Anna Valenza

I was lucky enough to join Jon Youshaei (my big bro ❤️) on set of his recent interview with Marques Brownlee, the legend that MrBeast hails as "deciding what tech everyone in America buys" and here are my key takeaways as a PM: 1. *Keep it Simple*: MKBHD evaluates products based on practical functionality, he discusses how he tests smartphone cameras in various lighting conditions to see how they perform in everyday situations, prioritizing practical functionality over technical specifications. Make a product that is easy to use + useful. 2. *Build Trust*: MKBHD's credibility stems from his transparency in his reviews. He shares his opinions of products, even if they differ from popular consensus, earning the trust of his audience over time. 3. *Community > Growth*: Put the community at the center of everything you do, MKBHD discussed how his main focus was on building a community he cared about, and that in turn turned to growth. MKBHD Inc. #tech #techreviews 🚀 🚀 🚀

161

23 Comments

Paraform just announced our seed round today! 🎉 So I'll also share how I joined Paraform a couple months ago. I was approached by a recruiter—on Paraform—about Paraform. Fongyen Lin and I had a great chat on a Friday in January about the company and the role, and I thought it was a great fit, both in terms of it being a talent-related company and it being an early operator role. I had a Zoom chat with John Kim and Jeffrey Li the following Tuesday, then came in for an onsite lunch on Thursday, where John and Jeff were awesome in how transparent they were about the company, its challenges, and the massive opportunity space. And I came away impressed by how mature the product was, as well as the humility about the mistakes that had been made. It took a couple weeks to work out a plan for parental leave, but glad things worked out, because it's been the most exciting and invigorating past 2 months cranking and building with John, Jeff, and Aparimeya Taneja (also hired through Paraform!), helping amazing startups hire and supporting some of the best recruiters in the business. There's so much more to come. If you're a startup hiring, let Paraform help you fill your hardest roles. If you're a recruiter, come see if Paraform can be your ticket to building your own agency or an additional income stream. It's time to change how talent finds its place.

35

5 Comments

Had a great time chatting with Marc Baselga & Ben Erez on the Supra Insider podcast last week. We went deep on one of my favorite topics – Building Volunteer Armies – and covered a lot of ground: ➡ My experience being recruited to head up a “volunteer army”-kickstarted workstream at Uber, ultimately leading to the development of new products worth $1B+ 💸 (special thanks to Brandon Trew Peter Deng Sundeep Jain for starting RiSe & taking a bet on me to run it + Adib Roumani Niraj Patel for being my partners on that journey and continuing to carry the torch!) ➡ Advice for product leaders to inspire people to join their “volunteer army” for new initiatives (big or small) through storytelling, data, and a genuine interest in that person's growth ➡ Why forming tiger teams with cross-functional partners is critical for the success of new initiatives (especially with GTM) - shoutout to Daniel Chen Akshar Patel Ashley Weisz Allie Steel Jeany Hong Brian Hagen for exemplifying this at Airtable! ➡ The importance of setting aside ego to inspire people to follow you ...and more! Links to the episode in the comments 👇

121

28 Comments

Hey! NY HR professionals and recruiting agencies hiring for strategy, ops, bizdev roles in tech - this one is for you! ******** As part of NY Tech Week, we have nearly 300 registrations (and counting) of high caliber professionals from top consulting companies looking to get into tech. If you’re hiring for Strategy and Ops roles in tech, come join! We’ll make sure you’re approved on time for the event. If you need more info, feel free to drop me a private message on linkedin. For more information and to RSVP, visit: https://lu.ma/7nks6kk7 If you're seeing this post, don’t shy away - share/comment for visibility. We’re helping professionals transition from top consulting firms (Big 4, MBB, and other leading consultancies) into the tech industry. __________ FYI- if you’re looking to sponsor - whether recruitment agencies, HR tech companies, other tech companies, and MBA institutes - feel free to drop me a note as well #Networking #TechWeek #HR #Recruitment #Big4 #Strategy #Operations #NYTechWeek

13

2 Comments

152 companies w/ US offices announced over $8B of funding this week. Here are 4 with top VC investment and open roles👇 Use this list to... ↳ Identify interesting companies ↳ Check for open roles ↳ Reach out to people on the team with congratulations ↳ Land your next startup role at a growing company Transcend What they do: User data and data privacy are major topics in tech right now. No one wants data breaches. Everyone wants to be able to control their data. Transcend has created a dashboard that helps companies respond to requests for accessing or deleting data, manages personal data, and ensures regulatory compliance. Year Founded: 2017 HQ Location: Walnut, CA Series: B Employees: 95 Total Raised: $90M Last Known Valuation: $100M Funding Announcement: $40M Top VC Investors: Index Ventures, Accel Hiring: Yes ✅ Hiring For 7 Positions: Sales, Customer Experience, Engineering, Operations Pitchbook Success Probability: 94% Figma What they do: After Adobe abandoned its acquisition bid for Figma in December, the company is now going it alone, and they're doing so with a Brinks truck of cash. Figma allows people to create, share, and test designs for websites, mobile apps, and other digital products and experiences. Year Founded: 2011 HQ Location: San Francisco, CA Series: Series F Employees: 1400 Total Raised: $M Last Known Valuation: $12.5B 🦄  Funding Announcement: $415.75M Top VC Investors: Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Greylock, Index Hiring: Yes ✅ Hiring For 66 Positions: Business Development, Business Operations, Design, Engineering, People, Product, Product Support, Sales Pitchbook Success Probability: 98% xAI What they do: After suing OpenAI, Elon Musk is going after the AI market with his own model Grok. The company raised a staggering $6B Series B, which highlights the AI investing frenzy and how everyone believes that whatever Elon touches turns to gold (and he had the receipts to prove it). Year Founded: 2023 HQ Location: Burlingame, CA Series: B Employees: 97 Total Raised: $6.13B Last Known Valuation: $24B 🦄  Funding Announcement: $6B Top VC Investors: Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed, Sequoia Capital Hiring: Yes ✅ Hiring For 17 Positions: Engineering & Research Pitchbook Success Probability: 98% Ashby What they do: Ashby has built a recruiting software with customized ATS, analytics, scheduling and sourcing automation to get the most bang for your buck from recruiters. Year Founded: 2018 HQ Location: San Francisco, CA Series: Series C Employees: 130 Total Raised: $66.66M Last Known Valuation: $170M Funding Announcement: $30M Top VC Investors: Y Combinator, Lenny Rachitsky (Angel), Elad Gil (Angel), Daniel Gross (Angel) Hiring: Yes ✅ Hiring For 9 Positions: Design, Engineering, Sales Pitchbook Success Probability: 88% --------------------------- Like this list? Follow me, Kyle Thomas, for more. ♻ Share this post to help other startup job seekers find their next role.

15

10 Comments

If you’re lucky, every 10-20 years you experience a “holy s**t, everything just changed” moment in your career. I just had one. 🤯 Until yesterday, the only time this happened to me was when I joined Uber in 2015. On my first day at the company, I got access to Uber’s so-called God View. It showed a map of the entire Earth peppered with millions of smartphones using Uber, all in real time. It visualized for me the extraordinary scale at which the world was changing how it bought and sold things. Smartphones and marketplace platforms had transformed the economy forever. I actually remember muttering “holy s**t” to myself. This Wednesday, it happened to me again. After months of work, our engineering team delivered to me my very first “Daily Briefing” using very real data, from my very real company, using a very real AI. This report was created by Village Labs' brand new Chief of Staff product, which we developed after pivoting earlier this year. My Daily Briefing was a distilled 1-page summary of the last 24 hours at my company. It was a perfect list of my need-to-know information based on my role, team, and responsibilities. Everybody at the company gets a fully personalized one based on who they are in the org. But unlike, say, the US President’s Daily Briefing, my report wasn’t prepared by an army of analysts. It was made by Village’s AI agents. And holy s**t. It works. Our system combed all 15 of the SaaS tools we use to do business in (Slack, Atlassian, Google, HubSpot, etc.), searches them for what it “thinks” I’d find useful based on my role, applies customized business logic, and of course, runs no less than four layers of different generative AI agents. After all that, there, on my computer screen, was an incredible document that saved me a ton of time and work, and allowed me to perfectly focus my attention for the day ahead. (See screenshot of the world’s first Village Daily Briefing below.) The Presidential Briefing is just the beginning. We’re using Village’s AI and data management systems to change how you do work. Automate weekly updates, perfect organization knowledge management, replace performance reviews with real-time AI feedback. Get deep reporting across any topic or problem you care about at the company. It’s like giving everyone a chief of staff, an unbelievable pulse on the company, and a feeling that they are part of a living, breathing organization that is firing on all cylinders. It massively increases velocity. After months of work we’re ready to roll this out to anyone. Whether it's with Village or someone else--this is the way people will work in the future.

139

22 Comments

We. Are. Hiring! Hiring is a team sport - this is a super high bar but so worth striving for 💪 If you're based in NY or LA, and cannot wait to do your best Biz Dev work ever growing a native VoiceAI startup, see if you fit the bill ... BD Manager with - Deep expertise in Sales Dev, or Biz Dev - You've read Play Bigger. You understand the opportunity for a vastly different category creation strategy in the Voice Automation space - Do the Hard Work to get Dialed In, Answer the Call, and Don’t Hang Up Major plus point - you get to work with Radz, Alfredo, myself & other mission-driven Flippers ... can there be anything more motivating or game-changing? Miles is taking submissions or referrals - hit him up with something that cannot be ignored 🌟 Plus point 2 - you'll work with & across our Outbound, Partner, Ambassador, and Event channels - a front row seat connecting & working daily with CX decision makers & innovators in the eComm & Retail space. Does this driver's seat have your name on it? 🏎️ #hiring #flippers #talent #flipcx #voiceai #voiceautomation #customerexperience #ecommerce #retail

43

14 Comments

Over the past year, thousands of workers have migrated to Thera from other platforms. You might be curious why. Among other things, the two biggest reasons are speed and FX rates. We built Thera on the premise that global payments should be fast, transparent, and affordable. On the pay-in side, we use machine learning models to assess ACH return risk and deposit funds faster. On the pay-out side, we integrate with three different FX providers to get our users the best rates on the market.

116

7 Comments

If you had a great startup idea, should you keep it a secret? Are musicians natural entrepreneurs? In this episode, Seed Zeng and I chat with Yotam Rosenbaum, musician, YC founder, and investor. 👉 Listen on your podcast app: https://tr.ee/ZmRr5NjEtk

19

3 Comments

Yelp has launched a new AI-powered assistant on their iOS app, revolutionizing the way users connect with local businesses. Located under the "Projects" tab, the Yelp Assistant allows users to easily find professional services by simply chatting with the AI, which smartly matches them to relevant professionals based on their needs. Yelp is empowering developers with the new Yelp Fusion AI API, enabling the integration of this conversational AI into third-party platforms for tailored business recommendations. On the restaurant front, Yelp has also revamped its Guest Manager tool, enhancing the dining experience for customers and streamlining operations for restaurant staff. Yelp continues to innovate, providing efficient solutions for discovering and connecting with local businesses. Read more from Techcrunch here => https://neoswap.cc/28e2a5 #YelpUpdate #AI #TechNews #LocalBusiness #Innovation

10

2 Comments

inVest Ventures, a LinkedIn Community VC Fund, launches today! LinkedIn alums have already founded some amazing companies: think Confluent, Notion, Cricket Health, Figma, and many more. inVest Ventures launches today to build more amazing companies by connecting LinkedIn alum founders with LinkedIn employees past and present: not only as a source of funding but also as a source of advice, relationships, and support. Every inVest Ventures limited partner (”inVestor”) is either a current or former LinkedIn employee: - Many inVestors built LinkedIn from a startup to what it is today, creating its culture, its strategy, and its playbooks - And many inVestors have already benefited from these LinkedIn lessons to found, lead, or invest in dozens of other notable tech companies Now this group of inVestors is focused on building the next generation of transformational LinkedIn alum-founded companies as part of inVest Ventures. It’s been a blast partnering with the core inVest Ventures team of Glenn Borok, Neil Khare, Karen Chi, Lauri J. Moore, Lizzie Youshaei, Mia McConnell, and Erica Lockheimer over the past 4+ months to get us to today’s launch. And to reconnect with such a wide swath of LinkedIn folks as we’ve built out such a strong inVestor community. A special shout-out to Mia for being the mastermind behind this wonderful video and to Amy Lokey, Annabel Liu, Arvind Rajan, David Henke, Erica Lockheimer, Erika Rottenberg, Florina Xhabija Grosskurth, Gyanda Sachdeva, Hari Srinivasan, Kiran Prasad, Lora Blum, Mike Derezin, Mike Gamson, Prachi Gupta, Ryan Roslansky, Scott Roberts, Steve Sordello, and Ya Xu for starring in it. Hello, inVest Ventures. I’m inVested. #inVestVentures #IAmInVested

629

93 Comments

Apple announced "Tap to pay for Apple Cash" at it's annual WWDC event 🤯 Here are more Apple Wallet updates announced today: ► Tap to pay for #AppleCash: Tap to Pay is more or less what it sounds like, letting users pay for things by tapping together a pair of #iPhones. As the name also suggests, the feature is effectively an outgrowth of #Apple Pay’s longstanding Tap to Pay feature. Similarly, the new addition likely uses the device’s NFC functionality. Apple notes that the feature transfers money without having to share any personal info — a nice added privacy element . Apple isn’t the first to bring this feature to market, but one wonders what impact this feature will ultimately have on standalone payment device/platforms like Square etc. ► New Apple Pay Online platform. ► Improved support for event tickets. More info in this live blog coverage: https://lnkd.in/e2cUbjQD Find this helpful? [ 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 ] Anything to add about this subject? [ 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 ] Nice story, Marcel. Next! [ 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 ]

12

1 Comment

Instacart isn’t the secret it used to be. It’s helped grow some real brand giants: Liquid Death, Chomps, Good Culture, Applegate… But Instacart isn’t the only show in town. DoorDash is making a run for retail delivery. And it’s Ad platform is starting to catch fire. Here’s how each platform shakes out for brand growth. INSTACART. Pros: -> Sophisticated analytics. -> Allows for customer retargeting. -> Growing rapidly across *all retailer types*. -> Advanced placement and targeting methods. -> Largest share of Delivery, 3rd in Online Grocery. -> You can “back into” some retailer specific targeting. Cons: -> Competition is slowly increasing. -> No retailer-specific sales reporting. -> Can’t negate poor performing search terms. -> Campaign AI is inefficient (like most ad platforms). DOORDASH. Pros: -> Ultra high intent platform. -> Extremely low brand competition. -> Much larger share of c-store delivery. -> Massive potential from restaurant customer base. Cons: -> Less sophisticated analytics. -> Fewer available Ad Placement Types. -> Only 10% of Grocery Delivery Market. -> Can’t negate poor performing search terms. So which platform is best for growing retail velocity? This is another case of “it depends”. For most brands, it’s probably Instacart. But retail media is not a one-solution game. We work with a brand that is using nine retail media platforms. And they’re the fastest growing brand in their category. The question is less, “what’s your retail media platform?” The question is, “what’s your retail media stack?” ——— 🔹Driving shelf turn in Kroger, Whole Foods, Albertsons, Costco, Walmart, Sprouts, and More 🔹DM me or book an appointment for help. #ecommerce #retailmedia #retailgrowth #retailvelocity #cpg #cpgbrands #instacart #tradespend #retailbuyers #categoryreview

20

9 Comments

One of aspects of Carta's product development that excites me the most is not something we have an opportunity to talk about a lot. Its the infrastructure behind the product experiences we build that is so foundational to the ecosystem. Carta money movement infrastructure moves billions of dollars every year to facilitate crucial transactions. Now we are bringing automated money movement to fund admin and it is a game changer. This infrastructure will work to eliminate the manual, black box, and cumbersome ways that fund transactions are processed today. The future is transparent, seamless and predictable for Carta Fund Admin customers. I am pumped! https://lnkd.in/g3W_cRxn

98

3 Comments

Watch Samsara CEO Sanjit Biswas on the Logan Bartlett Podcast and hear about his journey as a CEO, the lessons he’s learned along the way, and what the future could have in store for Samsara: 

45

"May the Force be with you" — a galactic benediction of profound insight. In business, as in Star Wars, "the Force" is a metaphor for the unbeatable combo of grit, strategy, and foresight. The winners in today’s economy, whether they're tech empires or startups, tap into their own version of "the Force"— a blend of data-driven decisions, unrelenting innovation, and an instinct for timing the market. It's not about luck; it's about harnessing and leveraging that 'Force'. So, when we wish someone "May the Force be with you," we're really advocating for the acumen to seize the market, the agility to adapt, and the audacity to push boundaries. Embrace the Force; shape your destiny. #may4th #maythe4thbewithyou

13

2 Comments

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome Have you ever felt like a fraud, despite your impressive accomplishments? You're not alone. Imposter syndrome is a common experience, even for those at the top of their game. When I joined Google, I was thrilled, but also plagued by self-doubt. "How did I end up here?" I'd ask myself. "Surely they made a mistake in hiring me." The impostor feelings were overwhelming. But I learned to overcome those doubts and embrace my abilities. And when I later joined Meta, the cycle repeated itself. Once again, I found myself questioning my worthiness, despite my proven track record. Strategies for Conquering Imposter Syndrome Here's what helped me conquer imposter syndrome, not once, but twice: 1. Acknowledge Your Achievements Take a moment to reflect on your accomplishments. Make a list of your skills, qualifications, and the value you bring to the table. Remind yourself that you earned your place through hard work and talent. 2. Challenge Negative Self-Talk When those impostor thoughts creep in, counter them with evidence-based, positive statements. "I was hired because I'm qualified, not by mistake." 3. Seek Support Confide in trusted colleagues, mentors, or friends. Sharing your feelings can help put them in perspective and remind you that you're not alone. 4. Reframe Your Mindset Shift your perspective from "I'm not good enough" to "I'm still learning and growing." Embrace the journey, not just the destination. Overcoming imposter syndrome takes time and effort, but it's worth it. By acknowledging your achievements, challenging negative self-talk, and reframing your mindset, you can silence those impostor feelings and embrace your rightful place. #ImposterSyndrome #CareerAdvice #PersonalGrowth

16

1 Comment

You may have followed my earlier post on my #Google departure with a promised update on where I’m landing. Here we go! I'm excited to join #Synadia, the company on a mission to connect the world, as their VP of Marketing. You've likely used technology invented by Synadia's founder Derek Collison without even knowing it. Allow me to evangelize it. 🚗 Ever charged an EV or rode in one? 💳 Used your credit card for loyalty points? 🛍 Shopped online? Swiped right? 😉 You've likely interacted with #NATS, our lightweight but mighty software. NATS boasts 300 million downloads. Derek compares it to “a central nervous system” for many of today’s distributed apps, including generative AI applications. Here’s how it works. Just as the brain sends signals to our body to control actions and responses, NATS coordinates messages within a software system. NATS ensures the entire system functions efficiently, similar to how our brain signals us to put on a sweater when cold and shed a layer when too hot. Going back to software, if you’ve got a fleet of self-driving cars, how do you keep an eye on them? How do you communicate with them and keep these autonomous vehicles safe, efficient, and on track? NATS helps get those cars from point A to B and safely without mishap. NATS serves as a perfect messaging system for most applications needing fast communication, (like real-time updates to a customer on their order) and its messaging persistence ensures vital messages are never lost (like records of credit card transactions). Why am I joining Synadia and why now? I’ve seen the same explosive growth of apps you have for self-driving cars, edge computing and generative AI apps. Applications became more distributed and sophisticated in finance, retail, and healthcare. I trust my experience; I was one of the first passengers in a self-driving car. This innovation is personal to me and drives significant demand for Synadia’s offerings. Combining our popular open-source project with its strong commercial offering resonates with my #Stanford Innovative Technology Leader program I’m still giddy about from last summer. For one week, we discovered: what does it take to innovate and what key archetypes must come together to do it exceptionally well? I deeply believe that the open source community offers the ideal playground for innovation (as defined at Stanford) with this unique blend of personalities:  ✅ Experimenters (who build & maintain the core open-source code) ✅ Outsiders (who integrate it into their app stacks) ✅ The wider community (who identifies trends and shares feedback) I anticipate some serious #TechnologyMagic happening with Synadia's talented team, which embodies this beautiful blend I believe in. Follow us. Become part of this as a customer. Let's do it! Derek Collison Jan Plutzer Claire Hernandez Steve Dischinger Brian Flannery David Gee Jeremy Saenz Sam Croswell Jean-Noel Moyne Byron Ruth #NATS #Synadia #Innovation #AI #Edge #Cloud

275

34 Comments

👀 Check out my latest blog post on the 5 things we should all stop saying to make the world a little more inclusive. Spoiler alert: making these small shifts in your language is easier than getting Uncle Joe to stop telling sexist jokes at family dinners! 🫠 But it can make a world of difference to the people who work with you. Swipe through the carousel for a sneak peek. ➡️ Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gY9KgW3R #Inclusivity #Diversity #LanguageMatters #InclusiveLanguage

33

6 Comments