Jellyvision’s Amanda Lannert on Humor, Culture, Sharks, Diversity, Liberal Arts, Massage Chairs, and Networking

Amanda Lannert is the CEO of Jellyvision, which makes ALEX, an interactive decision-support tool that talks you through traditionally boring and confusing human resource decisions like picking health insurance and makes them fun and engaging. The Jellyvision of today has one of the more interesting founding stories, which Amanda describes in the beginning of this episode. It was born from the ashes of You Don't Know Jack.  Amanda was named CEO of the Year at the Moxie Awards in 2014 and 2015. Under Amanda’s leadership, Jellyvision has doubled its revenue three out of the last four years. In This Episode You Will Learn: How Jellyvision got into the B2B space The value of a liberal arts background in tech How Jellyvision got its first customers Keys to selling to big businesses How their product evolved and what eventually led to growth How important humor is to their brand Whether their diversity is intentional or accidental How they are trying to improve diversity How they attempt to identity redact interviews How to build a strong culture across team members of different generations The impact of remote workers on their culture How Jellyvision caters to introverts in an extroverted office Amanda’s favorite interview questions How they ended up with a room dedicated to a massage chair Why Amanda would like to see more audacious dreams from Chicagoans How to find mentors What is the best bang for your buck networking Selected Links From The Episode: Harry Gottlieb, Founder of Jellyvision Jai Shekhawat, Founder & Former CEO of Fieldglass Troy Henikoff, Techstars Chicago Managing Director Mark Achler, VC Math Ventures Hyde Park Angels YPO Chicago ITA A Few of Amanda's Favorite Books: A Little Life by by Hanya Yanagihara Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by  Katherine Boo Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini