In this episode of 'Never Too Early,' host Lauren Ipsen is joined by Jonathan Schneider , founder of Moderne and US Army alum. They delve into topics crucial for business leaders and operators, such as multi-year deals, pricing strategy, and knowing when to fight versus fold. Jonathan shares his journey from Netflix to founding Moderne, his insights on pricing models, challenges with enterprise deals, and the importance of aligning incentives with customers. The discussion provides valuable advi...
Apr 02, 2025•32 min•Ep. 13
In this episode of 'Never Too Early,' host Lauren Ipsen , Talent Partner at Decibel, welcomes Maria Zhang , former VP of Engineering at Google and other major tech companies, who recently launched her startup, Palona AI. Maria discusses her new venture, her transition from corporate roles to founding a startup, key insights from talking to over a hundred customers, and the importance of building for the buyer. Maria also shares practical advice on building products, recruiting early teams, and n...
Feb 14, 2025•39 min•Ep. 12
In this episode of Never Too Early's Founder Therapy Series, Lauren Ipsen from Decibel sits down with Matt Peters , the former Chief Product Officer at Expel and now a tech entrepreneur. They discuss his journey to becoming a founder, including his early career experiences, the challenges of building his company Fixify, and the learnings from product development to managing investors. Matt shares invaluable insights on the importance of understanding customer needs, building a strong team, and m...
Jan 31, 2025•42 min•Ep. 11
In the first episode of NTE’s Founder Therapy Series, Lauren Ipsen , Talent Partner at Decibel, interviews Navrina Singh , founder and CEO of Credo AI. Navrina shares her journey from leading AI products at Microsoft to founding Credo AI in 2020. She discusses the challenges she faced, such as creating a new category in AI governance and navigating the complexities of the startup world. The conversation also covers essential advice for new founders, the importance of trusting one's gut, and stra...
Jan 10, 2025•40 min•Ep. 10
In this episode of 'Never Too Early,' host Lauren Ipsen from Decibel engages with Amy Kim , the Chief Revenue Officer at A.Team, discussing the strategic use of contractors for early-stage startups. Amy provides insights into the evolving gig economy, emphasizing the paradigm shift towards output-driven organizations in a rapidly changing workforce landscape. She discusses the benefits of hiring contractors, such as flexibility and cost efficiency, while addressing common concerns and misconcept...
Oct 18, 2024•20 min•Ep. 9
In this episode of 'Never Too Early,' Lauren Ipsen , Talent Partner at Decibel, hosts Sally Carson , an experienced design leader with a background at LinkedIn and Duo Security. Together, they explore the top five questions founders have about building their design organizations from scratch. Key topics include the timing and type of first design hires, the roles of product and brand design, introducing user research, and the benefits of hiring generalists versus specialists. Sally also shares h...
Oct 03, 2024•18 min•Ep. 8
In this episode of 'Never Too Early,' host Lauren Ipsen , Talent Partner at Decibel, interviews Giri Sreenivas , Chief Product Officer at Docker, about essential strategies for founders building their product organizations for the very first time. The conversation addresses when to hire your first PM, the importance of founders remaining involved in the product vision, and the pros/cons between hiring a CPTO versus two different leaders. Giri shares his experiences from being a founder to buildi...
Sep 12, 2024•17 min•Ep. 7
In this episode of Never Too Early, Lauren Ipsen from Decibel talks with Nir Polak , co-founder and former CEO of Exabeam, about selecting a co-founder and productive co-founder dynamics for new founders. Nir comes from 18 years of information security experience. He shares the importance of complementary skill sets, and maintaining open communication and a “no-ego culture.” Lauren and Nir also discuss the significance of founder agreements, handling equity splits, and navigating conflicts and d...
Aug 22, 2024•18 min•Ep. 6
In this episode of Never Too Early, host Lauren Ipsen from Decibel interviews growth advisor Yuriy Timen , former global head of marketing and growth at Grammarly. They discuss actionable insights for founders on topics such as establishing a growth engine, balancing growth with profitability, the importance of leaning into organic growth before paid channels, and when to bring in fractional advisors while also touching on his professional journey and a unique personal anecdote. The episode prov...
Aug 08, 2024•19 min•Ep. 5
In this episode of 'Never Too Early', host Lauren Ipsen speaks with Joe Sullivan , an esteemed internet security expert, about key considerations for founders hiring their first Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Joe shares insights from his extensive career running security for Uber, Facebook, and Cloudflare. The discussion covers when to outsource vs. hire full-time, the importance of proactivity in security, and the qualities that separate good CISOs from great ones. Joe also addresse...
Jul 25, 2024•17 min•Ep. 4
In this episode of Never Too Early, hosted by Lauren Ipsen , talent partner at Decibel, Dana Lawson , CTO of Netlify, shares insights on understanding the productivity of your engineering organization. Lauren and Dana cover topics such as measuring technical output, the role of AI in productivity, the best structure for your team, and how to determine when to hire or promote internally. Dana also stresses the importance of maintaining an objective, inclusive approach in hiring and promotions to ...
Jun 27, 2024•20 min•Ep. 3
In this episode of Never Too Early, host Lauren Ipsen , Talent Partner at Decibel, dives into the vast and increasingly popular world of advisors. Lauren's guest, Jennifer Longnion shares her perspectives on the different roles an advisor can play, and how to choose the right person and structure for your business. 00:00 Introduction to 'Never Too Early' Series 00:20 Meet Jennifer Longnion: Seasoned People Leader 02:30 Question 1: What are the different roles an advisor can play? Lauren and Jenn...
Jun 13, 2024•18 min•Ep. 2
In this episode of Never Too Early, host Lauren Ipsen , Talent Partner at Decibel, dives into crucial sales compensation strategies for early-stage founders. Lauren's guest, Brian Murphy , former CRO of Sigma Computing and Sales Leader at Okta, shares his perspectives on how to hire and pay your early sales team as well as properly structure and incentivize each stakeholder in your organization to get deals done. 00:00 Introduction to 'Never Too Early' Series 00:20 Meet Brian Murphy: Seasoned Sa...
May 30, 2024•19 min•Ep. 1
Jen is currently the COO of Cube.dev , formerly the CEO of Appify, and held the CMO title at Box, Elastic, and Looker. As a 3X CMO, Jen has seen it all. In this episode, Lauren asks Jen Grant the top five commonly asked questions she gets from founders building their first marketing organizations. What kind of marketer do I hire first? [2:48 - 4:54] What comes first, product marketing or a demand gen? Jen and Lauren discuss how you identify the kind of marketer to hire for and when you know that...
May 15, 2024•19 min0
