Check out HubSpot’s latest podcast, called Weird Work! Each week, host Sam Balter talks with folks who work some of the weirdest jobs out there. The new show features guests like a dinosaur erotica writer, a professional bridesmaid, and an ASMR artist. In this episode, Meghan talks with Sam about what listeners can expect, and why the people with the strangest jobs are actually a lot more normal than Sam’s own co-workers.
Innovation is great when it’s in an iPhone. But is it something you want to put inside your mouth? Well get ready, meat industry. Because your days are numbered. Ethan Brown at Beyond Meat is hoping his company’s mission of sustainable, plant-based protein will convert even the most hardcore carnivore. Lofty goals, but he tells us how you too can evolve your own company’s mission to create real change in the world.
There’s the hype. Sure. But there’s also the hysteria. For most, bots are either the thing that’ll carry our companies into the future, or they’re a skip away from subjugating the entire human race. Today, we’re talking to Adelyn Zhou, CMO of TOPBOTS. She gives us her take on companies using these technologies successfully, how you can build a AI or machine learning team yourself (if you really need one), and what we can really expect from our robot overlords.
When we look for leadership characteristics, are we really building a workplace made for extroverts? We look for leaders to constantly speak up, network, and think on their feet. But what are we missing by excluding the strengths of introverts? Today on the show, we’re talking with Amma Marfo, a speaker, writer and editor, who thinks that we can do better. And she has a good idea of where we can start.
Four years ago, Karen Millsap’s husband was shot and killed in the gym they co-owned. There was no warning. No response manual. What followed was a time of immense hardship, struggle, and reinvention. Karen joins us to talk about the importance of creating a psychologically safe work environment and the importance of building a culture of empathy and compassion. She offers ways you can ready your company to respond to even the toughest of life experiences.
Companies have great stories to tell, but they’re being drowned out by thousands of low-quality messages that journalists receive each day. Ricky Yean and his team at Upbeat realized that the problem is one of coordination. Journalists getting way too much of what they don’t need, and not enough of what they do. In this episode, Ricky talks about his solution, the increasing role of influencers in PR, and whether there’s even a future for humans in a more automated PR world.
When Payal Kadakia quit her job at Warner Music Group, she didn't have a backup plan. She knew she wasn't happy in her job, but she wasn't sure what she wanted to do next. After a few weeks of soul-searching, she decided on her next move: She was going to start a fitness membership to help people uncover new classes in their area. Five years, and a few business models later, ClassPass is helping hundreds of thousands of people ignore any excuse to not exercise.
Not long ago, men’s shorts were long, with as many pockets as possible. But these days, they’re shrinking. And we can trace it all back to four friends with one simple idea. Today, we’re talking with Tom Montgomery, a co-founder of Chubbies, a men and women’s clothing company. Tom tells us what it’s like to bear the “bro” stereotype and sell a product that no one was asking for at the time.
To Jerry Colonna, accepting leadership means accepting to work on yourself. Because if you’re struggling personally, your company is probably struggling as well. Jerry is the founder of Reboot, a coaching company that’s helped some of the tech industry’s most well-known leaders. In this episode, he tells us the first step he takes with all of his clients, how he got into this industry, and where he thinks we’re headed when it comes to mental health in the workplace.
Projects fail. Side-projects fail even more. But every once in awhile, a project comes along that shatters expectations (and maybe even a Google Sheet in the process). Yet all too often, we’re left wondering why? Mikael Cho, the CEO and founder of Unsplash, knows the answers to this question. Unsplash was once a side project itself. In today’s episode, Mikael explains which signs to keep a sharp eye on when you’re exploring side projects, and how he transitioned his own into the company it is to...
When did working 100 hours become the banner for success? And worse, when did it become so damn cool? Luckily, not everyone thinks so. David Heinemeier Hansson is the creator of Ruby on Rails and the founder and CTO of Basecamp. David believes this type of workaholism starts at the top and quickly trickles down to your employees. He tells us why we need to change the narrative and stop thinking that all-nighters make us better employees.
Tech has a diversity problem. And in recent years we’ve seen a wave of programs aimed at teaching young people of color to code. But the reality is that addressing the diversity problem is about much more than just teaching kids how to code. Brandon Nicholson is the founding executive director of the Hidden Genius Project, an organization that teaches engineering skills and equips students with leadership skills.
Amanda Spann is a serial entrepreneur, and after seeing major judgment errors like Pepsi's tone-deaf Kendall Jenner ad, she launched the site youneedablackperson.com. She meant it as a joke, but it’s rooted in a much larger issue. On today’s episode, Amanda explains how rapid growth and groupthink can poison a company’s better judgment, and how she’s avoiding having the same issues with her own products.
For years, the pace of everyday work has been increasing. But Kathie Sever’s company is a good example of why the future may not be faster. Kathie owns Fort Lonesome, a custom chain stitching outfit in Austin, Texas. After witnessing first hand the unsustainable practices of the garment industry, she wanted to change the way we all think about clothing. And she’s doing just that. One stitch at a time.
More than a decade ago, Steve Blank helped lay the groundwork for The Lean Startup movement. Instead of innovating in a vacuum, he told entrepreneurs they needed to get outside and talk to customers. In this episode, Steve explains why innovation is fundamentally different in startups, how the Lean Startup can be applied almost anywhere, and what you should do if your company’s innovation engine starts to sputter.
Six months after Karen Aiach’s daughter Ornella was born, she was diagnosed with Sanfilippo syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. Doctors told Karen her daughter would likely live for just over a decade. Left with no option, she created one herself. After only three weeks of receiving the news, and with no medical background, Karen cofounded Lysogene, a biotech company targeting the syndrome. In this episode, she reminds us why “no” or “never” is only the start of the conversation.
In a world of unicorns, Anthony Tjan is an investor looking for sea turtles. He watched first hand as his company went bust the same day the Dotcom bubble burst. And he realized that good, steady growth powered by teams of good people is really the only thing that matters. In this episode, Tony tells us how to learn from standout companies that promote goodness, how to surround yourself with good people, why you may want to cook dinner with more of your potential employees.
If you’ve ever had to cater a meeting, you know the panic that comes along with it. The type of panic that sits deep in the pit of your stomach. Will the food be late? Will it be the same as you ordered? Or even worse, will it show up at all? Stefania Mallett heard these concerns first hand. Thousands of these concerns, in fact. All from customers at her previous company. And when that company went under? She knew exactly what problem to solve with her next company -- EzCater.
On Monday, you download a new productivity app. On Tuesday, you load it up with all the tasks you need to accomplish. By Friday? You’ve abandoned that list - and you’re in the market for the next new app that’s sure to change your life. That’s why Amir Salihefendic, the founder and CEO of the productivity startup Doist, says his company is out to solve a psychological problem, not a product problem.
Jim Cline was only a few months away from retirement. That is, until a former colleague of his offered him a job most people would run far away from: CFO of a company $134 million in debt. In today’s episode, Jim tells us why he took on that challenge, how he helped realign his team, and how he’s changing course now that he’s stepped up to be the CEO. This episode is presented with HubSpot’s State of Inbound 2017.
If everything on earth is connected, what does that mean for humanity? This week we’re digging out one of our favorites from the archives. In this episode, Linden Tibbets, CEO of IFTTT, outlines a vision of the world where everything is so connected, that moving across the different systems in your life is as easy as rearranging books on a shelf.
If you work in some kind of office, you’ve probably spent a good amount of your time in group brainstorms. Sometimes they work, but often you’re left with a ton of really great ideas - and no action. Jake Knapp is probably the most vocal critic of the group brainstorm. He’s the creator of GV's (Google Ventures) sprint process, and the author of “Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days” in which he lays out a five-day alternative to group brainstorms that actually h...
One criticism of the gig economy is that it takes advantage of employees. Companies like Uber or Lyft classify their employees as independent contractors, disqualifying them from benefits. But Hello Alfred, a personal butler service, started by thinking about work differently. When they launched, they made their workforce all eligible for health insurance, 401Ks, and paid family leave. In this episode, co-founders Marcela Sapone and Jessica Beck explain how their model works and scales.
Back in 2011, Kathryn Minshew and Alexandra Cavoulacos founded the online career resource The Muse. Six years and 50 million users later, they decided to team up again to write a playbook - The New Rules of Work - for people looking to plot a course for their career and execute on it. In this episode, we talk to Kathryn about what getting taken down by government agents while working at the US Embassy in Cyprus taught her about what she truly valued, and why you should always wear pants.
Many women find themselves at a point in their career where they’re just stuck. Sometimes it has to do with moving up the ranks in a company, returning to the workforce in general, or even striking out in their own venture. That inflection point is why Lisa Skeete Tatum created Landit, which provides career coaching and a playbook for women trying to reach the next step in their career.
It seems like every company is trying to come up with an AI and machine learning strategy. Monica Rogati is an independent data science advisor, and she has some news: You can’t just lock a few data scientists in a room and expect them to sprinkle “magical machine learning dust” on everything. In this episode, she explains how a company can develop a successful data strategy, build a strong data team, and hire (and retain) talented data scientists.
There are a lot of different ways to move in your career. You can quit and move on to a new company. You can completely reinvent your job, or even reinvent your company. Rachel Blumenthal has moved in her career pretty much every way you can think of. Today, she’s the CEO and Founder of Rockets of Awesome, a children’s clothing membership. In this episode, she tells us how she knew when it was time to move on, how she did it gracefully, and some of the lessons she learned along the way.
Many ecommerce companies face the same two problems: the cost of keeping inventory, and the money they have to swallow when a customer returns an item. Shan-Lyn Ma, the CEO and co-founder of Zola, has dodged both of those problems. Zola is an update on the wedding registry. In today’s episode, Shan-Lyn tells us about what she learned from her time working at the shopping website Gilt, her view on the future of ecommerce, and why it’s a good thing if a customer gets emotional when you’re doing us...
Julie Zhuo was Facebook’s first intern back in 2006. Today, more than a decade later, she’s their VP of Product Design. You can thank her for the newsfeed, “Reactions”, and a lot more. On today’s episode, Julie tells us how she got to where she is today -- despite having no formal background in design -- why her goal is for her team’s work to be “invisible”, and why changes to your product (even changes that make it better) are still incredibly hard to get users to like.
The process of buying and selling used furniture is painful. It’s hard to know what you’re getting and who you’re getting it from. Reham Fagiri started AptDeco to solve that problem. The company has morphed from a scrappy team poaching furniture sales from Craigslist to operating an end-to-end buying, selling and delivery service. In this episode, she talks about how she got AptDeco off the ground and how she deals with the sometimes “explosive” problems she faces.
