jyoti-bansal-co-founder-and-ceo.html): Jyoti Bansal is the co-founder and CEO of Harness, the software delivery platform used by thousands of engineering teams. He previously founded AppDynamics, which he led from inception to a multibillion-dollar acquisition by Cisco. (15,471 words, Nov 19, 2025) - [The process I've used to name dozens of companies](/content/review/the-process-ive-used-to-name-dozens-of-companies/index.html): A note from the essay's author (309 words, Nov 18, 2025) - [What’s in a Name? A Lot, Actually. 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(1,708 words, Nov 12, 2025) - [How to build a company you’ll run forever | Zack Kanter (Founder and CEO of Stedi)](/content/review/podcast/how-to-build-a-company-youll-run-forever-zack-kanter-founder-and-ceo-of-stedi.html) (17,733 words, Nov 6, 2025) - [How a high school dropout built one of the world’s most-used developer tools](/content/review/how-a-high-school-dropout-built-one-of-the-worlds-most-used-developer-tools.html): From bootstrapping to a $3B company (141 words, Nov 4, 2025) - [Sentry's Path to Product-Market Fit — A High School Dropout Turned an Open-Source Project into a $3B Company](/content/review/sentrys-path-to-product-market-fit/index.html): From Burger King shifts to a billion-dollar business, Sentry co-founder and CPO David Cramer shares his lessons for early stage founders. (3,246 words, Nov 4, 2025) - [When founders should quit as head of product — and hire the first PM](/content/review/when-founders-should-quit-as-head-of-product-and-hire-the-first-pm.html): 4 heuristics for deciding when it’s time (170 words, Oct 30, 2025) - [When Should You Stop Clinging to Product and Hire Your First PM? Advice From a Founder and CPO](/content/review/when-to-hire-your-first-pm/index.html): Saumil Mehta outlines a framework for early-stage founders on timing the first product manager hire. (1,552 words, Oct 30, 2025) - [The trap of weak product-market fit — lessons from Mercury’s founder](/content/review/the-trap-of-weak-product-market-fit-lessons-from-mercurys-founder.html): Inside the fintech unicorn’s path to product-market fit (35 words, Oct 28, 2025) - [Mercury’s Path to Product-Market Fit — Do the Hard Part First](/content/review/mercurys-path-to-product-market-fit/index.html): Serial founder Immad Akhund shares what he's learned about finding product-market fit from his fourth act, Mercury. (3,586 words, Oct 28, 2025) - [What Is an Economic Moat? Definition, Types, and More](/content/review/glossary/economic-moat/index.html): Learn what an economic moat is, why it matters for startups, and how advantages like cost, brand, and network effects protect long-term profitability. (1,415 words, Oct 27, 2025) - [Operating Leverage: What It Is, How to Calculate, and More](/content/review/glossary/operating-leverage/index.html): Learn what operating leverage is, how to calculate it, and how fixed vs. variable costs affect profit, risk, and scalability in your business. (1,569 words, Oct 27, 2025) - [What Are OKRs? Definition, Framework, and How to Set Effective Goals](/content/review/glossary/okrs-meaning/index.html): Learn what OKRs are, how to write them, and how this goal-setting framework drives focus, alignment, and measurable results for growing startups. (878 words, Oct 27, 2025) - [Burn Rate: Definition, Formula and How to Calculate](/content/review/glossary/burn-rate/index.html): Learn how startups use burn rate to track cash flow, calculate runway and manage spending before reaching profitability. (1,433 words, Oct 27, 2025) - [Go hard early: How lessons from Verkada shaped Serval's AI agents for IT teams | Jake Stauch (Founder and CEO)](/content/review/podcast/go-hard-early-how-lessons-from-verkada-shaped-servals-ai-agents-for-it-teams-jake-stauch-founder-and-ceo.html) (18,328 words, Oct 23, 2025) - [The compensation rules to follow (and break), according to experts](/content/review/the-compensation-rules-to-follow-and-break-according-to-experts.html): Compensation leaders from Clay, Google and Instacart share the rules early-stage founders can break — and the few they should actually follow. (73 words, Oct 22, 2025) - [What Early Stage Founders Should Know About Comp: The Rules To Break (And A Few You Should Actually Follow)](/content/review/what-early-stage-founders-should-know-about-comp-the-rules-to-break-and-a-few-you-should-actually-follow.html): There’s no shortage of advice on how to structure compensation. Here’s how to know which of it applies to you — with insights from Clay, Google and Instacart. (3,542 words, Oct 22, 2025) - [The pivot that paid off: How fal found explosive growth in generative media | Gorkem Yurtseven (Co-founder and CEO)](/content/review/podcast/the-pivot-that-paid-off-how-fal-found-explosive-growth-in-generative-media-gorkem-yurtseven-co-founder-and-ceo.html) (11,739 words, Oct 22, 2025) - [Pivot: Meaning in Business & How to Execute](/content/review/glossary/pivot-meaning-business/index.html): A business pivot is a fundamental strategic shift where you change a core component of your company. Learn all about pivoting your business. (992 words, Oct 17, 2025) - [Run Rate](/content/review/glossary/run-rate/index.html): Run rate is a foundational tool for financial forecasting. Learn how to calculate run rate and use it as a common language for your business. (1,245 words, Oct 17, 2025) - [Lifetime Value](/content/review/glossary/lifetime-value/index.html): LTV captures the entire value a customer brings to your business. Learn all about LTV, how to calculate it and more. (1,031 words, Oct 17, 2025) - [Gross Margin](/content/review/glossary/gross-margin/index.html): Gross margin connects revenue, direct costs and the bottom line into one measure. Learn how to calculate gross margin and use it wisely. (1,124 words, Oct 17, 2025) - [What is Bootstrapping in Business?](/content/review/glossary/what-is-bootstrapping-business/index.html): Bootstrapped entrepreneurs rely on their own resources to get their business going. Here's everything to know about bootstrapping in business. (1,332 words, Oct 17, 2025) - [How to avoid a co-founder breakup before Series B](/content/review/how-to-avoid-a-co-founder-breakup-before-series-b/index.html): Rituals to strengthen the most important relationship in your startup (331 words, Oct 14, 2025) - [Renew Your Co-Founder Vows — and Other Tactics for Strengthening the Most Important Relationship in Your Startup](/content/review/five-practices-to-strengthen-your-co-founder-relationship.html): Executive coach and interpersonal dynamics expert Rachel Lockett shares five practices to strengthen the most important relationship in your startup. (687 words, Oct 14, 2025) - [Inside Warp’s coding by prompt mandate (and how the CEO follows it too)](/content/review/inside-warps-coding-by-prompt-mandate-and-how-the-ceo-follows-it-too.html): Every coding task starts with a prompt — even the CEO’s (305 words, Oct 9, 2025) - [Freemium Model: How Freemium Works, Examples, Strategy](/content/review/glossary/freemium/index.html): All about how the freemium business model works, freemium examples and more. Learn effective strategies to boost your conversion and growth. (1,104 words, Oct 8, 2025) - [GMV (Gross Merchandise Value): Definition, Formula & Growth](/content/review/glossary/gross-merchandise-value-gmv/index.html): Understand the GMV acronym meaning, GMV vs revenue, why it matters, and pitfalls of it. Learn tactics to improve business performance with GMV. (863 words, Oct 8, 2025) - [Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Types and Examples](/content/review/glossary/key-performance-indicators-kpis/index.html): All about KPIs: defining KPIs, KPIs vs metrics, types, leading vs lagging and more. Use SMART goals and dashboards to drive strategy and growth. (908 words, Oct 8, 2025) - [Churn Rate for SaaS: Definition, Formulas & How to Reduce It](/content/review/glossary/churn-rate/index.html): Learn the definition, formulas, churn rate types and proven strategies to reduce churn for SaaS. Use churn rate to improve business performance. (1,003 words, Oct 8, 2025) - [Beta Testing: Definition, Types, Pros & How to Run](/content/review/glossary/beta-testing/index.html): Learn about beta testing & how users can validate usability, performance and market readiness. Use beta testing to improve your growth playbook. (978 words, Oct 8, 2025) - [Founders, you’re missing this key step on the path to product-market fit](/content/review/founders-youre-missing-this-key-step-on-the-path-to-product-market-fit.html): A research toolkit for the discovery phase (319 words, Oct 2, 2025) - [A Research Thinking Toolkit to Speed Up the Discovery Phase](/content/review/a-research-toolkit-for-the-discovery-phase/index.html): UX research expert Jeanette Mellinger shares a toolkit for deeper discovery of your customers, your team and yourself., A collaborative AI workspace, built on your company context. Build and orchestrate agents right alongside your team's projects, meetings, and connected apps. (5,908 words, Oct 2, 2025) - [Technical Debt](/content/review/glossary/technical-debt/index.html): Technical debt is the implied cost of additional work created when a team prioritizes faster delivery over the most achievable or maintainable solution. (1,294 words, Sep 30, 2025) - [Cash Runway](/content/review/glossary/cash-runway/index.html): Cash runway, sometimes called financial runway, is the amount of time a startup can continue operating before running out of money. It measures how long a company’s cash can support operations given its current spending rate and available resources. (782 words, Sep 30, 2025) - [ARPU](/content/review/glossary/arpu/index.html): ARPU, or average revenue per user, measures how much revenue a company generates from each customer over a specific period. It’s one of the clearest indicators of how effectively a business is monetizing its user base. (592 words, Sep 30, 2025) - [Break-Even Point](/content/review/glossary/break-even-point/index.html): The break-even point (BEP) is when a company’s total revenue exactly equals its total costs. It’s the moment when sales cover both fixed expenses (like rent and salaries) and variable costs (like raw materials and shipping). (1,092 words, Sep 30, 2025) - [Growth Hacking](/content/review/glossary/growth-hacking/index.html): Growth hacking is the multidisciplinary practice of identifying and improving key business metrics quickly and meaningfully. (1,051 words, Sep 30, 2025) - [How Brex is building an AI-first operations org](/content/review/how-brex-is-building-an-ai-first-operations-org/index.html): Changing roles, workflows and skills around AI (285 words, Sep 25, 2025) - [Why Sierra built a design partnership program on “hard mode”](/content/review/why-sierra-built-a-design-partnership-program-on-hard-mode.html): Sierra’s first GTM hire, breaks down every step of their playbook. (290 words, Sep 23, 2025) - [The Hard Way Pays Off: Inside Sierra’s Design Partner Strategy](/content/review/sierra-design-partnership/index.html): Instead of chasing low-friction pilots, Sierra asked design partners to pay, commit time and co-build — converting 100% of these partners into customers. (994 words, Sep 23, 2025) - [Net Revenue Retention (NRR): Definition and Strategies](/content/review/glossary/net-revenue-retention-nrr-definition/index.html): Net Revenue Retention (NRR) measures how much recurring revenue you retain and expand from existing customers over a set period, usually a year. (854 words, Sep 18, 2025) - [K-factor: The Metric Behind Virality](/content/review/glossary/k-factor-virality/index.html): K-Factor (also called the virality coefficient) measures how many new users each existing user or customer brings in over a defined time period. (716 words, Sep 18, 2025) - [What is ARR?](/content/review/glossary/arr/index.html): Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is the amount of predictable subscription revenue a company expects to generate in a year. (791 words, Sep 18, 2025) - [Scalability: True Meaning for Businesses](/content/review/glossary/scalability-meaning-business/index.html): Scalability is the ability of a business, product, process or system to grow under increased demand while maintaining performance. (943 words, Sep 18, 2025) - [What is a Stealth Mode Startup?](/content/review/glossary/stealth-mode/index.html): A stealth mode startup is a company that deliberately avoids public visibility while developing its product and operations. (1,108 words, Sep 18, 2025) - [Saying yes to everything: How customer obsession built Samsara | Kiren Sekar (CPO)](/content/review/podcast/saying-yes-to-everything-how-customer-obsession-built-samsara-kiren-sekar-cpo.html) (14,194 words, Sep 11, 2025) - [Idea validation tactics they won’t teach you in business school](/content/review/idea-validation-tactics-they-wont-teach-you-in-business-school.html): How founders from Linear, Mercury and other startups found conviction before the build (22 words, Sep 9, 2025) - [Is Your Startup Idea Any Good? Borrow These Validation Tactics from the Founders of Linear, Mercury and More](/content/review/unconventional-tactics-for-validating-your-startup-idea.html): Founders share the unconventional ways they found conviction in their startup ideas. (1,050 words, Sep 9, 2025) - [Starting an edtech giant in a “bad market” | ClassDojo’s story | Sam Chaudhary (Co-founder and CEO)](/content/review/podcast/starting-an-edtech-giant-in-a-bad-market-classdojos-story-sam-chaudhary-co-founder-and-ceo.html): Sam Chaudhary is the co-founder and CEO of ClassDojo, a multi-product education platform used in 95% of U.S. schools and over 180 countries globally to connect teachers, students, and families. In this episode, Sam shares the full arc of building ClassDojo, from early skepticism about education and (17,787 words, Sep 3, 2025) - [What your startup does (and doesn’t) need to come out of stealth](/content/review/what-your-startup-does-and-doesnt-need-to-come-out-of-stealth.html): A launch plan from Figma’s first marketer (306 words, Sep 2, 2025) - [How to Launch Your Startup Out of Stealth, from Figma's First Marketer](/content/review/how-to-launch-your-startup-out-of-stealth/index.html): Claire Butler joined Figma six months before its public launch and helped bring the design product out into the world. Here, she defangs the launch process, outlining all the steps you need to take to get ready now. (3,011 words, Sep 2, 2025) - [Scale smarter, not bigger: Inside Linktree’s internal AI adoption playbook](/content/review/scale-smarter-not-bigger-inside-linktrees-internal-ai-adoption-playbook-2.html): How Linktree kept headcount steady at 190 while boosting shipping velocity and AI adoption (342 words, Aug 28, 2025) - [From Chrome extension to $5B platform | Postman’s journey | Abhinav Asthana (Co-founder & CEO)](/content/review/podcast/from-chrome-extension-to-5b-platform-postmans-journey-abhinav-asthana-co-founder-ceo.html) (12,258 words, Aug 28, 2025) - [How to use your industry outsider status to your advantage](/content/review/how-to-use-your-industry-outsider-status-to-your-advantage.html): Product-building lessons from a Twitter PM turned healthcare founder (94 words, Aug 26, 2025) - [To Learn a New Market, Start by Building Your Product — Tactics From a Twitter PM Turned Healthcare Founder](/content/review/to-learn-a-new-market-start-by-building-your-product.html): Color co-founder and CEO Othman Laraki built a billion-dollar company in an industry he had zero professional experience in. Here, he shares four product-building tactics that helped him learn the healthcare industry. (4,357 words, Aug 26, 2025) - [How Canva leveraged unconventional growth levers to grow to $42B | Cameron Adams (Co-founder & CPO)](/content/review/podcast/how-canva-leveraged-unconventional-growth-levers-to-grow-to-42b-cameron-adams-co-founder-cpo.html): Cameron Adams is the co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Canva, the design platform valued at $42B as of July 2025 (12,313 words, Aug 20, 2025) - [Don’t ship your pitch deck to your website](/content/review/dont-ship-your-pitch-deck-to-your-website/index.html): How to translate investor talking points into a marketing story (328 words, Aug 19, 2025) - [Don’t Ship Your Pitch Deck to Your Website. Here’s How to Translate Your Story for Customers](/content/review/how-to-adapt-your-pitch-deck-into-your-website/index.html): Your customers don’t want to read your pitch deck. Marketing expert Emily Kramer explains how to turn your investor talking points into your website messaging. (826 words, Aug 19, 2025) - [Twitter's former CEO on rebuilding the web for AI | Parag Agrawal (Co-founder and CEO of Parallel)](/content/review/podcast/twitters-former-ceo-on-rebuilding-the-web-for-ai-parag-agrawal-co-founder-and-ceo-of-parallel.html): Parag Agrawal is the co-founder and CEO of Parallel, a startup building search infrastructure for the web’s second user: AIs. Before launching Parallel, Parag spent over a decade at Twitter, where he served as CTO and later CEO during a period of intense transformation, as well as public (11,465 words, Aug 14, 2025) - [Inside Owner’s zigzag path to a billion-dollar business](/content/review/inside-owners-zigzag-path-to-a-billion-dollar-business.html): Dropping out of high school. A six-figure Minecraft server. A failing dog grooming business. A pandemic pivot. (327 words, Aug 12, 2025) - [The Story Behind Owner’s Pivots to a Billion-Dollar Business](/content/review/owners-path-to-product-market-fit/index.html): Owner co-founder and CEO Adam Guild shares his unique entrepreneurial journey, featuring a six-figure Minecraft server, his mom's failing dog grooming business and a 180-degree pandemic pivot. (3,877 words, Aug 12, 2025) - [Ignoring Silicon Valley advice to build a $3B fintech unicorn | Immad Akhund (Co-founder and CEO of Mercury)](/content/review/podcast/lessons-from-mercury/index.html): Immad Akhund is the CEO and co-founder of Mercury, a digital banking platform that’s become the go-to financial infrastructure for startups. (13,130 words, Aug 6, 2025) - [Inside the ex-YC partner’s $15B self driving car company | Qasar Younis](/content/review/podcast/inside-the-ex-yc-partners-15b-self-driving-car-company-qasar-younis.html): Qasar Younis is the co-founder and CEO of Applied Intuition, a leading vehicle intelligence platform that raised $600M at a $15B valuation in June 2025. Before Applied Intuition, Qasar was the COO and a group partner at Y Combinator, and earlier founded TalkBin, which was acquired by Google. (12,633 words, Aug 1, 2025) - [Why Linear puts craft above all metrics](/content/review/why-linear-puts-craft-above-all-metrics/index.html): Inside the company’s slow and deliberate path to product-market fit (24 words, Jul 29, 2025) - [Linear’s Path to Product-Market Fit](/content/review/linears-path-to-product-market-fit/index.html): Linear CEO and co-founder Karri Saarinen unpacks the $1.25B company's slow and deliberate path to product-market fit. (2,843 words, Jul 29, 2025) - [What Braintrust got right about product-market fit | Ankur Goyal (Founder and CEO)](/content/review/what-braintrust-got-right-about-product-market-fit/index.html): Ankur Goyal is the founder and CEO of Braintrust, an end-to-end platform for building AI apps. Before that, he founded Impira, a data management platform that was acquired by Figma, where he went on to lead the AI team.. (14,380 words, Jul 24, 2025) - [How Carta saves 3,500+ hours per month using AI agents](/content/review/how-carta-saves-3-500-hours-per-month-using-ai-agents.html): An 11-min task completed in seconds (32 words, Jul 22, 2025) - [A new publication from First Round: Applied Intelligence](/content/review/a-new-publication-from-first-round-applied-intelligence.html): Learn how companies are actually using AI, and the results they’re experiencing (333 words, Jul 15, 2025) - [Stop playing customer success hero. Here’s how to build your first team.](/content/review/stop-playing-customer-success-hero-heres-how-to-build-your-first-team.html): From hiring to metrics to first systems to set up (317 words, Jul 10, 2025) - [The Founder’s Guide to Building a V1 of Customer Success](/content/review/founders-guide-building-customer-success/index.html): How to hire, metrics to track, systems to establish and how to put your team in a position to succeed. (4,773 words, Jul 10, 2025) - [How Gusto built a $9.5 billion company by identifying a burning problem](/content/review/podcast/how-gusto-built-a-9-5-billion-company-by-identifying-a-burning-problem.html): Tomer London is the co-founder and CPO of Gusto, the $9.5B payroll and HR platform serving 400K+ businesses. Inspired by his dad’s clothing shop in Israel, he set out to build better tools for small business owners. (11,503 words, Jul 1, 2025) - [How to go from random wins to repeatable revenue](/content/review/how-to-go-from-random-wins-to-repeatable-revenue/index.html): A formula for sales repeatability (157 words, Jun 25, 2025) - [How rejecting conventional wisdom grew Sentry to a $3 billion company | David Cramer (Co-founder and CPO)](/content/review/podcast/building-sentry/index.html): David Cramer is a self-taught engineer who dropped out of high school in 9th grade and managed a Burger King. He worked hard and rejected conventional wisdom to co-found Sentry, the leading open-source error monitoring tool used by over 90,000 companies. (26,867 words, Jun 19, 2025) - [Can you be a good micromanager?](/content/review/can-you-be-a-good-micromanager/index.html): How to toggle between details and delegation (314 words, Jun 11, 2025) - [Is All Micromanagement Bad? Here's How the Best Founders and Operators Balance Details and Delegation](/content/review/how-to-be-a-good-micromanager/index.html): Founders and execs from Apple, Rippling, Carta and more share their strategies for altitude shifting as a manager. (4,200 words, Jun 11, 2025) - [Inside Linear: Why craft and focus still win in product building | Karri Saarinen (Co-founder and CEO)](/content/review/podcast/inside-linear-why-craft-and-focus-still-win-in-product-building.html): Karri Saarinen is the co-founder and CEO of Linear, the project management tool built for high-performance software teams. Since its founding in 2019, Linear has achieved a valuation of $1.25B and now counts companies like OpenAI, Ramp and Vercel as customers.. (20,277 words, Jun 5, 2025) - [Rent-an-exec: Should you hire a fractional leader?](/content/review/rent-an-exec-should-you-hire-a-fractional-leader/index.html): A fractional COO explains (277 words, Jun 3, 2025) - [Should You “Rent” an Exec for Your Startup? A Fractional COO Weighs In](/content/review/fractional-exec-hiring-guide/index.html): A veteran strategy and ops leader turned fractional COO walks us through why, when and how early-stage founders can tap fractional execs to learn and grow faster. (4,637 words, Jun 3, 2025) - [Inside Figma's human-centered approach to building AI](/content/review/inside-figmas-human-centered-approach-to-building-ai.html): From determining success metrics to structuring qualitative feedback (36 words, May 28, 2025) - [The AI Eval Process for Figma's AI Product](/content/review/figma-ai-eval-process/index.html): How the team scaled human judgement through a series of feedback loops. 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From addressing AI to adjusting org charts, this COO, CFO, CPO & CRO share insights so startups at any stage can build effective, realistic plans., A collaborative AI workspace, built on your company context. Build and orchestrate agents right alongside your team's projects, meetings, and connected apps., A collaborative AI workspace, built on your company context. Build and orchestrate agents right alongside your team's projects, meetings, and connected apps., A collaborative AI workspace, built on your company context. Build and orchestrate agents right alongside your team's projects, meetings, and connected apps. (10,100 words, Oct 16, 2024) - [Your annual plan is already obsolete: here's how to fix it](/content/review/your-annual-plan-is-already-obsolete-heres-how-to-fix-it-2.html): The most actionable, tactical company building advice around for founders and startup leaders. 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(18 words, Sep 26, 2024) - [How to find — and keep — product-market fit | Bob Moore (Co-founder and CEO at Crossbeam, ex-RJMetrics and Stitch Data)](/content/review/how-to-find-and-keep-product-market-fit-bob-moore-co-founder-and-ceo-at-crossbeam-ex-rjmetrics-and-stitch-data.html): Bob Moore is the co-founder and CEO at Crossbeam, a “LinkedIn for data” platform that helps companies find overlapping opportunities with their partners. Crossbeam has raised US$117M to date and recently acquired Reveal in 2024. (18,258 words, Sep 19, 2024) - [Non-Obvious Signs of Early Startup Traction — And How to Spot Them](/content/review/non-obvious-signs-of-early-startup-traction-and-how-to-spot-them.html): We gathered the most surprising anecdotes from seasoned founders about when things clicked into place. (1,903 words, Sep 12, 2024) - [Non-obvious signs of early traction — and how to spot them](/content/review/non-obvious-signs-of-early-traction-and-how-to-spot-them-2.html): The most actionable, tactical company building advice around for founders and startup leaders. (18 words, Sep 12, 2024) - [Rebooting Intercom: Eoghan McCabe on Defying Silicon Valley Orthodoxy | Co-founder & CEO](/content/review/rebooting-intercom-eoghan-mccabe-on-defying-silicon-valley-orthodoxy-co-founder-ceo.html): Eoghan McCabe is the CEO and cofounder at Intercom, an AI customer service platform. Intercom has raised over $240M, and was last valued at $1.3B (13,477 words, Sep 5, 2024) - [Why startup marketers should be diagnosticians](/content/review/why-startup-marketers-should-be-diagnosticians-2/index.html): The most actionable, tactical company building advice around for founders and startup leaders. 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(3,446 words, Sep 26, 2023) - [Elevate Your Performance Review Conversations with these 12 Expert Tips](/content/review/elevate-your-performance-review-conversations-with-these-12-expert-tips.html): Stop dreading performance reviews. We assembled a list of 12 tips from expert leaders like Lenny Rachitsky, Molly Graham, Russ Laraway, Brie Wolfson, Julie Zhuo and more to make these conversations more impactful. There are frameworks and tactics for managers and reports alike to rethink their approach. (1,353 words, Sep 19, 2023) - [AI Hot Takes and Unusual Twitter Fundraising Strategies with Dan Siroker (Rewind AI)](/content/review/podcast/ai-hot-takes-and-unusual-twitter-fundraising-strategies-with-dan-siroker-rewind-ai.html): Dan Siroker is the co-founder and CEO at Rewind AI, a personalized AI powered by everything you’ve seen, said, or heard. Dan launched Rewind to (16,542 words, Sep 14, 2023) - [A guide to building product in a post-LLM world | Ryan Glasgow and Kevin Mandich from Sprig](/content/review/podcast/a-guide-to-building-product-in-a-post-llm-world-ryan-glasgow-and-kevin-mandich-from-sprig.html): Sprig is an AI-powered user insights platform that has raised over $88m. Today’s discussion features two key individuals in Sprig’s journey so (16,142 words, Sep 7, 2023) - [An org-design masterclass from a Square GM | Saumil Mehta](/content/review/podcast/an-org-design-masterclass-from-a-square-gm-saumil-mehta.html): Saumil Mehta is the GM of Square’s flagship point-of-sale business, as well as CRM, Square Staff, and Square Online. Before Square, Saumil was the (14,876 words, Aug 31, 2023) - [Vanta's Path to Product-Market Fit — Solve the Customer’s Problem, Then Write Code](/content/review/vantas-path-to-product-market-fit/index.html): Vanta founder and CEO Christina Cacioppo sits down with First Round Partner Todd Jackson for an inside look at all the unconventional moves in the company’s first few years — from creating a new category to signing the first 600 customers without a proper website, waiting to raise a Series A until they had $10M in ARR. (1,166 words, Aug 29, 2023) - [5 Types of Interview Questions to Upgrade Your Processes](/content/review/type-of-interview-questions/index.html): Learn the different types of interview questions to ask and help filter new hires. These questions will make you feel more confident as an interviewer. (948 words, Aug 26, 2023) - [How Talent Teams Can Better Weather Boom-and-Bust Cycles — Advice from Two Decades at Gem, Facebook, and Robinhood](/content/review/how-talent-teams-can-better-weather-boom-and-bust-cycles.html): Richard Cho has led talent acquisition teams at large tech firms for the better part of two decades. He’s collected the lessons he’s learned from operating in both hiring booms and busts, offering a thoughtful guide on how startup talent teams can do more — with less. (4,066 words, Aug 18, 2023) - [How to supercharge your engineering org | Kellan Elliott-McCrea (Adobe, Dropbox)](/content/review/podcast/how-to-supercharge-your-engineering-org-kellan-elliott-mccrea-adobe-dropbox.html): Kellan Elliott-McCrea is a Head of Engineering at Adobe. He discusses how software engineering has changed in the last 10-15 years, the importance (16,182 words, Aug 17, 2023) - [Productboard’s Path to Product-Market Fit — Building a Unicorn Company with Lean Startup Principles](/content/review/productboards-path-to-product-market-fit/index.html): Productboard's founder and CEO Hubert Palan sits down with First Round Partner Todd Jackson for a sweeping look at how he used Steve Blank's principles to build a product that tackled his own pain points as a product manager. (3,918 words, Aug 15, 2023) - [The zero to one B2B marketing playbook | Alex Kracov (Lattice, Dock)](/content/review/podcast/the-zero-to-one-b2b-marketing-playbook-alex-kracov-lattice-dock.html): The Zero to One B2B marketing playbook | Alex Kracov (Lattice, Dock) (15,393 words, Aug 10, 2023) - [Lessons from Loom on product strategy, organizational leadership, and cross-functional performance | Anique Drumright (COO at Loom)](/content/review/podcast/episode-100/index.html): Anique Drumright is Chief Operating Officer at Loom. She shares insights and strategies on how Loom approaches product design and strategy, how to (12,371 words, Aug 3, 2023) - [The Art of Self-Awareness: A Founder’s Guide to Assessing Strengths and Weaknesses](/content/review/the-art-of-self-awareness-a-founders-guide-to-assessing-strengths-and-weaknesses.html): Psychologist and co-founder of Coa, Dr. Emily Anhalt, unpacks the five traits of high-impact founders — and how the very traits that make a founder successful can also hold them back. (1,391 words, Aug 1, 2023) - [How to Scale Yourself Down — Not Up — as a Leader](/content/review/how-to-scale-yourself-down-not-up-as-a-leader/index.html): After a four-decade career of toggling back and forth between big and small, Lightspark SVP of Engineering James Everingham shares his playbook for scaling down your leadership as you go from an org of hundreds or thousands to a handful of direct reports. (3,773 words, Jul 25, 2023) - [Material Security’s Path to Product-Market Fit — Find Your Winning Idea by Selling Products That Don’t Exist Yet](/content/review/material-securitys-path-to-product-market-fit/index.html): Material Security co-founders Ryan Noon and Abhishek Agrawal sit down with First Round Partner Todd Jackson to explain how they whittled 25 startup ideas down to 4 and then used a pre-selling technique to find their winning idea. (2,722 words, Jul 18, 2023) - [Lessons from Slack on decision making, product-led growth, and taking big swings — Noah Desai Weiss](/content/review/podcast/episode-99/index.html): Noah Desai Weiss is Chief Product Officer at Slack. He shares frameworks and strategies on how Slack’s product org approaches decision making, what (16,901 words, Jul 13, 2023) - [21 Ways To Shore Up Your Customer Success Org](/content/review/21-ways-to-shore-up-your-customer-success-org/index.html): When operating in a downturn, founders have to make the most out of what they have in order to grow, including their existing customer relationships. This often means shining a spotlight on customer success orgs. To help, we spoke to over a dozen customer success experts for their best advice, practices, tips and tricks for running a solid CS org. (419 words, Jul 12, 2023) - [Lessons in leadership | Scaling an org, developing yourself, and tactical management advice | Jack Altman (Lattice)](/content/review/podcast/lessons-in-leadership-scaling-an-org-developing-yourself-and-tactical-management-advice-jack-altman-lattice.html): Jack Altman is the co-founder and CEO of Lattice, a people success platform for building engaged, high-performing teams. Lattice has raised over $330M, (16,650 words, Jul 6, 2023) - [Lessons from Stripe on adding new products - Assessing ideas, structuring teams, and tactics for product reviews | Tara Seshan (Watershed, Stripe)](/content/review/podcast/lessons-from-stripe-on-adding-new-products-assessing-ideas-structuring-teams-and-tactics-for-product-reviews-tara-seshan-watershed-stripe.html): Tara Seshan is the Head of Product at Watershed, a climate platform that companies use to measure, report, and reduce their carbon emissions. Before (12,060 words, Jun 22, 2023) - [WorkOS’ Path to Product-Market Fit — Why Your ‘Bad’ Idea Might Actually Be the Best One](/content/review/workos-path-to-product-market-fit/index.html): WorkOS founder/CEO Michael Grinich sits down with First Round partner Todd Jackson to tell the story of how he identified a huge untapped market and built a “minimum awesome product.” (1,153 words, Jun 21, 2023) - [Zūm’s Path to Product-Market Fit — How The Student Transportation Company Found Product-Market Fit Twice](/content/review/zums-path-to-product-market-fit/index.html): Zūm co-founder Ritu Narayan sits down with First Round partner Todd Jackson to tell the story of how her transportation company found product-market fit in both B2C and B2B. (2,241 words, Jun 12, 2023) - [How to design a high-impact growth org for a PLG startup — Webflow & Dropbox’s Melissa Tan](/content/review/podcast/how-to-design-a-high-impact-growth-org-for-a-plg-startup-webflow-dropboxs-melissa-tan.html): Melissa Tan is the GM of Self-Service and Head of Growth at Webflow and formerly the Head of Growth and Monetization for Dropbox Business. She unpacks (12,266 words, Jun 8, 2023) - [The Most Common Go-to-Market Questions This Expert Gets from Early Founders](/content/review/the-most-common-go-to-market-questions-from-founders.html): Struggling to figure out your startup's early go-to-market? First Round's VP of GTM Emery Rosansky shares her expert advice and tactical templates for narrowing down your ICP, running a successful sales call, and accurate forecasting. (603 words, Jun 6, 2023) - [Why is the transition from IC Engineer to Manager so tricky (and how to get it right)? — Marcel Weekes, VP of Product Engineering at Figma](/content/review/podcast/why-is-the-transition-from-ic-engineer-to-manager-so-tricky-and-how-to-get-it-right-marcel-weekes-vp-of-product-engineering-at-figma.html): Marcel Weekes is the VP of Product Engineering at Figma, and was formerly VP of Engineering at Slack. He unpacks why most startups get it wrong when (11,769 words, May 25, 2023) - [Labelbox's Path to PMF: Founders Need to be Contrarian and Right — Here's How](/content/review/labelboxs-path-to-pmf-founders-need-to-be-contrarian-and-right-heres-how.html): Labelbox co-founder and CEO Manu Sharma sits down with First Round partner Todd Jackson to tell the story of how he prioritized idea validation and customer discovery before building Labelbox. (898 words, May 24, 2023) - [How to pull off the ‘zoom-in pivot,’ and other lessons in early-stage building with Luminai’s Kesava Kirupa Dinakaran](/content/review/podcast/how-to-pull-off-the-zoom-in-pivot-and-other-lessons-in-early-stage-building-with-luminais-kesava-kirupa-dinakaran.html): Kesava Kirupa Dinakaran is the co-founder and CEO of Luminai, an early-stage software startup that automates workflows by taking any multi-click process (13,087 words, May 18, 2023) - [‘Give Away Your People’ — How Managers Can (and Should) Prep for High Performers to Leave](/content/review/give-away-your-people-how-managers-can-prep-for-high-performers-to-leave.html): Seasoned startup operator Clarissa Shen offers a fresh perspective on Molly Graham’s ‘Give Away Your Legos’ framework by sharing her own tactics on how to proactively manage for high performers to leave. (1,654 words, May 15, 2023) - [The go-to-market guide for open-source companies — Douglas Hanna, COO Grafana Labs](/content/review/podcast/the-go-to-market-guide-for-open-source-companies-douglas-hanna-coo-grafana-labs.html): Douglas Hanna, Chief Operating Officer at Grafana Labs, explores the nuances of building and scaling revenue at an open-source company. (12,866 words, May 11, 2023) - [Alma’s Path to Product-Market Fit — How to Pivot and Succeed as a Solo Non-Technical Founder](/content/review/almas-path-to-product-market-fit-8212-how-to-pivot-and-succeed-as-a-solo-non-technical-founder.html): Alma founder and CEO Harry Ritter sits down with First Round partner Todd Jackson to tell the story of how he tackled a huge pandemic pivot that turned his initial startup idea on its head and found product-market fit twice. (3,427 words, May 10, 2023) - [What this 3-time founding team did differently to find product-market fit faster — Jessica McKellar, CTO of Pilot](/content/review/podcast/what-this-3-time-founding-team-did-differently-to-find-product-market-fit-faster-jessica-mckellar-cto-of-pilot.html): Jessica McKellar is the co-founder and CTO of Pilot, the largest accounting firm for startups. She’s also a three-time founder, all working with (11,724 words, May 4, 2023) - [How to measure product-market fit with the REV model — Artem Kroupenev](/content/review/podcast/how-to-measure-product-market-fit-with-the-rev-model-artem-kroupenev.html): Artem Kroupenev, VP of Strategy at Augury, shares by-the-book frameworks for how his company measures product-market fit in the complex field of industrial (9,849 words, Apr 27, 2023) - [Kubecost’s Path to Product-Market Fit — How the Co-Founders Validated Their Idea with 100 Customer Conversations](/content/review/kubecosts-path-to-product-market-fit-how-the-co-founders-validated-their-idea-with-100-customer-conversations.html): In this post in our “Paths to Product-Market Fit” series, Webb Brown sits down with First Round partner Todd Jackson to tell the story of how he and his co-founder validated the idea for Kubecost. (1,905 words, Apr 25, 2023) - [The early user research playbook for founders — Jeanette Mellinger’s expert advice for validating your idea with high-quality interviews](/content/review/podcast/the-early-user-research-playbook-for-founders-jeanette-mellingers-expert-advice-for-validating-your-idea-with-high-quality-interviews.html): User research expert Jeanette Mellinger shares her three-step process to high-quality user research, with tailored advice for founders in the early (16,427 words, Apr 20, 2023) - [The Silent Killer of Your Operating Practice: Fear](/content/review/the-silent-killer-of-your-operating-practice-fear/index.html): Amanda Schwartz Ramirez, former PayPal strategy leader and now COO advisor for startups, shares the 5 biggest fears that can derail your company's strategic planning sessions (and tactical advice for how to sidestep them). (3,623 words, Apr 17, 2023) - [Claire Hughes Johnson on being a “learning organism” during Stripe’s growth, and more scaling advice for leaders](/content/review/podcast/claire-hughes-johnson-on-being-a-learning-organism-during-stripes-growth-and-more-scaling-advice-for-leaders.html): Claire Hughes Johnson spent seven years as the COO of Stripe, overseeing rapid growth as the company scaled from under 200 employees to over 7,000. (15,585 words, Apr 13, 2023) - [Notion’s Head of Marketing on building a growth marketing engine at a PLG company — Rachel Hepworth](/content/review/podcast/notions-head-of-marketing-on-building-a-growth-marketing-engine-at-a-plg-company-rachel-hepworth.html): Rachel Hepworth, Head of Marketing at Notion and formerly Slack’s first growth marketing hire, shares her high-level frameworks for bringing marketing (10,819 words, Apr 6, 2023) - [How to Sell Your Startup: The Complete Guide to Running an M&A Process as a Founder](/content/review/how-to-sell-your-startup-the-complete-guide-to-running-an-manda-process-as-a-founder.html): As a repeat founder, Daniel Debow has successfully sold three different startups. He reveals his no-nonsense playbook for other startup founders on how to run an M&A process from top to bottom. (5,856 words, Apr 4, 2023) - [What makes someone a truly remarkable talent evaluator — Nadia Singer, Figma’s Chief People Officer](/content/review/podcast/what-makes-someone-a-truly-remarkable-talent-evaluator-nadia-singer-figmas-chief-people-officer.html): Nadia Singer, Chief People Officer at Figma, shares why she believes anyone can become a skilled talent evaluator, her best interview questions and (8,311 words, Mar 30, 2023) - [Webflow’s Path to Product-Market Fit — Lessons on Creating a Market with Rigorous Customer Empathy](/content/review/webflows-path-to-product-market-fit-lessons-on-creating-a-market-with-rigorous-customer-empathy.html): In this post in our “Paths to Product-Market Fit” series, Webflow’s Bryant Chou sits down with First Round partner Todd Jackson to tell the story of how he and his co-founders leaned into the power of customer empathy to create the leading visual development platform for building powerful websites without writing code. (2,773 words, Mar 28, 2023) - [The Secret to an In Sync Startup? Ditch Your Meetings and Try an Asynchronous Culture](/content/review/the-secret-to-an-in-sync-startup-ditch-your-meetings-and-try-an-asynchronous-culture.html): As the co-founder and CEO of Subscript, Sidharth Kakkar ditched all the company’s meetings and decided to make the startup’s culture completely asynchronous. He shares his playbook for moving away from a meetings-heavy culture, with three pillars for other founders to lean on. (4,213 words, Mar 27, 2023) - [How Vanta’s founder bet big on startup security and found product-market fit — Christina Cacioppo](/content/review/podcast/how-vantas-founder-bet-big-on-startup-security-and-found-product-market-fit-christina-cacioppo.html): Christina Cacioppo is the co-founder and CEO of Vanta. She pulls back the curtain on some of the security company’s more unconventional moves on (11,295 words, Mar 23, 2023) - [Lessons from Notion on building a thriving decentralized community — Ben Lang](/content/review/podcast/lessons-from-notion-on-building-a-thriving-decentralized-community-ben-lang.html): Ben Lang, Head of Community at Notion, shares his playbook for how to tap into your product evangelists and build a powerful community that grows (9,188 words, Mar 16, 2023) - [Binti’s Path to Product-Market Fit — Lessons in Immersive User Research](/content/review/bintis-path-to-product-market-fit-8212-lessons-in-immersive-user-research.html): In this post in our “Paths to Product-Market Fit” series, Binti’s co-founder and CEO Felicia Curcuru sits down with First Round partner Todd Jackson to tell the story of how her time spent shadowing family social workers in San Francisco empowered her to build a product. (3,257 words, Mar 15, 2023) - [From a narrow ICP to a wide-open market – Lessons from Webflow’s Bryant Chou on using customer empathy to get product-market fit](/content/review/podcast/from-a-narrow-icp-to-a-wide-open-market-lessons-from-webflows-bryant-chou-on-using-customer-empathy-to-get-product-market-fit.html): Bryant Chou is the co-founder of Webflow. He goes back to the early days of ideating on and building Webflow, walking us through how the co-founders (10,997 words, Mar 9, 2023) - [“Sweat the Details” and Other Commandments for Mapping Out a Career in Product](/content/review/sweat-the-details-and-other-commandments-for-mapping-out-a-career-in-product.html): Veteran product leader Jiaona Zhang walks us through the biggest lessons from her entire career in product at Dropbox, Airbnb, WeWork and now Webflow, from breaking into the function as a first-time PM to tactical tips for navigating transitions into more senior roles. (1,282 words, Feb 27, 2023) - [How to lead with transparency amidst adversity — Don Faul, CEO of CrossFit and former Google, Facebook & Pinterest exec](/content/review/podcast/how-to-lead-with-transparency-amidst-adversity-don-faul-ceo-of-crossfit-and-former-google-facebook-pinterest-exec.html): Before taking over the helm of CrossFit as its new CEO, Don Faul’s leadership experience included an 8-year stint as a U.S. Marine Corps platoon (14,528 words, Feb 23, 2023) - [The Startup’s Guide to Customer Advocacy: How to Get Closer to Your Champions](/content/review/the-startups-guide-to-customer-advocacy-how-to-get-closer-to-your-champions.html): Customer advocacy is more than just case studies. Kalina Bryant (formerly of Asana, Talkdesk and Marketo) shares tactical advice for turning customers into advocates, with tailored pointers for startups on a budget. (4,791 words, Feb 20, 2023) - [X1's Path to Product-Market Fit — How the Consumer Credit Card Company Pulled off a Pandemic Pivot](/content/review/x1s-path-to-product-market-fit-how-the-consumer-credit-card-company-pulled-off-a-pandemic-pivot.html): In our "Paths to Product-Market Fit" series, X1 founder and CEO Deepak Rao sits down with First Round partner Todd Jackson to share the dramatic story of how his company pivoted during the pandemic and found product-market fit with a bold launch strategy. (2,679 words, Feb 14, 2023) - [The Startup Founder’s Guide to Hiring a Data Scientist](/content/review/the-startup-founders-guide-to-hiring-a-data-scientist.html): Are you ready to hire a data scientist? Mengying Li, Growth Data Science Lead at Notion, shares her framework for testing whether you should invest in this key hire and how to find the right data science skillset for your startup. (3,820 words, Feb 14, 2023) - [From kickoffs to retros and Slack channels — Stripe's documentation best practices with Brie Wolfson](/content/review/podcast/from-kickoffs-to-retros-and-slack-channels-stripes-documentation-best-practices-with-brie-wolfson.html): Former Stripe and Figma leader and founder of The Kool-Aid Factory Brie Wolfson takes us behind the scenes at how company cultures evolve over time, (11,238 words, Feb 9, 2023) - [Why comms deserves its own spot on the exec team — Aaron Zamost’s lessons from Square](/content/review/podcast/why-comms-deserves-its-own-spot-on-the-exec-team-aaron-zamosts-lessons-from-square.html): Former Square exec Aaron Zamost on why comms belongs on the leadership team, why you shouldn’t hire a PR agency, and how to handle internal com (13,219 words, Feb 2, 2023) - [Pull, Don’t Push: How Catalysts Overcome Barriers and Drive Product Adoption](/content/review/pull-dont-push-how-catalysts-overcome-barriers-and-drive-product-adoption.html): Marketing expert Jonah Berger has spent years probing into the science behind changing people’s minds, and why becoming an effective change agent is about lowering barriers, not pushing harder. He distilled five of the most common barriers into a simple framework and walks us through how founders can more effectively build and sell products. (4,364 words, Jan 27, 2023) - [What founders need to know about acquisitions: Shopify’s Daniel Debow on M&A lessons from selling three startups](/content/review/podcast/what-founders-need-to-know-about-acquisitions-shopifys-daniel-debow-on-m-a-lessons-from-selling-three-startups.html): Daniel Debow, VP of Product for Demand at Shopify and a three-time founder. He shares his playbook for how founders should navigate an acquisitio (14,488 words, Jan 26, 2023) - [Retool’s Path to Product-Market Fit — Lessons for Getting to 100 Happy Customers, Faster](/content/review/retools-path-to-product-market-fit-lessons-for-getting-to-100-happy-customers-faster.html): In the latest post for our new series, "Paths to Product-Market Fit," Retool founder and CEO David Hsu sits down with First Round partner Todd Jackson to share how the internal tools company hypothesized, tested and iterated its way to 100 happy customers (2,149 words, Jan 24, 2023) - [How to build your culture like a product — Lessons from Anna Binder, Asana’s Head of People](/content/review/podcast/how-to-build-your-culture-like-a-product-lessons-from-anna-binder-asanas-head-of-people.html): Anna Binder is the Head of People at Asana, joining the company back in 2016 as its first HR executive. She shares her advice from helping weave the (12,132 words, Jan 20, 2023) - [Small Habits Co-Founders Can Hang On to as They Build the Plane While Flying It](/content/review/small-habits-co-founders-can-hang-on-to-as-they-build-the-plane-while-flying-it.html): Labelbox’s Manu Sharma and Brian Rieger have turned a decade-long friendship into a lasting business partnership, scaling the AI developer tool startup since co-founding it together in 2017. Here, they share small habits that co-founders can rely on to bolster their relationship at any stage — from getting aligned on decision rights to thoughtfully crafting an executive team. (914 words, Jan 18, 2023) - [Maven's Path to Product-Market Fit — Lessons for Leveraging Community in the Early Days](/content/review/mavens-path-to-product-market-fit-lessons-for-leveraging-community-in-the-early-days.html): In the second post for our new series, "Paths to Product-Market Fit," Maven founder and CEO Kate Ryder sits down with First Round partner Todd Jackson to share the inside story of the first female-led telemedicine startup to achieve unicorn status. (3,403 words, Jan 11, 2023) - [The 30 Best Pieces of Advice for Entrepreneurs in 2022](/content/review/the-30-best-pieces-of-advice-for-entrepreneurs-in-2022.html): The best company-building advice is timeless, with a focus on the fundamentals. We rounded up 30 essential insights for startups to lean on in the coming year, no matter the climate. (10,550 words, Jan 3, 2023) - [Founders: Here’s how to get your sales pitch in ship-shape — Peter Kazanjy](/content/review/podcast/founders-heres-how-to-get-your-sales-pitch-in-ship-shape-peter-kazanjy.html): Peter Kazanjy is the co-founder of Atrium and the author of “Founding Sales: The Early Stage Go-To-Market Handbook.” He shares advice for getting (13,321 words, Dec 15, 2022) - [From BigCo to Startup: 20 Tips for Evaluating Early-Stage Companies & Making the Leap](/content/review/from-bigco-to-startup-20-tips-for-evaluating-early-stage-companies-and-making-the-leap.html): Considering moving from BigCo to startup? We crowdsourced a tactical guide for first-time startup job-seekers on how to evaluate career opportunities at early-stage companies. (6,682 words, Dec 14, 2022) - [Deepak Rao on how X1 pivoted, launched, built a +600K-long waitlist and fundraised in tough times](/content/review/podcast/deepak-rao-on-how-x1-pivoted-launched-built-a-600k-long-waitlist-and-fundraised-in-tough-times.html): Deepak Rao shares the dramatic story of how X1 pivoted during the pandemic and found product-market fit with a bold launch strategy. (14,102 words, Dec 8, 2022) - [Airtable's Path to Product-Market Fit — Building Horizontal Products](/content/review/airtables-path-to-product-market-fit-lessons-for-building-horizontal-products.html): Airtable co-founder Andrew Ofstad shares the inside story of the no-code platform's long journey building a horizontal product. (1,548 words, Dec 6, 2022) - [How to lower barriers to change when building and selling products — Jonah Berger’s advice for founders](/content/review/podcast/how-to-lower-barriers-to-change-when-building-and-selling-products-jonah-bergers-advice-for-founders.html): Wharton professor and author Jonah Berger on overcoming barriers to change when building breakthrough products, convincing customers or leading t (13,581 words, Dec 1, 2022) - [Investing in Internal Documentation: A Brick-by-Brick Guide for Startups](/content/review/investing-in-internal-documentation-a-brick-by-brick-guide-for-startups.html): David Nunez, an early hire at Stripe and Uber, shares his step-by-step playbook for establishing good internal documentation habits at your startup. He unpacks his tested tactics for creating a culture of documentation, setting the quality bar and keeping things organized. (2,404 words, Nov 30, 2022) - [Annual Planning in Uncertain Times: 6 Tactics for Rethinking Your Company’s End-of-Year Exercise](/content/review/annual-planning-in-uncertain-times-6-tactics-for-rethinking-your-companys-end-of-year-exercise.html): We’ve combed the extensive Review archives for a timely roundup of the most unique advice for end-of-year strategic planning. Leaders like Lenny Rachitsky, Nels Gilbreth, Jeff Lawson, Annie Duke, Ravi Mehta and more share the inventive frameworks they lean on for this annual exercise., A collaborative AI workspace, built on your company context. Build and orchestrate agents right alongside your team's projects, meetings, and connected apps. (3,422 words, Nov 17, 2022) - [How Retool reached $2M in ARR before launch by focusing on developers — David Hsu](/content/review/podcast/how-retool-reached-2m-in-arr-before-launch-by-focusing-on-developers-david-hsu.html): David Hsu is the founder and CEO of Retool, a low-code platform for developers building custom internal tools. He goes back to the early days of ideating (14,296 words, Nov 10, 2022) - [What startups can learn from enterprise corporate messaging — Sara Varni’s lessons from Salesforce & Twilio](/content/review/podcast/what-startups-can-learn-from-enterprise-corporate-messaging-sara-varnis-lessons-from-salesforce-twilio.html): Sara Varni is the CMO of Attentive. She shares her biggest lessons from her marketing leadership career at Salesforce and Twilio, and what startups (12,257 words, Oct 27, 2022) - [Finding product-market fit twice — Alma’s Harry Ritter on pivots and staying close to customers](/content/review/podcast/finding-product-market-fit-twice-almas-harry-ritter-on-pivots-and-staying-close-to-customers.html): Founder Harry Ritter dives into Alma’s journey to product-market fit, with advice on rallying through tough pivots and building as a solo found (12,892 words, Oct 13, 2022) - [Grit or Quit? Tactical Advice for Founders Facing Tough Company Building Decisions](/content/review/grit-or-quit-tactical-advice-for-founders-facing-tough-company-building-decisions.html): Quitting is an underrated startup skill, says decision science expert, bestselling author, and former poker pro Annie Duke. She unpacks the psychology behind why it’s so hard to walk away, sharing tactical advice for all the forks in the road, whether it’s abandoning a product, changing your go-to-market strategy, or sadly, shutting down your startup. (5,446 words, Oct 11, 2022) - [Why everything we’ve been taught about quitting is wrong — Annie Duke](/content/review/podcast/why-everything-weve-been-taught-about-quitting-is-wrong-annie-duke.html): Annie Duke is First Round’s Special Partner of Decision Science. On the heels of releasing her new book, “Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk (15,029 words, Oct 6, 2022) - [How to scale your co-founder relationship alongside your startup — Manu Sharma & Brian Rieger of Labelbox](/content/review/podcast/how-to-scale-your-co-founder-relationship-alongside-your-startup-manu-sharma-brian-rieger-of-labelbox.html): Manu Sharma and Brian Rieger are the co-founders of Labelbox and in this conversation, they take a microscope to their co-founder DNA and share tons (7,546 words, Sep 29, 2022) - [How Product Strategy Fails in the Real World — What to Avoid When Building Highly-Technical Products](/content/review/how-product-strategy-fails-in-the-real-world-what-to-avoid-when-building-highly-technical-products.html): Why does strategy tend to stall when the rubber hits the road? Nate Stewart, Chief Product Officer of Cockroach Labs, shares an essential guide for creating a resilient strategy that’s still standing next year. (3,859 words, Sep 26, 2022) - [A crash course on founder-led customer success — Sydney Strader’s lessons from Catalyst & InVision](/content/review/podcast/a-crash-course-on-founder-led-customer-success-sydney-straders-lessons-from-catalyst-invision.html): Sydney Strader shares tips from Catalyst & InVision on founder-led customer success, from structuring customer conversations to making the first (656 words, Sep 22, 2022) - [The founder’s guide to making your first few hires — Steven Bartel on recruiting at Gem & Dropbox](/content/review/podcast/the-founders-guide-to-making-your-first-few-hires-steven-bartel-on-recruiting-at-gem-dropbox.html): Gem co-founder Steven Bartel shares tactics for recruiting the first 10 hires, from sourcing and nurturing passive talent, to structuring intervi (10,823 words, Sep 15, 2022) - [From product roadmapping to sprint planning: How to ship software at scale — Snir Kodesh](/content/review/podcast/from-product-roadmapping-to-sprint-planning-how-to-ship-software-at-scale-snir-kodesh.html): Snir Kodesh is the Head of Engineering at Retool and former Senior Director of Engineering at Lyft. He unpacks the ins and outs of shipping software, (12,980 words, Sep 8, 2022) - [The 5 phases of Figma’s community-led growth — Claire Butler](/content/review/podcast/the-5-phases-of-figmas-community-led-growth-claire-butler.html): Claire Butler, Figma’s first business hire, walks us through the different phases of the company’s community-led growth model — from planting (12,890 words, Sep 1, 2022) - [The 5 Phases of Figma’s Community-Led Growth: From Stealth to Enterprise](/content/review/the-5-phases-of-figmas-community-led-growth-from-stealth-to-enterprise.html): Claire Butler, Figma’s first business hire, walks us through the different phases of the company’s community-led growth model — from planting the seeds with power users in stealth mode all the way to layering a sales motion and moving upmarket. (3,289 words, Sep 1, 2022) - [Airtable’s path to product-market fit — co-founder Andrew Ofstad on building horizontal products](/content/review/podcast/airtables-path-to-product-market-fit-co-founder-andrew-ofstad-on-building-horizontal-products.html): Airtable’s co-founder Andrew Ofstad shares Airtable’s early journey to product-market fit — from prototypes and launch, to go-to-market str (13,468 words, Aug 18, 2022) - [Operations vs. Algorithms: Advice for scaling startups, from Opendoor CTO Ian Wong](/content/review/podcast/operations-vs-algorithms-advice-for-scaling-startups-from-opendoor-cto-ian-wong.html): Ian Wong is the co-founder and CTO of Opendoor. He discusses the tricky balance between operations and data science in the early days of the startup, (12,376 words, Aug 11, 2022) - [The Critical Startup Skills You Might Be Overlooking — And How to Bring Them Into Focus](/content/review/the-critical-startup-skills-you-might-be-overlooking-and-how-to-bring-them-into-focus.html): We’ve combed the extensive Review archives for tactical guidance from some of the sharpest folks we know on how to get better at specific startup skills you’re probably discounting. Leaders like Annie Duke, Liz Fosslien, Brie Wolfson and more share tactical ideas for putting more focus onto the critical development areas you might be overlooking. (1,052 words, Jul 28, 2022) - [Want to go totally asynchronous? Repeat founder Sidharth Kakkar on building a remote team & autonomous culture](/content/review/podcast/want-to-go-totally-asynchronous-repeat-founder-sidharth-kakkar-on-building-a-remote-team-autonomous-culture.html): Subscript founder Sidharth Kakkar shares tactical advice on how to build a totally asynchronous, distributed team with no internal meetings — from (14,408 words, Jul 21, 2022) - [Why COO is the most fluid role in the C-Suite — Sara Clemens, former COO of Twitch & Pandora](/content/review/podcast/why-coo-is-the-most-fluid-role-in-the-c-suite-sara-clemens-former-coo-of-twitch-pandora.html): Sara Clemens was most recently the COO of Twitch and also previously served as the COO of Pandora. She explores the nuances of this unique C-Suite (11,647 words, Jul 7, 2022) - [From PM to VP of Product: Jiaona Zhang’s career advice from Webflow, Airbnb & Dropbox](/content/review/podcast/from-pm-to-vp-of-product-jiaona-zhangs-career-advice-from-webflow-airbnb-dropbox.html): Jiaona Zhang shares her framework for building a product career, from PM, to manager, to exec, with advice from her time at Webflow, Airbnb & Dro (12,326 words, Jun 23, 2022) - [Stop Overcomplicating It: The Simple Guidebook to Upping Your Management Game](/content/review/stop-overcomplicating-it-the-simple-guidebook-to-upping-your-management-game.html): Russ Laraway wades through all of the competing opinions, complex frameworks and advice out there on how to be a better manager, creating a simple, data-backed leadership toolkit. (657 words, Jun 21, 2022) - [A Manager’s Guide to Helping Teams Face Down Uncertainty, Burnout and Perfectionism](/content/review/a-managers-guide-to-helping-teams-face-down-uncertainty-burnout-and-perfectionism.html): Uncertainty, burnout and perfectionism are holding teams back — Liz Fosslien is here to share tactical advice (and her signature witty illustrations) on how managers can help. (772 words, May 23, 2022) - [Building a highly-technical enterprise product? Essential advice for product leaders — Nate Stewart of Cockroach Labs](/content/review/podcast/building-a-highly-technical-enterprise-product-essential-advice-for-product-leaders-nate-stewart-of-cockroach-labs.html): Nate Stewart is the Chief Product Officer of Cockroach Labs, which is the creator of CockroachDB. He unpacks the ins and outs of building a product (11,101 words, May 19, 2022) - [35 Impactful Questions Managers Should Ask Themselves Regularly](/content/review/35-impactful-questions-managers-should-ask-themselves-regularly.html): We asked top startup leaders to share the questions they ask themselves to become better managers and assembled their answers into a can't-miss checklist. (852 words, May 16, 2022) - [A Tactical Guide to Working with EAs: How to Make Delegation Your Superpower](/content/review/a-tactical-guide-to-working-with-eas-how-to-make-delegation-your-superpower.html): Sam Corcos, co-founder & CEO of Levels, admits he's obsessive about optimizing his time. He shares the ins and outs of how he delegates 400 tasks a month with this ultra-specific guide to working with executive assistants. (1,915 words, May 9, 2022) - [How to Chart Your Engineering Career Path: IC, Manager or Technical Founder?](/content/review/how-to-chart-your-engineering-career-path-ic-manager-or-technical-founder.html): From early employee to technical founder: Amber Feng shares essential lessons for engineers up and down the org chart, drawing from her 8-year career at Stripe and becoming a technical founder of Cocoon. (4,021 words, May 2, 2022) - [Building & selling a product into government is tricky — Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins shares critical advice for getting it right](/content/review/podcast/building-selling-a-product-into-government-is-tricky-phaedra-ellis-lamkins-shares-critical-advice-for-getting-it-right.html): Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins is the co-founder and CEO of Promise, a modern government payment solution. She shares her advice for other founders building (13,813 words, Apr 28, 2022) - ["Take Control of Your Desk," And Other Career Tips for ICs, Managers & Founders](/content/review/take-control-of-your-desk-and-other-career-tips-for-ics-managers-and-founders.html): After an 11-year career as an HR exec at Splunk, Shreya Iyer unpacks her comprehensive guide to startup career growth, with tailored tips for candidates approaching career planning, managers looking to retain top talent, and startups carving out their career development plans. (4,291 words, Apr 25, 2022) - [The art of starting a startup — Gagan Biyani’s advice for generating, validating, and executing on ideas](/content/review/podcast/the-art-of-starting-a-startup-gagan-biyanis-advice-for-generating-validating-and-executing-on-ideas.html): Maven co-founder Gagan Biyani shares advice on starting a company — from generating ideas, to exploring business models and finding co-founders (12,690 words, Apr 21, 2022) - [Ditch Your To-Do List and Use These Docs To Make More Impact](/content/review/ditch-your-to-do-list-and-use-these-docs-to-make-more-impact.html): After tackling startup challenges from Stripe Press to Figma Education, Brie Wolfson shares her personal collection of templates — the docs that she's used to stay focused on the work that matters and true to her own career goals. (623 words, Apr 19, 2022) - [How to handle comp challenges at every startup stage — Kaitlyn Knopp’s advice from Pequity, Instacart, Cruise & Google](/content/review/podcast/how-to-handle-comp-challenges-at-every-startup-stage-kaitlyn-knopps-advice-from-pequity-instacart-cruise-google.html): Kaitlyn Knopp, founder & CEO of Pequity, shares tactical compensation advice for every startup stage — from initial leveling and comp philosophy, (13,018 words, Apr 14, 2022) - [The Tactical Guide to Making Better Decisions When Starting and Scaling Companies](/content/review/the-tactical-guide-to-making-better-decisions-when-starting-and-scaling-companies.html): The First Round team has been lucky to work with retired poker player and decision-making expert Annie Duke in a special capacity these past few years. Here, we open-source some of the advice she gives to help founders face down uncertainty and make better decisions. (880 words, Apr 5, 2022) - [A crash course on comms for founders — Nairi Hourdajian’s early-stage advice from Figma & Uber](/content/review/podcast/a-crash-course-on-comms-for-founders-nairi-hourdajians-early-stage-advice-from-figma-uber.html): Nairi Hourdajian (VP of Communications at Figma & first comms hire at Uber) shares advice on how startups can get comms right, from crafting a narrative (10,168 words, Mar 31, 2022) - [How founders can get executive hiring right from startup to scale — advice from Lattice’s Jack Altman](/content/review/podcast/how-founders-can-get-executive-hiring-right-from-startup-to-scale-advice-from-lattices-jack-altman.html): Jack Altman, co-founder & CEO of Lattice, shares tactical advice for assembling your startup’s executive team — from common traps and hiring profiles, (14,549 words, Mar 17, 2022) - [Run This Diagnostic to Thoughtfully Build (and Evaluate) Your Startup’s Culture](/content/review/run-this-diagnostic-to-thoughtfully-build-and-evaluate-your-startups-culture.html): There are tons of reads on why company culture matters, but few on how to actually architect it. And it’s rarely examined at the co-founding duo, 5-person team, or 30-person startup level. Laura Del Beccaro aims to change that by sharing this 3-step framework she’s leaned on while building Sora. (5,884 words, Mar 15, 2022) - [IC? Manager? Technical Founder? How to chart your engineering career path — Stripe & Cocoon’s Amber Feng](/content/review/podcast/ic-manager-technical-founder-how-to-chart-your-engineering-career-path-stripe-cocoons-amber-feng.html): Amber Feng is the co-founder and CTO of Cocoon, and was formerly an engineering leader at Stripe for eight years. She shares her advice for other (12,554 words, Mar 10, 2022) - [Set “Non-Goals” and Build a Product Strategy Stack — Lessons For Product Leaders](/content/review/set-non-goals-and-build-a-product-strategy-stack-lessons-for-product-leaders.html): Ravi Mehta, former CPO at Tinder & Product Exec at TripAdvisor, shares his framework for crafting a crisp product strategy for startups — a 5-step system called the "Product Strategy Stack." He also makes the case for setting "non-goals" and using an alternative to OKRs. (1,410 words, Mar 8, 2022) - [The startup playbook for expanding internationally — Advice from Faire CEO Max Rhodes](/content/review/podcast/the-startup-playbook-for-expanding-internationally-advice-from-faire-ceo-max-rhodes.html): Max Rhodes, co-founder & CEO of Faire, shares tactical advice for expanding internationally, from getting the timing right and facing down competition, (12,256 words, Feb 10, 2022) - [The Company-Building Cornerstones Every Founder Needs to Focus On — Advice From HubSpot’s Dharmesh Shah](/content/review/the-company-building-cornerstones-every-founder-needs-to-focus-on-advice-from-hubspots-dharmesh-shah.html): Dharmesh Shah has spent the last 15 years as co-founder & CTO of HubSpot. He pinpoints the inflection points and key decisions that other founders face in the early days, from choosing a co-founder to crafting the culture, and shares unconventional advice. (4,750 words, Feb 8, 2022) - [Your Startup’s Management Training Probably Sucks — Here’s How to Make it Better](/content/review/your-startups-management-training-probably-sucks-heres-how-to-make-it-better.html): Plenty of startups leave manager training on the backburner until they become a bigger company — or try to fit it into a 30-minute lunch-and-learn. Melissa and Johnathan Nightingale, founders of Raw Signal Group, unpack why this is a mistake and outline their top tips for management training that makes a mark. (2,985 words, Jan 27, 2022) - [Usage-based? Hybrid? Tiered? Which pricing model is right for you? — Stripe’s Jeanne DeWitt Grosser](/content/review/podcast/usage-based-hybrid-tiered-which-pricing-model-is-right-for-you-stripes-jeanne-dewitt-grosser.html): In this episode with Jeanne DeWitt Grosser, Head of Americas Revenue and Growth at Stripe, we dive super deep into all things pricing — including (10,287 words, Jan 27, 2022) - [Great Startups Deserve Great Brands — Build a Strong Foundation by Avoiding These Mistakes](/content/review/great-startups-deserve-great-brands-build-a-strong-foundation-by-avoiding-these-mistakes.html): After working with hundreds of startups on brand strategy, Arielle Jackson shares the most common early marketing missteps that founders make. From how to articulate your product benefit and clarify your company's purpose, to tips for infusing your brand with personality and making your launch announcement count, her advice will help you lay the foundation for a great startup brand. (611 words, Jan 25, 2022) - [The Product Strategy Playbook that Powered Growth at Tinder & TripAdvisor — Ravi Mehta](/content/review/podcast/episode-48/index.html): Ravi Mehta is the former CPO at Tinder and taught product strategy as an Executive in Residence at Reforge. He explains what he calls the product (17,965 words, Jan 20, 2022) - [The Art of Becoming a Better Listener — Tactical Advice for the Startup Setting](/content/review/the-art-of-becoming-a-better-listener-tactical-advice-for-the-startup-setting.html): When it comes to annual resolutions and personal development goals, listening usually isn’t very high up on the list. User research leader and author Ximena Vengoechea makes the case for why you should put more intention and effort into sharpening this skill, offering advice tailored to different levels and roles across the startup org chart. (5,256 words, Jan 20, 2022) - [After building hundreds of startup brands, Arielle Jackson shares 6 early marketing missteps to avoid](/content/review/podcast/episode-47/index.html): After helping to launch iconic products at Google and Square, Arielle Jackson has worked with hundreds of early-stage startups on brand strategy as (17,369 words, Jan 13, 2022) - [The Best Managers Don’t Fix, They Coach — Four Tools to Add to Your Toolkit](/content/review/the-best-managers-dont-fix-they-coach-four-tools-to-add-to-your-toolkit.html): Anita Hossain Choudhry (The Grand, First Round) and Mindy Zhang (Dropbox, Oscar Health) draw on their experiences as executive coaches to unpack why managers fall into the “fixing” trap and make the case for adding coaching as a skill. They share four practical tools, sample scenarios and thoughtful questions to help managers put these concepts into practice. (4,339 words, Jan 11, 2022) - [The 30 Best Pieces of Advice for Entrepreneurs in 2021](/content/review/the-30-best-pieces-of-advice-for-entrepreneurs-in-2021.html): Start the new year off on the right footing with the 30 most impactful insights and ultra-tactical frameworks from every article we published in 2021. (10,638 words, Jan 3, 2022) - [Buy or build? Focus on the core product or innovate? Zendesk CTO Adrian McDermott's advice for scaling](/content/review/podcast/buy-or-build-focus-on-the-core-product-or-innovate-zendesk-cto-adrian-mcdermotts-advice-for-scaling.html): Adrian McDermott joined Zendesk in 2010, when the company had 50 employees. Now as CTO, he’s seen the team grow to over 5000. He shares his lessons (13,082 words, Dec 9, 2021) - [The Design Leadership Playbook: How to Hire, Onboard & Manage a High-Impact Design Org](/content/review/the-design-leadership-playbook-how-to-hire-onboard-and-manage-a-high-impact-design-org.html): From the high-level perspective of what makes for a great design leader, to the tactical suggestions around the slide that needs to be in your portfolio presentation, Twilio & Segment's Hareem Mannan shares useful advice for every stage of a designer's career. (5,418 words, Dec 7, 2021) - [The biggest lessons from building Hubspot, from co-founder harmony to engineering the culture — Dharmesh Shah](/content/review/podcast/the-biggest-lessons-from-building-hubspot-from-co-founder-harmony-to-engineering-the-culture-dharmesh-shah.html): Dharmesh Shah is the co-founder and CTO of Hubspot. He explores the 15-year journey building the company — from his partnership with co-founder (13,835 words, Dec 2, 2021) - [The IC’s Guide to Driving Career Conversations — 25 Tips for Purposeful Career Planning](/content/review/the-ics-guide-to-driving-career-conversations-25-tips-for-purposeful-career-planning.html): Top startup leaders and operators share a tactical manual with 25 tips for direct reports to take charge of career conversations with their managers. (6,381 words, Nov 30, 2021) - [A Founder’s Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Your First 1,000 Community Members](/content/review/a-founders-step-by-step-guide-to-getting-your-first-1000-community-members.html): Pivots, MVPs and Community: How Joseph Quan, Founder & CEO of Knoetic, got his startup back on track by making community his wedge. He shares his hard-won wisdom and his six-step guide for building a community like a product. (5,987 words, Nov 22, 2021) - [The story of why Canva worked: Zach Kitschke shares his lessons from early hire to current CMO](/content/review/podcast/the-story-of-why-canva-worked-zach-kitschke-shares-his-lessons-from-early-hire-to-current-cmo.html): Zach Kitschke was an early Canva hire, and since 2013 he’s done everything from comms, support tickets and cooking team lunch, to starting the people (11,814 words, Nov 18, 2021) - [The Best Leaders are Feedback Magnets — Here’s How to Become One](/content/review/the-best-leaders-are-feedback-magnets-heres-how-to-become-one.html): Drawing from her career at PayPal, Intercom, GetYourGuide, and now as founder/CEO of Ascend (an online leadership program that empowers women) Shivani Berry shares her playbook for attracting more feedback. (3,258 words, Nov 16, 2021) - [Take your design org from good to great with these principles from Segment to Twilio — Hareem Mannan](/content/review/podcast/take-your-design-org-from-good-to-great-with-these-principles-from-segment-to-twilio-hareem-mannan.html): Hareem Mannan is the Senior Director of Product, Enablement & Design at Twilio, which she joined via the company’s Segment acquisition. She explores (13,128 words, Nov 11, 2021) - [Finding Language/Market Fit: How to Make Customers Feel Like You’ve Read Their Minds](/content/review/finding-language-market-fit-how-to-make-customers-feel-like-youve-read-their-minds.html): After more than a decade of running B2B growth teams at PayPal and investing at 500 Startups, Matt Lerner now spends his days helping early-stage startups with growth. He's seen firsthand how changes in a handful of words can yield jaw-dropping differences in conversion — and accelerate a startup's course to product/market fit. Here, he makes the case for starting with language/market fit first, and offers up his 4-step process for getting there. (869 words, Nov 9, 2021) - [Instacart co-founder Max Mullen gets tactical on crafting company values and intentionally building culture](/content/review/podcast/instacart-co-founder-max-mullen-gets-tactical-on-crafting-company-values-and-intentionally-building-culture.html): Max Mullen has worn many hats as a co-founder of Instacart, but he’s been uniquely focused on culture. He shares advice for crafting unique values, (12,446 words, Nov 4, 2021) - [The Feedback Founders Need to Hear — How to Grow Yourself To Grow The Company](/content/review/the-feedback-founders-need-to-hear-8212-how-to-grow-yourself-to-grow-the-company.html): After 20 years of executive coaching, Alisa Cohn shares advice for getting better at self-reflection, collecting feedback, and changing behavior. (547 words, Nov 3, 2021) - [Executive hiring is incredibly difficult to get right — Robinhood COO Gretchen Howard shares her playbook](/content/review/podcast/executive-hiring-is-incredibly-difficult-to-get-right-robinhood-coo-gretchen-howard-shares-her-playbook.html): Gretchen Howard is the COO of Robinhood and former Partner at CapitalG, Alphabet’s investment fund. She covers the ins and outs of building your (11,133 words, Oct 21, 2021) - [The Playbook This Startup Used to Get Their Founders on 100+ Podcasts in 6 Months](/content/review/the-playbook-this-startup-used-to-get-their-founders-on-100-podcasts-in-6-months.html): When it comes to turbocharging brand awareness for your startup, think podcast Interviews over ads. Tom Griffin, Head of Partnerships at Levels makes the case for why you should do a podcast tour for your startup, with a step-by-step guide for getting it right. (4,875 words, Oct 20, 2021) - [The Playbook for Hiring the Right Marketer at the Right Time for Your Startup](/content/review/the-playbook-for-hiring-the-right-marketer-at-the-right-time-for-your-startup.html): Should you hire a brand, product or growth marketer, and how do you know when you've found the right candidate? Maya Spivak, former marketing leader at Segment and Wealthfront, unpacks her frameworks for identifying the type of marketer your startup needs, interviewing and closing candidates. (4,465 words, Oct 11, 2021) - [Building a hybrid go-to-market motion — GC Lionetti’s lessons from Confluent, Dropbox & Atlassian](/content/review/podcast/building-a-hybrid-go-to-market-motion-gc-lionettis-lessons-from-confluent-dropbox-atlassian.html): Giancarlo ‘GC’ Lionetti has been the CMO of Confluent, a VP of Growth at Dropbox, and sales engineer and product marketing manager at Atlassian. (13,517 words, Oct 7, 2021) - [Creating physical products and getting feedback from toddlers — KiwiCo’s Sandra Oh Lin](/content/review/podcast/creating-physical-products-and-getting-feedback-from-toddlers-kiwicos-sandra-oh-lin.html): Sandra Oh Lin is the founder and CEO of KiwiCo, which creates hands-on learning kits for children. We discuss how Sandra tackled the early obstacles (10,681 words, Sep 30, 2021) - [How to hire the right marketer at the right time for your startup — Mux & Segment’s Maya Spivak](/content/review/podcast/how-to-hire-the-right-marketer-at-the-right-time-for-your-startup-mux-segments-maya-spivak.html): Maya Spivak is the Head of Marketing at Mux and former Head of Global Brand Marketing & Comms at Segment. She explains the three core pillars of the (10,564 words, Sep 16, 2021) - [The Minimum Viable Testing Process for Evaluating Startup Ideas](/content/review/the-minimum-viable-testing-process-for-evaluating-startup-ideas.html): After being early at three startups that achieved over $1M, Gagan Biyani shares his approach to minimum viable testing. Here’s his framework. (5,422 words, Sep 14, 2021) - [Advice for the Pre-Product/Market Fit Days](/content/review/advice-for-the-pre-product-market-fit-days-this-founders-playbook-for-pivoting-with-purpose.html): CEO Tara Viswanathan shares her biggest lessons of building Rupa Health, including how to determine product-market fit and build a winning team. (502 words, Sep 9, 2021) - [From developer to CMO — Archana Agrawal’s marketing lessons from Airtable & Atlassian](/content/review/podcast/from-developer-to-cmo-archana-agrawals-marketing-lessons-from-airtable-atlassian.html): Archana Agrawal is CMO of Airtable and former Head of Enterprise and Cloud Marketing for Atlassian. She shares her biggest marketing lessons from (10,403 words, Sep 9, 2021) - [20 Underrated Qualities to Look for in Candidates — And 50+ Interview Questions to Suss Them Out](/content/review/20-underrated-qualities-to-look-for-in-candidates-and-50-interview-questions-to-suss-them-out.html): We've rounded up a curated set of attributes you may be overlooking in your hiring process — and the interview questions you can use to surface them. (1,453 words, Sep 7, 2021) - [How to pivot your way to product/market fit & other 0-1 lessons — Rupa Health CEO Tara Viswanathan](/content/review/podcast/how-to-pivot-your-way-to-product-market-fit-other-0-1-lessons-rupa-health-ceo-tara-viswanathan.html): In this episode with first-time founder Tara Viswanathan, co-founder and CEO of Rupa Health, we cover her biggest lessons on finding product/market (11,939 words, Sep 2, 2021) - [A UX Research Crash Course for Founders — Customer Discovery Tips from Zoom, Zapier & Dropbox](/content/review/a-ux-research-crash-course-for-founders-customer-discovery-tips-from-zoom-zapier-and-dropbox.html): Zoom’s Jane Davis answers all of your tricky customer development questions, creating a highly tactical guide for founders flying solo on UX research as they explore startup ideas, validate concepts, iterate on prototypes, and troubleshoot common product problems. (3,247 words, Sep 2, 2021) - [“Get Off the Floor” and Other Career Advice from Microsoft, Looker, Reddit & Twitter](/content/review/get-off-the-floor-and-other-career-advice-from-microsoft-looker-reddit-and-twitter.html): Nick Caldwell's resume includes an enviable list of companies — Microsoft, Reddit, Looker and Twitter. He shares his biggest lessons from each for a crash course in finding success across different company cultures, scales & functions. (3,869 words, Aug 31, 2021) - [8 Product Hurdles Every Founder Must Clear — This PM-Turned-Founder Shares His Playbooks](/content/review/8-product-hurdles-every-founder-must-clear-this-pm-turned-founder-shares-his-playbooks.html): Repeat PM turned first-time founder Ryan Glasgow addresses the tough product questions every founder faces, from segmenting the market and iterating on early MVPs, to finding product/market fit and spinning up a second product. (6,705 words, Aug 26, 2021) - [The Chief People Officer as PM: Rethinking The Systems & Tools That Run the Company](/content/review/the-chief-people-officer-as-pm-rethinking-the-systems-and-tools-that-run-the-company.html): Credit Karma's Colleen McCreary views her role not as the CEO of culture or happiness, but rather the product manager of the systems and tools that run the company. Here's her advice for approaching compensation, rewards and recognition, performance management, and internal comms with a fresh perspe (646 words, Aug 24, 2021) - [Building an operationally-intensive business and avoiding upside down unit economics  — Thirty Madison’s Steve Gutentag](/content/review/podcast/building-an-operationally-intensive-business-and-avoiding-upside-down-unit-economics-thirty-madisons-steve-gutentag.html): Steve Gutentag shares the lessons he’s learned building three startups, including how to figure out if there’s founder/product fit and how to (11,975 words, Aug 19, 2021) - [The Startup Happiness Formula — This 3X Founder Shares His Approach to Figuring Out What to Build Next](/content/review/the-startup-happiness-formula-this-3x-founder-shares-his-approach-to-figuring-out-what-to-build-next.html): Repeat founder Waseem Daher, co-founder and CEO of Pilot, has founded three startups with the same group of co-founders. He pays particular attention to Pilot’s first year — including validating the idea, choosing an ICP, and outlining the product roadmap for a company that can go the distance. (4,065 words, Aug 19, 2021) - [12 Frameworks for Finding Startup Ideas — Advice for Future Founders](/content/review/12-frameworks-for-finding-startup-ideas-advice-for-future-founders.html): Hoping to start a company someday? We’ve gone back through our archives to surface the best advice on problem selection from first-time entrepreneurs and repeat-founders. (6,257 words, Aug 17, 2021) - [Don’t have a UX research team? Jane Davis’ tips from Zoom, Zapier & Dropbox to get you started](/content/review/podcast/dont-have-a-ux-research-team-jane-davis-tips-from-zoom-zapier-dropbox-to-get-you-started.html): Jane Davis shares the playbooks she’s honed leading user research teams at Zoom, Zapier and Dropbox, tackling everything from specific questions (11,459 words, Aug 12, 2021) - [When it Comes to These Company Building Blocks, Borrow From Others — Advice From Thumbtack’s CEO](/content/review/when-it-comes-to-these-company-building-blocks-borrow-from-others-advice-from-thumbtacks-ceo.html): As Thumbtack CEO Marco Zappacosta tells it, sometimes your company is a special flower, and sometimes you should borrow from others. He shares his advice for how to tell the difference. (2,316 words, Aug 11, 2021) - [An Exact Breakdown of How One CEO Spent His First Two Years of Company-Building](/content/review/an-exact-breakdown-of-how-one-ceo-spent-his-first-two-years-of-company-building.html): Sam Corcos, co-founder & CEO of Levels, tracked exactly how he spent the two years since founding the company for a rare inside look at being a startup leader. (6,079 words, Aug 9, 2021) - [Getting startup employees to stick around & learning from couples therapy — Flatiron’s Alex Buder Shapiro](/content/review/podcast/getting-startup-employees-to-stick-around-learning-from-couples-therapy-flatirons-alex-buder-shapiro.html): Flatiron Health’s Chief People Officer Alex Buder Shapiro shares her lessons from scaling, including resolving workplace conflict with techniques (11,715 words, Jul 29, 2021) - [Better Meetings Make for Better Days — 20 Tactical Ideas to Try Out With Your Team](/content/review/better-meetings-make-for-better-days-20-tactical-ideas-to-try-out-with-your-team.html): We're spending more time in meetings than ever. The sharpest folks we've interviewed share their best tips for making sure this time is well spent. (712 words, Jul 29, 2021) - [How to find product/market fit before you start building — UserLeap’s Ryan Glasgow](/content/review/podcast/how-to-find-product-market-fit-before-you-start-building-userleaps-ryan-glasgow.html): UserLeap founder & CEO Ryan Glasgow stops by to share tactics for validating startup ideas, approaching early customer conversations, operationalizing (11,417 words, Jul 22, 2021) - [The 30 Best Bits of Advice We’ve Heard on Our Podcast (So Far)](/content/review/the-30-best-bits-of-advice-weve-heard-on-our-podcast.html): As our new podcast crosses the 30-episode mark, we've listened back to each one and plucked out our favorite pieces of advice shared by startup leaders at companies like Notion, Lambda School, Plaid, and Segment. Whether you're a long-time listener or haven't pressed play yet, we hope you find a new idea to put into practice. (10,184 words, Jul 20, 2021) - [Nick Caldwell on the engineering cultures that power Microsoft, Reddit, Looker & Twitter](/content/review/podcast/nick-caldwell-on-the-engineering-cultures-that-power-microsoft-reddit-looker-twitter.html): In this episode with Nick Caldwell, we have a wide-reaching conversation on his storied engineering leadership career at Microsoft, Reddit, Looker, (11,238 words, Jul 15, 2021) - [“Everyone wants a silver bullet” — Selling lessons from Sam Taylor, of Dropbox, Quip & now Loom](/content/review/podcast/everyone-wants-a-silver-bullet-selling-lessons-from-sam-taylor-of-dropbox-quip-now-loom.html): In this episode with Sam Taylor, we get super tactical with the lessons he’s picked up from his career as an early sales leader at top product-led (12,172 words, Jul 8, 2021) - [The do’s and don’ts of scaling from dozens of employees to thousands — McKenna Quint](/content/review/podcast/the-dos-and-donts-of-scaling-from-dozens-of-employees-to-thousands-mckenna-quint.html): In this episode with McKenna Quint, most recently Head of People at Plaid, she unpacks the unique people challenges when aggressively scaling, including (12,428 words, Jun 24, 2021) - [A look at one repeat founder’s frameworks for validating ideas — Pilot’s Waseem Daher](/content/review/podcast/episode-27/index.html): Waseem Daher is the co-founder and CEO of Pilot and previous co-founder of Ksplice (acquired by Oracle) and Zulip (acquired by Dropbox). He digs into (13,621 words, Jun 17, 2021) - [The 25 Micro-Habits of High-Impact Managers](/content/review/the-25-micro-habits-of-high-impact-managers/index.html): Sharp folks from across the First Round community share the small habits that great managers do, including delivering feedback with care, opening up about failure, and sending praise up the chain. (1,939 words, Jun 14, 2021) - [Killing stories and creating categories — Comms tips from Shannon Brayton’s 25+ years in tech](/content/review/podcast/killing-stories-and-creating-categories-comms-tips-from-shannon-braytons-25-years-in-tech.html): Bessemer CMO Shannon Brayton has worked at Yahoo!, eBay, OpenTable and LinkedIn (as head of comms and CMO)— today she shares the comms and leadership (13,239 words, Jun 10, 2021) - [People leaders aren’t the CEO of culture, they’re product managers — Credit Karma’s Colleen McCreary](/content/review/podcast/people-leaders-arent-the-ceo-of-culture-theyre-product-managers-credit-karmas-colleen-mccreary.html): Today’s episode is with Colleen McCreary, the Chief People Officer at Credit Karma and former CPO at Vevo, The Climate Corporation, and Zynga. Colleen (14,221 words, Jun 3, 2021) - [Go unreasonably deep on complex problems and build with naivety — Bowery Farming’s Irving Fain](/content/review/podcast/go-unreasonably-deep-on-complex-problems-and-build-with-naivety-bowery-farmings-irving-fain.html): Today’s episode is with Irving Fain, founder and CEO of Bowery Farming. Bowery’s efficient indoor farms grow produce free from pollutants and (11,778 words, May 26, 2021) - [Starting a Company in a Space You’re Not an Expert in — This Founder Shares 6 Lessons](/content/review/starting-a-company-in-a-space-youre-not-an-expert-in-this-founder-shares-6-lessons.html): From the importance of founder naivety, to seeking out the doubters, to rigorously assessing founder/market fit, Irving Fain shares his lessons from building a company in a space he wasn't an expert in, as well as other takeaways from the earliest days at his startup, Bowery Farming. (512 words, May 25, 2021) - [The story behind Slack’s marketing and the leap from marketer to CEO — Abstract’s Kelly Watkins](/content/review/podcast/the-story-behind-slacks-marketing-and-the-leap-from-marketer-to-ceo-abstracts-kelly-watkins.html): Today’s episode is with Kelly Watkins, CEO of Abstract. Before joining Abstract, Kelly ran top marketing teams at Slack, Github, and Bugsnag. She (12,522 words, May 20, 2021) - [Ask why it won’t work — Rick Song’s lessons from Square and building from 0 to 1](/content/review/podcast/episode-22/index.html): Today’s episode is with Rick Song, CEO of Persona. Before starting the identity verification company, Rick was an engineer at Square and an early (13,185 words, May 13, 2021) - [Product Pitfalls From 0 Customers to the Messy Middle and IPO — Eric Berg on Okta, Intel & Fauna](/content/review/podcast/product-pitfalls-from-0-customers-to-the-messy-middle-and-ipo-eric-berg-on-okta-intel-fauna.html): Today’s episode is with Eric Berg, CEO of Fauna. Before joining at the helm of Fauna, Eric was a product leader at some of the most interesting (12,758 words, May 6, 2021) - [After leading product & growth teams at Instacart, Wealthfront & LinkedIn, Elliot Shmukler is tackling zero to one as founder & CEO of Anomalo](/content/review/podcast/after-leading-product-growth-teams-at-instacart-wealthfront-linkedin-elliot-shmukler-is-tackling-zero-to-one-as-founder-ceo-of-anomalo.html): Today’s episode is with Elliot Shmukler, founder and CEO of Anomalo. Before starting Anomalo, Elliot was a top product and growth leader at Instacart, (12,820 words, Apr 29, 2021) - [Hiring a VP of Engineering? Use This Framework from Shopify’s VPE to Get it Right](/content/review/hiring-a-vp-of-engineering-use-this-framework-from-shopify-s-vpe-to-get-it-right.html): After more than 20 years in tech, eight companies, and thousands of hires, Shopify's Farhan Thawar shares his go-to-framework for snagging a VP of Engineering. From the skills that are most important to the questions to ask and red flags to watch out for, his advice will help founders dive several layers deeper as they approach this hiring search. (3,039 words, Apr 29, 2021) - [Counterintuitive Lessons on How to Get Better as You Scale, From Twilio’s Jeff Lawson](/content/review/counterintuitive-lessons-on-how-to-get-better-as-you-scale-from-twilios-jeff-lawson.html): 13 years after Twilio first launched, CEO and co-founder Jeff Lawson opens up about the peaks and valleys to share a set of unconventional company building lessons on how to get better as you scale — from introducing new products and refining go-to-market strategies, to focusing annual planning and making post-mortems more effective. (4,372 words, Apr 27, 2021) - [Between Sales and Product: Building Out Self-Serve and Customer Experience at Notion & Dropbox](/content/review/between-sales-and-product-building-out-self-serve-and-customer-experience-at-notion-and-dropbox.html): Kate Taylor spent 8 years at Dropbox leading their SMB revenue and scaled sales operation) and is now the Head of Customer Experience at Notion. (4,834 words, Apr 22, 2021) - [A deep-dive into product-led growth & self-serve strategies — Notion’s & Dropbox’s Kate Taylor](/content/review/podcast/a-deep-dive-into-product-led-growth-self-serve-strategies-notions-dropboxs-kate-taylor.html): Today’s episode is with Kate Taylor, who spent 8 years at Dropbox (leading their SMB revenue and scaled sales operation) and is now the Head of (12,146 words, Apr 22, 2021) - [3 Rules for Building a More Caring Culture — This Chief People Officer Shares Lessons from Lambda School & InVision](/content/review/3-rules-for-building-a-more-caring-culture-this-chief-people-officer-shares-lessons-from-lambda-school-and-invision.html): Mark Frein has served as Chief People Officer at Return Path, InVision, and now Lambda School. Here, he shares his approach to spinning up the people function, as well as tactical tips for creating a great employee experience, enabling a workforce that feels seen and heard, and making an environment where people feel developed. (5,349 words, Apr 20, 2021) - [Setting up the people function and training for empathy — Lambda School’s Mark Frein](/content/review/podcast/setting-up-the-people-function-and-training-for-empathy-lambda-schools-mark-frein.html): Today’s episode is with Mark Frein, the Chief People Officer & Head of Alumni Programs at Lambda School and former CPO at InVision. As we dive into (14,373 words, Apr 15, 2021) - [Joining a Startup for the First Time? 30 Actionable Tips From Folks Who've Been There](/content/review/30-tips-for-new-startup-employees/index.html): Top startup leaders and operators share their best tips for new startup employees, including hitting the ground running, how to prioritize what to work on, and growing your career. (1,762 words, Apr 12, 2021) - [How Thumbtack CEO Marco Zappacosta Parses Through Mountains of Advice as a First-Time Founder](/content/review/podcast/how-thumbtack-ceo-marco-zappacosta-parses-through-mountains-of-advice-as-a-first-time-founder.html): Today’s episode is with Marco Zappacosta, co-founder and CEO of Thumbtack. Reflecting on the 13-year journey of creating Thumbtack as a first-time (13,404 words, Apr 8, 2021) - [Following “Radical Candor,” Kim Scott is Back with Another Incredible Framework for “Just Work”](/content/review/following-radical-candor-kim-scott-is-back-with-another-incredible-framework-for-just-work.html): "Radical Candor" bestselling author Kim Scott's superpower is outlining simple tactics and straightforward frameworks to put big amorphous ideas into practice. In her latest book, "Just Work," she applies that tactical lens to workplace injustice. (4,425 words, Apr 5, 2021) - [Building engineering orgs and new products at Segment, Dropbox & Facebook — Tido Carriero](/content/review/podcast/building-engineering-orgs-and-new-products-at-segment-dropbox-facebook-tido-carriero.html): Today’s episode is with Tido Carriero, an engineering leader who’s built out teams at Facebook, Dropbox and Segment, where he is currently the (12,298 words, Apr 1, 2021) - [The Engineering Leader’s Guide to Crafting a Personal Brand that Stands Out From the Crowd](/content/review/the-engineering-leader-s-guide-to-crafting-a-personal-brand-that-stands-out-from-the-crowd.html): As an Engineering Leader at Help Scout, Anjuan Simmons has carved out a robust side hustle as a public speaker and blogger. Here, he shares his playbook for engineers to get started with personal branding and stand out from the crowd. (4,913 words, Mar 30, 2021) - [Essentials to engaging employees & developing high-quality managers — Qualtrics’ Russ Laraway](/content/review/podcast/essentials-to-engaging-employees-developing-high-quality-managers-qualtrics-russ-laraway.html): Today’s episode is with Russ Laraway, a seasoned leader who’s been at Google, Twitter, Candor Inc, and Qualtrics, where he recently served as (14,647 words, Mar 18, 2021) - [CEO Jeff Lawson Reflects on the Peaks and Valleys of Twilio’s Growth Story](/content/review/podcast/ceo-jeff-lawson-reflects-on-the-peaks-and-valleys-of-twilios-growth-story.html): Today’s episode is with Jeff Lawson, co-founder and CEO of Twilio. Reflecting on the 13-year journey of creating Twilio, Jeff shares the peaks and (14,105 words, Mar 11, 2021) - [Treat Operational Debt like Tech Debt — Leah Sutton on Elastic’s Distributed Work Playbook](/content/review/podcast/treat-operational-debt-like-tech-debt-leah-sutton-on-elastics-distributed-work-playbook.html): Today’s episode is with Leah Sutton, SVP of Global HR at Elastic, which provides open-source software for search and data analytics. Elastic has (13,226 words, Mar 4, 2021) - [“My product is the company” — Kevin Fishner on how startups can build better systems](/content/review/podcast/my-product-is-the-company-kevin-fishner-on-how-startups-can-build-better-systems.html): Today’s episode is with Kevin Fishner, the first business hire, former VP of Product, and current Chief of Staff at HashiCorp, a cloud infrastructure (676 words, Feb 25, 2021) - [Focus on Your First 10 Systems, Not Just Your First 10 Hires — This Chief of Staff Shares His Playbook](/content/review/focus-on-your-first-10-systems-not-just-your-first-10-hires-this-chief-of-staff-shares-his-playbook.html): As Chief of Staff at HashiCorp, Kevin Fishner focuses on treating the company like a product. Here, he unpacks why the systems side of company building doesn’t get as much attention and digs into the nitty-gritty details of how they set and track progress toward goals, and make decisions through writing at HashiCorp. (939 words, Feb 25, 2021) - [Making Self-Care Tactical — Why You Should Focus on Boundaries, Not Just Bubble Baths](/content/review/making-self-care-tactical-why-you-should-focus-on-boundaries-not-just-bubble-baths.html): Therapist Jessmina Archbold (publicly known as Minaa B.) shares her detailed guide to deeper self-care work, pushing back against common myths, offering up tactical advice and making the case for focusing on boundaries. (577 words, Feb 23, 2021) - [From Exec Roles to Board Seats — Lessons for the Startup C-Suite from Zendesk, Guru, eBay, & More](/content/review/from-exec-roles-to-board-seats-lessons-for-the-startup-c-suite-from-zendesk-guru-ebay-and-more.html): Anne Raimondi has led teams at SurveyMonkey, Zendesk, Guru, and eBay, in addition to sitting on the board for Asana, Patreon and Gusto. Here, she shares her most critical leadership lessons for scaling up as an executive, while also diving into her playbook for building impactful boards. (5,215 words, Feb 19, 2021) - [How to Build an Invention Machine — 6 Lessons That Powered Amazon’s Success](/content/review/how-to-build-an-invention-machine-6-lessons-that-powered-amazons-success.html): Former Amazon execs Colin Bryar and Bill Carr helped build the "invention machine" that enabled the company to successfully launch everything from AWS to the Kindle. Here, they share granular advice and concrete takeaways for startups looking to alter their own trajectories. (5,310 words, Feb 19, 2021) - [Growing a consumer product from scratch to 1 billion users — Google Photos’ David Lieb](/content/review/podcast/growing-a-consumer-product-from-scratch-to-1-billion-users-google-photos-david-lieb.html): Today’s episode is with David Lieb, the Director of Google Photos and former founder/CEO of Bump. He unpacks the underpinnings of Google Photos’ (765 words, Feb 18, 2021) - [An inside look at the system that will outlast Bezos—Bill Carr & Colin Bryar on lessons from Amazon](/content/review/podcast/episode-10/index.html): Former Amazon execs share an inside look at the company's leadership principles and business processes in their new book (13,358 words, Feb 9, 2021) - [From exec roles to board seats — Anne Raimondi’s leadership lessons for the startup C-Suite](/content/review/podcast/from-exec-roles-to-board-seats-anne-raimondis-leadership-lessons-for-the-startup-c-suite.html): Today’s episode is with Anne Raimondi, Chief Customer Officer at Guru, a knowledge management platform. Across her career in tech, Anne has been (14,423 words, Feb 4, 2021) - [How to Build a Culture of Ownership, and Other Engineering Leadership Tips from Plaid & Dropbox](/content/review/how-to-build-a-culture-of-ownership-and-other-engineering-leadership-tips-from-plaid-and-dropbox.html): Jean-Denis Grèze has led engineering teams at Plaid and Dropbox: Here’s what he’s learned about crafting a bottoms-up culture, hiring and motivating large teams. (533 words, Feb 3, 2021) - [Unpacking 5 of Atlassian’s Most Unconventional Company-Building Moves](/content/review/unpacking-5-of-atlassians-most-unconventional-company-building-moves.html): After a 12-year run at Atlassian, Jay Simons digs into how the company's story runs contrary to conventional startup wisdom, unpacking their product-led growth flywheel, reliance on channel partners, strategy for launching new products, and slow-burn enterprise strategy. (4,696 words, Feb 3, 2021) - [The 30 Best Pieces of Advice for Entrepreneurs in 2020](/content/review/the-30-best-pieces-of-advice-for-entrepreneurs-in-2020.html): We've rounded up 30 standout, must-share insights from the articles we published over the last year. Read on for the most impactful pieces of advice we heard in 2020 — presented with hopes that you can apply them for whatever's to come in 2021. (11,760 words, Jan 15, 2021) - [Fresh Off IPO, Upstart’s CEO Shares Why the Startup Isn’t a Typical Success Story](/content/review/fresh-off-ipo-upstarts-ceo-shares-why-the-startup-isnt-a-typical-success-story.html): Upstart was founded by three individuals who barely knew each other, was forced to make a company-saving pivot, and flew under the radar in Silicon Valley for the past 8 years — but this once-scrappy startup just went public. CEO Dave Girouard sketches out the story of how Upstart got built, detailing all of the bumpy starts and lucky breaks along the winding journey to IPO. (8,470 words, Jan 15, 2021) - [A Tactical Guide to Managing Up: 30 Tips from the Smartest People We Know](/content/review/a-tactical-guide-to-managing-up-30-tips-from-the-smartest-people-we-know.html): Top startup leaders share their best tips for managing up, including communication tactics, building trust, and goal setting with your manager. (704 words, Jan 14, 2021) - [How This 5X Founder Creates an Internal Culture With a “Crazy Focus” on Storytelling](/content/review/how-this-5x-founder-creates-an-internal-culture-with-a-crazy-focus-on-storytelling.html): As David Cancel puts it, they are “obsessed with story internally” at Drift. From the inspiration they’ve taken from the screenplay writing world, to how storytelling training is part of their onboarding, we dig deep into how he created this culture as the CEO. (717 words, Jan 14, 2021) - [The Case for Adding DesignOps to Your Org Chart — Lessons From InVision](/content/review/the-case-for-adding-designops-to-your-org-chart-lessons-from-invision.html): Drawing on her experience in design operations at InVision, Automattic and Hot Studio, Alison Rand explains what DesignOps can achieve for your startup, and how to get a successful team up and running. (1,759 words, Jan 14, 2021) - [The First-Time Founder’s Guide to Learning Everything the Hard Way](/content/review/the-first-time-founders-guide-to-learning-everything-the-hard-way.html): Steve El-Hage picks his head up and shares his biggest lessons as a first-time founder from the 8-year, heads-down journey of building Drop. (823 words, Jan 14, 2021) - [Build Products That Solve Real Problems With This Lightweight JTBD Framework](/content/review/build-products-that-solve-real-problems-with-this-lightweight-jtbd-framework.html): Drawing on her experiences building products at Lumosity, Oculus, and Facebook's New Product Experimentation group, Sunita Mohanty shares a lightweight "jobs-to-be-done" framework for early-stage product teams, along with templates and go-to-market tactics. (1,821 words, Jan 14, 2021) - [Plaid & Dropbox’s Jean-Denis Grèze’s playbook for building an engineering culture of ownership](/content/review/podcast/plaid-dropboxs-jean-denis-grezes-playbook-for-building-an-engineering-culture-of-ownership.html): Today’s episode is with Jean-Denis Grèze, Head of Engineering at Plaid, which securely connects your bank to your apps like Venmo and Betterment. (13,288 words, Jan 14, 2021) - [Finding Startup Ideas and Building in Heavily-Regulated Spaces — Lessons from Cash App & Carbon Health](/content/review/finding-startup-ideas-and-building-in-heavily-regulated-spaces-lessons-from-cash-app-and-carbon-health.html): Ayo Omojola shares his lessons for going unreasonably deep when building products in heavily-regulated industries like healthcare and financial services with Carbon Health and Cash App. (4,531 words, Dec 22, 2020) - [Upstart just went public — CEO Dave Girouard shares why it isn’t a typical success story](/content/review/podcast/upstart-just-went-public-ceo-dave-girouard-shares-why-it-isnt-a-typical-success-story.html): Today’s episode is with Dave Girouard, the CEO and co-founder of Upstart, an AI-powered lending platform that recently went public. First Round (13,952 words, Dec 22, 2020) - [Unpacking all the non-consensus moves in Atlassian’s story — Jay Simons](/content/review/podcast/unpacking-all-the-non-consensus-moves-in-atlassians-story-jay-simons.html): Today’s episode is with Jay Simons, who spent the last 12 years as the president of Atlassian, overseeing go-to-market strategy and big acquisitions (16,326 words, Dec 17, 2020) - [Partnerships lessons from Stripe & Notion — Cristina Cordova on creating win-win deals](/content/review/podcast/partnerships-lessons-from-stripe-notion-cristina-cordova-on-creating-win-win-deals.html): Today’s episode is with Cristina Cordova, who spent 7 years at Stripe (as the 28th employee and first partnerships hire), and is now the Head of (14,593 words, Dec 10, 2020) - [Start with the story — Drift’s David Cancel on lessons he’s learned as a 5X founder](/content/review/podcast/start-with-the-story-drifts-david-cancel-on-lessons-hes-learned-as-a-5x-founder.html): Today’s episode is with David Cancel, co-founder and CEO of Drift, a conversational marketing and sales platform. This 5X founder has also been (10,940 words, Dec 3, 2020) - [Lessons from a first-time CEO — Steve El-Hage on learning everything the hard way](/content/review/podcast/lessons-from-a-first-time-ceo-steve-el-hage-on-learning-everything-the-hard-way.html): Our third episode is with Steve El-Hage, Founder and CEO of Drop (formerly Massdrop). Drop is an electronics brand that creates products based on (19,837 words, Nov 19, 2020) - [Product lessons from Cash App & Carbon Health — Ayo Omojola on going “unreasonably deep”](/content/review/podcast/product-lessons-from-cash-app-carbon-health-ayo-omojola-on-going-unreasonably-deep.html): Our second episode is with Ayo Omojola, VP of Product at Carbon Health and the founding product manager for Cash App at Square, where he co-created (15,085 words, Nov 12, 2020) - [6 Counterintuitive Rules for Being a Better Manager — Advice from Lambda School, Quip & Facebook](/content/review/6-counterintuitive-rules-for-being-a-better-manager-advice-from-lambda-school-quip-and-facebook.html): Carly Guthrie has run HR for major restaurant groups and startups. Here, she shares lessons for startups looking to hold onto their talent. (386 words, Nov 9, 2020) - [Your Marketing Org is Slow. Here’s a Framework to Move Faster.](/content/review/your-marketing-org-is-slow-heres-a-framework-to-move-faster.html): Former Gusto marketing leader Jaleh Rezaei shares a six-step framework for how marketers can "get out of the basement" and start thinking speed-first. (663 words, Nov 3, 2020) - [Molly Graham’s management lessons from Google, Facebook, Quip & Lambda School](/content/review/podcast/episode-1/index.html): Our first episode is with Molly Graham, who helped scale Facebook, Quip, The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in their early days, and is now the COO of (16,142 words, Oct 29, 2020) - [The 40 Best Questions to Ask in an Interview — How to Go Deeper Than “What’s the Culture Like?”](/content/review/the-40-best-questions-to-ask-in-an-interview-how-to-go-deeper-than-whats-the-culture-like.html): Top startup leaders shared their favorite thought-provoking questions for candidates to ask during an interview to stand out from the crowd and gain in-depth knowledge about the company, the team, and the role. (7,430 words, Oct 26, 2020) - [Drive Growth by Picking the Right Lane — A Customer Acquisition Playbook for Consumer Startups](/content/review/drive-growth-by-picking-the-right-lane-a-customer-acquisition-playbook-for-consumer-startups.html): In Dan Hockenmaier's and Lenny Rachitsky's experience, founders are often surprised to learn that there are very few routes to scalable new customer acquisition. Here, this duo unpacks the three ways to drive consumer startup growth, offering a detailed framework and set of case studies for accelerating in each lane. (1,953 words, Oct 20, 2020) - [Use This Startup's Playbook for Running Impactful Virtual Offsites](/content/review/use-this-startups-playbook-for-running-impactful-virtual-offsites.html): Many team retreats have the tendency to leave participants feeling exhausted, sick of slide deck presentations and itching to get back to the emails that have been piling up in their absence—and virtual offsites add marathon Zoom sessions and interruptions at home to the mix. Here, the Sitka team shares how they planned an intentional, engaging virtual offsite, delving into the framework, agenda and tactics they used to pull it off. (985 words, Sep 10, 2020) - [6 Small Steps for Handling the Emotional Ups and Downs at Work](/content/review/6-small-steps-for-handling-the-emotional-ups-and-downs-at-work.html): Tips you can use every day from seasoned startup veterans and psychology experts on how to manage your emotions at work — especially when you feel outside of your comfort zone. (5,633 words, Sep 1, 2020) - [This VP is Doing Things Differently in the Product Org — Here’s His Playbook](/content/review/this-vp-is-doing-things-differently-in-the-product-org-heres-his-playbook.html): As the VP of Product at Divvy, Tyler Hogge shares his tips for truly empowering your product managers to deliver outcomes, including aligning with revenue teams and adding variable comp. (5,784 words, Aug 19, 2020) - [A Founder's Guide to Writing Well](/content/review/a-founders-guide-to-writing-well/index.html): There's a long list of most frequently-cited skills for becoming a successful entrepreneur. One that rarely makes the list is effective writing. Upstart CEO Dave Girouard pens this thoughtful case for the importance of strong writing in the startup world — and his tips for leveling up. (2,706 words, Aug 3, 2020) - [How to Take Personal Development Off the Backburner — Tactical Frameworks for Leveling Up](/content/review/how-to-take-personal-development-off-the-backburner-tactical-frameworks-for-leveling-up.html): Building better teams and companies starts with working on yourself. But for startup leaders, making time for personal development is usually last on the list. Here's a collection of tactical tips from the Review archives for getting started. (1,575 words, Jul 28, 2020) - [The Manager’s Guide to Inclusive Leadership — Small Habits That Make a Big Impact](/content/review/the-managers-guide-to-inclusive-leadership-small-habits-that-make-a-big-impact.html): Massella Dukuly, Tania Luna, Dr. Vaneeta Sandhu and Vanessa Tanicien (leadership trainers and facilitators at LifeLabs Learning) joined the First Round community for a tactical discussion on how leaders can become anti-racist and inclusive in their daily interactions, building the habits that can help keep this important work centered and sustained. Here's a rundown of some of the best tactics we heard them share. (1,662 words, Jun 18, 2020) - [Hit the Emotional Gym — The Founder's Framework for Emotional Fitness](/content/review/hit-the-emotional-gym-the-founders-framework-for-emotional-fitness.html): Psychologist and founder Dr. Emily Anhalt shares her seven traits of emotional fitness, why they're crucial for founders right now, plus concrete tactics for shaping up your emotional health. (1,070 words, May 26, 2020) - [When “Grin and Bear It” Isn't the Right Answer — This Behavioral Scientist Shares What to Do Instead](/content/review/when-grin-and-bear-it-isnt-the-right-answer-this-behavioral-scientist-shares-what-to-do-instead.html): Author and behavioral scientist Matt Wallaert shares how two studies (on holding a pen and carrying around a box of chocolate) can shape our outlook when we're faced with a crisis. (1,384 words, May 19, 2020) - [Advice is More Important — and Overwhelming — Than Ever. Here's How Founders Can Cut out the Noise](/content/review/advice-is-more-important-and-overwhelming-than-ever-heres-how-founders-can-cut-through-the-noise.html): Unlocking the wisdom of your advisors has always been crucial for any founder, but it's even more important in the midst of massive uncertainty. We've rounded up six tactics from top experts for cutting through the noise and extracting the advice founders need to make meaningful decisions. (4,952 words, May 12, 2020) - [The Founder's Field Guide for Navigating a Crisis — Advice from Recession-Era Leaders, Investors and CEOs Currently at the Helm](/content/review/the-founders-field-guide-for-navigating-this-crisis-advice-from-recession-era-leaders-investors-and-ceos-currently-at-the-helm.html): We've tapped First Round partners, recession-era founders and our community of CEOs to put together the most comprehensive guide available about what it takes to lead a startup during this economic crisis. From extending your runway and reducing burn to supporting your team, this guide tackles the tough questions startup leaders are asking right now. (14,148 words, Apr 9, 2020) - [Struggling to Thrive as a Large Team Working Remotely? This Exec Has the Field Guide You Need](/content/review/struggling-to-thrive-as-a-large-team-working-remotely-this-exec-has-the-field-guide-you-need.html): Maggie Leung built out the 80-person fully remote content team that's helped NerdWallet stand out. Here are her tips for executives who are now tasked with leading large teams working remotely for the first time. (1,278 words, Apr 2, 2020) - [Weathering the Emotional Storms of a Crisis — A Tactical Guide for Individual Contributors and Managers](/content/review/weathering-the-emotional-storms-of-a-crisis-a-tactical-guide-for-individual-contributors-and-managers.html): At work, we're often expected to leave our emotions at the door and maintain a composed, "professional" exterior. But in the midst of this crisis, putting our emotions away in a tidy box until the end of the workday is no longer an option. Liz Fosslien, one-half of the duo behind the book "No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work" and head of content at Humu, has long preached the benefits of bringing more of our authentic, emotional selves to work. Here, she presents he (974 words, Apr 1, 2020) - [Don't Just Throw Together a Webinar — The Virtual Events Crash Course You Need](/content/review/dont-just-throw-together-a-webinar-the-virtual-events-crash-course-you-need.html): Community experts, go-to-market leaders and founders everywhere are facing a new challenge: quickly spinning up virtual events and online communities that feel unique and valuable. Whether you’re tasked with energizing your existing community, pivoting your company’s event programming, scrambling to spin it all up for the first time — or just trying to hold a really great virtual happy hour — community expert David Spinks offers a wealth of wisdom drawn from over a decade spent deepening the mo (741 words, Mar 30, 2020) - [This Founder Built Startups in 2008, 2016 and 2018. Here’s What He’s Learned About Resiliency](/content/review/this-founder-built-startups-in-2008-2016-and-2018-heres-what-hes-learned-about-resiliency.html): Bob Moore's first brush with life as a founder started in 2008—three days before Lehman Brothers collapsed. Since he cut his teeth as a first-time founder in turbulent times, he's gone on to build two other companies. Here, Moore shares the lessons he's learned along the way, from weathering bear markets and losing out to the competition, to finding (and falling out of) product/market fit. (1,089 words, Mar 17, 2020) - [Managers, Take Your 1:1s to the Next Level with These 6 Must Reads](/content/review/managers-take-your-1-1s-to-the-next-level-with-these-6-must-reads.html): 1:1s aren't just line-items on every manager's to-do list—it's critical to make sure these weekly meetings are as impactful and effective as possible. Here's a collection of tactical tips from the Review archives to help you take meetings with your direct reports to the next level. (3,693 words, Feb 27, 2020) - [After 15 Years as a Product Leader, CEO and Now VC, Here’s the Advice I Always Share with Future Founders](/content/review/after-15-years-as-a-product-leader-ceo-and-now-vc-heres-the-advice-i-always-share-with-future-founders.html): As he makes the transition from operator to investor, Todd Jackson looks back on his career at Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Dropbox (as well as his own chapter as a startup founder) to offer tactical takeaways and frameworks for company builders and product leaders alike. (1,808 words, Feb 4, 2020) - [The Engineer’s Guide to Career Growth — Advice from My Time at Stripe and Facebook](/content/review/the-engineers-guide-to-career-growth-advice-from-my-time-at-stripe-and-facebook.html): Raylene Yung has spent a decade scaling eng and product teams at Facebook and Stripe. Here's her advice for engineers at every stage of their careers, from IC to org leader. (1,549 words, Jan 21, 2020) - [The 30 Best Pieces of Advice for Entrepreneurs in 2019](/content/review/the-30-best-pieces-of-advice-for-entrepreneurs-in-2019.html): We've rounded up 30 standout, must-share insights from the profiles we published over the last year. Read on for the most impactful pieces of advice we heard in 2019 — presented with hopes that you can apply them to make your next decade even brighter. (7,540 words, Jan 9, 2020) - [How to Craft Your Product Management Team Structure at Every Stage](/content/review/how-to-craft-your-product-team-at-every-stage-from-pre-product-market-fit-to-hypergrowth.html): Nikhyl Singhal shares the phases a product organization goes through as a startup matures to help founders craft teams capable of finding product-market fit. (561 words, Dec 10, 2019) - [How to Fix the Co-Founder Fights You’re Sick of Having — Lessons from Couples Therapist Esther Perel](/content/review/how-to-fix-the-co-founder-fights-youre-sick-of-having-lessons-from-couples-therapist-esther-perel.html): Renowned couples therapist Esther Perel now has her sights trained on helping a different kind of pair: co-founders in the startup world. Here, she reveals her playbook for resolving recurring conflicts and communication failures between co-founders by sharing her favorite techniques for getting to the root of disagreements and tactics for navigating fights in the heat of the moment. (3,938 words, Dec 2, 2019) - [How to Be a Career-Changing Mentor — 25 Tips From The Best Mentors We Know](/content/review/how-to-be-a-career-changing-mentor-25-tips-from-the-best-mentors-we-know.html): Powerful “aha” mentorship moments can change the course of careers. But while every mentor has experience and wisdom in spades, it’s not always immediately clear how to most effectively share it. Here, mentors from First Round's Fast Track mentorship program share their best tips for helping mentees level up. (5,892 words, Nov 19, 2019) - [Good Leaders are Great Storytellers — Our 6 Tips for Telling Stories That Resonate](/content/review/good-leaders-are-great-storytellers-our-6-tips-for-telling-stories-that-resonate.html): Storytelling isn’t just the domain of marketers or PR — the ability to tell stories supercharges every part of company-building and leadership. We sifted through wisdom from founders and experts to gather the Review's six best tactics on telling stories that inform, persuade and inspire. (630 words, Oct 29, 2019) - [Don’t Serve Burnt Pizza (And Other Lessons in Building Minimum Lovable Products)](/content/review/dont-serve-burnt-pizza-and-other-lessons-in-building-minimum-lovable-products.html): Product builders should aim for lovable, not just viable. Jiaona Zhang (product leader at Dropbox, Airbnb, WeWork and lecturer at Stanford) shares her tactics for building MLPs that win users' hearts. (5,149 words, Oct 21, 2019) - [Step Up Your Sales Coaching Game — Dig Into The Numbers to Help Your Reps Level Up](/content/review/step-up-your-sales-coaching-game-dig-into-the-numbers-to-help-your-reps-level-up.html): Sales managers have an unprecedented opportunity to lean into the numbers and level up as coaches — but in Karen Rhorer's experience, most are leaving this potential untapped. The startup sales veteran shows how founders and managers can incorporate data into 1:1s, performance conversations and goal-setting to make sales teams stronger. (5,152 words, Oct 14, 2019) - [Announcing First Round Essentials — After Publishing 180+ Articles on Management, We're Releasing Our First Book](/content/review/announcing-first-round-essentials-after-publishing-180-articles-on-management-were-releasing-our-first-book.html): Today we're releasing our first-ever book, rounding up the best management advice we've shared over the years. (1,089 words, Oct 7, 2019) - [The Founder Dating Playbook – Here’s the Process I Used to Find My Co-Founder](/content/review/the-founder-dating-playbook-heres-the-process-i-used-to-find-my-co-founder.html): Gloria Lin opens up about her pre-founder journey, from founder dating and early conversations to how she prototyped with potential partners to narrow in on a specific idea. Her playbook is one of the most detailed and intentional processes we’ve ever seen — and the set of 50 questions she used to probe compatibility is an essential tool for any entrepreneur looking to team up on a startup idea. (726 words, Sep 30, 2019) - [The Secret to a Great Planning Process — Lessons from Airbnb and Eventbrite](/content/review/the-secret-to-a-great-planning-process-lessons-from-airbnb-and-eventbrite.html): Poor planning can spell disaster for companies and sow distrust among teams. Drawing from their careers at Eventbrite and Airbnb, Lenny Rachitsky and Nels Gilbreth break down their "W Framework" to help startup leaders develop plans, earn alignment and execute effective planning cycles every time. (861 words, Sep 25, 2019) - [Ready, Set, Hypergrowth: How Duo's Product Design Lead Primed Her Team for Momentum](/content/review/ready-set-hypergrowth-how-duos-product-design-lead-primed-her-team-for-momentum.html): Sally Carson joined Duo as its first product design leader, just as the security startup was ratcheting into hypergrowth. Carson shares her roadmap for scaling the product design function, from advocating for design in an engineering-centric org, to setting up her team for success during rapid growth. (5,446 words, Sep 16, 2019) - [40 Favorite Interview Questions from Some of the Sharpest Folks We Know](/content/review/40-favorite-interview-questions-from-some-of-the-sharpest-folks-we-know.html): Given the high-stakes nature of every hire, interviewing chops are always in need of sharpening. We’ve spent the past few months reaching out to some of the most thoughtful company builders in our network to pose a simple question: What’s your favorite interview question to ask and why? Here are their answers. (9,089 words, Sep 5, 2019) - [Reach Out, Stay in Touch and Deepen Your Connections with This Essential Networking Advice](/content/review/reach-out-stay-in-touch-and-deepen-your-connections-with-this-essential-networking-advice.html): Networking isn't a race to rack up contacts — it's a practice of cultivating authentic connections over time. We've rounded up six tactics from the most well-connected people in the business on cutting past the small talk, nailing the follow-up and investing in relationships that thrive. (4,497 words, Aug 22, 2019) - [From Instant Pot to Instagram: Critical Lessons in Startup Community Building](/content/review/from-instant-pot-to-instagram-critical-lessons-in-startup-community-building.html): Bailey Richardson (an early Instagram hire and current partner at People & Company) has studied ordinary people who started extraordinary communities. Here, she shares the nuts and bolts of how startups should approach community building, highlighting eight valuable lessons on how the best communities start, gain steam, and evolve as scale takes hold. (1,797 words, Aug 19, 2019) - [Staying Connected is Key to Your Startup’s Survival — Here’s How to Nail Internal Comms](/content/review/staying-connected-is-key-to-your-startups-survival-heres-how-to-nail-internal-comms.html): Even the smallest startups have a lot to gain from getting internal comms right. We've rounded up the Review's six most effective tactics for crafting crystal-clear messaging and facilitating feedback from your most important audience. (4,694 words, Aug 14, 2019) - [NerdWallet’s CEO on Navigating the Shift from First-Time Founder to Seasoned Exec](/content/review/nerdwallets-ceo-on-navigating-the-shift-from-first-time-founder-to-seasoned-exec.html): NerdWallet co-founder and CEO Tim Chen reflects on the arc of his journey as founder after more than a decade of company building. He shares the six mindset shifts he needed to make to transition from entrepreneur to executive as his startup scaled, weaving together a collection of lessons that will be invaluable for any founder finding themselves at this very same crossroads. (5,491 words, Aug 12, 2019) - [The 6 Decision-Making Frameworks That Help Startup Leaders Tackle Tough Calls](/content/review/the-6-decision-making-frameworks-that-help-startup-leaders-tackle-tough-calls.html): Startup leaders make tough calls every day. We spoke with 6 top operators to gather the tactics and strategies they use to make smart decisions under pressure, garner trust with stakeholders and execute with conviction. (5,295 words, Aug 1, 2019) - [From Zero to IPO: How Growth Needs to Evolve at Every Startup Stage](/content/review/from-zero-to-ipo-how-growth-needs-to-evolve-at-every-startup-stage.html): There's no one-size-fits-all growth advice. Brian Rothenberg, former VP of Growth at Eventbrite, breaks down the three broad phases of the startup lifecycle. For each phase, he identifies key targets that startups should aim for to kick their growth strategy to the next level. (1,955 words, Jul 29, 2019) - [Our 6 Must Reads for Cutting Through Conflict and Tough Conversations](/content/review/our-6-must-reads-for-cutting-through-conflict-and-tough-conversations.html): Big ideas, strong-willed characters, impossible deadlines and close quarters — if you wrote out a recipe for conflict, it might bear an uncanny resemblance to the high-stakes, pressure-cooker environment of a startup. We spoke with top engineers, seasoned managers and experts in human behavior to share their experience-tested wisdom on conflict mediation and management in rapidly scaling companies. (832 words, Jul 24, 2019) - [I Asked 100 Founders, CEOs and VCs About Career Transitions — Here’s What I Learned](/content/review/i-asked-100-founders-ceos-and-vcs-about-career-transitions-heres-what-i-learned.html): After founding and scaling LendUp for seven years, Sasha Orloff decided to step down as CEO. He shares his journey and his illuminating takeaways about career transitions, structuring time off and founder life after the startup. (5,602 words, Jul 18, 2019) - [The Power of Performance Reviews: Use This System to Become a Better Manager](/content/review/the-power-of-performance-reviews-use-this-system-to-become-a-better-manager.html): Performance reviews are key to accelerating your report's career. A former Airbnb Product Lead shares the conversation template that he's used to build high-performing teams and motivate growth all year long. (645 words, Jul 17, 2019) - [Mastering the Art of the Outcome: How Guru Turned Customer Success Into a Company Cornerstone](/content/review/mastering-the-art-of-the-outcome-how-guru-turned-customer-success-into-a-company-cornerstone.html): At Guru, customer success is at the center of every aspect of company-building, from product design to sales strategy. Co-founder and CEO Rick Nucci shows how a relentless dedication to outcomes gives startups a competitive edge. (4,406 words, Jul 9, 2019) - [The Inside Story of How This Startup Turned a 216-Word Pitch Email into a $2.6 Billion Acquisition](/content/review/the-inside-story-of-how-this-startup-turned-a-216-word-pitch-email-into-a-2-6-billion-acquisition.html): Looker went from a single customer to more than 1700, from a small, scrappy team in Santa Cruz to a 700-person company spanning eight offices around the globe. Now on the heels of its acquisition by Google, co-founders Lloyd Tabb and Ben Porterfield, CEO Frank Bien, and first investor Bill Trenchard come together to fill in the details and dig into the lessons learned from Looker's founding story. (10,322 words, Jul 2, 2019) - [These Seven Emotions Aren't Deadly — They're Your Secret Career Superpowers](/content/review/these-seven-emotions-arent-deadly-theyre-your-secret-career-superpowers.html): It's time to do away with the myth that emotions don't belong in the workplace. With hilarious, relatable illustrations, Liz Fosslien shares how you can tap into anxiety, envy and other "deadly" emotions to boost your career and well-being. (5,132 words, Jun 21, 2019) - [Why This Engineering Leader Thinks You Shouldn’t Aim for Zero Regrettable Attrition](/content/review/why-this-engineering-leader-thinks-you-shouldnt-aim-for-zero-regrettable-attrition.html): As Greenhouse’s CTO, Mike Boufford built an engineering team that grew from one to 60 in its first five years — with zero regrettable attrition. Here, Boufford shares the recruiting tactics and culture practices that made engineers want to stay, and then opens up about why he started encouraging them to consider leaving the nest. (5,135 words, Jun 17, 2019) - [Our 6 Must Reads for Onboarding Tactics That Help New Hires Succeed (and Stay)](/content/review/our-6-must-reads-for-onboarding-tactics-that-help-new-hires-succeed-and-stay.html): Onboarding is so much more than the standard-issue IT set-up: It's the foundation for how new hires settle into their roles and their future at the company. We gathered perspectives on how to prime your newest employees for success. (4,688 words, Jun 11, 2019) - [How to Size and Assess Teams From an Eng Lead at Stripe, Uber and Digg](/content/review/how-to-size-and-assess-teams-from-an-eng-lead-at-stripe-uber-and-digg.html): Will Larson has developed a framework for the optimal size and state of engineering teams—not only so managers can lead them in a highly efficient and effective way, but with a deeply empathetic and ethical approach. (4,696 words, May 24, 2019) - [Our Top 6 Pieces of Career Wisdom for New Grads (and Everyone Else Too)](/content/review/our-top-6-pieces-of-career-wisdom-for-new-grads-and-everyone-else-too.html): Graduation is an opportunity to reflect on your progress and recommit to your professional goals. In the spirit of graduation season, we gathered our best advice on how to design a fulfilling career — for new grads and seasoned operators alike. (368 words, May 21, 2019) - [So You Think You’re Ready to Hire a Marketer? Read This First.](/content/review/so-you-think-youre-ready-to-hire-a-marketer-read-this-first.html): As First Round’s Marketing Expert in Residence, Arielle Jackson often helps early-stage founders navigate the search for a full-time marketer of their own. From the when and the why to the who and the how, Jackson offers a crash course on every aspect of the marketer hiring process to help startups figure out what they need and avoid common pitfalls as they fill this important role. (3,254 words, May 13, 2019) - [Empathy-Driven Development: How Engineers Can Tap into This Critical Skill](/content/review/empathy-driven-development-how-engineers-can-tap-into-this-critical-skill.html): Andrea Goulet is determined to change the way that the tech industry talks about empathy. After teaching us how to conquer technical debt, the CEO of Corgibytes returns to the Review to explain why empathy is technical skill, and how engineers can leverage this powerful tool in their practice. (4,523 words, May 6, 2019) - [Make Friends With the Monster Chewing on Your Leg, and Other Tips for Surviving Startups](/content/review/make-friends-with-the-monster-chewing-on-your-leg-and-other-tips-for-surviving-startups.html): After telling us to 'Give Away your Legos,' Molly Graham is back to dig deeper into tactics for handling the emotional rollercoaster of scaling startups. Here, she shares the strategies she used at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Quip and Facebook to keep her head on straight and defang three common challenging situations. (1,040 words, Apr 29, 2019) - [Our 6 Must Reads for Honing Focus and Managing Your Time](/content/review/our-6-must-reads-for-honing-focus-and-managing-your-time.html): How do you find focus in a world of competing priorities? Operate with intention. We share the Review's six best strategies for resisting distraction, boosting productivity and making every minute meaningful. (3,285 words, Apr 16, 2019) - [The Secrets to Designing a Curiosity-Driven Career](/content/review/the-secrets-to-designing-a-curiosity-driven-career/index.html): Zainab Ghadiyali's extraordinary career has taken her from nonprofit work in Peru to life as Product Lead at Airbnb. With tactical advice on building transferable skills and beating impostor syndrome, she shows entrepreneurs how to embrace the unconventional path and forge a career fueled by curiosity. (5,215 words, Apr 8, 2019) - [Founder Exposed: Opening Up About Startup Failures and Vulnerability](/content/review/founder-exposed-opening-up-about-startup-failures-and-vulnerability.html): Jeff Wald knows firsthand that behind every startup success story is a stack of seldom discussed defeats. The investor and three-time founder opens up about why leaders should embrace vulnerability, and offers tools for extracting lessons from failure and getting back in the game. (5,014 words, Apr 1, 2019) - [The Essential Questions That Have Powered This Top Silicon Valley Manager’s Career](/content/review/the-essential-questions-that-have-powered-this-top-silicon-valley-managers-career.html): After over a decade spent leading teams, Facebook VP of Product Design Julie Zhuo firmly believes that questions are a manager’s best tool. Here, she shares the essential questions she's used to build trust, improve 1:1s and make sure feedback is heard. (1,810 words, Mar 19, 2019) - [Defining Growth Design: The Guide to the Role Most Startups are Missing](/content/review/defining-growth-design-the-guide-to-the-role-most-startups-are-missing.html): Angel Steger serves as our guide on a trek to better understand the still developing speciality of growth design. She shares lessons learned from her roles leading the function at Dropbox and Pinterest, and outlines tactics for early-stage startups looking to source, interview and onboard growth designers of their own. (5,204 words, Mar 11, 2019) - [Navigating the Leap from Big Tech to Startups — Advice from a Former Google and Flipkart Exec](/content/review/navigating-the-leap-from-big-tech-to-startups-advice-from-a-former-google-and-flipkart-exec.html): Punit Soni cut his teeth as a product leader at large companies such Google, Motorola and Flipkart before venturing out on his own to found Suki, a healthcare startup. Here, he shares his observations on the differences between the two experiences, noting what surprised him, what he felt unprepared for, and what aspiring entrepreneurs should consider as they look to make a similar leap from big to small. (2,796 words, Mar 4, 2019) - [How to Make Connections That Count — Advice From a Silicon Valley Veteran (and Introvert)](/content/review/how-to-make-connections-that-count-advice-from-a-silicon-valley-veteran-and-introvert.html): Karen Wickre is routinely described as someone who knows everyone, even though she admits to being an introvert. Here, she shares three no-pressure networking strategies from her new book, unveiling the templates, tactics and exercises that have turned her into one of the most connected veterans of Silicon Valley. (4,757 words, Feb 11, 2019) - [Our 6 Must Reads for Hiring Tactics that Break the Mold](/content/review/our-6-must-reads-for-hiring-tactics-that-break-the-mold.html): Hiring at early-stage startups isn't getting easier. And while there's plenty of advice out there, it's tough to find tactics that make a mark. We've assembled the best tips from leaders who've gone off the beaten path in search of unconventional practices and fresh perspectives for every stage of the hiring process. (4,787 words, Jan 29, 2019) - [What Sweetgreen Can Teach Startups About Scaling Intimacy](/content/review/what-sweetgreen-can-teach-startups-about-scaling-intimacy.html): Co-founder Nathaniel Ru draws on his experience scaling Sweetgreen to offer startups a clearer window into how rapidly growing companies can stay connected with customers, partners and employees. (1,588 words, Jan 14, 2019) - [The 30 Best Pieces of Advice for Entrepreneurs in 2018](/content/review/the-30-best-pieces-of-advice-for-entrepreneurs-in-2018.html): We've rounded up 30 of the best insights from the articles we published over the last year. Read on for a time-capsule-like toolkit, full of the best tactical wisdom that seasoned company builders had to offer in 2018. (1,070 words, Jan 8, 2019) - [The Founder’s Guide to Discipline: Lessons from Front’s Mathilde Collin](/content/review/the-founders-guide-to-discipline-lessons-from-fronts-mathilde-collin.html): Front's CEO and co-founder Mathilde Collin shares why a founder’s discipline matters more than vision, unveiling her own best practices and templates for communication, time management, fundraising and team building. (4,938 words, Dec 17, 2018) - [How Backcountry’s Support Reps Go the Extra Mile — And Get Invited to Their Customers’ Weddings](/content/review/how-backcountrys-support-reps-go-the-extra-mile-and-get-invited-to-their-customers-weddings.html): This online outdoor gear and clothing company blends service and sales to craft a customer experiences that wows. VP of Sales and Customer Service Chris Purkey walks us through how startups can learn from Backcountry's approach to beat the scale of more established competitors with authentic, white glove customer service. (565 words, Nov 19, 2018) - [How Superhuman Built an Engine to Find Product Market Fit](/content/review/how-superhuman-built-an-engine-to-find-product-market-fit.html): Superhuman founder and CEO Rahul Vohra walks us through the framework his startup used to make product/market fit more actionable, detailing the survey and four-step process that were key to measuring and optimizing it. (4,780 words, Nov 13, 2018) - [Opening Up About Comp Isn’t Easy — Here’s How to Get More Transparent](/content/review/opening-up-about-comp-isnt-easy-heres-how-to-get-more-transparent.html): There's more to comp transparency than just sharing everyone's salaries in a spreadsheet. Compaas co-founder and CEO bethanye Blount makes the case for opening up and gives a rundown on the full spectrum of pay transparency options, sharing tips for how startups can find the right setting and communicate changes to the team. (1,205 words, Oct 29, 2018) - [Trello’s Product Lead on the Unique Ramp to a 10-Person Product Org](/content/review/trellos-product-lead-on-the-unique-ramp-to-a-10-person-product-org.html): Trello's Nikita Miller has made a specialty of being the fourth product manager, leading teams through that unique transition from scrappy early-stage startup to a company that can scale. Here, she shares three strategies product leaders must implement to bridge that gap and get the most out of rapidly maturing teams. (921 words, Oct 15, 2018) - [Lessons from Coinbase’s Wild Ascent: Four Rules for Scaling](/content/review/lessons-from-coinbases-wild-ascent-four-rules-for-scaling.html): Engineering leader Varun Srinivasan had a front-row seat as Coinbase scaled to meet an explosion in demand for cryptocurrencies. Here, he shares the four org design rules they relied on to gear up for hypergrowth. (1,489 words, Oct 8, 2018) - [How to Shape Remarkable Products in the Messy Middle of Building Startups](/content/review/how-to-shape-remarkable-products-in-the-messy-middle-of-building-startups.html): Behance founder and Adobe's Chief Product Officer Scott Belsky believes the hardest and most crucial part of any bold venture is the middle stretch of company building. Here he zeroes in on what startups must do to iterate and improve products mid-flight. (1,046 words, Sep 27, 2018) - [Growth at All Costs is Perilous — This is How to Scale Sales Sustainably](/content/review/growth-at-all-costs-is-perilous-this-is-how-to-scale-sales-sustainably.html): Many founders feel the pressure to spin up sales quickly to hit growth targets, but seasoned sales leader Karen Rhorer knows that this unsustainable strategy can lead to painful layoffs down the road. Here, she shares the four levers and key calculations startups need to understand in order to scale sales hiring the right way. (1,169 words, Sep 20, 2018) - [Future Founders, Here’s How to Spot and Build in Nonobvious Markets](/content/review/future-founders-heres-how-to-spot-and-build-in-nonobvious-markets.html): Nonobvious markets can lead to hypergrowth, but they’re hard to spot in the moment. Leaning on his experience as a seasoned investor and operator, Elad Gil shares four principles to help uncover the three types of opportunities that others are overlooking. (5,552 words, Sep 14, 2018) - [Eight Ways to Make Your D&I Efforts Less Talk and More Walk](/content/review/eight-ways-to-make-your-dandi-efforts-less-talk-and-more-walk.html): It’s time to raise the bar for diversity & inclusion — and Aubrey Blanche has the playbook that can help startups couple caring deeply with acting quickly. Here, she shares eight strategies that have made a difference at Atlassian. (6,024 words, Sep 10, 2018) - [The Imperative Practice of Relaxing Constraints](/content/review/the-imperative-practice-of-relaxing-constraints/index.html): Founders are always told to "think big," but it's not always clear how or where to begin. First Round Capital co-founder Howard Morgan challenges founding teams to start by relaxing four key constraints. (1,065 words, Sep 2, 2018) - [How Gusto Built Scalable Hiring Practices Rooted in Tradition](/content/review/how-gusto-built-scalable-hiring-practices-rooted-in-tradition.html): In under six years, Gusto has grown from three guys in a house in Palo Alto to over 600 employees across two offices. Co-founder and CEO Josh Reeves shares how they've scaled the unscalable parts of hiring, detailing three steps the company has taken to retain its unique culture and ensure its best traditions live on. (5,414 words, Aug 17, 2018) - [How This Head of Engineering Boosted Transparency at Instagram](/content/review/how-this-head-of-engineering-boosted-transparency-at-instagram.html): While leading engineering at Instagram, James Everingham spotted a problem: the inevitable dip in transparent decision-making and communication as teams scale. Drawing on three decades of experience, he shares how to operationalize transparency during hypergrowth. (4,150 words, Aug 13, 2018) - [The Simple Tool That Revives Employee Motivation](/content/review/the-simple-tool-that-revives-employee-motivation/index.html): At Pinterest and LinkedIn, product leader Jack Chou learned firsthand how vital it is to zero in continuously on what keeps people motivated as a company scales. Now Head of Product at Affirm, here are the four components of workplace motivation that he leans on from the start. (4,612 words, Jul 30, 2018) - [The Top Comms Mistakes Startups Make — And How To Avoid Them](/content/review/the-top-comms-mistakes-startups-make-and-how-to-avoid-them.html): After two decades of comms experience with companies like Eventbrite, Yahoo, Mattel and Nike, Terra Carmichael shares four common PR mistakes and her techniques for sidestepping them. (3,632 words, Jul 20, 2018) - [My Lessons from Interviewing 400+ Engineers Over Three Startups](/content/review/my-lessons-from-interviewing-400-engineers-over-three-startups.html): Engineering leader Marco Rogers (Lever, Yammer, Clover Health) debunks some of the most common recruiting tropes and walks through his four top interviewing practices for startups. (4,331 words, Jul 2, 2018) - [The Type of Team Diversity You’re Probably Not Paying Attention To](/content/review/the-type-of-team-diversity-youre-probably-not-paying-attention-to.html): Grammarly Head of People Itamar Goldminz shares a model that can help managers build stronger teams — and become more intuitive, effective leaders. (3,563 words, Jun 18, 2018) - [Hypergrowth and The Law of Startup Physics](/content/review/hypergrowth-and-the-law-of-startup-physics/index.html): Reboot.io founder and professional coach Khalid Halim has guided the leadership at Coinbase, Lyft and Checkr through some of the steepest parts of their growth curve. Here, he shares the two promises every founder must make before hypergrowth. (4,324 words, Jun 11, 2018) - [What Your Startup Can Learn from Astronauts, The Daily Show, and the Coach of the Boston Celtics](/content/review/what-your-startup-can-learn-from-astronauts-the-daily-show-and-the-coach-of-the-boston-celtics.html): Organizational psychologist and Wharton professor Adam Grant jumps into unconventional workplaces to surface insights that'll help the rest of us work smarter and better. (5,086 words, Jun 4, 2018) - [How Food52 Strikes a Winning Balance Between Content and Commerce](/content/review/how-food52-strikes-a-winning-balance-between-content-and-commerce.html): Food52 co-founders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs have always led with engaging content, confident that sales would follow. Here's what startups can learn from them on how to connect content and commerce to build a brand. (1,939 words, May 21, 2018) - [ClassPass’ Founder on How Marketplace Startups Can Achieve Product/Market Fit](/content/review/classpass-founder-on-how-marketplace-startups-can-achieve-product-market-fit.html): It's rarely a straight line to product/market fit. Here are ClassPass founder Payal Kadakia's hard-won tips for marketplace startups that helped her guide her company from a near-bust to a $470M game-changer. (4,703 words, May 14, 2018) - [Our 6 Must Reads For Creating and Accelerating Trust on Teams](/content/review/our-6-must-reads-for-creating-and-accelerating-trust-on-teams.html): Trust is intangible, but foundational to nearly every part of company-building. We've assembled our top posts from leaders who have gotten particularly tactical with fostering trust on their teams. (1,091 words, May 8, 2018) - [Pricing Lessons from Working with 30+ Seed and Series A B2B Startups](/content/review/pricing-lessons-from-working-with-30-seed-and-series-a-b2b-startups.html): As CEO of Entrepid Partners and First Round's Sales Expert in Residence, Gaffney works directly with founders and early sales teams to establish go-to-market strategies and growth plans. Here he shares his pricing principles and experiments so early-stage teams can generate foundational revenue. (794 words, Apr 30, 2018) - [Hack Back Distractions with Tactics from This Behavioral Designer](/content/review/hack-back-distractions-with-tactics-from-this-behavioral-designer.html): Hooked author Nir Eyal has seen an epidemic of employees who get so distracted at work that they don’t have time to do their job. Here, he shares tactics that'll help you fend off distractions and help reinstate focus and creativity. (714 words, Apr 23, 2018) - [Assembling an Executive Leadership Team is Daunting — Let Thumbtack’s CEO Help](/content/review/assembling-an-executive-leadership-team-is-daunting-let-thumbtacks-ceo-help.html): Recruiting and hiring executives is difficult for any leader, but especially first-time or early-stage founders who may not have enough knowledge to test candidates for skill in their area of expertise. Thumbtack CEO Marco Zappacosta has been there — and has a roadmap that'll help. (555 words, Apr 16, 2018) - [Here's How Women and Startups Can Accelerate Pay Equity in Tech](/content/review/heres-how-women-and-startups-can-accelerate-pay-equity-in-tech.html): Over two decades, Jana Rich has seen hundreds of compensation negotiations, including patterns in who wins, who loses and why. Read on to learn how startups can begin with good comp hygiene early on, and what candidates can do to be empowered and equipped to get the comp they deserve. (5,026 words, Apr 2, 2018) - [Clean Up Corrosive Interpersonal Dynamics on Your Team with This System](/content/review/clean-up-corrosive-interpersonal-dynamics-on-your-team-with-this-system.html): Laura Gates has repaired interpersonal dynamics for orgs ranging from NASA to Shell Oil, from the military to tech giants. Here's the system she recommends to startups. (3,904 words, Mar 27, 2018) - [User-First Monetization — Lessons from Instagram and Strava](/content/review/user-first-monetization-lessons-from-instagram-and-strava.html): James Quarles played a crucial role in creating Instragram's multi-billion dollar business model. Now CEO of Strava, he's sharing the fundamentals of healthy monetization for startups. (4,071 words, Mar 20, 2018) - [Use This Equation to Determine, Diagnose, and Repair Trust](/content/review/use-this-equation-to-determine-diagnose-and-repair-trust.html): Anne Raimondi has headed up product, marketing and operations at big names throughout tech. This one lesson is at the heart of her approach to leadership. (5,806 words, Mar 15, 2018) - [Wait But Why’s Tim Urban on Parsing and Transmitting Complex Ideas](/content/review/wait-but-whys-tim-urban-on-parsing-and-transmitting-complex-ideas.html): From cryonics to AI to procrastination, Wait But Why's Tim Urban distills and presents the most complex ideas. Here he shares how he makes sense of hard-to-understand concepts so they're rich and resonant for others — an act that every startup leader and team must master over and over again. (5,035 words, Mar 12, 2018) - [Lean Startup’s Eric Ries on How to Make ‘Gatekeepers’ a Source of Power and Speed](/content/review/lean-startups-eric-ries-on-how-to-make-gatekeepers-a-source-of-power-and-speed.html): As companies add 'gatekeeper' functions like Legal, Finance, IT and Compliance, they tend to slow way down. But they don't have to. Here's how to lay the right foundation. (780 words, Mar 6, 2018) - [How Warby Parker Makes Every Point In Its Employee Lifecycle Extraordinary](/content/review/how-warby-parker-makes-every-point-in-its-employee-lifecycle-extraordinary.html): Warby Parker is known for being a wonderful place to work. Here, Co-founder Dave Gilboa breaks down exactly how they've constructed this culture. (3,594 words, Mar 1, 2018) - [Develop Your Hiring System Like a Product to Eliminate Bias and Boost Retention](/content/review/develop-your-hiring-system-like-a-product-to-eliminate-bias-and-boost-retention.html): At Medium, Dan Pupius and his team built a tremendously successful rubric for hiring using the principles of product development. Here's how they did it. (1,657 words, Feb 27, 2018) - [Master the Art of Influence — Persuasion as a Skill and Habit](/content/review/master-the-art-of-influence-persuasion-as-a-skill-and-habit.html): As a product leader at Google and Reddit, Tyler Odean uses persuasion as a tool in his everyday job. Here's what he's learned through experience and research about being influential at work. (5,680 words, Feb 21, 2018) - [Our 6 Must Reads for Managers to Give Feedback That Helps People Grow](/content/review/our-6-must-reads-for-managers-to-give-feedback-that-helps-people-grow.html): Giving constructive feedback that resonates is extremely difficult. You have to strike exactly the right chord for your words to cause change. Here's the best advice we've seen on how to do that. (5,390 words, Feb 20, 2018) - [Betterment Tested Three Performance Management Systems So You Don't Have To](/content/review/betterment-tested-three-performance-management-systems-so-you-dont-have-to.html): As Founder and CEO of Betterment, Jon Stein realized startups can't just establish one way to measure employee performance — they have to continually iterate as they grow. Here's how to do it well. (3,094 words, Feb 15, 2018) - [The Indispensable Document for the Modern Manager](/content/review/the-indispensable-document-for-the-modern-manager/index.html): To build the strongest teams from the get-go, PatientPing Co-founder and CEO Jay Desai has written the definitive user guide — on himself. Read on to see how his tactical framework creates the bedrock for productive employee/manager relationships. (1,235 words, Feb 13, 2018) - [Four Categories You Need to Nail for Healthy Startup Growth — and Top Tips for How to Do It](/content/review/four-categories-you-need-to-nail-for-healthy-startup-growth-and-top-tips-for-how-to-do-it.html): Mike Brown managed all facets of Uber's business in Asia for four years as it went from $0 to billions. Here are his key takeaways for early startups to lay the groundwork for healthy growth. (4,794 words, Feb 8, 2018) - [What I Learned about Management and Culture from Growing Uber’s Asia Business from Zero to Billions](/content/review/what-i-learned-about-management-and-culture-from-growing-ubers-asia-business-from-zero-to-billions.html): For four years, Mike Brown oversaw all aspects of Uber's business in Asia. Now he's sharing what startups can learn from his experience to go big. (6,544 words, Feb 6, 2018) - [17 Product Managers Who Will Own the Future of NYC Tech — and the 9 Frameworks They’ll Use to Do It](/content/review/17-product-managers-who-will-own-the-future-of-nyc-tech-and-the-9-frameworks-theyll-use-to-do-it.html): Last year, First Round hosted a seminar of 17 rising star product managers in NYC, taught by some of the best product leaders in the tech industry. Here's who they are and what they learned. (2,065 words, Feb 1, 2018) - [Read This Before Joining as Employee 1 to 20 at a Startup](/content/review/read-this-before-joining-as-employee-1-to-20-at-a-startup.html): Stacy La made the leap from design at Yammer and Microsoft to Clover Health, when the bootstrapped startup was only four people. Now, the company's raised over $425M, 500+ employees strong, and La leads an eight-person design team. Read on for her tactics on how to survive — and thrive — as an early employee. (3,098 words, Jan 29, 2018) - [How New Startups Can Win at PR — Advice from a 20-Year Comms Career](/content/review/how-new-startups-can-win-at-pr-advice-from-a-20-year-comms-career.html): Terra Carmichael leverages two decades of comms experience with companies like Eventbrite, Yahoo, Mattel, Nike and more to dispense advice to young startups finding their footing with the press. (4,770 words, Jan 25, 2018) - [Don't Just Network — Build Your 'Meaningful Network' to Maximize Your Impact](/content/review/dont-just-network-build-your-meaningful-network-to-maximize-your-impact.html): XO Group CEO Mike Steib built his fast-track career on the power of his network. Here's his incredibly granular and specific advice for how to do the same. (1,217 words, Jan 23, 2018) - [A Taxonomy of Troublemakers for Those Navigating Difficult Colleagues](/content/review/a-taxonomy-of-troublemakers-for-those-navigating-difficult-colleagues.html): Disruptive technology is one thing. Disruptive co-workers are another. Here, Dr. Jody Foster classifies the types of colleagues whom others find difficult — and advises how to navigate working with them. (1,220 words, Jan 17, 2018) - [We Studied 100 Mentor-Mentee Matches — Here’s What Makes Mentorship Work](/content/review/we-studied-100-mentor-mentee-matches-heres-what-makes-mentorship-work.html): Whitnie Narcisse runs First Round's Mentorship Program and has learned exactly what it takes to make mentor-mentee relationships truly transformative. (3,181 words, Jan 11, 2018) - [Step-by-Step Fundraising Tactics from the NYC Legend Who Raised $750M](/content/review/step-by-step-fundraising-tactics-from-the-nyc-legend-who-raised-750m.html): Kevin Ryan has spent decades on both sides of the fundraising table. Here, he provides secrets seldom shared for getting and keeping VCs interested before closing the deal. (3,502 words, Dec 12, 2017) - [Here’s How to Wield Empathy and Data to Build an Inclusive Team](/content/review/heres-how-to-wield-empathy-and-data-to-build-an-inclusive-team.html): When it comes to diversity and inclusion, D&I leader Ciara Trinidad lets the data speak. When she left her last startup, the 125-person company was 59% women, its sales team had gender parity, and underrepresented minorities constituted the majority of its product team. Here she shares why a culture of data underpins a culture of inclusion — and how to do it. (4,698 words, Dec 5, 2017) - [Our 6 Must Reads to Build a Brand That Breaks Through the Noise](/content/review/our-6-must-reads-to-build-a-brand-that-breaks-through-the-noise.html): Building a brand is vital for startups, as they challenge incumbents in an existing industry or attempt to define a new one. Getting the right branding formula can feel more like an act of sorcery than strategy. This roundup provides some practical tips and process. (2,988 words, Nov 28, 2017) - [The Three Secrets to Executive Recruiting I Learned at Apple, Yahoo and More](/content/review/the-three-secrets-to-executive-recruiting-i-learned-at-apple-yahoo-and-more.html): Jennifer Rettig brings her recruiting expertise from Target, Apple, Yahoo, and — most recently — Looker, to share the tactics that will find your company the best executives. (5,918 words, Nov 21, 2017) - [Our 6 Must Reads for First-Time Managers to Hit the Ground Running](/content/review/our-6-must-reads-for-first-time-managers-to-hit-the-ground-running.html): Becoming a manager is like no other professional experience. It requires gaining a whole new skillset incredibly fast. This list will help you nail that transition. (2,661 words, Nov 16, 2017) - [Veteran CTO (with Multiple Successful Exits) Answers Your Top Startup-Building Questions](/content/review/veteran-cto-with-20-years-experience-answers-your-top-startup-building-questions.html): Adil Ajmal has built several standout technical organizations from scratch to successful acquisition. Here, he answers the toughest questions from our community. (4,911 words, Nov 14, 2017) - [Make Stronger Offers to Engineering Candidates and Boost Your Closes](/content/review/make-stronger-offers-to-engineering-candidates-and-boost-your-closes.html): Adil Ajmal has been building engineering teams from scratch to huge for over 20 years. Here's what he's learned to close the best candidates for your company. (5,568 words, Nov 8, 2017) - [Humans Hate Being Spun: How to Practice Radical Honesty — from the Woman Who Defined Netflix’s Culture](/content/review/humans-hate-being-spun-how-to-practice-radical-honesty-from-the-woman-who-defined-netflixs-culture.html): Patty McCord created the famed 'Culture Doc' that became Netflix's foundation. Here, she talks about how to make honesty everyone's default. (1,606 words, Oct 31, 2017) - [This Brand Strategy Can Make Your Startup Look Bigger Than It Is](/content/review/this-brand-strategy-can-make-your-startup-look-bigger-than-it-is.html): As a founding partner of Rock Health and seasoned consultant, Leslie Ziegler has helped brand dozens of startups. Here's what the success stories had in common. (5,814 words, Oct 26, 2017) - [The Four Cringe-Worthy Mistakes Too Many Startups Make with Data](/content/review/the-four-cringe-worthy-mistakes-too-many-startups-make-with-data.html): HotelTonight's Chief Data and Strategy Officer talks about how startups should set up and mine their data to drive insights that actually make a difference. (3,521 words, Oct 24, 2017) - [First Round Review's 6 Must Reads to Run Fast, Efficient Meetings](/content/review/first-round-reviews-6-must-reads-to-run-fast-efficient-meetings.html): We've featured advice from some pretty smart, successful people about how to run better meetings that don't sap energy or waste time. Here's everything they've shared. (1,232 words, Oct 19, 2017) - [These 13 Exercises Will Prepare You for Work's Toughest Situations](/content/review/these-13-exercises-will-prepare-you-for-works-toughest-situations.html): Maggie Leung, VP of Content at Nerdwallet, has encountered every management challenge. Here, she shares the one practice that helps her thrive through difficult decisions and conversations. (5,322 words, Oct 17, 2017) - [The Best Interview Questions We've Ever Published](/content/review/the-best-interview-questions-weve-ever-published/index.html): Over the years, we've published interview questions recommended by leaders across every field. Here are the very best for hiring excellent performers every time. (1,064 words, Oct 12, 2017) - [Make Product Decisions Without Doubt — My Lessons from Twitter and Slack](/content/review/make-product-decisions-without-doubt-my-lessons-from-twitter-and-slack.html): At Twitter and Slack, Paul Rosania built interfaces that millions use each day. Here, he dissects how he eliminated doubt from four high-stakes product decisions. (3,072 words, Oct 7, 2017) - [How Fidji Simo Finds Focus and Creates Conditions for Intentional Work](/content/review/how-facebooks-vp-of-product-finds-focus-and-creates-conditions-for-intentional-work.html): Instacart CEO and former Facebook VP of Product Fidji Simo shares tactics to master focus in a world where possibilities are endless and the stakes are high. (3,591 words, Oct 3, 2017) - [Our 6 Must Reads for Building and Leading a Product Design Team](/content/review/our-6-must-reads-for-building-and-leading-a-product-design-team.html): A well-thought-out design team often accompanies enduring product design. Here are six pieces of advice to help you build and lead a design team from the sole designer to a larger design organization. (2,188 words, Sep 28, 2017) - [How Instagram Co-founder Mike Krieger Took Its Engineering Org from 0 to 300 People](/content/review/how-instagram-co-founder-mike-krieger-took-its-engineering-org-from-0-to-300-people.html): Instagram Co-founder and CTO Mike Krieger built one of the industry's leading technical teams from scratch. Here's how he navigated rapid scale. (5,285 words, Sep 26, 2017) - [The Habit Behind This Founder’s Fast Financings, Product Development and Book Deal](/content/review/the-habit-behind-this-founders-fast-financings-product-development-and-book-deal.html): MissionU CEO Adam Braun has a habit that's helped him get term sheets in weeks, launch products and pen a bestseller. Here's an inside look at the practice that guides him. (1,718 words, Sep 19, 2017) - [Here's Why Zola Cherishes its NPS Detractors as Much as its Promoters](/content/review/heres-why-zola-cherishes-its-nps-detractors-as-much-as-its-promoters.html): Zola CEO and co-founder Shan-Lyn Ma's commitment to customer satisfaction goes back beyond her time at Gilt and Chloe + Isabel. But at Zola, her team and she have really zeroed in on NPS detractors — and discovered how much they can drive growth. Here's how. (3,045 words, Sep 14, 2017) - [A New Approach to People Ops That Puts Employee Experience First](/content/review/a-new-approach-to-people-ops-that-puts-employee-experience-first.html): Patreon's Lucia Guillory is pioneering a new approach to People Ops that creates an end-to-end employee experience AND scales. Early-stage startups take heed. (3,625 words, Sep 12, 2017) - [Counterintuitive Comp Tips for the Unwary and Uninitiated](/content/review/counterintuitive-comp-tips-for-the-unwary-and-uninitiated.html): Facebook, Linden Lab and Reddit veteran bethanye Blount is on a mission to help startups ensure that the story their comp practices are telling is the right one. Here's how you'll know. (4,277 words, Sep 7, 2017) - [Our 6 Must Reads to Make Self-Care Your Competitive Advantage](/content/review/our-6-must-reads-to-make-self-care-your-competitive-advantage.html): Too many of us abandon healthy habits in order to work more. But the most successful among us know that self-care is a secret weapon to get more done better. (3,248 words, Aug 29, 2017) - [‘Pitch the Immeasurable’ and Other Leadership Tips](/content/review/pitch-the-immeasurable-and-other-leadership-tips-from-one-medicals-vp-marketing.html): It's not easy making the transition from manager to executive. 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(3,973 words, Jul 31, 2017) - [Our 6 Must Reads on Content Marketing](/content/review/our-6-must-reads-on-content-marketing/index.html): Exceptional content marketing — and its accompanying, loyal audience — takes time to build. Here are six tips to help you start creating resonant and enduring content today. (2,229 words, Jul 27, 2017) - [This Matrix Helps Growing Teams Make Great Decisions](/content/review/this-matrix-helps-growing-teams-make-great-decisions.html): As CTO of Flatiron Health, Gil Shklarski has had to keep a rapidly-growing technical team aligned through many tough decisions. This is the framework that works every time. (2,551 words, Jul 25, 2017) - [Our 6 Must Reads for Scaling Yourself as a Leader](/content/review/our-6-must-reads-for-scaling-yourself-as-a-leader/index.html): To succeed in tech, you have to grow not just your skills, but also your energy, your time management, and your approach to work. This is a good place to start. (2,770 words, Jul 20, 2017) - [The Tenets of A/B Testing from Duolingo’s Master Growth Hacker](/content/review/the-tenets-of-a-b-testing-from-duolingos-master-growth-hacker.html): Duolingo VP Gina Gotthilf has overseen the company's growth as it exploded from 3 million to 200 million users. One tool that's fueled this ascent? A/B Testing. Read on to learn from her favorite tests. (4,634 words, Jul 17, 2017) - [Our 6 Must Reads if You’re at a Startup With 30+ People](/content/review/our-6-must-reads-if-youre-at-a-startup-with-30-people.html): Startups are always evolving, but something transforms them between 30-50 employees. Here's what the Review's experts have to say about navigating that particular inflection point more smoothly. (2,429 words, Jul 13, 2017) - [Making Engineering Team Communication Clearer, Faster, Better](/content/review/making-engineering-team-communication-clearer-faster-better.html): Derek Parham specializes turning engineers into great communicators. Here's the framework he used to do it at both Google and on the Hillary Clinton campaign. (3,765 words, Jul 11, 2017) - [Atlassian Boosted Its Female Technical Hires By 80% — Here’s How](/content/review/atlassian-boosted-its-female-technical-hires-by-80-percent-heres-how.html): As a diversity and inclusion leader, Aubrey Blanche is all about experiments backed up by research and data. Here, she shares what's worked and what hasn't at Atlassian. (4,095 words, Jul 6, 2017) - [How to Price a Product: Our 6 Must Reads](/content/review/our-6-must-reads-on-pricing-a-product/index.html): Too often, pricing a product comes at a price. Dive into this insightful advice on how to determine product pricing so you've got what you need in one place. (1,717 words, Jun 28, 2017) - [Our 6 Must Reads If You're Hiring a Product Manager](/content/review/our-6-must-reads-if-youre-hiring-a-product-manager/index.html): Over the years, we've collected a trove of advice on how to hire the best product professionals. Now, we want to package it all together so you can get smart and take action fast. (1,285 words, Jun 22, 2017) - [To Grow Faster, Hit Pause — and Ask These Questions from Stripe’s COO](/content/review/to-grow-faster-hit-pause-and-ask-these-questions-from-stripes-coo.html): Claire Hughes Johnson is the woman overseeing Stripe's rocketship ascent. Here, she shares a list of questions that any startup can use to guide hyper-growth. (4,186 words, Jun 20, 2017) - [The Best Advice We Overheard at First Round's CTO Unconference](/content/review/the-best-advice-we-overheard-at-first-rounds-cto-unconference.html): Our second annual CTO Unconference brought together 160+ of the sharpest technical leaders we know. Here's a rundown of some of the best tactics we heard them share. (1,521 words, Jun 14, 2017) - [Don't Play with Dead Snakes — Kill Projects Before They Kill You](/content/review/dont-play-with-dead-snakes-kill-projects-before-they-kill-you.html): DNAnexus CEO Richard Daly on how they tripled revenue by killing and scorching the earth under 'Dead Snake' projects. (2,061 words, Jun 8, 2017) - [Dear PMs, It's Time to Rethink Agile at Enterprise Startups](/content/review/dear-pms-its-time-to-rethink-agile-at-enterprise-startups.html): Flatiron Health's CMO and SVP Product Strategy Ogi Kavazovic explains how traditional PM practices break down at B2B companies, and what they can do instead. (3,318 words, Jun 6, 2017) - [How Instacart Uses Data to Craft A Bespoke Comp Strategy](/content/review/how-instacart-uses-data-to-craft-a-bespoke-comp-strategy.html): When searches for talent are competitive and condensed, startups have a need for speed that makes freestyle negotiations or plug-and-play comp data resources attractive. But that's not how it has to go down. Instacart assembled a multifunctional task force — its VPs of Engineering, HR and Data Science — to spearhead a more sophisticated compensation strategy driven by data. Here's how it works. (4,443 words, May 31, 2017) - [Start Up on the Right Foot — Build a Customer Advisory Board](/content/review/start-up-on-the-right-foot-build-a-customer-advisory-board.html): Sales leader Peter Kazanjy on creating a group that will ensure you're building a product your customers want, need and will buy. (4,314 words, May 18, 2017) - [How Zapier Pulled Off Its One-and-Done Approach to Fundraising](/content/review/how-zapier-pulled-off-its-one-and-done-approach-to-fundraising.html): Zapier CEO and Co-founder Wade Foster is a fundraising contrarian. But he doesn't think he should be. He shares how it's possible to approach financing as a boost — not a crutch — and ways to approach key business decisions early on to keep the itch to fundraise at bay. (4,536 words, May 8, 2017) - [This Sales Plan Moves the Needle on Every Success Metric](/content/review/this-sales-plan-moves-the-needle-on-every-success-metric.html): Derek Draper builds high-performance sales teams. His secret: a documented, bulletproof plan broken into stages and actions. (4,147 words, May 4, 2017) - [How to Become Insanely Well-Connected](/content/review/how-to-become-insanely-well-connected/index.html): Chris Fralic is a world-class super-connector. Here's how the long-time First Round Partner has methodically built bonds spanning years and careers. (3,985 words, Apr 25, 2017) - [Why Chefs and Soldiers Make the Best Product Managers](/content/review/why-soldiers-and-chefs-make-the-best-product-managers.html): Eaze CEO Jim Patterson has a theory that military and kitchen experience are solid indicators of great PMs. Here's why and what startups can look for to hire better. (1,338 words, Apr 20, 2017) - [Pivot Survival Tactics from Kabam's 3 Near-Death Triumphs](/content/review/pivot-survival-tactics-from-kabams-3-near-death-triumphs.html): Kabam executed three tough about-faces to eventually sell for $800M. CEO Kevin Chou shares the keys that made this possible. (2,674 words, Apr 18, 2017) - [From Burning Millions to Turning Profitable in Seven Months — How HotelTonight Did It](/content/review/from-burning-millions-to-turning-profitable-in-seven-months-how-hoteltonight-did-it.html): HotelTonight went from a monthly burn of $2.5 million to profitability — in just over two quarters. Now a year since that milestone, CEO and Co-founder Sam Shank shares the tactics and lessons that helped the company execute the impressive turnaround. (2,963 words, Apr 14, 2017) - [I’m Sorry, But Those Are Vanity Metrics](/content/review/im-sorry-but-those-are-vanity-metrics/index.html): After three decades of leading data teams at companies like LiveOps, Netscape and ReadyForce, Looker founder and CTO Lloyd Tabb's biggest learning isn’t what you would expect — or want to hear: You’re measuring the wrong metrics. We all are. (3,820 words, Apr 4, 2017) - [PlanGrid's Playbook for Startups to Crack Big, Established Industries](/content/review/plangrids-playbook-for-startups-to-crack-open-big-established-industries.html): PlanGrid is changing the way the construction industry has operated for years. CEO Tracy Young describes the scrappy strategy that made them a catalyst. (3,578 words, Mar 30, 2017) - [Credit Karma's CEO Built a Sexy Brand in an Unsexy Category with No PR Firm and a Tiny Budget — Here's How](/content/review/credit-karmas-ceo-built-a-sexy-brand-in-an-unsexy-category-with-no-pr-firm-and-a-tiny-budget-heres-how.html): Kenneth Lin was determined to make Credit Karma a compelling brand in a boring industry, but he had to be scrappy about it too. (3,313 words, Mar 28, 2017) - [eBay’s First Chief Diversity Officer on Humanizing Diversity and Inclusion](/content/review/ebays-first-chief-diversity-officer-on-humanizing-diversity-and-inclusion.html): Damien Hooper-Campbell is on a mission to generate more authentic, effective conversations about diversity and inclusion. Here's how you can join him. (3,273 words, Mar 22, 2017) - [Lessons in Tenacity from the Co-Founder of Foursquare](/content/review/lessons-in-tenacity-from-the-co-founder-of-foursquare.html): Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley has been doggedly pursuing an idea for over a decade across a few startups. Here, he shares the different types of tenacity it takes to turn a new concept into a notable company. (3,862 words, Mar 15, 2017) - [Warning: This Is Not Your Grandfather’s Talent Planning](/content/review/warning-this-is-not-your-grandfathers-talent-planning.html): So you've heard of radical candor by now, right? That's just one of many tools you'll need to be a better boss, according to Candor, Inc. co-founder Kim Scott. You also must master the different modes of performance on your team — especially for your top people. Here's why. (1,387 words, Mar 14, 2017) - [Why You Need Two Chiefs in the Executive Office](/content/review/why-you-need-two-chiefs-in-the-executive-office/index.html): Influitive CEO Mark Organ explains how a chief of staff can power up a CEO to superhuman status. Here, he details a roadmap to hiring and training for this critical role. (4,724 words, Mar 8, 2017) - [How Chewse Operationalized Transparency — Starting With Salaries](/content/review/how-chewse-operationalized-transparency-starting-with-salaries.html): Chewse CEO Tracy Lawrence shares how she's made open salaries work at her startup — and how it has transformed it. She runs through tactics and rubrics that help intangibles such as transparency and openness feel real to employees. (4,071 words, Feb 28, 2017) - [From C++ to the C-Suite: How Software Engineering Made Me A Better Executive](/content/review/from-c-to-the-c-suite-how-software-engineering-made-me-a-better-executive.html): For most software engineers, career development is a choice between managing more code or more developers. Here, Sailthru President and CEO Neil Lustig makes the case for jumping out of those two lanes — and how software engineering can equip you for the executive track. (2,815 words, Feb 27, 2017) - [Six Steps to Superior Product Prototyping: Lessons from an Apple and Oculus Engineer](/content/review/six-steps-to-superior-product-prototyping-lessons-from-an-apple-and-oculus-engineer.html): Engineering phenom Caitlin Kalinowski has worked on everything from the Oculus Touch to the MacBook Air. Here, she shares her playbook and philoisophy for product design and prototyping. (4,122 words, Feb 22, 2017) - [Amazon’s Friction-Killing Tactics To Make Products More Seamless](/content/review/amazons-friction-killing-tactics-to-make-products-more-seamless.html): Amazon director Kintan Brahmbhatt, who's helped develop and refine the product strategy behind the Alexa and Amazon Music, explains the ways in which friction can live in your product, throwing roadblocks in a user's path to becoming a customer. He explains how to uncover counterintuitive insights that can pinpoint friction points, and spells out the three-step process for eliminating them. (3,404 words, Feb 14, 2017) - [Startups, Software Development and the Art of Bicycle Maintenance](/content/review/startups-software-development-and-the-art-of-bicycle-maintenance.html): LaunchDarkly CEO and Co-founder Edith Harbaugh biked solo across the U.S. in the summer of 2007. A decade later, her lessons from the road — from ways to grind through long stretches to how to approach forks in the road — still inform how she leads teams and builds software. (2,041 words, Feb 9, 2017) - [Cognitive Overhead is Your Product’s Overlord — Topple it With These Tips](/content/review/cognitive-overhead-is-your-products-overlord-topple-it-with-these-tips.html): Google Photos' Product Lead David Lieb cut his teeth on an app that allowed users to swap contact information by physically bumping phones. Drawing from Bump and other startups, Lieb shows how user adoption and virality can come from stripping cognitive overhead from products. (2,933 words, Feb 6, 2017) - [Snag the Best Advisors for Your Startup, from Best-selling Authors to Fortune 500 CEOs](/content/review/snag-the-best-advisors-for-your-startup-from-best-selling-authors-to-fortune-500-ceos.html): Former Google executive Amy Chang has successfully courted heavy hitters and VIPs to advise her startup Accompany. Here, she breaks down how to score big fish for your braintrust. (3,819 words, Jan 24, 2017) - [Leslie’s Compass: A Framework For Go-To-Market Strategy](/content/review/leslies-compass-a-framework-for-go-to-market-strategy.html): As the former CEO of Veritas, a Stanford GSB Lecturer and MD of Leslie Ventures, Mark Leslie has seen what it takes to go to market effectively from multiple perspectives. The mind behind the canonical "The Sales Learning Curve" returns to The Review to share a framework to help startups more easily design — and troubleshoot — their go-to-market strategy. (3,162 words, Jan 23, 2017) - [Make Operations Your Secret Weapon - Here’s How](/content/review/make-operations-your-secret-weapon-heres-how/index.html): Etsy COO Linda Kozlowski knows an operations leader is critical to the success of a company. Here, she sheds light on the most mysterious role in the C-suite — and how startups can hire and empower the right COO for their company. (3,137 words, Jan 18, 2017) - [The [Adjective] [Number] Things You Need to Know About Clickbait](/content/review/the-adjective-number-things-you-need-to-know-about-clickbait.html): Former MyFitnessPal and Under Armour marketing VP Tara-Nicholle Nelson lays down the content marketing law: stop publishing clickbait. Here, she outlines how to create true engagement. (3,376 words, Jan 12, 2017) - [My Launch Lessons from 37 Minutes in an Amazon War Room](/content/review/my-launch-lessons-from-37-minutes-in-an-amazon-war-room.html): Before joining Twitter, Ibrahim Bashir led the launch of the third-generation Kindle at Amazon. Here, he reflects on his lessons from that release — and shares how to prepare to make hard decisions quickly when the unexpected happens. (1,570 words, Jan 9, 2017) - [The 30 Best Pieces of Advice for Entrepreneurs in 2016](/content/review/the-30-best-pieces-of-advice-for-entrepreneurs-in-2016.html): In our annual roundup, we've distilled the top 30 insights from all of our articles published over the last year. Read on to take in tactics and advice from some of the sharpest minds we know. (762 words, Jan 5, 2017) - [Team Health Monitors and Why Your Startup Needs a Check-up](/content/review/team-health-monitors-and-why-your-startup-needs-a-check-up.html): Atlassian president Jay Simons makes the case for team health monitors and explains how to evaluate for the eight traits of high-performing teams. (3,365 words, Dec 21, 2016) - [ClassPass’ CMO on How and When to Invest in Product Marketing](/content/review/classpass-cmo-on-how-and-when-to-invest-in-product-marketing.html): ClassPass CMO Joanna Lord covers the essentials on product marketing for teams struggling to define, implement and launch the function at their startup. (456 words, Dec 12, 2016) - [Less Work, More Play: Change the Game With Simulations](/content/review/less-work-more-play-change-the-game-with-simulations.html): New Relic CIO Yvonne Wassenaar details the game-changing benefits of business simulations and how to use them to transform your company. (3,434 words, Dec 2, 2016) - [A People Ops Veteran on Navigating the Gnarliest Conversations](/content/review/a-people-ops-veteran-on-navigating-the-gnarliest-conversations.html): Climate Corporation's Chief People Officer Meg Makalou has been the human resources leader for startups big and small. Here, she tells of the three most daunting conversations people ops executives face — and recommends routes to resolution. (696 words, Nov 22, 2016) - [Three Powerful Conversations Managers Must Have To Develop Their People](/content/review/three-powerful-conversations-managers-must-have-to-develop-their-people.html): Google and Twitter veteran Russ Laraway breaks down the most critical conversations you must have with your employees to help them grow into fulfilling careers. (3,059 words, Nov 12, 2016) - [It’s Price Before Product. Period.](/content/review/its-price-before-product-period/index.html): Pricing pro Madhavan Ramanujam uncovers a powerful idea: Determine price before you design your product. Here, he details the ways companies trip up when they try to monetize and explains how to do it right. (1,215 words, Nov 7, 2016) - [What I Learned From Developing Branding for Airbnb, Dropbox and Thumbtack](/content/review/what-i-learned-from-developing-branding-for-airbnb-dropbox-and-thumbtack.html): As one of Silicon Valley's most sought-after brand strategists, Julie Supan has helped some of tech's fast-growing companies find their high-expectation customer — and optimal position in the market. (4,461 words, Oct 31, 2016) - [Turbocharge Your Recruiting Machine — Here’s How](/content/review/turbocharge-your-recruiting-machine-heres-how/index.html): NerdWallet VP of People Operations Flo Thinh outlines the profile of an exceptional Head of Recruiting as well how to design a magical candidate experience. (3,537 words, Oct 25, 2016) - [What Obama’s Tech Startup Has to Teach About Adaptability](/content/review/what-obamas-tech-startup-has-to-teach-about-adaptability.html): USDS marketing chief and former head of marketing for Google X Janine Gianfredi shares her lessons on how to build adaptable teams, even in the most rigid and regulated environments. (1,189 words, Oct 18, 2016) - [Your Database is Your Prison — Here’s How Expensify Broke Free](/content/review/your-database-is-your-prison-heres-how-expensify-broke-free.html): Startups can fall into dangerous defaults when it comes to database architecture. Expensify founder and CEO David Barrett shares how his company sidestepped these missteps and made its database architecture one of its competitive advantages. (3,096 words, Oct 13, 2016) - [The Case For Startups to Put CX at Their Core](/content/review/the-case-for-startups-to-put-cx-at-their-core/index.html): At eero, the Customer Experience (CX) team is known as the "truth squad." Here's how its CEO and Co-founder Nick Weaver and Head of CX Dana Lindsay built and scaled an essential — but often overlooked — discipline at startups. (4,194 words, Oct 6, 2016) - [When Fear Is a Competitive Advantage — 4 Steps to Make It Work for You](/content/review/when-fear-is-a-competitive-advantage-4-steps-to-make-it-work-for-you.html): Justin Milano and Dan Cordaro have built their reputations on the science of overcoming fear — today, they help dozens of startups turn these feelings into opportunity. (5,030 words, Sep 29, 2016) - [The Three Infrastructure Mistakes Your Company Must Not Make](/content/review/the-three-infrastructure-mistakes-your-company-must-not-make.html): Avi Freedman has worked in networking for 30+ years and seen over 100 startups scale their infrastructure. Here are the most vital pieces of advice he has to share. (4,674 words, Sep 27, 2016) - [The SEO Tips That Helped Tally 20 Million Visits A Month](/content/review/the-seo-tips-that-helped-tally-20-million-visits-a-month.html): Yummly Chief Growth Officer Ethan Smith outlines the inflection points and key tenets for high-performance SEO. (3,532 words, Sep 20, 2016) - [How to Lead and Rally a Company Through a Layoff](/content/review/how-to-lead-and-rally-a-company-through-a-layoff/index.html): For decades, HR leader and Mensch Ventures' founder Beth Steinberg has tackled complex talent challenges at some of the biggest names in technology and retail. Here, she opens her playbook on a topic that many avoid before it's too late: layoffs. (919 words, Sep 15, 2016) - [The Most Surefire Way I’ve Found to Win Enterprise Deals](/content/review/the-most-surefire-way-ive-found-to-win-enterprise-deals.html): General Assembly's Anand Chopra-McGowan shares the tactics that helped GA tighten its sales cycle to win big enterprise clients. (3,252 words, Sep 13, 2016) - [On Receiving (and Truly Hearing) Radical Candor](/content/review/on-receiving-and-truly-hearing-radical-candor/index.html): Candor Inc. co-founders Kim Scott and Russ Laraway have both written and spoken often on how to give radical candor to colleagues. Here they turn the tables and focus on how to receive it. (537 words, Sep 8, 2016) - [What You Must Know To Build Savvy Push Notifications](/content/review/what-you-must-know-to-build-savvy-push-notifications.html): With a few missteps, a push notification can transform from invitation to intrusion. Here, Noah Weiss, Slack's Head of Search, Learning and Intelligence, maps out the history and machinery behind push notifications — and the principles that can help startups use them well. (798 words, Sep 1, 2016) - [The Rewards of Creator-Driven Cultures — And The Engineers That Can Deliver Them](/content/review/the-rewards-of-creator-driven-cultures-and-the-engineers-that-can-deliver-them.html): From the earliest web browsers to cookies, JetInsight Co-founder and CTO Lou Montulli developed some of his most pivotal and enduring work in creator-driven cultures. Here, he covers how to create that environment — and why engineers must lead the way. (3,756 words, Aug 25, 2016) - [The Power of the Elastic Product Team — Airbnb’s First PM on How to Build Your Own](/content/review/the-power-of-the-elastic-product-team-airbnbs-first-pm-on-how-to-build-your-own.html): Over the last 5 years, Jonathan Golden has watched Airbnb explode in size and productivity. Here's what that journey looked like on the product team that powered it. (3,738 words, Aug 23, 2016) - [Forget Technical Debt — Here's How to Build Technical Wealth](/content/review/forget-technical-debt-heres-how-to-build-technical-wealth.html): Andrea Goulet runs a software SWAT Team — parachuting in to help companies fix bad code that's holding them back. Here's what she's learned on the job. (3,875 words, Aug 11, 2016) - [How to Save Your Company From A Communications Crisis](/content/review/how-the-u-s-forest-service-can-save-your-company-from-a-crisis.html): Company crises — like wildfires — are complex developments that can progress in unexpected ways. Simple's Head of Communications Krista Berlincourt outlines the principles and practices that can help triage and tackle any incident. (3,800 words, Aug 8, 2016) - [The Price is Right: Essential Tips for Nailing Your Pricing Strategy](/content/review/the-price-is-right-essential-tips-for-nailing-your-pricing-strategy.html): From buyer personas to feature preference surveys, Price Intelligently Co-founder and CEO Patrick Campbell offers indispensable tips on how to get pricing right. (861 words, Aug 1, 2016) - [Defining Product Design: A Dispatch from Airbnb's Design Chief](/content/review/defining-product-design-a-dispatch-from-airbnbs-design-chief.html): Airbnb VP of Design Alex Schleifer shares how design can become a more intentional, integrated discipline — and why it must be in order to better build products. (3,185 words, Jul 26, 2016) - [To Build Great Products, Build This Strong, Scalable System First](/content/review/to-build-great-products-build-this-strong-scalable-system-first.html): As Co-VPs of Product at Reddit, Alex Le and Kavin Stewart manage a large team with multiple competing goals. Here's what they've learned about building effective product pipelines. (4,594 words, Jul 21, 2016) - [The New 'Must Haves' for Mobile Apps to Succeed Today](/content/review/the-new-must-haves-for-mobile-apps-to-succeed-today.html): Sophie-Charlotte Moatti has built mobile products at one flagship name after another — including running notifications for Facebook. Here are her must haves for mobile apps. (3,165 words, Jul 19, 2016) - [The Goldilocks Effect and How to Harness Social Influence](/content/review/the-goldilocks-effect-and-how-to-harness-social-influence.html): Wharton professor and bestselling author Jonah Berger shines a light on the hidden forces that shape our behavior. Here he explains why it's best to influence — and be influenced — by increment. (3,020 words, Jul 13, 2016) - [The Pivotal Stories Every Startup Leader Should Be Able to Tell](/content/review/the-pivotal-stories-every-startup-leader-should-be-able-to-tell.html): Since starting his career as a U.S. Marine, Don Faul has led operations at Facebook, Pinterest and now Athos. Here are the stories he tells to rally big teams to do their best work. (429 words, Jul 12, 2016) - [How A/B Testing at LinkedIn, Wealthfront and eBay Made Me a Better Manager](/content/review/how-a-b-testing-at-linkedin-wealthfront-and-ebay-made-me-a-better-manager.html): Instacart VP of Product Elliot Shmukler shares how he uses A/B testing as a management framework to not only accelerate product decisions, but also empower product teams. (3,567 words, Jul 6, 2016) - [Summer Book Recommendations from the Smartest People We Know](/content/review/summer-book-recommendations-from-the-smartest-people-we-know.html): Introducing a new annual feature on First Round Review: The Summer Reading List. All year, we bring you advice from the best in tech. Here, they recommend the books that expanded their minds in 2016. (890 words, Jun 28, 2016) - [The Recursive Product Strategy That Musk Used To Build An Empire](/content/review/the-recursive-product-strategy-that-musk-used-to-build-an-empire.html): Serial entrepreneur and Civic Co-founder and CEO Vinny Lingham shares what it actually means to build a company for the long term. (2,794 words, Jun 23, 2016) - [The Three Frameworks You Need to Kick-start Sales](/content/review/the-three-frameworks-you-need-to-kick-start-sales/index.html): TalentIQ VP of Sales Whitney Sales offers three indispensable exercises for startups seeking to build their early sales function and tally their first deals. (4,125 words, Jun 14, 2016) - [The Principles of Quantum Team Management](/content/review/the-principles-of-quantum-team-management/index.html): Instagram Head of Engineering James Everingham walks us through a different approach to management, drawing on science and machine-building. (3,266 words, Jun 9, 2016) - [Adam Grant On Interviewing to Hire Trailblazers, Nonconformists and Originals](/content/review/adam-grant-on-interviewing-to-hire-trailblazers-nonconformists-and-originals.html): Bestselling author Adam Grant follows up on his highly acclaimed book Originals with a set of interview questions needed to surface and select originals for your startup. Here's what to ask and how to find the nonconformists that will help propel your company forward. (3,063 words, Jun 6, 2016) - [The Fundraising Wisdom That Helped Our Founders Raise $18B in Follow-On Capital](/content/review/the-fundraising-wisdom-that-helped-our-founders-raise-18b-in-follow-on-capital.html): Two years ago, First Round launched its Pitch Assist program to help founders raise follow-on capital. Here are the most important fundraising lessons we share. (589 words, May 31, 2016) - [Here’s How Asana Won With Its Product Redesign](/content/review/heres-how-asana-won-with-its-product-redesign/index.html): Redesigns are difficult and inevitable. Product manager Sam Goertler shares how Asana successfully executed its redesign with a unique, iterative approach. (3,076 words, May 18, 2016) - [Find, Vet and Close the Best Product Managers](/content/review/find-vet-and-close-the-best-product-managers-heres-how.html): Todd Jackson is skilled at identifying excellent product managers. Now Dropbox's VP of Product and Design, he shares his process here. (4,004 words, May 17, 2016) - [Harnessing Happiness to Build Your Career — Advice from an Uber Product Leader](/content/review/harnessing-happiness-to-build-your-career-advice-from-an-uber-product-leader.html): Frederique Dame spent the last four years as a top product manager at Uber. But if you ask her what's made her career, it's her attitude. Here's what she knows that others should. (4,331 words, May 5, 2016) - [Answers To Your Tough Questions About Growth — Learned While Scaling Eventbrite’s $5B+ Growth Engine](/content/review/answers-to-your-tough-questions-about-growth-learned-while-scaling-eventbrites-5b-growth-engine.html): Brian Rothenberg is a growth guru, having revved up customer acquisition at both TaskRabbit and now Eventbrite. Here, he answers the hardest questions he often gets. (4,290 words, May 5, 2016) - [Reddit and Facebook Veteran On How to Troubleshoot Troublemakers](/content/review/reddit-and-facebook-veteran-on-how-to-troubleshoot-troublemakers.html): Bethanye Blount shares her hard-earned tips on how to detect and debug troublemakers. (3,971 words, May 2, 2016) - [Your Users Deserve Better — An Inside Look at Remind’s Customer Obsession](/content/review/your-users-deserve-better-an-inside-look-at-reminds-customer-obsession.html): Remind's classroom communication app is used in more than half of all US public schools. It's because its co-founder Brett Kopf and team are unabashedly obsessed with their users. Here's how they build remarkable relationships with customers. (2,244 words, Apr 27, 2016) - [Practical Frameworks for Beating Burnout](/content/review/practical-frameworks-for-beating-burnout/index.html): After leading a massive division at LinkedIn, and now running three groups at a startup, Roli Saxena knows about burnout. Here's how she fights it with logic. (4,149 words, Apr 26, 2016) - [The Remarkable Advantage of Abundant Thinking](/content/review/the-remarkable-advantage-of-abundant-thinking/index.html): Katia Verresen is one of the most sought-after leadership coaches in tech. Here's how she's seen abundant thinking transform careers and companies. (4,442 words, Apr 19, 2016) - [Advice is Cheap — Context is Priceless](/content/review/advice-is-cheap-context-is-priceless/index.html): Serial entrepreneur and angel investor Hiten Shah deconstructs the best advice he's ever received to extract what made it so remarkable. He draws from the standout experience to illustrate the tactics that he's used to become a skilled advice giver — and recipient. (2,980 words, Apr 13, 2016) - [One Founder, Both Sides of the M&A Table — What All Startups Can Learn from His Experience](/content/review/one-founder-both-sides-of-the-manda-table-what-all-startups-can-learn-from-his-experience.html): Jeff Seibert sold two startups back-to-back, and now regularly advises Twitter on acquisition deals from the inside. Here's what all founders need to know about this process. (4,357 words, Apr 12, 2016) - [Doing Data Science Right — Your Most Common Questions Answered](/content/review/doing-data-science-right-your-most-common-questions-answered.html): Veteran data leaders Jeremy Stanley (Instacart, Sailthru) and Daniel Tunkelang (LinkedIn) walk through the wheres, whats, whys and hows of building the perfect data science team. (4,028 words, Apr 5, 2016) - [How Early-Stage Startups Can Enlist The Right Amount of Security As They Grow](/content/review/how-early-stage-startups-can-enlist-the-right-amount-of-security-as-they-grow.html): Security isn't about reducing risk to zero. It's about continuously rebalancing risk as context shifts. Here's how Box's Michael Graham helps startups approach security at each growth stage. (4,211 words, Mar 29, 2016) - [Content is Eating the World — Contently's CEO on Winning at Marketing's New Hotness](/content/review/content-is-eating-the-world-contentlys-ceo-on-winning-at-marketings-fastest-growing-trend.html): Joe Coleman has been helping companies of all sizes publish quality content for years. Here's his advice for startups as this new marketing trend reaches fever pitch. (5,468 words, Mar 24, 2016) - [Shims, Jigs and Other Woodworking Concepts to Conquer Technical Debt](/content/review/shims-jigs-and-other-woodworking-concepts-to-conquer-technical-debt.html): One Medical CTO Kimber Lockhart subscribes to a philosophy -- inspired by woodworking -- that helps startups judiciously control technical debt. Here's how it works. (2,621 words, Mar 21, 2016) - [The Beta Program Behind This Startup's Winning Launch](/content/review/the-beta-program-behind-this-startups-winning-launch.html): Successful launches are fueled by robust beta programs. Here's how eero's Head of Beta & Special Programs Kelly Neary and Head of Product Paul Nangeroni cracked the code with beta testing. (4,229 words, Mar 17, 2016) - [Build Your User Base with These Human Behavior Hacks](/content/review/build-your-user-base-with-these-human-behavior-hacks.html): As Director of User Experience at Yammer (and therefore Microsoft), Cindy Alvarez spends her time thinking deeply about why people do what they do. Here's what she's learned. (4,176 words, Mar 15, 2016) - [Thoughts on Gender and Radical Candor](/content/review/thoughts-on-gender-and-radical-candor/index.html): Management expert Kim Scott builds on her argument for 'Radical Candor' by looking at the challenges of giving and receiving feedback through a gender lens. (3,725 words, Mar 9, 2016) - [The ‘Adaptable Leader’ is the New Holy Grail — Become One, Hire One](/content/review/the-adaptable-leader-is-the-new-holy-grail-become-one-hire-one.html): Anne Dwane, CBO at Chegg, has had to adapt a lot in her career as she's started and sold companies. Here's what she learned. (2,914 words, Feb 25, 2016) - [The Tools Early-Stage Startups Actually Need to Understand Their Customers](/content/review/the-tools-early-stage-startups-actually-need-to-understand-their-customers.html): Segment Co-founder and CEO Peter Reinhardt has personally test-driven a tool a week for the last three years. Here he shares the toolkit you need to get the most out of your customer data. (527 words, Feb 22, 2016) - [This Company Retains 95% of Its Employees — Here’s Its Secret](/content/review/this-company-retains-95-percent-of-its-employees-heres-its-secret.html): Location Labs is known for two things — its impressively low burn rate and its uncanny ability to retain brilliant employees for years and years. Here's how it's managed to hold on to its most valuable talent. (4,476 words, Feb 18, 2016) - [This is How Effective Leaders Move Beyond Blame](/content/review/this-is-how-effective-leaders-move-beyond-blame/index.html): Next Big Sound's Head of Engineering Dave Zwieback cautions against the perils of blame — and shares how to circumvent them to build a more resilient company. (1,185 words, Feb 10, 2016) - [This Is How You Design a Lasting Brand — An Inside Look at Gusto's Reinvention](/content/review/this-is-how-you-design-a-lasting-brand-an-inside-look-at-gustos-reinvention.html): Gusto CEO Josh Reeves reveals the months-long process the company used to change its identity for the better without losing customers or momentum. (4,859 words, Feb 2, 2016) - [A Primer for Startups and Job Seekers to BOTH Win the Talent War](/content/review/a-primer-for-startups-and-job-seekers-to-both-win-the-talent-war.html): Tammy Han is a secret weapon for both startups and candidates navigating the frothy tech job market. Here is her comprehensive survival guide. (698 words, Jan 28, 2016) - [OpenTable's CEO on How to Dodge Company Breakdown as You Scale](/content/review/opentables-ceo-on-how-to-dodge-company-breakdown-as-you-scale.html): OpenTable's leader Christa Quarles explains how startups can spot and survive their breaking points. (1,343 words, Jan 21, 2016) - [The Only Onboarding Timeline You’ll Need: From Offer to First Friday](/content/review/the-only-onboarding-timeline-youll-need-from-offer-to-first-friday.html): Percolate Co-founder Noah Brier shares why your company is only as strong as its onboarding plan. (3,218 words, Jan 20, 2016) - [Square Defangs Difficult Decisions with this System — Here’s How](/content/review/square-defangs-difficult-decisions-with-this-system-heres-how.html): Gokul Rajaram shares a framework that he's used at Square and Caviar to make the most difficult decisions, all while assigning ownership, being inclusive and coordinating execution among all stakeholders. (3,238 words, Jan 14, 2016) - [Facebook's VP of Tech Communications on Building a Bulletproof Comms Strategy](/content/review/facebooks-vp-of-tech-communications-on-building-a-bulletproof-comms-strategy.html): Strike a holistic balance between internal and external communications with this advice from Facebook veep (and OutCast co-founder) Caryn Marooney. (2,609 words, Jan 12, 2016) - [The 30 Best Pieces of Advice for Entrepreneurs in 2015](/content/review/the-30-best-pieces-of-advice-for-entrepreneurs-in-2015.html): In 2015, we brought you nearly 100 articles chock-full of advice from the best minds in tech. Here, we've distilled this down to the very best, needle-moving insights. (1,186 words, Jan 5, 2016) - [Take on Your Competition with These Lessons from Google Maps](/content/review/take-on-your-competition-with-these-lessons-from-google-maps.html): Former Facebook CTO and Quip chief Bret Taylor shares how to dislodge well-established rivals. (564 words, Dec 23, 2015) - [How to Spot and Magnify the Powers of Your Engineering Superheroes](/content/review/how-to-spot-and-magnify-the-powers-of-your-engineering-superheroes.html): Looker founder and CTO Lloyd Tabb shares how to best recognize and channel the abilities of your most extraordinary engineers. (2,473 words, Dec 14, 2015) - ['Get in the Van' and Other Tips for Getting Meaningful Customer Feedback](/content/review/the-power-of-interviewing-customers-the-right-way-from-twitters-ex-vp-product.html): Michael Sippey has been building tech products for over 20 years. His most valuable ideas, though? They came from speaking with customers. Here's how. (1,901 words, Dec 10, 2015) - [How Does Your Leadership Team Rate?](/content/review/how-does-your-leadership-team-rate/index.html): Upstart Founder and CEO Dave Girouard on the uniquely difficult challenge of evaluating and providing feedback to the leaders at your company. (1,462 words, Dec 3, 2015) - [Here are the Scripts for Sales Success — Emails, Calls and Demos That Close Deals](/content/review/here-are-the-scripts-for-sales-success-emails-calls-and-demos-that-close-deals.html): Seldom do you see sales advice that's so specific, down to the actual language you should use to get customers to say yes. Here, sales expert Peter Kazanjy shares exactly what's worked for him. (780 words, Dec 1, 2015) - [Radical Candor — The Surprising Secret to Being a Good Boss](/content/review/radical-candor-the-surprising-secret-to-being-a-good-boss.html): Kim Scott shares the secret to delivering feedback that is kind, clear, specific and sincere. (2,227 words, Nov 24, 2015) - [Draw The Owl and Other Company Values You Didn’t Know You Should Have](/content/review/draw-the-owl-and-other-company-values-you-didnt-know-you-should-have.html): Twilio CEO and Co-founder Jeff Lawson brings precision, power and process to company values. (4,039 words, Nov 17, 2015) - [The Keys to Scaling Yourself as a Technology Leader](/content/review/the-keys-to-scaling-yourself-as-a-technology-leader.html): Adam Pisoni spoke at First Round's recent CEO Summit about the lessons he plans to apply as a second-time founder. (3,439 words, Nov 17, 2015) - [Indispensable Growth Frameworks from My Years at Facebook, Twitter and Wealthfront](/content/review/indispensable-growth-frameworks-from-my-years-at-facebook-twitter-and-wealthfront.html): Wealthfront's VP of Growth Andy Johns outlines the three mandatory skills of a growth leader. (3,825 words, Nov 10, 2015) - [Three Moves Every Startup Founder Must Make to Build a Brand That Matters](/content/review/three-moves-every-startup-founder-must-make-to-build-a-brand-that-matters.html): Google and Square's former marketing maven Arielle Jackson shares a set of vital branding exercises. (852 words, Nov 7, 2015) - [AltSchool's CEO Rebuilt Google's Performance Review System to Work for Startups — Here It Is](/content/review/altschools-ceo-rebuilt-googles-performance-review-system-to-work-for-startups-here-it-is.html): Max Ventilla may be revolutionizing early education, but he's also changing the way startups work. Here's how his company handles the critical matter of performance reviews. (3,664 words, Nov 5, 2015) - [The Company-Changing Magic of Sales Operations Done Right](/content/review/the-company-changing-magic-of-sales-operations-done-right.html): Don Otvos is one of the sharpest minds in tech sales today. Here, he talks about building and incentivizing your team to send revenue up and to the right. (3,693 words, Oct 29, 2015) - [This Is How You Design Your Mobile App for Maximum Growth](/content/review/this-is-how-you-design-your-app-for-maximum-growth/index.html): Primer CEO Kamo Asatryan has helped dozens of mobile apps achieve explosive growth. Here are his go-to tips. (5,723 words, Oct 27, 2015) - [Expensify’s CEO on the Tactics that Doubled its Customer Base in Just Six Months](/content/review/expensifys-ceo-on-the-tactics-that-doubled-its-customer-base-in-just-six-months.html): Expensify Founder and CEO David Barrett dispels five myths about user acquisition and shares atypical truths about how to attract and retain new customers. (3,523 words, Oct 19, 2015) - [A Blueprint from the Woman Who Helped AdRoll Double its Sales Force and Sales](/content/review/a-blueprint-from-the-woman-who-helped-adroll-double-its-sales-force-and-sales.html): Former AdRoll Director Diane Lu maps out the sales operations team that can turn your startup's sales force into a revenue-generating juggernaut. (3,972 words, Oct 13, 2015) - [The Total Talent Reboot — How This Startup Overhauled Its Workforce](/content/review/the-total-talent-reboot-how-this-startup-overhauled-its-workforce.html): Two years ago, Nerdwallet completely remade its staff with a new set of values, frameworks, and a fresh approach to hiring. Here's a breakdown of how they did it. (1,834 words, Oct 13, 2015) - [Slack's First Product Manager on How to Make a Firehose of Feedback Useful](/content/review/slacks-first-product-manager-on-how-to-make-a-firehose-of-feedback-useful.html): Kenneth Berger joined Slack at the very beginning and made several critical product decisions. Here's how he leveraged the right feedback to make it happen. (4,020 words, Oct 8, 2015) - [Unlocking the Benefits of Self-Management Without Going All In on Holacracy](/content/review/unlocking-the-benefits-of-self-management-without-going-all-in-on-holacracy.html): Mike Arauz is an expert at understanding and building new systems of management. Here, he talks about how startups can break from tradition to up their productivity. (5,246 words, Oct 6, 2015) - [Lessons from the Woman Who Built Squarespace’s Customer Care Team from 1 to 184](/content/review/lessons-from-the-woman-who-built-squarespaces-customer-care-team-from-1-to-370.html): Former Squarespace and current ShopKeep VP of Customer Care Christa Collins shares how to build a team that best bridges a company and its customers. (4,006 words, Oct 1, 2015) - [Building Your Best Sales Deck Starts Here](/content/review/building-your-best-sales-deck-starts-here/index.html): A step-by-step walkthrough for startups to build and win with their first sales deck from TalentBin's Peter Kazanjy. (4,586 words, Sep 29, 2015) - [Hire a Top Performer Every Time with These Interview Questions](/content/review/hire-a-top-performer-every-time-with-these-interview-questions.html): Koru CEO Kristen Hamilton helps hundreds of people hire and get hired every year. These are the traits she knows translate into excellent performance on the job. (2,125 words, Sep 24, 2015) - [Here's What a Real Growth Strategy Looks Like — Road Tested by Facebook and Remind](/content/review/heres-what-a-real-growth-strategy-looks-like-road-tested-by-facebook-and-remind.html): Meenal Balar cut her teeth at Facebook taking growth to a global level. Now she's using this plan to do the same thing at Remind. (4,132 words, Sep 17, 2015) - [‘Give Away Your Legos’ and Other Commandments for Scaling Startups](/content/review/give-away-your-legos-and-other-commandments-for-scaling-startups.html): Molly Graham helped forge a work culture at Facebook that's withstood huge amounts of growth. Today, she's something of a rapid scaling expert. Here's the key to doing it right, she says. (4,083 words, Sep 10, 2015) - [The Simple Rules That Could Transform How You Launch Your Product](/content/review/the-simple-rules-that-could-transform-how-you-launch-your-product.html): LaunchKit co-founder and CEO Brenden Mulligan, one of Product Hunt's most prolific users, shares his tips for a successful product launch. (3,259 words, Sep 9, 2015) - [This Is How You Build Products for the New Generation of 'Data Natives'](/content/review/this-is-how-you-build-products-for-the-new-generation-of-data-natives.html): Jawbone's former VP Data Monica Rogati on what entrepreneurs need to consider when building smart products for this new wave of savvy consumers. (1,848 words, Sep 3, 2015) - [The Right Way to Ship Software](/content/review/the-right-way-to-ship-software/index.html): An open letter from a former Facebook and VMware engineering executive on how startups can best structure their release processes. (2,571 words, Aug 31, 2015) - [The Story Behind How Pocket Hit 20M Users with 20 People](/content/review/the-story-behind-how-pocket-hit-20m-users-with-20-people.html): Pocket founder and CEO Nate Weiner on how startups can have an outsized impact with a small team. (3,674 words, Aug 26, 2015) - [10 Ways You Need to Change How You Think and Talk to Succeed at Sales](/content/review/10-ways-you-need-to-change-how-you-think-and-talk-to-succeed-at-sales.html): To be awesome at sales, you have to break certain social rules. Sales aficionado Peter Kazanjy shares how to create new habits that will help you win. (3,481 words, Aug 25, 2015) - [Influencers Aren't Born, They're Built — Here's How](/content/review/influencers-arent-born-theyre-built-heres-how/index.html): Serial entrepreneur and networking maven Angie Chang deconstructs the art of influence in three steps. (618 words, Aug 19, 2015) - [The Most Dangerous Leadership Traps — and the 15-Minute Daily Practice That Will Save You](/content/review/the-most-dangerous-leadership-traps-and-the-15-minute-daily-practice-that-will-save-you.html): Sought-after leadership coach Chris Holmberg on the mistakes he sees too many leaders make, and the best way to sidestep them. (4,039 words, Aug 13, 2015) - [The Three Tools Netflix Used to Build Its World-Class Brand](/content/review/the-three-tools-netflix-used-to-build-its-world-class-brand.html): Netflix's former branding guru shares the frameworks startups need to build enduring brands. (2,320 words, Aug 10, 2015) - [How Dropbox Sources, Scales and Ships Its Best Product Ideas](/content/review/how-dropbox-sources-scales-and-ships-its-best-product-ideas.html): Dropbox's product engineering leader shares how a hybrid product development approach propels its best ideas. (636 words, Aug 5, 2015) - [What Startups Can Learn from General McChrystal about Combining Strategy and Execution](/content/review/what-startups-can-learn-from-general-mcchrystal-about-combining-strategy-and-execution.html): Yammer Co-founder Adam Pisoni speaks with General Stanley McChrystal about the lessons technology companies might take away from his new book Team of Teams. (2,548 words, Aug 4, 2015) - [This 90-Day Plan Turns Engineers into Remarkable Managers](/content/review/this-90-day-plan-turns-engineers-into-remarkable-managers.html): Twitter's former Director of Engineering shares the plan he uses to transform engineers into successful and happy managers. (5,240 words, Jul 29, 2015) - [AppNexus' First Pitch — Before It Steered Around the Cloud to Win Big in AdTech](/content/review/appnexus-first-pitch-before-it-steered-around-the-cloud-to-win-big-in-adtech.html): AppNexus opens the vault and shares its very first seed funding pitch deck, created before its impressive pivot. (712 words, Jul 28, 2015) - [How I Structured Engineering Teams at LinkedIn and AdMob for Success](/content/review/how-i-structured-engineering-teams-at-linkedin-and-admob-for-success.html): LinkedIn’s SVP of Engineering shares the team structure and mindset that clinched its $2.5B IPO. (2,436 words, Jul 22, 2015) - [Speed as a Habit](/content/review/speed-as-a-habit/index.html): All things being equal, speed will determine whether your company succeeds or not. Here's how to make it core to your culture. (3,016 words, Jul 21, 2015) - [What Startups Can Learn from Watsi’s Wildly Successful Email Campaign](/content/review/what-startups-can-learn-from-watsis-wildly-successful-email-campaign.html): Watsi became the first nonprofit backed by Y Combinator in 2013 and is still breaking new ground with brilliant marketing campaigns. Here's what startups can learn from their winning streak. (4,912 words, Jul 16, 2015) - [Product Leadership Rules to Live By From My Experience at Pandora](/content/review/product-leadership-rules-to-live-by-from-my-experience-at-pandora.html): Pandora's VP of Product Jack Krawczyk offers the six tactics you need to lead product managers. (5,215 words, Jul 8, 2015) - [You're Losing Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars Because of Poor Sales Onboarding](/content/review/youre-losing-hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars-because-of-poor-sales-onboarding.html): TalentBin Co-founder Peter Kazanjy on how startups can design their own bootcamps to make sure sales teams are spun up to succeed. (6,044 words, Jul 6, 2015) - [I'm Sorry, But Agile Won't Fix Your Products](/content/review/im-sorry-but-agile-wont-fix-your-products/index.html): Yammer CTO and Co-founder Adam Pisoni on why more startups should consider breaking away from agile development and how they can start the conversation. (1,654 words, Jul 2, 2015) - [The Case for Startups to Make Radical Transparency the Top Priority](/content/review/the-case-for-startups-to-make-radical-transparency-the-top-priority.html): Yesware's CEO Matthew Bellows on how he's built a culture that champions surprisingly candid and clear communication. (4,099 words, Jun 29, 2015) - [How SoundCloud Keeps Communication Flowing Across 4 Offices in 4 Time Zones](/content/review/how-soundcloud-keeps-communication-flowing-across-4-offices-in-4-time-zones.html): SoundCloud's head of internal communications shares how they keep the team feeling like they are all in one place across four time zones. (5,149 words, Jun 22, 2015) - [Designing Your Sales Stack so that Customers Come to You](/content/review/designing-your-sales-stack-so-that-customers-come-to-you.html): Two proven sales experts on how to build a process and team from the ground up to consistently boost revenue month over month. (1,132 words, Jun 11, 2015) - [The Inside Story on How SurveyMonkey Cracked the International Market](/content/review/the-inside-story-on-how-surveymonkey-cracked-the-international-market.html): SurveyMonkey CTO Selina Tobaccowalla provides a deep dive into how the company internationalized to build a world-class business. (2,277 words, Jun 2, 2015) - [Planet Labs Turned Its Interns into Company Leaders with This Program](/content/review/planet-labs-turned-its-interns-into-company-leaders-with-this-program.html): Planet Labs CTO Chris Boshuizen on how to build an internship program that will turn promising young people into incredible assets for your company. (2,074 words, May 28, 2015) - [Leslie’s Law: When Small Meets Large, Small (Almost) Always Wins](/content/review/leslies-law-when-small-meets-large-small-almost-always-wins.html): Longtime entrepreneur and investor Mark Leslie on the inevitable truth that when small companies meet big ones, small usually wins out. Here's why. (1,938 words, May 26, 2015) - [Your Data Is Your Lifeblood — Set up the Analytics It Deserves](/content/review/your-data-is-your-lifeblood-set-up-the-analytics-it-deserves.html): Looker Co-founder Ben Porterfield talks about why most startups miss the mark on their analytics and provides a formula for nailing it the first time around. (1,826 words, May 21, 2015) - [Fixing Engineering's Loyalty and Longevity Problem](/content/review/fixing-engineerings-loyalty-and-longevity-problem/index.html): Tiho Bajic, CTO of Nitro, on how engineering culture has become destructive and how to fix it to foster loyalty and longevity. (3,751 words, May 19, 2015) - [Bureaucracy Isn’t Inevitable — Here’s How Airbnb Beat It](/content/review/bureaucracy-isnt-inevitable-heres-how-airbnb-beat-it.html): Airbnb VP Engineering Mike Curtis on the practices and principles you can put in place to bust bureaucracy before it starts. (1,348 words, May 14, 2015) - [Here's How Adobe's Director of Product Marketing Navigates the Paradox of Choice](/content/review/heres-how-adobes-director-of-product-marketing-navigates-the-paradox-of-choice.html): Product marketers constantly need to decide how many choices to present to their users and customers. Here's how Adobe thinks about it. (1,862 words, May 7, 2015) - [One Rubric Changed Box's Engineering Performance — Here's How](/content/review/one-rubric-changed-boxs-engineering-performance-heres-how.html): Box's SVP Engineering Sam Schillace on the rubric that has helped the company build and maintain a culture of high performance. (3,251 words, Apr 28, 2015) - [This is How Effective CTOs Embrace Change](/content/review/this-is-how-effective-ctos-embrace-change/index.html): Twilio Co-founder Evan Cooke shares the best ways to stay effective and make impact at every stage of being a startup CTO. (2,291 words, Apr 23, 2015) - [What I Learned Scaling Engineering Teams Through Euphoria and Horror](/content/review/what-i-learned-scaling-engineering-teams-through-euphoria-and-horror.html): Serial entrepreneur Tim Howes has grown several huge engineering teams from scratch. Here are the five area he focuses on to keep everything on track. (3,140 words, Apr 13, 2015) - [Everything We Wish We'd Known About Building Data Products](/content/review/everything-we-wish-wed-known-about-building-data-products.html): RelateIQ's Product Leaders Ruslan Belkin and DJ Patil on the critical traits every sophisticated data product needs to succeed. (2,626 words, Apr 9, 2015) - [The Simple Numbers That Could Change How You Hire](/content/review/the-simple-numbers-that-could-change-how-you-hire/index.html): Eric Feng built much of Hulu from scratch, and is now doing the same thing at Flipboard. Here's his definitive guide on setting up a data-driven hiring process. (2,795 words, Apr 6, 2015) - [Here's Why You Should Care About Holacracy](/content/review/heres-why-you-should-care-about-holacracy/index.html): Yammer Co-founder Adam Pisoni is on a mission: To spread the word about responsive company models. Here's how Holacracy fits into this movement. (3,419 words, Apr 2, 2015) - [The Anatomy of the Perfect Sales Hiring Process](/content/review/the-anatomy-of-the-perfect-sales-hiring-process/index.html): Sales is a unique function to hire for, requiring different criteria and strategy. TalentBin Co-founder Peter Kazanjy has the process nailed. Here it is. (8,649 words, Mar 31, 2015) - [How to Consistently Hire Remarkable Data Scientists](/content/review/how-to-consistently-hire-remarkable-data-scientists.html): Jeremy Stanley, Chief Data Scientist at Sailthru, shares the proven method that helped him build an exceptional team. (4,139 words, Mar 25, 2015) - [This is How Coursera Competes Against Google and Facebook for the Best Talent](/content/review/this-is-how-coursera-competes-against-google-and-facebook-for-the-best-talent.html): As head of engineering at Coursera, John Ciancutti needs to bring on the best talent. Here's his sure-fire formula for making his company competitive. (4,394 words, Mar 24, 2015) - [This Is What Impactful Engineering Leadership Looks Like](/content/review/this-is-what-impactful-engineering-leadership-looks-like.html): Jessica McKellar, former founder and now engineering manager at Dropbox, shares the tenets that have made her an effective technical leader. (898 words, Mar 17, 2015) - [The Man Behind MakerBot on Finding the Stories That Build Your Brand](/content/review/the-man-behind-makerbot-on-finding-the-stories-that-build-your-brand.html): MakerBot started the 3D printing revolution. But according to Co-founder and CEO Bre Pettis, great storytelling is what built the brand. (3,603 words, Mar 12, 2015) - [What the Seed Funding Boom Means for Raising a Series A](/content/review/what-the-seed-funding-boom-means-for-raising-a-series-a.html): Josh Kopelman on why raising a Series A is harder than ever, and how startups can adapt to survive the changing investment landscape. (3,079 words, Mar 10, 2015) - [You Aren't Getting the Most Out of Your Investors — This is How to Start](/content/review/you-arent-getting-the-most-out-of-your-investors-this-is-how-to-start.html): Angel investor Paul Arnold has seen many companies fail to capitalize on the wisdom and resources of their investors. Here's how others have succeeded. (2,882 words, Mar 3, 2015) - [The Arc of Company Life - and How to Prolong It](/content/review/the-arc-of-company-life-and-how-to-prolong-it/index.html): Mark Leslie, longtime executive and advisor, explains how companies can prolong their lifespan by innovating at the right time. (3,467 words, Feb 27, 2015) - [Get the Most Out of Your Space - Secrets from The Workplace Designer Behind Airbnb and SoundCloud](/content/review/maximize-productivity-with-this-advice-from-the-office-designer-behind-soundcloud-and-airbnb.html): From wall colors to snack options, office designer Kelly Robinson shares tips that any startup can use to make the most of their workspace. (3,261 words, Feb 27, 2015) - [Survive the Leap to Hyper-Growth with This Advice from Steve Blank](/content/review/steve-blank-on/index.html): Most startups die right before they enter hyper-growth. Steve Blank shares his perspectives on how companies can cross the chasm. (1,137 words, Feb 27, 2015) - [The One Thing Every Leader Needs to Learn: How to Scale Change](/content/review/the-one-thing-every-leader-needs-to-learn-how-to-scale-change.html): Yammer Co-founder Adam Pisoni investigates how companies can make revolutionary internal changes without breaking apart. (2,298 words, Feb 27, 2015) - [Powerful Tips from Tech's Top Media Trainer and Speaking Coach](/content/review/powerful-tips-from-techs-top-media-trainer-and-speaking-coach.html): In-demand media trainer and presentation coach Joe Dolce breaks down what the world's best speakers do to get their point across. (3,521 words, Feb 27, 2015) - [How This Founder Turned Slow Burn Rate into a Big Exit](/content/review/this-founder-turned-a-slow-burn-rate-into-a-big-exit.html): Location Labs' founder provides a template for a low-burn strategy that strengthened his company while extending its runway. (2,779 words, Feb 27, 2015) - [To Build An Amazing Sales Team, Start Here First](/content/review/to-build-an-amazing-sales-team-start-here-first/index.html): TalentBin Co-Founder Peter Kazanjy offers his seasoned advice on how startups can accelerate sales with a strong narrative. (637 words, Feb 27, 2015) - [How Did Slack Grow So Fast? Inside the Epic Launch Strategy](/content/review/from-0-to-1b-slacks-founder-shares-their-epic-launch-strategy.html): Slack's founder shares their epic launch strategy. Read about how their exponential growth went from $0 to $1 billion. (3,687 words, Feb 27, 2015) - [Here's What I Learned from Working with 50+ PR Firms](/content/review/heres-what-i-learned-from-working-with-50-pr-firms/index.html): Marked Point Founder Jenn Hirsch works with a lot of PR firms. She's seen the good, the bad and the ugly. Here's how you can spot them too. (4,238 words, Feb 6, 2015) - [The Right Way to Grant Equity to Your Employees](/content/review/the-right-way-to-grant-equity-to-your-employees/index.html): Andy Rachleff, co-founder of Benchmark Capital, breaks down the ideal plan for granting equity to incentivize loyalty. (1,213 words, Feb 6, 2015) - [Fight Like You're Right, Listen Like You're Wrong and Other Keys to Great Management](/content/review/fight-like-youre-right-listen-like-youre-wrong-and-other-keys-to-great-management.html): Stanford Business and Engineering Professor Bob Sutton shares his secrets for effective leadership (including the No Asshole Rule). (2,520 words, Feb 6, 2015) - [Top Hacks from a PM Behind Two of Tech's Hottest Products](/content/review/top-hacks-from-a-pm-behind-two-of-techs-hottest-products.html): Todd Jackson has experience managing products at Google, Facebook and his own startup. Here's what he learned. (1,166 words, Feb 6, 2015) - [The Secret to Making Board Meetings Suck Less](/content/review/the-secret-to-making-board-meetings-suck-less/index.html): Jeff Bonforte, former CEO of Xobni (now SVP at Yahoo), provides a step-by-step guide to running a painless, productive board meeting. (2,436 words, Feb 6, 2015) - [There’s a .00006% Chance of Building a Billion Dollar Company: How This Man Did It](/content/review/theres-a-00006-chance-of-building-a-billion-dollar-company-how-this-man-did-it.html): David Friedberg, CEO of The Climate Corporation, tells the story of how they built a valuable company from scratch. (3,525 words, Feb 6, 2015) - [What Everyone Should Know About How Talent is Bought and Sold](/content/review/what-everyone-should-know-about-how-talent-is-bought-and-sold.html): Mike Brown, corporate development veteran from Facebook and Twitter, explains how to win the talent acquisition process. (5,287 words, Feb 6, 2015) - [Why Most Startups Don't 'Get' Press](/content/review/why-most-startups-dont-get-press/index.html): PR guru Brooke Hammerling gives step-by-step advice for startups looking to get good press coverage without an agency. (774 words, Feb 5, 2015) - [How to Go From Google Engineer to First-Time CTO](/content/article/how-to-go-from-google-engineer-to-first-time-cto/index.html): Artillery Co-founder and CTO Ian Langworth talks about the tactics required to make the jump to technical leadership. (2,934 words, Feb 5, 2015) - [What to Do When You’re the Only Designer They’ve Got](/content/review/what-to-do-when-youre-the-only-designer-theyve-got/index.html): Betable's Chief Experience Officer Jeffrey Kalmikoff on how to make it if you're the first or only designer at a startup. (1,690 words, Feb 5, 2015) - [What You Want in a VP Eng from the Recruiters Behind Twitter and Zappos](/content/review/what-you-want-in-a-vp-eng-from-the-recruiters-behind-twitter-and-linkedin.html): Top technical recruiters Ali Behnam and Mike Morell of Riviera Partners share how startups can snag a great VP of Engineering. (3,440 words, Feb 5, 2015) - [The Anatomy of the Perfect Technical Interview from a Former Amazon VP](/content/review/the-anatomy-of-the-perfect-technical-interview-from-a-former-amazon-vp.html): Neil Roseman, former VP for Amazon and Zynga, has interviewed hundreds of technical candidates. Here's what he learned. (3,125 words, Feb 5, 2015) - [How Medium Is Building a New Kind of Company with No Managers](/content/review/how-medium-is-building-a-new-kind-of-company-with-no-managers.html): Jason Stirman, one of the top minds behind Medium, explains how the company is using holacracy to do more faster and better. (3,523 words, Feb 5, 2015) - [42 Rules to Lead by from the Man Who Defined Google's Product Strategy](/content/review/42-rules-to-lead-by-from-the-man-who-defined-googles-product-strategy.html): Former Google SVP of Products Jonathan Rosenberg on the quintessential lessons every leader needs to learn. (2,681 words, Feb 5, 2015) - [The Management Framework that Propelled LinkedIn to a $20 Billion Company](/content/review/the-management-framework-that-propelled-linkedin-to-a-20-billion-company.html): LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner on the huge difference having a defined mission and vision can make for your company. (2,046 words, Feb 5, 2015) - [What 'Making Partner' Means at a Startup](/content/review/what-making-partner-means-at-a-startup/index.html): Looker Founder Lloyd Tabb on why it's vital for startup founders to treat their early employees like partners in the business. (882 words, Feb 5, 2015) - [Drew Houston’s Morph from Hacker to Hyper-Growth CEO](/content/review/drew-houstons-morph-from-hacker-to-hyper-growth-ceo.html): Dropbox Founder and CEO Drew Houston turned a great piece of software into a massive business. Here's how he got there. (1,511 words, Feb 5, 2015) - [You Aren’t Born Knowing How to Be a CEO](/content/review/you-arent-born-knowing-how-to-be-a-ceo/index.html): Bazaarvoice CEO Brett Hurt on how new founders can get up to speed fast and the key things they need to know now. (1,308 words, Feb 5, 2015) - [The Woman Behind the Netflix Culture Doc](/content/review/the-woman-behind-the-netflix-culture-doc/index.html): Patty McCord drafted the foundational document on culture in Silicon Valley for Netflix. Here, she highlights the key takeaways. (1,292 words, Feb 5, 2015) - [Not Another VC Blog - First Round Review](/content/review/not-another-vc-blog-first-round-review/index.html): Introducing The First Round Review, the first VC-run publication providing actionable insights from the top people in technology. (1,043 words, Feb 5, 2015) - [90% of Feedback is Crap: How to Find the Next Big Startup Idea](/content/review/90-of-feedback-is-crap-how-to-find-the-next-big-startup-idea.html): Flatiron Health Co-founder Nat Turner on the process he uses to distill, pitch and iterate on new ideas. (1,901 words, Feb 5, 2015) - [Culture Isn’t Kumbaya Stuff](/content/review/culture-isnt-kumbaya-stuff/index.html): Axcient CEO Justin Moore talks about why and how founders must start defining healthy culture from the very beginning. (1,963 words, Feb 5, 2015) - [Dear Startup CEOs](/content/article/dear-startup-ceos/index.html): The four lessons that made the biggest difference for Wiley Cerilli, founder and CEO of $100M acquisition SinglePlatform. (1,316 words, Feb 4, 2015) - [Zach Sims of Codecademy on Lessons in Raising $12.5 Million for the First Time](/content/review/zach-sims-of-codecademy-on-lessons-in-raising-125-million-for-the-first-time.html): Codecademy CEO and Co-founder Zach Sims shares what he learned about choosing the right investors for his company. (1,437 words, Feb 4, 2015) - [Asana’s Head of Talent on the Secrets to Finding a Great Startup Recruiter](/content/review/asana-head-of-talent-on-the-secrets-to-finding-a-great-startup-recruiter.html): Asana's Andy Stoe on how startups can bring recruiting in-house, including where to look for a first hire and interview questions. (1,587 words, Feb 4, 2015) - [Aaron Levie of Box on How to Scale 10x as a CEO and Build a Billion Dollar Business](/content/review/aaron-levie-on-how-to-scale-10x-as-a-ceo-built-a-billion-dollar-business.html): The CEO of Box gives advice on maintaining and scaling culture as fast as your company is growing in order to win big. (1,450 words, Feb 4, 2015) - [Lessons from Pixar: Why Software Developers Should Be Storytellers](/content/review/lessons-from-pixar-why-software-developers-should-be-story-tellers.html): Martin Reddy, engineering lead at Pixar and CTO at ToyTalk, on why and how founders need to tell compelling stories. (1,422 words, Feb 4, 2015) - [How Design Thinking Transformed Airbnb from a Failing Startup to a Billion Dollar Business](/content/review/how-design-thinking-transformed-airbnb-from-failing-startup-to-billion-dollar-business.html): Airbnb Co-founder Joe Gebbia talks about the true meaning of being scrappy and being willing to do things that don't scale. (1,340 words, Feb 4, 2015) - [What Scott Cook Wished He Knew About Being a CEO When He Founded Intuit](/content/review/what-scott-cook-wished-he-knew-about-being-a-ceo-when-he-founded-intuit.html): Intuit Founder Scott Cook on the most important lessons he learned, including the right (and rigorous way) to check references. (1,873 words, Feb 4, 2015) - [Head Designer of Mint on Why Great Design Isn’t About Making Things Pretty](/content/article/head-designer-of-mint-on-why-great-design-isnt-about-making-things-pretty.html): Mint Co-Founder Jason Putorti on leading a team of designers to create emotionally-intelligent products people love. (1,222 words, Feb 4, 2015) - [Head of Amazon Web Services on Finding the Next Great Opportunity](/content/article/head-of-amazon-web-services-on-finding-the-next-great-opportunity.html): Amazon's James Hamilton reveals the many opportunities for innovation nested within cloud computing. (1,798 words, Feb 3, 2015) - [How Dave Goldberg of SurveyMonkey Built a Billion-Dollar Business and Still Gets Home By 5:30 PM](/content/article/how-dave-goldberg-of-surveymonkey-built-a-billion-dollar-business-and-still-gets-home-by-5-30.html): Successful companies and work-life balance don't have to be mutually exclusive. Goldberg explains how SurveyMonkey makes this possible. (1,500 words, Feb 3, 2015) - [Sincerely CEO Matt Brezina on Rapid App Development Techniques](/content/review/matt-brezina-yc-alumnus-and-sincerely-ceo-on-rapid-app-development-techniques.html): YC Alum Brezina offers a variety of hacks for developers to save time, collect more data and iterate faster than ever before. (974 words, Feb 3, 2015) - [Founder of Pandora on Lessons from Near Dot Com Bust to Billion Dollar IPO](/content/review/founder-of-pandora-on-lessons-from-near-dot-com-bust-to-billion-dollar-ipo.html): Pandora Founder Tim Westergren stared failure in the face and was able to endure the tough times before success. Here's how. (1,191 words, Feb 3, 2015) - [Rands On How To Make Meetings Suck Less](/content/review/rands-on-how-to-make-meetings-suck-less/index.html): Pinterest's Head of People Operations airs his opinion on meetings and how to change your approach to them for more productivity. (1,263 words, Feb 3, 2015) - [What Founders Need to Know About Building Management Teams Before It’s Too Late](/content/article/what-founders-need-to-know-about-building-management-teams-before-its-too-late.html): RockMelt Co-Founder Eric Vishria shares his advice for attracting world-class talent and guiding it in the right direction. (1,061 words, Feb 3, 2015) - [Lessons Learned from Bill Gross' 35 IPOs/Exits and 40 Failures](/content/article/lessons-learned-from-bill-gross-35-ipos-and-40-failures.html): The Idealab Founder talks about the importance of diversity of thought and fast decision making to startup success. (2,252 words, Feb 3, 2015) - [Keith Rabois on the Role of a COO, How to Hire and Why Transparency Matters](/content/article/keith-rabois-on-the-role-of-a-coo-how-to-hire-and-why-transparency-matters.html): The two most important things a COO needs to do, from the man who helped build LinkedIn, PayPal and Square. (2,163 words, Feb 3, 2015) - [Why Every Startup Should Pair Program](/content/article/why-every-startup-should-pair-program/index.html): Pair programming does a lot more than speed things up. It also deeply influences culture, says Pivotal Labs COO Edward Hieatt. (660 words, Feb 3, 2015) - [The Inside Story of How 382 Recruiters Pursued an Imaginary Engineer](/content/review/the-inside-story-of-how-382-recruiters-pursued-an-imaginary-engineer.html): Meebo Co-founder Elaine Wherry set up a scheme to test industry demand for engineers. Her experiment yielded crazy results. (1,530 words, Feb 3, 2015) - [How Old Magazines and Lamborghinis Inform Flipboard’s Design Process and Approach](/content/review/how-old-magazines-and-lamborghinis-inform-flipboards-design-process-and-approach.html): Flipboard's Didier Hilhorst on the best places to look for design inspiration and effective ways to channel it into your work. (892 words, Feb 3, 2015) - [Why Yammer Believes the Traditional Engineering Organizational Structure is Dead](/content/review/why-yammer-believes-the-traditional-engineering-organizational-structure-is-dead.html): Yammer VP of Engineering Kris Gale explains why organizational norms are holding us back and what to do about it. (1,972 words, Feb 3, 2015) - [Why Firing Brilliant Assholes Is Required to Build a Great Engineering Culture](/content/review/why-firing-brilliant-assholes-is-required-to-build-a-great-engineering-culture.html): SimpleGeo Co-founder Joe Stump on the challenges of engineering leadership and why attitude trumps talent more often than not. (1,557 words, Feb 3, 2015) - [How Stripe Built One of Silicon Valley’s Best Engineering Teams](/content/review/how-stripe-built-one-of-silicon-valleys-best-engineering-teams.html): Greg Brockman, the founding engineer at Stripe, talks about how to construct your hiring pipeline to maximize talent. (1,184 words, Feb 3, 2015) - [How Etsy Grew their Number of Female Engineers by Almost 500% in One Year](/content/review/how-etsy-grew-their-number-of-female-engineers-by-500-in-one-year.html): CTO Kellan Elliott-McCrea shares the strategy Etsy used to get more female engineers interested in joining the company. (1,164 words, Feb 3, 2015) - [How to Win as a First-Time Founder, a Drew Houston Manifesto](/content/review/how-to-win-as-a-first-time-founder-a-drew-houston-manifesto.html): Dropbox CEO Drew Houston shares his strategy for getting up to speed fast to succeed as a novice founder. (2,857 words, Feb 2, 2015) - [Evernote’s CTO on Your Biggest Security Worries From 3 to 300 Employees](/content/review/evernotes-cto-on-your-biggest-security-worries-from-three-employees-to-300.html): Evernote's CTO David Engberg goes in-depth on all the security threats you'll face as your startup grows and how to combat them. (2,778 words, Feb 2, 2015) - [The Best Approach to the Worst Conversation: "You're Fired"](/content/review/the-best-approach-to-the-worst-conversation/index.html): Michael Lopp has headed up People Operations at both Palantir and Pinterest. Here, he explains how to fire people the right way. (2,748 words, Feb 2, 2015) - [The Seven Deadly Sins of Startup Storytelling](/content/review/the-seven-deadly-sins-of-startup-storytelling/index.html): Andy Smith specializes in the intersection between psychology, social media and marketing. Here, he shows how to tell a great brand story. (2,753 words, Jan 30, 2015) - [How to Make OKRs Actually Work at Your Startup](/content/review/how-to-make-okrs-actually-work-at-your-startup/index.html): Swipely CEO Angus Davis shares how his company deployed OKRs to grow past 50 employees and $1 billion in sales. (2,840 words, Jan 30, 2015) - [What It Takes to Grow Your Startup 500% in Months](/content/review/what-it-takes-to-grow-your-startup-500-in-less-than-a-year.html): Angel investor and seasoned consultant Paul Arnold on how to introduce organization that will accelerate your startup. (2,377 words, Jan 30, 2015) - [Rap Genius Explains Why Worse is Better](/content/review/rap-genius-explains-why-worse-is-better/index.html): Tom Lehman, Co-Founder of Genius, talks about the real value of MVPs and why it's good to build bad sometimes. (1,781 words, Jan 30, 2015) - [From Zero to 10,000 Clients in Two Years Using Channel Partners](/content/review/from-zero-to-10000-clients-in-two-years-using-channel-partners.html): Alex Rampell, CEO of TrialPay, shares how startups can land vital channel partnerships that open up doors to many more customers. (2,723 words, Jan 30, 2015) - [The Five Mistakes Startups Make When Building for Mobile](/content/review/what-you-think-you-know-about-mobile-engineering-is-wrong.html): Farhan Thawar of Pivotal Labs busts common myths about mobile development and offers best practices that can save startups time and money. (3,420 words, Jan 30, 2015) - [Asana’s Justin Rosenstein on the One Quality Every Startup Needs to Survive](/content/review/asanas-justin-rosenstein-on-the-one-quality-every-startup-needs-to-survive.html): Asana Co-founder Justin Rosenstein on the critical need for clarity within startups and how to achieve it as you scale. (2,833 words, Jan 30, 2015) - [This Product Prioritization System Nabbed Pandora 70 Million Monthly Users with Just 40 Engineers](/content/review/this-product-prioritization-system-nabbed-pandora-more-than-70-million-active-monthly-users-with-just-40-engineers.html): Pandora CTO Tom Conrad explains how Pandora picks the most important features to build with its limited engineering power. (2,876 words, Jan 30, 2015) - [Unlocking the Power of Stable Teams with Twitter’s SVP of Engineering](/content/review/twitter-engineering-svp-chris-fry-on-the-power-of-stable-teams.html): Chris Fry, former SVP Engineering at Twitter, talks about how forging strong teams is vital to building a long-lasting company. (2,306 words, Jan 30, 2015) - [The Brain Hacks Top Founders Use to Get the Job Done](/content/review/the-brain-hacks-top-founders-use-to-get-stuff-done/index.html): Sought-after executive coach Katia Verresen shares the tips and tricks you can use to be as effective as possible. (4,305 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [Six Friction-Free Ways to Help Your Network Help You](/content/review/6-friction-free-ways-to-leverage-your-network-to-maximize-your-potential.html): Networking expert Patrick Ewers provides six powerful tips for forging connections that can advance your goals and richen your life. (3,076 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [23 Tools to Make Your Feedback Meaningful](/content/review/23-tools-to-make-feedback-meaningful/index.html): First Round Partner Phin Barnes on the best way to give feedback so that it's not only heard, but also makes a big difference. (3,593 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [Crisis Management — From the Man Who Helped Save eBay](/content/review/crisis-management-from-the-man-who-helped-save-ebay.html): Maynard Webb has become known as Mr. Fix-It for his crisis management at eBay, Salesforce and Yahoo. Here's how he did it. (2,638 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [My Management Lessons from Three Failed Startups, Google, Apple, Dropbox, and Twitter](/content/review/my-management-lessons-from-three-failed-startups-google-apple-dropbox-twitter-and-square.html): Kim Scott, veteran of Google, Apple, Dropbox and Twitter, shares what she's learned — especially the importance of giving a damn. (2,447 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [Take Your Fundraising Pitch from Mediocre to Memorable with These Storytelling Tips](/content/review/tell-stories-like-this-to-take-your-fundraising-pitch-from-mediocre-to-memorable.html): Oren Jacob, CEO of ToyTalk and former CTO of Pixar, gives his advice for making the fundraising process far less painful. (2,761 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [The Do’s and Don’ts of Rapid Scaling for Startups](/content/review/the-dos-and-donts-of-rapid-scaling-for-startups/index.html): Stanford Business and Engineering Professor Bob Sutton shares the tactics startups can use to grow fast without fatally breaking. (2,597 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [The Best PR Advice You’ve Never Heard - from Facebook’s Head of Tech Communications](/content/review/the-best-pr-advice-youve-never-heard-from-facebooks-head-of-tech-communications.html): Caryn Marooney, Head of Technology Communications for Facebook, shares the PR secrets that help companies get great press. (2,595 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [70% of Time Could Be Used Better - How the Best CEOs Get the Most Out of Every Day](/content/review/70-of-time-could-be-used-better-how-the-best-ceos-get-the-most-out-of-every-day.html): First Round Partner Bill Trenchard on how the best CEOs in tech get the most out of their time. (2,769 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [Facebook VP of Engineering on Solving Hard Things Early](/content/review/facebook-vp-of-engineering-on-solving-hard-things-early.html): Cory Ondrejka, former director of mobile engineering at Facebook, on how to tackle hard things early so you don't run into trouble later. (1,495 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [Eventbrite's Playbook for Building Amazing Customer Service from Scratch](/content/review/eventbrites-vp-on-how-to-build-an-amazing-customer-service-team-from-scratch.html): Eventbrite's VP of Customer Service Dana Kilian on how she built the team that fields millions of questions from scratch. (4,046 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [Flying Lessons](/content/review/flying-lessons/index.html): Angus Davis, founder and CEO of Swipely, on the lessons he learned from flying that now apply to entrepreneurism. (2,148 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [Stop Dancing Around Criticism and Put It to Use with These Tips from Airbnb's Head of Experience Design](/content/review/give-criticism-that-makes-a-difference-with-these-tips-from-airbnbs-head-of-experience-design.html): Katie Dill, Airbnb's Head of Experience Design, on how to critique your colleagues' work the right way to move things forward. (969 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [Here’s Why You’re Not Hiring the Best and the Brightest](/content/review/heres-why-youre-not-hiring-the-best-and-the-brightest.html): Jeff Atwood, Founder of Discourse, Stack Exchange and Coding Horror, shares his secrets for garnering the best talent in tech. (3,205 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [When You're at the Crossroads of Should and Must](/content/review/what-to-do-at-the-crossroads-of-should-and-must/index.html): This is a pep talk for anyone who’s chosen Should far too long and feels like it’s about time they give Must a shot. (3,087 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [Hyper-Growth Done Right - Lessons From the Man Who Scaled Engineering at Dropbox and Facebook](/content/review/hyper-growth-done-right-lessons-from-the-man-who-scaled-engineering-at-dropbox-and-facebook.html): Aditya Agarwal, VP of Engineering at Dropbox, talks about how he was able to scale their engineering team while maintaining productivity. (2,228 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [80% of Your Culture is Your Founder](/content/review/80-of-your-culture-is-your-founder/index.html): Molly Graham joined Facebook at 400 employees and helped turn a culture of chaos into a streamlined organization. Here's how she did it. (2,456 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [This Advice From IDEO's Nicole Kahn Will Transform the Way You Give Presentations](/content/review/this-advice-from-ideos-nicole-kahn-will-transform-the-way-you-give-presentations.html): IDEO's Nicole Kahn shares insider tips on how to give killer presentations to any audience for winning results. (1,923 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [The Best Hires Are Right Under Your Nose - Use This System to Never Miss Them Again](/content/review/mine-your-network-for-early-stage-hiring-gold/index.html): TalentBin Founder and CEO Peter Kazanjy breaks down referral hiring, how to do it and why it's so vital for your company early on. (3,389 words, Jan 29, 2015) - [Don't Leave Money on the Table with This Crash Course in Pricing](/content/review/dont-leave-money-on-the-table-with-this-crash-course-in-pricing.html): Alex Rampell, CEO of TrialPay, explains how startups can be strategic about pricing their products so they don't lose out. (2,293 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [An Inside Look at Facebook's Method for Hiring Designers](/content/review/an-inside-look-at-facebooks-method-for-hiring-designers.html): Julie Zhuo, Director of Product Design, shares Facebook's in-depth process for hiring talented designers step by step. (2,496 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [This Startup Launched in 30 Cities in 6 Months — Here’s How They Did It](/content/article/this-startup-launched-in-30-cities-in-6-months-heres-how-they-did-it.html): Founder Adora Cheung shares the strategies and hard lessons that allowed Homejoy to sprint across two continents and keep quality high. (2,857 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [Process Is Being Told What to Do by Someone Who Has Less Information than You](/content/review/process-is-being-told-what-to-do-by-someone-who-has-less-information-than-you.html): As companies grow, process tends to slow things down. Follow these steps from Instagram's Director of Product to stay lean. (2,494 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [The 39 Best Pieces of Sales Advice You’ll Hear This Year](/content/review/the-39-best-pieces-of-sales-advice-youll-hear-this-year.html): Wiley Cerilli has built huge sales teams from scratch, emerging with an arsenal of lessons for founders looking to do the same thing. (3,229 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [Software is Eating Hardware - Lessons for Building Magical Devices](/content/review/hardware-adam-macbeth/index.html): Adam MacBeth has advised hardware companies like Jawbone and FiftyThree. Here, he offers tactics for startups to create magical products. (3,304 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [Spark Creativity with These Tips from Pixar's President](/content/review/spark-creativity-with-these-tips-from-pixars-president.html): Ed Catmull, President of Pixar, has spent his career being creative. Now he's exploring how companies can proactively ignite creativity. (2,264 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [This Startup Cracked a $2.4 Billion Market with Branding — Here’s Their Formula](/content/review/this-startup-cracked-a-24-billion-market-with-branding-heres-their-formula.html): Harry's has claimed a large part of the market through beautiful branding. Here, the duo behind it shares their recipe for great campaigns. (2,375 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [How Lumosity Spiked Active Users 10% with Complexity, Not Simplicity](/content/review/how-lumosity-spiked-active-users-10-with-complexity-not-simplicity.html): It's not always true that simplicity makes the best product. Sometimes making things less simple will get you the users you truly want. (1,767 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [Spotify’s Design Lead on Why Side Projects Should Be Stupid](/content/review/spotifys-design-lead-on-why-side-projects-should-be-stupid.html): If you take what you're doing too seriously, you're likely to squeeze the life out of it. Here's a guide to letting your projects stay stupid and fun. (610 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [I’ve Worked with Hundreds of Recruiters - Here's What I Learned](/content/review/ive-worked-with-hundreds-of-recruiters-heres-what-i-learned.html): TalentBin Founder Peter Kazanjy knows the qualities that make a good recruiter, and has a rubric for building out your hiring strategy. (655 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [How Fast-Growing Startups Can Fix Internal Communication Before It Breaks](/content/review/how-fast-growing-startups-can-fix-internal-communication-before-it-breaks.html): URX CEO John Milinovich knows communication is crucial and that maintaining it will be hard as they grow. Here's what he's doing about it. (3,409 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [8 Rare Gems from Heidi Roizen on Building a Fulfilling Life and Career](/content/review/8-rare-gems-from-heidi-roizen-on-building-a-fulfilling-life-and-career.html): Heidi Roizen has been an entrepreneur, advisor and investor. But in order to excel at work, you have to live a life that makes you happy. (2,634 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [What to Learn from the Man Who Managed Reddit's Community of Millions](/content/review/what-to-learn-from-the-man-who-managed-reddits-community-of-millions.html): Erik Martin was the first community manager wrangling the internet's noisiest forum: Reddit. Along the way, he picked up these lessons. (4,015 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [Dropbox's Head of Design on the Dawn of Personalized Products](/content/review/dropboxs-head-of-design-on-the-dawn-of-personalized-products.html): As one of the first designers at Facebook and Dropbox, Soleio Cuervo has seen a lot. Now he's looking at the next trend: Personalization. (3,277 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [The Case for Why Marketing Should Have Its Own Engineers](/content/review/the-case-for-why-marketing-should-have-its-own-engineers.html): Robbie Mitchell runs marketing at Knewton like an independent agency within the company and it's working like a charm. (2,322 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [How Designers Can Earn a Seat at the Table](/content/review/how-designers-can-earn-a-seat-at-the-table-2/index.html): Phil King rose through the ranks to lead design at Flickr. His mission: To help more designers become leaders and advocate for their craft. (3,574 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [How Startups Can Do Retail Right from the Inventor of the Apple Store](/content/review/how-to-do-retail-right-from-the-inventor-of-the-apple-store.html): Ron Johnson is known as the creator of the Apple Store. Now he's sharing advice for startups that want to pursue and win at retail. (2,714 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [Product Hunt is Everywhere — This is How It Got There](/content/review/product-hunt-is-everywhere-this-is-how-it-got-there.html): Two years ago, Product Hunt didn't exist. Now it's the toast of the town. In this exclusive article, Found Ryan Hoover tracks its ascent. (3,612 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [How to Engage Your Users to Build the Product They Actually Want](/content/review/how-to-build-the-product-your-users-actually-want/index.html): Massdrop's first users were so involved in shaping the product that it's become core to the company's culture. And that's a great thing. (4,529 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [The One Tool Startups Need to Brainstorm, Test and Win](/content/review/to-go-lean-master-the-business-model-canvas/index.html): At the heart of the Lean Startup movement, the Business Model Canvas can help early stage startups carve out a successful model. (3,238 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [How Crowd-Funding Is Changing Everything and What That Means for Your Startup](/content/review/how-crowd-funding-is-changing-everything-and-what-that-means-for-your-startup.html): As crowd-funding becomes more popular, startups have more choices for financing than ever. Here's how to navigate this new landscape. (3,418 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [Positioning Your Startup is Vital — Here’s How to Nail It](/content/review/positioning-your-startup-is-vital-heres-how-to-do-it-right.html): Arielle Jackson has experience crafting marketing campaigns at Google, Facebook and Square. This is her messaging toolbox. (3,727 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [Power Up Your Team with Nonviolent Communication Principles](/content/review/power-up-your-team-with-nonviolent-communication-principles.html): Ann Mehl and Jerry Colonna coach startups to communicate more clearly. These are the quick tips they've seen make a huge impact. (3,068 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [What I Learned As Pandora’s First Data Scientist](/content/review/what-i-learned-as-pandoras-first-data-scientist/index.html): Gordon Rios was Pandora's first official data scientist. Today, he's seen how a healthy, productive data team is grown and operates. (2,423 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [Employee Onboarding at Startups Is Broken – Here’s How to Fix It](/content/article/employee-onboarding-at-startups-is-broken-heres-how-to-fix-it.html): Carly Guthrie has helped onboard new employees in startup offices and crowded restaurants. Here's what she learned from hard-won experience. (2,443 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [Annual Planning is Killing Your Growth – Try This Plan Instead](/content/review/annual-planning-is-killing-your-growth-try-this-instead.html): The need to plan a year ahead can cripple fast-changing startups. Instead, here's a system to think long-term with short-term agility. (3,237 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [This Is How You Get People to Trust Your Product](/content/review/urbansitter-lynn-perkins/index.html): Startups can't succeed without the trust of their customers. Here, Urbansitter CEO Lynn Perkins shares how to bake trust into your product. (4,038 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [How to Make Engineering Interns Effective for Your Startup](/content/review/make-engineering-interns-truly-effective-with-this-startups-program.html): Startup Sift Science relies on its interns to hit its goals. Here's how it designed its program to produce incredible and effective engineers. (4,659 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [7 Tactics to Get the Most Out of Your Startup's Advisors](/content/review/get-the-most-out-of-your-startups-advisors-with-these-7-tactics.html): Many entrepreneurs don't make the most out of their advising relationships. Get more done by deepening these connections. (4,477 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [WhatsApp Used This Pricing Strategy to Win and You Can Too](/content/review/whatsapp-used-this-pricing-strategy-to-win-and-you-can-too.html): While WhatsApp solved a real problem, their understanding of the Penny Gap may have been their shrewdest product move of all. (1,655 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [Here’s Why Founders Should Care about Happiness](/content/review/heres-why-founders-should-care-about-happiness/index.html): After 24 years climbing the corporate ladder, Scott Crabtree now focuses on data-driven approaches to what makes people happy at work. (4,430 words, Jan 28, 2015) - [Find the Best Lawyer for Your Startup with This Off-the-Record Advice](/content/review/find-the-best-lawyer-for-your-startup-with-this-off-the-record-advice.html): Ken Callander’s helps all kinds of startups work with their lawyers. Here he shares secrets for increasing productivity and cutting costs. (3,592 words, Jan 27, 2015) - [Win the War for Great Global Talent — Keys to International Recruiting](/content/review/win-the-war-for-great-global-talent-the-keys-to-international-recruiting.html): HR specialist Megan Zengerle is a veteran at international hiring. Here, she clarifies the visa process, best practices and more. (1,489 words, Jan 27, 2015) - [What Eventbrite Did Early to Create ‘Sustainable’ Success](/content/review/what-eventbrite-did-early-to-create-sustainable-success.html): When Julia and Kevin Hartz first started Eventbrite, they knew they weren't looking for a quick exit, but for long-term, durable success. (3,114 words, Jan 27, 2015) - [When It Comes to Market Leadership, Be the Gorilla](/content/review/when-it-comes-to-market-leadership-be-the-gorilla/index.html): There are three ways to dominate a market: product leadership, cost leadership or customer intimacy leadership. Here's how to achieve it. (1,204 words, Jan 27, 2015) - [This is Why People Leave Your Company](/content/review/this-is-why-people-leave-your-company/index.html): Carly Guthrie has run HR for major restaurant groups and startups. Here, she shares lessons for startups looking to hold onto their talent. (3,125 words, Jan 27, 2015) - [A Counterintuitive System for Startup Compensation](/content/review/a-counterintuitive-system-for-startup-compensation/index.html): Molly Graham helped structure compensation at Facebook and now Quip. She's emerged with these rules for creating a fair, motivating system. (1,488 words, Jan 27, 2015) - [The 5 Early Mistakes That Almost Killed This Founder’s Startup — and How He Survived](/content/review/the-5-early-mistakes-that-almost-killed-this-founders-startup-and-how-he-survived.html): Ranker CEO Clark Benson readily admits that he made mistakes that almost destroyed the company. Here, he lists what not to do. (3,048 words, Jan 27, 2015) - [This Startup Built Internal Tools to Fuel Major Growth — Here’s Their Approach](/content/review/this-startup-built-internal-tools-to-fuel-major-growth-heres-their-approach.html): As CEO of Percolate, Noah Brier knew he needed to get his rapidly growing company aligned. Building their own tools worked magic. (3,624 words, Jan 27, 2015) - [This Woman Has Landed Millions of App Installs — How She Does It](/content/review/this-woman-has-landed-millions-of-mobile-downloads-heres-how-she-does-it.html): Tamara Steffens specializes in driving user acquisition and has it down to a science. Here, she says what startups must do to gain traction. (5,262 words, Jan 27, 2015) - [What I Learned the Hard Way Building an eCommerce Site](/content/review/what-i-learned-the-hard-way-building-an-e-commerce-site.html): Tindie CTO Julia Grace has thought through every part of the online buying experience. Here's how she broke it apart to optimize each step. (3,541 words, Jan 27, 2015) - [Square Started Small and Won Big with This PR Strategy](/content/review/square-started-small-and-won-big-with-this-pr-strategy.html): Square is used by entrepreneurs everywhere. But how can one company reach such a wide audience? Their PR expert Khobi Brooklyn tells all. (3,895 words, Jan 27, 2015) - [Your Product Demo Sucks Because It's Focused on Your Product](/content/review/your-product-demos-suck-because-theyre-focused-on-your-product.html): Demoing products is Rob Falcone's bread and butter. Now he wants to pass the wisdom of his experience along so others can demo better. (3,967 words, Jan 27, 2015) - [An Inside Look at a Flat Organization That Serves Millions](/content/review/an-inside-look-at-a-flat-organization-that-serves-millions.html): Gumroad adopted a flat management structure by accident, but it's still working great. Founder Sahil Lavingia explains why flat is better. (3,623 words, Jan 27, 2015) - [This is How You Build Partnerships to Make Your Startup Better, Faster, Stronger](/content/review/what-to-learn-from-this-restaurant-startup-that-turned-strong-partnerships-into-a-better-product.html): Founder Greg Hong's startup, Reserve, depends on great relationships with restaurants. Here's how he forges strong partnerships. (1,813 words, Jan 27, 2015) - [Mechanize Your Hiring Process to Make Better Decisions](/content/review/mechanize-your-hiring-process-to-make-better-decisions.html): Hiring the best is hard because there's so much human variation. Amazon's Anurag Gupta shares a system that always raises the bar. (2,079 words, Jan 27, 2015) - [Looking for Love in All The Wrong Places - How to Find a Co-founder](/content/review/looking-for-love-in-all-the-wrong-places-how-to-find-a-co-founder.html): Steve Blank explains how entrepreneurs can use a tool called the Business Model Canvas to find the ideal co-founder for their startup. (3,544 words, Jan 27, 2015) - [The 30 Best Pieces of Advice for Entrepreneurs in 2014](/content/review/the-30-best-pieces-of-advice-for-entrepreneurs-in-2014.html): A comprehensive list of the top pieces of advice we heard in 2014 from people who are the very best at what they do. (5,548 words, Jan 23, 2015) - [Looking to Scale Your Sales? Seven Bullets to Dodge](/content/review/looking-to-scale-your-sales-seven-bullets-to-dodge/index.html): Upshift Partners Founder Gabriel Luna-Ostaseski lists the 7 deadly sins of sales that can tank your company before you even have traction. (3,806 words, Jan 23, 2015) - [Letting Go of Efficiency Can Accelerate Your Company — Here's How](/content/review/responsiveness-new-efficiency/index.html): Yammer Co-founder and CTO Adam Pisoni wants more companies to move away from tradition and become more responsive. Here's why. (2,817 words, Jan 23, 2015) - [Execute Like a Rookie, Lead Like a Multiplier](/content/review/execute-like-a-rookie-lead-like-a-multiplier/index.html): Knowing too much can be dangerous and narrow your view. Leadership advisor Liz Wiseman offers tips for avoiding this trap. (1,483 words, Jan 23, 2015) - [Here's the Advice I Give All of Our First Time Founders](/content/review/heres-the-advice-i-give-all-of-our-first-time-founders.html): According to First Round Partner Rob Hayes, there are only three things new founders need to focus on to succeed. (4,211 words, Jan 23, 2015) - [The One Cost Engineers and Product Managers Don't Consider](/content/review/the-one-cost-engineers-and-product-managers-dont-consider.html): Kris Gale, former VP Engineering at Yammer, on the pernicious problem and ramifications of complexity cost. (1,811 words, Jan 23, 2015) - [How Squarespace’s CEO Pivoted to Scale for Millions](/content/review/how-squarespaces-ceo-pivoted-to-scale-for-millions/index.html): Squarespace CEO Anthony Casalena explains how the company pivoted several times before discovering the recipe for success. (909 words, Jan 22, 2015) - [The 30 Best Pieces of Advice for Entrepreneurs in 2013](/content/review/30-best-pieces/index.html): Our 2013 roundup of the very best pieces of advice for entrepreneurs shared by experts and leaders across the tech industry. (4,412 words, Jan 6, 2014) ## About Pages - [Team | First Round](/content/team/index.html): The team behind First Round, a venture capital firm that works with founders exclusively at the earliest stages of company building, often when all they have is an “imagine if.” (412 words) - [About](/content/review/about/index.html): We believe that there is powerful, untapped knowledge out there that can transform the way people build technology. 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