Anjali Dhaliwal’s Post

If you missed our Building Billion Dollar Products event last week featuring Matt Kaplan, it is published on VentureFizz today: https://lnkd.in/eus3YAn9 Matt is one of the top product leaders in the tech industry having been the SVP Product / CPO at companies like Toast, Acquia, LogMeIn, and startups. Needless to say, he had a lot to share! We covered: 0:00 - Intro 3:30 - Matt’s background 4:46 - Working with Founders 7:30 - Role of a Product Leader when working with founders 9:24 - Advice for having a successful relationship with founders 13:29 - Navigating uncertainty 16:31 - Working with leaders from cross functional teams 22:57 - How to push back 24:33 - Strategy for building a Multi-Product Strategy 29:45 - Core elements of an effective product strategy 33:09 - Importance of being the Chief Storyteller 36:56 - Opportunity in vertical SaaS 41:38 - Advice on building your career to an executive product leadership role 49:30 - Figuring out chemistry with founders while interviewing 56:21 - Hiring for domain versus

Today marks the first month of me joining….  soon to be revealed 🙂 I’ve been on the startup train a few times, but boarding this one feels incredibly different, and in a good way. Why?  1. People. All the folks I work with are what I consider triple threats: kind, intelligent, and humble. They make it comfortable for me to ask questions and add my two cents - without worrying about sounding “dumb”. 2. Product. It’s so exciting to witness going from nothing to something every day. Even more so, is watching the team make quick decisions, commit to improvements, and willingness to support each other.  3. Process. We are building those out as we speak! Everyone's input is taken into account, and we discuss test, and ensure they align with our culture. What's next? I'm hoping I can share more here on LinkedIn! Give me a 👍 if you think that's a good idea. 

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” George Bernard Shaw After a long and successful Silicon Valley tech career, Christina Wodtke burned out on the relentless pace of tech startup life, and took time off. At a low point, she turned to the OKR framework she learned at Zynga, and started applying OKRs to her own life. Summing up all she’d achieved through her personal OKRs: “To say OKRs have changed my life would be an understatement. They have made my life possible. They are the backbone that holds my life together.” How did Christina Wodtke turn her life around? Read the full story in the comments below as I dig deep into Christina’s approach.

𝟴.𝟱 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀, 𝟰 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗟𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗮 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱! In 2015, I met the founder of a construction tech startup at a local coffee shop. When he asked how I’d help a team of 3 win, I said, “Whatever it takes!” I joined the next day. From ground zero to VP of Product, I was able to build our product organization, help grow the company from 4 to 250+ employees & from $0 to $50+ million ARR. Here are 3️⃣ principles that guided my journey—though I didn’t always get them perfectly right! 1. 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁: There’s always more to learn. Seeking knowledge from others while trusting my instincts has been crucial to my growth. Finding a great coach and therapist helped me recognize what I don’t know and 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙙𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬. 2. 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: In a startup, the journey is full of unknowns. Making key decisions and owning them is important, but it’s equally vital to recognize when to support choices that aren’t your first preference. Approaching situations with a spirit of creativity and collaboration makes a significant difference. 3. 𝗗𝗼 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝘁 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀: In the early days, regardless of my title, I understood that my role was to do whatever was necessary. My success stemmed from being willing to take on various responsibilities, ask "dumb" questions, and hold retrospectives—both professionally and personally. I worked smart (and, to be honest, often put in very long hours). Most importantly, I deeply cared for our customers; I listened to them and became an expert in what made their day great or terrible. This allowed me to advocate for our users and build a product that directly improved their day-to-day experiences. 😍 𝙃𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙡 🤑 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙩𝙝. I'm grateful for the incredible people— my growth was only possible with support of a great team— and experiences that shaped my journey. I'm proud of what I've accomplished and excited for the next chapter ahead. 👉🏻 Founding Product Team Members— I’d be happy to jam on any challenges you’re facing and share from my experience. PM me!

Starting from Zero: A Journey to New Beginnings. Sometimes, life throws us curveballs, and we find ourselves back at square one. But here's the secret: starting from zero is not a setback; it's an opportunity. 🚀 Starting afresh means we get to approach challenges with a completely new mindset. We carry with us the wealth of our experiences, lessons learned, and the resilience we've built along the way. This time, we're not starting from scratch. We're starting from experience. 🌱 Each new beginning is a chance to reinvent ourselves, to correct past mistakes, and to innovate in ways we hadn't imagined before. It's about embracing the growth that comes with change and the excitement of new possibilities. 🌍✨ So, if you find yourself at the beginning of a new journey, celebrate it. Trust in your ability to navigate this path with greater wisdom and confidence. Remember, every great story often starts with a bold first step. 📝💼 Here's to new starts, fresh perspectives, and the incredible experiences that lie ahead! 💪 #NewBeginnings #FreshStart #GrowthMindset #Resilience #Experience #CareerJourney #Opportunity #EmbraceChange

What is the story of Accelerance? It all started when our CEO and author of Synergea fell in love with Costa Rican culture. This started a career trajectory of exploring global communities and becoming enriched in business talent. He has helped companies across the globe find experts to scale high-performing, globally distributed software engineering and product development teams. Check out his recent interview with School for Startup Radio to learn more about his journey in the software outsourcing industry: https://hubs.la/Q02x9yqk0

Last day to apply for Pre-accelerator! Have a brilliant business idea but unsure where to start? 🤔 Don't let assumptions hold you back! As Martins Mikelsteins wisely said, "Starting a new business journey, you don't want to waste time on endless assumptions. To quickly determine if your ideas are profitable and understand what to do with multiple business concepts, join a pre-acceleration program. It provides an intensive boost, helping you achieve success faster and with less pain." A pre-accelerator is your launchpad to turning your vision into reality. Get expert guidance, build your team, and test your ideas without the risk. Ready to take the leap? 🚀 Join our pre-accelerator program today! https://lnkd.in/dDMxbbPj

I left Uber in 2019, and since then, I've worked directly with Founders at a variety of early-stage start-ups. While I can't say that I know firsthand what being a Founder is like, I can confidently say that I have a genuine empathy and understanding of many of the challenges. Specifically, I've been a sounding board when it comes to organizational development (ie. what does our organization need, and what roles, people, and structure will solve for that), people and performance management processes, and how to build appropriate cultural norms and expectations into an early team. The challenge is that the fleshed out standards and processes of established companies are often not appropriate at the earliest stage, and striking the right balance of structured, yet lightweight and flexible, feels impossible. What's more is that these topics are often mentally heavy and feel distracting when the Founder wants to be laser focused on fundraising and "doing the work" of putting their vision into play. This is a topic I'm always interested in jamming on with other Founders across the industry and learning more about from diverse experiences - so if this resonates, let's chat! 

WTF is spotlight week? 🤯 It’s a question I’ve been asked A LOT since joining Jumpstart. My answer - it's like Dragon's Den. But instead of founders pitching for investment, they pitch for top talent. Pretty cool really. Aside from being cool, there are a tonne of other reasons I love this process. My top 3 below. 👇 🧠 INFORMED DECISION MAKING - spotlights give you WAY more insight than a job description does. It's your chance to get inside of a founders head, ask questions and understand their culture, all before deciding to apply! 😱 INDUSTRY EXPOSURE - where else can you get to know ~30 different businesses in just 1 week?! Your dream role might be something you don't even know exists yet. 🏎  SPEED - each spotlight lasts only 15 minutes because looking for a new job doesn't need to feel like a full time job. If you're keen to hear the other 97 reasons I ❤️ spotlight week, drop me a DM. 👀 Ps. Our next spotlight week kicks off in just over a weeks' time and with a tonne of startups (just like The Modern Milkman) already booked in to pitch, there's still *just about* time to secure your slot.

I’ve talked a bit about my experience leading growth product at Ramp and how that led to the launch of Unify—but haven’t talked much about the winding journey I took to becoming a founder. Here’s the actual story: When I was 22, the concept of coming up with an idea, building it and witnessing how people engage with it has always fascinated me. Early in my career I was always working on some sort of side project on nights and weekends. A few of those: → Simon’s Wealth: I wrote a blog centered on real estate investing → Fisheye Surf: I built a marketplace for surfers to connect with photographers  → I thought about starting a DTC shoe company (glad I didn’t) I didn’t really see where these were leading me. But what I know now is that I learned how to go 0 —> 1 on ideas. My time at Ramp led me to become a founder. When I joined in 2020, Ramp was already full of entrepreneurial energy, it felt natural to want to start something after. I was fortunate to be a founding member of the growth team where I got to learn how to operate from people like Geoff Charles, Guillaume "𝑮" Cabane, Gene Lee and Megan Yen. Geoff taught me how to set the quality bar high for product. Guillaume taught me how to think from first principles and apply frameworks to learn faster. Gene taught me how to collaborate with a killer engineering leader. Megan taught me how to run through walls to get sh*t done. By the end of 2022 I was leading the growth product team and multiple teams all focused on making Ramp grow faster. I now knew how to build product and own revenue goals. I still had that same creative energy that motivated me to work on side projects on nights and weekends. I knew it was time to start my own thing. I never could have seen how Fisheye Surf was going to lead to Unify, but I’m glad it did :) PS - Hyewon Kim (Design Lead at Unify) and I met working on Fisheye together. Last thing: If you want to keep up with what we’re building, follow along here on LinkedIn. I’ll be posting regular progress updates (and our playbooks for how we execute).