Scaling So Far

In series 3 episode 15 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by Nikki Pechet, Co-Founder and CEO of Homebound - the hugely inspiring Santa Rosa-based proptech company named by Forbes as one of America's Best Startup Employers last year

Homebound’s self-described mission is to serve as a “next gen” homebuilder to make it possible “for anyone, anywhere to build a home.” Until last April, the startup had been exclusively focused on helping homeowners navigate the challenges and complexities of rebuilding after wildfires in California. But in 2021, Homebound expanded to Austin, Texas, its first non-disaster market, with the goal of taking learnings from those rebuilds and applying the same “streamlined, tech-enabled building process” to make custom home building an option for local homeowners.

We were honoured to speak with Nikki about what drives the company forward, how they've gone about building the right team of leaders to join them on their incredible mission, their commitment to shaping a diverse and inclusive organisation, and what they're laser-focused on achieving in this next phase of growth. 

A brilliant listen with authentic and honest insights from Nikki on scaling the company from scratch. 

Podcast produced by www.scede.io.

Music from Pixabay.

In series 3 episode 14 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by Alicja Zwierzyńska, Head of Talent at Warsaw-based Packhelp - Europe's leading custom packaging marketplace whose mission is to empower more brands to bring sustainable packaging to their consumers. 

Last year, the company was named the fastest-growing tech company in Central Europe in Deloitte Technology’s Fast 50 ranking. Having successfully launched in the Netherlands, Sweden and Romania in 2021, the company raised a significant $45.6m series B last year to accelerate its international expansion plans, and scale its global supplier network. 

We had the pleasure to chat with Alicja about what that looked like for them from a people and talent perspective, how they've built a remote-friendly workplace as they've scaled, and the brains behind their internally built peer-to-peer feedback app. 

Podcast produced by www.scede.io.

Music from Pixabay.

In series 3 episode 13 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by Davide Vitiello, VP of Consumer Products at Delivery Hero - the world's leading local delivery platform. 

Delivery Hero is present in around 50 countries across four continents and is on a mission to deliver anything, straight to customers’ doors. Backed by the likes of Insight Partners and Point Nine Capital, Delivery Hero opened its HQ in Berlin in 2011 and by 2017 went public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. 

We heard first-hand from Davide about his experience building and leading teams for the likes of Delivery Hero, Soundcloud, and Shopify, how they go about finding and assessing the right talent for their Consumer Products division, and some of the key considerations needed from a people perspective when launching in new markets. 

If you’re a product and tech leader going through a scaling journey yourself, this is definitely worth a listen. Enjoy.

In series 3 episode 12 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by Vojtech Vondra, Senior Director of Engineering at Productboard - the world's largest reward program provider. 

Named one of America’s best startup employers by Forbes for 2022, Productboard was founded in 2014 with a simple mission; to help companies make products that matter. Fast-forward to 2022 and over 5,000 companies use the platform, they have offices across the globe and some brilliant investors backing them.

We were super lucky to speak to Vojtech about how they’ve scaled their engineering teams, how they hire the right tech talent to thrive in an autonomous, fast-paced environment, and how he drives communication and collaboration across a hybrid, globally distributed engineering team.

If you’re a product and tech leader going through a scaling journey yourself, this is definitely worth a listen. Enjoy.

Podcast produced by www.scede.io.

Music from Pixabay.

In series 3 episode 11 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by Jen Paxton, VP of People at Smile.io - the world's largest reward program provider. 

Founded in 2012, Smile.io has over 50K+ active reward programs and 100m+ participating members globally and has recently been named on WeWorkRemotely's top 100 remote companies list for 2022. Jen was formerly VP of People and Talent at Privy and Director of Talent at Level Up - two well-known scale-ups that she saw through acquisition. 

Scede's Luke discusses what this is like from a people perspective, how they're creating an interconnected community across their distributed team, scaling company culture and the process behind the recent revamping of their EVP. 

A top listen for People leaders out there!

Podcast produced by www.scede.io.

Music from Pixabay.

In series 3 episode 10 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by Christiane Thielemann, People Advisor at CoachHub.

Founded in Berlin in 2018, CoachHub is democratising access to coaching using artificial intelligence to match individuals with more than 2,500 certified business and well-being coaches in 70 countries across six continents.

Their international 700+ strong team hails from 63+ countries worldwide, and the company has been listed on Linkedin's top 10 startups, as well as being recognised by the Europas and Glassdoor for its impact-driven work and thriving company culture. 

And there's little wonder. Their approach to scaling has been people-first, as Dan discusses with Christiane - investing in roles such as the People Advisor to support new starters, streamline onboarding and provide a consistent, positive employee experience. We chat to Christiane about the role, why it's so important in a fast-growing scaleup and the impact that she's seen it have during her time at CoachHub.  

This is a brilliant listen for People leaders looking for ways to further engage, nurture and retain their team - especially in a remote or hybrid setting. 

Podcast produced by www.scede.io.

Music from Pixabay.

In series 3 episode 9 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by Bogdan Habić, Co-Founder and CTO at Tenderly.

Belgrade, Serbia-based Tenderly was founded in 2018, and aims to make it easier for web3 developers “of all skill sets” to build blockchain products through its end-to-end developer platform.

Having recently raised $40 million in a Series B round of funding just months after their Series A, and achieved 400% YoY growth, we spoke with one of Tenderly's Co-Founders Bogdan to learn more about their approach to hiring and developing engineers globally, investing in nurturing early talent, as well as what's on their roadmap for the future and how they enable their team through extensive knowledge-sharing. 

Well worth a listen if you're in, or interested in, the blockchain industry. 

Podcast produced by www.scede.io.

Music from Pixabay.

In series 3 episode 8 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by Roxana Dobrescu, Chief People Officer at Labster.

Labster is reimagining the future of education by building the world’s leading platform for virtual labs and science simulations.

Trusted by over 2,000 institutions, Labster is used at the California State University, Harvard, MIT, and Exeter University amongst others internationally. Their vision is to make science education accessible to any student with an internet connection and a laptop. 

Hot off the back of hitting their 5-million student milestone, Labster has just this month (April 2022) raised $47 million in new funding to support massive growth opportunities worldwide.

Luke and Roxana discuss measures they’ve implemented to scale from a people and talent perspective, what them being a “holacracy” means in reality, and why internal communications plays a huge role in building a humanised company.

In series 3 episode 7 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by David Embry, Founder and CEO at Mylo.

Founded in 2015, Kansas City headquartered Insurtech company Mylo is revolutionising the insurance industry for small business owners and individuals. Founded in 2015 and backed by Lockton as well as Guggenheim partners, they’ve won a tonne of awards - including Fintech Breakthrough award for 2021 in Insurtech AND last year they were named by Forbes as one of America’s Best Startup Employers. 

We wanted to dig into this further with David Embry, Mylo’s CEO to understand what he feels makes Mylo so unique, their approach to building the team, why Mylo stands out as a startup employer, and how he as CEO partners with his talent and people team. 

Check it out for some super valuable insights.

In series 3 episode 6 of “Scaling So Far”, we're joined by Olivier Buffon, Head of International at Faire.

Headquartered in San Francisco and Founded in 2017 by Square alumni Max Rhodes (CEO), Marcelo Cortes (CTO), Jeff Kolovson (COO), and Daniele Perito, the startup also has offices in Waterloo Kitchener, Toronto, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, London, Amsterdam, and São Paulo.

At present, the company partners with 400,000 retailers across North America and Europe with over 60,000 brands from 100 countries - providing greater opportunity for the independent retail community to compete against big-box giants. Essentially democratising access to consumers for artisans and more local brands

We discuss what Olivier is focused on in his role as Head of International Expansion, their values-first approach to hiring and how this is baked into every stage of the process, what expanding international means operationally - particularly from a Talent perspective, and how their value of ownership drives empowerment, entrepreneurship from within and success across their globally distributed team.

Well worth a listen if you’re a Founder or Talent Leader with ambitions to expand into fresh new locations over the next year or so.