We've been hiring, learning, growing
They say that summer is slow...
But that certainly isn't the case for us. Work is non-stop, although we did quick weekend trips to Tampa and Boston, both of which were lovely :)
We grew a lot over the past 30 days...
We onboarded some really wonderful humans. Paul Klein, an early hire at UrbanStems, joined us as our Chief of Staff. He's making mine/Param's lives so much easier, helping to organize the chaos that is startup life. We also welcomed Heather Grace Thomas as our second sales hire. She's been an absolute ray of sunshine in the office, and already killing it on the phones (it's only her second week). Finally, we invited Ryan Troll on board to manage product. He's been involved with our team for a while — working on deals with us, running user tests, hanging out on our couch — but this week we made it official, bringing him on as a half-time consultant. (And we're still hiring! Now looking for a customer success lead.)
I also got to talk a bit about some of the tough decisions we've made in an interview with Fred Daso at Forbes. tldr; we made a tough decision a few months back to rebuild our product. And now it's starting to pay off :)
Awesome reads...
I very rarely insist my team read something, but I deemed this ebook on pricing a must-read. It helped us get on the same page around how to price for value. (Big TY to Todd Gibby for sharing this amazing resource!)
The ever-amazing Sherry Lachman wrote an awesome editorial in TIME, drawing from her experience in the foster care system.
This Bloomberg infographic on "how America uses its land" was super informative. (TY to Mike Malloy for the share!)
Our phenomenal summer interns, Devon O'Dwyer and Isabel Shaw, put together this email course on how to launch an app business. It's pretty awesome :)
Brilliant stuff my friends are building...
For those of us who are looking for a good laugh, Sam Presser's nonprofit ASAP (Armed Services Arts Partnership) gives veterans "a chance to share their stories— and jokes— in public." If you get a chance, definitely check out a show. They're so so great.
For those of us with one foot in tech and the other in politics, Allie Brandenberger started The Bridge to connect those two worlds. The newsletter is awesome, and the events are even better.
For those of us who are hiring entry-level admins or IT folks, Elizabeth Lindsey's nonprofit ByteBack offers DC employers access to qualified and motivated candidates who have received in-demand IT and administrative certifications. They help underserved DC residents get trained and get jobs.
Sending some love...
To some of the many who made this month great like Bob Latchford, Hilliary Turnipseed, Tripp Brockway, Ashley Chang for awesome business advice; like Grant Schroll, Shanaz Chowdhery, Lisa Cuesta, Madeline Walsh, Ajay Kori, and Kelly O'Malley for some super generous intros; like Elizabeth Lindsey and Ellie Thompson for some clutch life advice; like Todd Gibby for sharing a resource that totally changed the game on our pricing convos; and like Daniel Musher for spicing up our weekly office happy hour.
Check out this event...
The Vinetta Project is hosting its final showcase of the year, where one female founder will take home the $20,000 grand prize! Unfortunately I'll be in Chicago for this one, but I'm still including it here because it's quite literally the best event of the year. Learn more and buy a ticket here.
A few ways to help...
We're hiring for a customer success lead. We’re looking for someone with someone who has been a part of building up a customer success engine, ideally with several years of experience under their belt. This role is great for someone who enjoys long-term customer relationships and is excited to help customers make best use of our product. Any leads are super appreciated.
We're trying to secure some Google Cloud credits. If anyone has any connections there, definitely let me know.
I'm super excited to participate in a live podcast with the Harvard Business Review. If you have a sec, shoot us a quick upvote so we can record from SXSW.
Onward and upward,
Amelia
