Scaling So Far

In series 3 episode 25 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by Anne Hansen, Head of People and Culture at ENVIRIA. Frankfurt-based ENVIRIA makes solar energy easily accessible to companies and their large roof units by providing all-in-one solar solutions and energy-as-a-service products. 

To date, ENVIRIA has developed over 100 commercial projects for clients, with an installed capacity of over 50MW, a figure that was able to save approximately 28,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions from being released into the environment in 2021 alone. They've been named one of the top 100 energy startups globally and were recently announced as part of the 2022 Europe Climate Tech 200.

Lauren Vint-McGee, Head of Talent at Scede chats with Anne about her journey with the company from employee number 2 through to employee number 80 - the transition of her role from Digital Marketing to Head of People and Culture, some of her learnings along the way, and how they’re building a diverse team that’s built upon their core values.

Hosted by Scede.io, the embedded talent partner enabling hiring success for startups and scaleups globally.

In series 3 episode 24 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by Eva Cortés Romero, Talent Acquisition Lead at charles and simpleclub. Eva is an expert in building teams for startups and scale-ups, having recruited for the likes of SumUp, i2x and Scoutbee prior to becoming her own boss as a freelance contractor.

A strong believer in the power of contractors and having a hybrid team of in-house TA resource combined with external talent partners, Eva shares her thoughts on the importance of flexible recruitment solutions in the current economic landscape, why she decided to take the leap into freelance and advice on those considering a similar transition for themselves. 

Eva is also a Coach, having joined the Co-active coaching program in 2022. Her coaching is focused on finding career fulfilment no matter what job or level you are in. She believes everyone deserves to be fulfilled and have the tools to create positive change in our jobs and businesses. For more information, check out her website here.

Hosted by Scede.io, the embedded talent partner enabling hiring success for startups and scaleups globally.

In series 3 episode 23 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by Alicia Riley - People and Talent Lead at Ben. Having partnered with early-stage teams at the likes of VouchedFor and Unleashed, as well as ArborEducation, on all things People and Talent, Alicia is a huge advocate for employee well-being and experience. 

One topic within this that Alicia champions passionately is how companies can better support women in the workplace - specifically when it comes to women's health. In this deep discussion, Alicia and Lauren cover the topic in detail, including where to begin to start the conversation, recommendations for leaders who want to raise awareness and be a voice for women's health in the workplace, fostering and enabling the right culture to harness this and more. 

We want to take this opportunity to thank Alicia for being open to sharing her experiences on this important topic and empowering those in our community by starting the conversation. 

Hosted by Scede.io, the embedded talent partner enabling hiring success for startups and scaleups globally.

In series 3 episode 22 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by Heidi Wassini. With over 15 years in the HR arena, Heidi is a Talent Acquisition and Employer Branding evangelist - having scaled teams for the likes of Vivino, Pandora, Telenor and others. 

From a strategic and operational perspective, Heidi has built TA functions in many successful companies and is known for her advocacy of data-based, positive candidate experiences, and a concept that she coins as “Candidate Value Proposition”. 

We dig into this topic and others - including the importance of championing TA as a revenue-driving function, as well as how to generate buy-in from internal leadership when it comes to innovation in recruitment approach and strategy. Listen in for some brilliant and unique insights from a talent leader forging the way when it comes to shaping the power of TA for the future. 

In series 3 episode 21 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by Charlotte Lafferty, Founder of Think Talent - the Talent consultancy bridging the gap for startups and scaleups requiring highly experienced, strategic talent leadership in the short to medium-term to support in building the talent agenda, team and setting up operational success. 

Charlotte is currently partnering with renowned tech companies sennder and WeTransfer, having scaled teams and led Talent functions for the likes of Balfour Beatty, Multiplex, Sopra Steria, Exyte, Mollie, and others over the past 15 years.

Charlotte and Matt chat about all manners of juicy scaling topics, including guidance around workforce planning as folks look ahead to 2023, how to build the team around you as a TA leader to achieve this, the importance of experienced and senior recruiters at the early stages, getting buy-in to re-launch your EVP, and thinking about career "portfolios" for your people over career "ladders". 

This conversation is one absolutely not to miss with plenty of actionable takeaways for business leaders at startups and scaleups.

To learn more about how Charlotte supports early-stage organisations from a talent perspective, feel free to reach out to her on Linkedin. 

Podcast produced by www.scede.io.

Music from Pixabay.

In series 3 episode 20 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by Annie Hockey, Co-CEO at Column - a technology-focused, federally chartered bank that aims to make it easier and faster for other companies to offer financial services.

Prior to starting Column, Annie Hockey worked in marketing at tech startups, got a Stanford MBA and was a consultant at Bain, where she helped private equity firms do due diligence on retail companies they wanted to acquire. At Column she leads the regulatory, legal and human resources parts of the business.

We spoke to Annie to learn more about their intentional approach to scaling their small, aggressive and fast-moving team, why they decided to take this approach and not "hyper-grow", how this translates into their strong sense of culture and what the future holds for the fintech too.  

One not to miss! Especially if you want to learn how this 100% Founder-funded and employee-owned company operates, drives high performance, and sees huge success as a result. 

In series 3 episode 19 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by Maria Peres, Head of Operations and People, and Mariana Henriques, People Operations at Valispace. Valispace is a first-of-its-kind Data Driven Systems Engineering ( DDSE) tool and Single Source of Truth for engineering teams that develop complex hardware.

Named by Forbes as one of Germany's 100 Most Innovative Startups in 2018, Valispace is in the business of helping engineers build incredible things that seem like magic to us today. Coined the 'Gitbhub for hardware', the startup's technology is already used by the likes of the European Space Agency, Airbus, and BMW. 

We spoke to Maria and Mariana about their approach to scaling this incredible team, having seen the company grow from the early stages. They discuss how they got buy-in for their newly launched remote-friendly policy, the initiatives they have to build connection and engagement across their team, and how they're driving diversity and championing female Developers.

Well worth a listen if you're a people operations leader in the startup and scaleup space. 

Podcast produced by www.scede.io.

Music from Pixabay.

In series 3 episode 18 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by Annie Jackson, Head of Talent Acquisition at Cleo - the UK-Founded, Fintech on a mission to help millions of people improve their financial health. 

In July, Cleo raised an impressive $80 million Series C to further support their US market penetration - resulting in a staggering $500 million valuation.

Having worked in recruitment for almost a decade, hiring for some of Europe's most successful and fast-growing tech startups, Annie joined Cleo back in 2020 and played a key part in scaling the team to the 200+ strong workforce that it is today. 

We spoke to Annie about what that journey looked like for her, some of her learnings along the way and hiring methods they put in place to triple the team's headcount to support Cleo's growth. Annie also shares more on the fintech's recently launched transparent salary bands, the driving force behind this and the impact they've seen both internally and from a candidate perspective. 

Listen in for some super valuable talent insights and advice. 

Podcast produced by www.scede.io.

Music from Pixabay.

In series 3 episode 17 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined Chris Barton, COO at WealthKernel - the London HQ'd FinTech on a mission to enable the change that makes financial services and investing better for everyday people. 

The company recently won "WealthTech Company of the Year" at the Fintech London Awards, and is providing the building blocks for a better, more innovative wealth management industry - one that helps more people, in more places achieve financial security. 

We spoke to Chris about their journey moving from Director of Operations to COO for the company, their approach to workforce planning and setting the company up for success for the road ahead. Chris also shares their advice for business leaders and fellow COOs out there when it comes to leading teams through more turbulent times. 

Podcast produced by www.scede.io.

Music from Pixabay.

In series 3 episode 16 of “Scaling So Far” (and our 50th episode EVER!!), we're joined by Jonathan Siddharth, Founder and CEO of Turing - the California-founded data-science platform that's on a mission to unleash the world's untapped human potential. The fully remote company is 900+ people strong, and help to connect world-class remote software engineers with world-class companies.

The company recently entered unicorn territory (now valued at over $1.1 B) with a Series D round of financing and is backed by prominent investors such as WestBridge Capital, Foundation Capital, Founders Fund (investors in Facebook, Tesla, Asana), Altair Capital, Mindset Ventures, Frontier Ventures, Gaingels, Facebook's first CTO (Adam D'Angelo), and illustrious executives from Google, Amazon, and Twitter.

Having been named one of the best startup employers by Forbes last year, we spoke to Jonathan about some of the lessons they've learnt scaling the Turing team, why unlocking global opportunity for top tech talent is critical today, and some of the tactics he finds effective in sourcing, engaging, and nurturing brilliant engineers. 

Podcast produced by www.scede.io.

Music from Pixabay.