Ep 39. Harry Uffindell on Scaling Partly, The ONE Thing and Lessons from the Climb

Calling Operator with Laura Nicol

Player FM - Internet Radio Done Right

اضافه شده در thirty-six هفته پیش

محتوای ارائه شده توسط Laura Nicol. تمام محتوای پادکست شامل قسمت‌ها، گرافیک‌ها و توضیحات پادکست مستقیماً توسط Laura Nicol یا شریک پلتفرم پادکست آن‌ها آپلود و ارائه می‌شوند. اگر فکر می‌کنید شخصی بدون اجازه شما از اثر دارای حق نسخه‌برداری شما استفاده می‌کند، می‌توانید روندی که در اینجا شرح داده شده است را دنبال کنید.https://fa.player.fm/legal

State Secrets: Inside The Making Of The Electric State

1
Family Secrets: Chris Pratt & Millie Bobby Brown Share Stories From Set 22:08

19 روز پیش22:08

پخش در آینده

لیست ها

پسندیدن

دوست داشته شد

22:08

Host Francesca Amiker sits down with directors Joe and Anthony Russo, producer Angela Russo-Otstot, stars Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt, and more to uncover how family was the key to building the emotional core of The Electric State . From the Russos’ own experiences growing up in a large Italian family to the film’s central relationship between Michelle and her robot brother Kid Cosmo, family relationships both on and off of the set were the key to bringing The Electric State to life. Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts . State Secrets: Inside the Making of The Electric State is produced by Netflix and Treefort Media.…

حدود یک سال پیش 48:45

MP3•خانه قسمت

In today’s episode, we discuss:

Scaling Partly from its first non-technical hire to ~100 employees—and the lessons behind making it the best startup to work for.
Building a company culture that lasts—where 10 years in, you’re still buzzing to show up.
Co-founding and selling MeatMail (a food subscription startup) with David Booth—the zero-to-one story.
“This is a pretty good V1”. What Tim Ryan (Atomic8) taught Harry about quality work and scaling startups globally.
Tilt to Airbnb: From first APAC hire to Country Manager, scaling Tilt, and what it takes to land a global “boots on the ground” role.
A bad-reception phone call that changed everything. How Airbnb’s acquisition of Tilt set Harry on a path to making ANZ Airbnb’s most penetrated market worldwide before the IPO.
Focus as a superpower. Mastering the art of focus is the most impactful skill an operator can develop.
Learning from the best. How Patti McCord, Reed Hastings (Netflix), and the Collison Brothers (Stripe) are shaping Harry’s playbook as a world-class Chief People Officer.
Angel investing 101. His advice for operators making their first bets.

Find Harry Uffindell:

Harry Uffindell’s Northstars and Frameworks:

Books:

Delivering Happiness (people and culture)
No Rules Rules (Netflix culture)
The Hard Thing About Hard Things (gritty leadership)
Amp It Up (high-performance culture)
Powerful by Patty McCord (freedom + responsibility)
Radical Candor (feedback and relationships)
Great by Choice (10x leadership)
How to Win Friends and Influence People

Podcasts:

Acquired, a16z, Founders, The Tim Ferriss Show, Crucible Moments, 20VC.

Frameworks:

The Quarterly Rhythm That Fuels Growth and High-Performing Teams (includes duplicatable resources/Notion pages)
The One Thing (goal-setting)
Eisenhower Matrix (urgent/important prioritization)
Radical Candor (caring personally + challenging directly).

Operators—Future leader/vision:

Patti McCord and Reed Hastings from Netflix (culture)
Patrick Collison and The Collison Brothers (execution)

Ones to Watch:

Pene Barton (CEO at Crimson Global Academy)
Kirsti Grant (Chief People Experience Officer at Auror)
Jamie Beaton (CEO and co-founder Crimson Education)

Other Folks Mentioned in the Episode:

Dave Booth (Founder in Residence at Blackbird)
Mike Duboe (General Partner, Greylock Partners)
Levi Fawcett (CEO at Partly)
Tim Ryan (Co-Founder & CEO at Atomic8)
Andrew Huynh (GTM Strategy Lead, New Products at Culture Amp)
Dan Brockwell (Co-founder and head of program at Earlywork)

A note from your host, Laura:

My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons.

Guest ideas?

Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn.

Never miss an episode:

Subscribe on your favourite platform:

42 قسمت

Ep 39. Harry Uffindell on Scaling Partly, The ONE Thing and Lessons from the Climb

Calling Operator with Laura Nicol

published حدود یک سال پیش

اشتراک گذاری

MP3•خانه قسمت

In today’s episode, we discuss:

Scaling Partly from its first non-technical hire to ~100 employees—and the lessons behind making it the best startup to work for.
Building a company culture that lasts—where 10 years in, you’re still buzzing to show up.
Co-founding and selling MeatMail (a food subscription startup) with David Booth—the zero-to-one story.
“This is a pretty good V1”. What Tim Ryan (Atomic8) taught Harry about quality work and scaling startups globally.
Tilt to Airbnb: From first APAC hire to Country Manager, scaling Tilt, and what it takes to land a global “boots on the ground” role.
A bad-reception phone call that changed everything. How Airbnb’s acquisition of Tilt set Harry on a path to making ANZ Airbnb’s most penetrated market worldwide before the IPO.
Focus as a superpower. Mastering the art of focus is the most impactful skill an operator can develop.
Learning from the best. How Patti McCord, Reed Hastings (Netflix), and the Collison Brothers (Stripe) are shaping Harry’s playbook as a world-class Chief People Officer.
Angel investing 101. His advice for operators making their first bets.

Find Harry Uffindell:

Harry Uffindell’s Northstars and Frameworks:

Books:

Delivering Happiness (people and culture)
No Rules Rules (Netflix culture)
The Hard Thing About Hard Things (gritty leadership)
Amp It Up (high-performance culture)
Powerful by Patty McCord (freedom + responsibility)
Radical Candor (feedback and relationships)
Great by Choice (10x leadership)
How to Win Friends and Influence People

Podcasts:

Acquired, a16z, Founders, The Tim Ferriss Show, Crucible Moments, 20VC.

Frameworks:

The Quarterly Rhythm That Fuels Growth and High-Performing Teams (includes duplicatable resources/Notion pages)
The One Thing (goal-setting)
Eisenhower Matrix (urgent/important prioritization)
Radical Candor (caring personally + challenging directly).

Operators—Future leader/vision:

Patti McCord and Reed Hastings from Netflix (culture)
Patrick Collison and The Collison Brothers (execution)

Ones to Watch:

Pene Barton (CEO at Crimson Global Academy)
Kirsti Grant (Chief People Experience Officer at Auror)
Jamie Beaton (CEO and co-founder Crimson Education)

Other Folks Mentioned in the Episode:

Dave Booth (Founder in Residence at Blackbird)
Mike Duboe (General Partner, Greylock Partners)
Levi Fawcett (CEO at Partly)
Tim Ryan (Co-Founder & CEO at Atomic8)
Andrew Huynh (GTM Strategy Lead, New Products at Culture Amp)
Dan Brockwell (Co-founder and head of program at Earlywork)

A note from your host, Laura:

Guest ideas?

Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn.

Never miss an episode:

Subscribe on your favourite platform:

42 قسمت

همه قسمت ها

1
Ep 41. Rach Matters on Turning OCD Anxiety into Her Superpower and Scaling to Senior Program Manager at Linktree 44:46

۸ روز پیش44:46

44:46

Connecting with Rach Matters, Senior Program Manager at Linktree. Rach’s sweet spot is joining fast-growing organizations with a blank job description, and she’s had the privilege of learning company building through EA-exec partnerships with Linktree’s Alex Zaccaria and seasoned entrepreneur Janey Martino. In this episode, we cover: Why worrying is like a rocking chair—it keeps you busy but gets you nowhere Scaling herself alongside one of Australia’s biggest tech success stories Supporting leaders through hypergrowth and high-stakes moments The EA-executive relationship and the magic of high-trust partnerships Creating calm in chaos (while secretly thriving in it) Why waiting back isn’t Rach’s style Understanding the individual needs of your leadership team (it’s not one-size-fits-all) Strategic restraint—bringing deep knowledge of the leadership team into operations and learning to 10x things without adding process friction Taking pieces of wisdom from each leader you work with Low-key Sundays and the power of rest Connect with Rach on LinkedIn here . A note from your host, Laura: My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons. Guest ideas? Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn. Never miss an episode: Subscribe on your favourite platform: Spotify Apple Podcasts (Other) CallingOperator.com…

1
Ep 40. Shipra Mahindra: From Software Engineer to Canva’s First PM and Product Leader at Octopus Deploy 47:18

22 روز پیش47:18

47:18

Today, I'm connecting with Shipra Mahindra, Principal Product Manager at Octopus Deploy. Let’s just say—Shipra’s peers can’t stop raving about her. She made her mark as the first product manager at Canva, working closely with co-founder Mel Perkins and the early mobile team. Shipra takes us through the highs, lows, and many celebrations that came with launching and scaling Canva’s first mobile app. She shares how she found her rhythm as a product manager and the lessons she's learned, both as a human and a product leader, during rapid growth at Canva, Xero, Creatively Squared, and now at Octopus Deploy. And when she’s not leading product, she’s showing how New Zealand can be an incubator for world-leading, world-class companies as a Partner at Phase One Ventures. Connect with Shipra Mahindra . A note from your host, Laura: My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons. Guest ideas? Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn. Never miss an episode: Subscribe on your favourite platform: Spotify Apple Podcasts (Other) CallingOperator.com…

1
Ep 39. Harry Uffindell on Scaling Partly, The ONE Thing and Lessons from the Climb 48:45

۵ weeks پیش48:45

48:45

Today, I'm connecting with Harry Uffindell, Chief People Officer at Partly. Harry’s worn just about every startup hat—founder, growth, bizops, revops, people, culture—you name it. But he ultimately found his calling in the people space. Now, he’s scaling Partly, hiring the world’s top 1% talent, and building a culture where people stay excited about their work a decade in. In today’s episode, we discuss: Scaling Partly from its first non-technical hire to ~100 employees—and the lessons behind making it the best startup to work for. Building a company culture that lasts—where 10 years in, you’re still buzzing to show up. Co-founding and selling MeatMail (a food subscription startup) with David Booth—the zero-to-one story. “This is a pretty good V1”. What Tim Ryan (Atomic8) taught Harry about quality work and scaling startups globally. Tilt to Airbnb: From first APAC hire to Country Manager, scaling Tilt, and what it takes to land a global “boots on the ground” role. A bad-reception phone call that changed everything. How Airbnb’s acquisition of Tilt set Harry on a path to making ANZ Airbnb’s most penetrated market worldwide before the IPO. Focus as a superpower. Mastering the art of focus is the most impactful skill an operator can develop. Learning from the best. How Patti McCord, Reed Hastings (Netflix), and the Collison Brothers (Stripe) are shaping Harry’s playbook as a world-class Chief People Officer. Angel investing 101. His advice for operators making their first bets. Find Harry Uffindell: LinkedIn Harry’s Newsletter harry@partly.com Harry Uffindell’s Northstars and Frameworks: Books : Delivering Happiness (people and culture) No Rules Rules (Netflix culture) The Hard Thing About Hard Things (gritty leadership) Amp It Up (high-performance culture) Powerful by Patty McCord (freedom + responsibility) Radical Candor (feedback and relationships) Great by Choice (10x leadership) How to Win Friends and Influence People Podcasts : Acquired , a16z , Founders, The Tim Ferriss Show , Crucible Moments , 20VC . Frameworks: The Quarterly Rhythm That Fuels Growth and High-Performing Teams (includes duplicatable resources/Notion pages) The One Thing (goal-setting) Eisenhower Matrix (urgent/important prioritization) Radical Candor (caring personally + challenging directly). Operators—Future leader/vision: Patti McCord and Reed Hastings from Netflix (culture) Patrick Collison and The Collison Brothers (execution) Ones to Watch: Pene Barton (CEO at Crimson Global Academy) Kirsti Grant (Chief People Experience Officer at Auror) Jamie Beaton (CEO and co-founder Crimson Education) Other Folks Mentioned in the Episode: Dave Booth (Founder in Residence at Blackbird) Mike Duboe (General Partner, Greylock Partners) Levi Fawcett (CEO at Partly) Tim Ryan (Co-Founder & CEO at Atomic8) Andrew Huynh (GTM Strategy Lead, New Products at Culture Amp) Dan Brockwell (Co-founder and head of program at Earlywork) A note from your host, Laura: My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons. Guest ideas? Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn. Never miss an episode: Subscribe on your favourite platform: Spotify Apple Podcasts (Other) CallingOperator.com…

1
Ep 38. Alice Hehman on Being a Glue Person—From Facebook to Quip to Glue Club 52:32

۷ weeks پیش52:32

52:32

Connecting with Alice Hehman, a "SWAT team" startup leader who’s built recruiting and operations playbooks for some of Silicon Valley’s biggest names. An under-the-radar operator, you need to know. Alice knows what it takes to scale operations across borders, from leading domestic recruitment for Facebook to moving to Sydney to build regional teams across Asia–Pacific. Following great people led her to Bret Taylor's startup Quip (a competitor to Google Docs), where she ran business operations, including the USD $750M Salesforce deal and post-merger integration into the Salesforce ecosystem. We get real on keeping your head on straight through hypergrowth and focussing on what we can control through these big business transitions. These days, she's teamed up with Molly Graham (if you haven't read Lessons on Substack, you should) at Glue Club, helping startup leaders be better—and feel better—at work. We discuss what makes a great operational leader, why "glue people" are the backbone of scaling companies and US lessons to shortcut operators in Australia and New Zealand. Find Alice Hehman: LinkedIn Alice Hehman’s Northstars and Frameworks: Learners vs Guides: Building Your Leadership Team Lessons by Molly Graham The Glue Club (Leadership Development Program) The Four Tendencies Framework by Gretchen Rubin Sparketype Assessment StrengthsFinder, now CliftonStrengths Operators—Ones to Watch: Molly Graham Elliot Greenwald Other Folks Mentioned in the Episode: Andy Barton Bret Taylor Ashley Prince Murphy A note from your host, Laura: My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons. Guest ideas? Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn. Never miss an episode: Subscribe on your favourite platform: Spotify Apple Podcasts (Other) CallingOperator.com…

1
Ep 37. Emma Seymour’s CFO Journey at Deputy—How Rebalancing Led to Profitability and Unicorn Status 40:08

16 weeks پیش40:08

40:08

Today, I'm connecting with Emma Seymour, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Deputy. Emma is no stranger to navigating big transitions—whether steering a company through acquisitions, adapting through CEO leadership changes, driving profitable growth in uncertain post-pandemic times, or achieving unicorn status. Known for her "throw the ball to me" mindset, I hope Emma's story reminds all of our female-identifying listeners of the power of stepping up before you feel ready. In today’s episode, we discuss: Her CFO leadership journey: From public practice to JobAdder to Deputy, where she became the youngest female CFO of an Australian tech unicorn Emma’s reflections on becoming a first-time mum while managing a "big job" Deputy's rise to profitability and unicorn status (for market context, Deputy is the 15th Australian-founded tech company to achieve this milestone) How Deputy’s 80% female leadership team drives business outcomes, enriches company culture, and brings them closer to the customer Clocking in every day to help customers build a better world for shift workers Why you should always "throw the ball to me" Alternative strategies for raising capital at different stages of growth What’s next for the future of the CFO role in tech. Find Emma Seymour: LinkedIn Deputy Emma Seymour is just short of her third successful year as CFO of Deputy (read more) Emma Seymour’s Northstars and Frameworks: Goal setting: Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) ANZ Operators—Ones to Watch: Mel Perkins (CEO and Co-founder at Canva) Other Folks Mentioned in the Episode: Silvija Martincevic (CEO at Deputy) A note from your host, Laura: My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons. Guest ideas? Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn. Never miss an episode: Subscribe on your favourite platform: Spotify Apple Podcasts (Other) CallingOperator.com…

1
Ep 36. Annie Liao on Designing a Dream Career and Building a Training Campus for 1 Million AI Builders by 2026 36:48

18 weeks پیش36:48

36:48

Today, I'm connecting with Annie Liao, founder and CEO of Build Club. What began as a weekend AI project among friends has now evolved into APAC’s largest AI learning platform. Fresh off closing her pre-seed round and going all-in on Build Club, Annie shares what’s next for her and her team. In today’s episode, we discuss: Annie’s early career journey as a data scientist, consultant, venture capitalist, community builder, operator, and startup founder—and the lessons she gained from each transition; A nod to her recent crowning as a Forbes Australia 30 Under 30 honoree; Scaling the impact of why Build Club started: to empower everyone to build their dreams into reality; Build Club’s internal AI strategy and approach to building; Why providing clarity is the most valuable role a founder can play; Taking a leap of faith to build custom GPTs (a beginner's guide); How to upskill your workforce in AI; The rise of AI workforce manager roles—plus why operators are uniquely suited for this shift. And, of course, I ask the “stupid” questions to help us all accelerate our AI learning journey. Find Annie Liao: LinkedIn X Art Build Club events Join Build Club’s waitlist: www.buildclub.ai Annie Liao’s Northstars and Frameworks: The Build Club Story and Why We Raised Venture Capital Funding This 23-year-old banked $1.2 million to build the ‘Duolingo for AI learning’ Goal setting: Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) ANZ Operators—Ones to Watch: Mitchell Hughes (Co-founder at NextGen Ventures) Clinton Lui (Build Club) Other Folks Mentioned in the Episode: Julia Wells (Lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney) Daniel Vassilev (Co-founder at Relevance AI) Jacky Koh (Co-founder at Relevance AI) Tom McKenzie (CTO at Build Club) Jessy Wu (Founder at Encour) A note from your host, Laura: My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons. Guest ideas? Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn. Never miss an episode: Subscribe on your favourite platform: Spotify Apple Podcasts (Other) CallingOperator.com…

1
Ep 35. Deena Metz on Building a Customer Success Function at Flagship—From Digital Health to Retail Tech 34:31

20 weeks پیش34:31

34:31

Today, I'm connecting with Deena Metz, Head of Customer Success at Flagship. For Deena, being at the nexus of a company is where she thrives, so she’s placed herself at the heart of an early-stage startup: customer success (CS). She’s one of 12 employees, building alongside Simon Molnar to establish Flagship as the backbone of retail operations in Australia, the US, and beyond. In today’s episode, we discuss: Deena’s childhood dream of playing soccer for the Matildas; How an internship in New York launched her career in digital health at ANDHealth+ and Perx Health; Joining Flagship as the first female on the team, and her approach to building the company's post-sales function and customer experience; Why CS is a team sport, and how sales, post-sales, and product teams need to be “Batman to each other’s Batman”; Partnering with retail brands to raise the bar in visual merchandising and bring more data to brick-and-mortar stores; And the refreshing reminder: “we’re not saving lives”. Find Deena Metz: LinkedIn Flagship Deena Metz’s Northstars and Frameworks: Gabriel Baker (Co-Founder at Mosh) Rachel Kelly (Ex-EVP, APAC and Global Instore at Afterpay) Steph Leathers (Managing Director ANZ at GHD) Alex Brogan, Faster Than Normal Newsletter Wes Kao's Newsletter Atlas (Zendesk alternative for customer support) ANZ Operators—Ones to Watch: Zoe Champtaloup (Director of Operations and General Counsel at Perx Health) Jackie Rotman (Director, Strategy at OakNorth) Other Folks Mentioned in the Episode: Simon Molnar (founder at Flagship) Scott Taylor (Co-founder and CEO at Perx Health) Hugo Rourke (Co-founder and COO at Perx Health) Marcel Ninio (Retail Innovation and Partnerships at Flagship) A note from your host, Laura: My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons. Guest ideas? Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn. Never miss an episode: Subscribe on your favourite platform: Spotify Apple Podcasts (Other) CallingOperator.com…

1
Ep 34. From Clinical Medicine to Product: Dr Jackie Rabec’s Journey to Heidi Health and Google 42:30

22 weeks پیش42:30

42:30

Today, I'm connecting with Jackie Rabec, Product Manager at Google. Jackie’s product leadership story is all about transitions—from corners of the globe to non-linear career paths and reframing impact beyond just our work. In our conversation, we discuss: The importance of “doing your homework”; Growing up in South Africa and following her mother’s path into medicine; Definitive decision-making versus directional decision-making and how it guided her transition from medicine to tech and product; Visualising your career as a pond of lily pads; Her journey from being the first PM at Heidi Health to a non-health tech product role at Google; Moving from the balcony to the dance floor and back again as a product leader; Lessons from transitioning from a 40-person startup to a global corporation; How to avoid overcomplicating product by indexing on three things; Her vision to improve healthcare access and delivery in low-income countries and under-resourced communities in countries like Africa. Find Dr Jackie Rabec: LinkedIn Dr Jackie’s Northstars and Frameworks: The Balcony and the Dance Floor Lenny’s podcast Tim Ferriss Kirsten Mann (Chief Product Officer at Prospection) Peter Cronin (Founder and Director at Prospection) Paul Redfern (Chief Product Officer at Big Picture Medical) Dr. Thomas Kelly (CEO and Co-Founder at Heidi Health) Waleed Mussa (CFO and Co-Founder at Heidi Health) Yu Liu (CTO and Co-Founder at Heidi Health) Trung Ton (Partner at Foundry Health) ANZ Operators—Ones to Watch: So good we named him twice: Paul Redfern (Chief Product Officer at Big Picture Medical) Eliza Hillary (Senior UX Designer at RACV) A note from your host, Laura: My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons. Guest ideas? Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn. Never miss an episode: Subscribe on your favourite platform: Spotify Apple Podcasts (Other) CallingOperator.com…

1
Ep 33. George Hatzis on Product Design: Journey from Startups to Scale-Ups and Fractional Impact for Early-Stage Teams 47:08

24 weeks پیش47:08

47:08

I'm connecting with George Hatzis, a fractional product designer for early-stage startup teams. From his early curiosity about design and product at Ignition to redesigning a personal loan application admin at Wisr and building and scaling a multi-brand design system for healthcare products at Eucalyptus, he's no stranger to the twists and turns of startups and scale-ups. In this episode, we cover practical design and MVP design systems—what they are and how to apply them in fast-moving, scrappy environments; taking the independent product design route and his “Mary Poppins-style” approach to fractional work; his journey (so far) building a migration tech product alongside Niamh and Damian at Matilda; leading design teams and making a conscious transition from an individual contributor to a manager; AI as a “companion piece” for designers; the right time for startups to bring in their first product designer; and advice for product designers pitching themselves to early-stage startups. Plus, slowing everything down for life's simple moments, watching 100 movies a year (and reviewing them on Letterboxd), and the magic of acknowledging trade-offs. Find George Hatzis: LinkedIn Portfolio Letterboxd : film reviews by George Hatzis Checklist Design : a side project by George Hatzis George’s Northstar People and Principles : James Nau (VP of Product at Airtasker) Olivia King (Independent Creative Director) Olivia King’s portfolio [Op-ed] AI as a trend and how designers can work with it (written by Sebastiaan de With) ANZ Operators—Ones to Watch: Kayla Medica (Fractional Product Marketer/CMO) Mehdeeka by Kayla Medica (a weekly Substack newsletter covering various areas of B2B and SaaS marketing aimed at small teams) Nick Hough (Director of Product at Jasper) Other Folks Mentioned in the Episode: Guy Pearson (CEO at Ignition) Dane Thomas (Co-founder & Chief Product Officer at Ignition) Niamh Mooney (Co-founder at Matilda) Damian Png (Co-founder at Matilda) A note from your host, Laura: My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons. Guest ideas? Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn. Never miss an episode: Subscribe on your favourite platform: Spotify Apple Podcasts (Other) CallingOperator.com…

1
Ep 32. Coaching with Maxine Minter: How to Be the Best on the Field as a High-Impact, High-Performing Startup Operator 56:00

26 weeks پیش56:00

56:00

Today, I'm connecting with Maxine Minter, executive coach, founder of Co Lab, and General Partner of Co Ventures. Coaching and mentoring leapfrogging someone’s career trajectory has been a key theme percolating our recent episodes, SO… recognising that having a coach is a privilege and perhaps more uncommon at the operator level in the ANZ ecosystem; this is a SPECIAL EPISODE to help open source some tips and tricks. For context, executive coaching helps you close the gap between where you are now and where you want to be as a leader. In this episode, Laura talks to Maxine Minter about her work coaching founders, CEOs, and COOs and how to become an exceptional, high-impact, high-performing startup operator. You’ll walk away as the CEO of your career with many tactical tools and exercises to help you run high-performing teams (or influence up, down and sideways). Find Maxine Minter on: LinkedIn Twitter Maxine's Northstars: The Johari Window Model (a framework for understanding conscious and unconscious bias that can help increase self-awareness and our understanding of others. It is the creation of two psychologists, Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham) Emotional by Leonard Mlodinow (advances in psychology and neuroscience have proven that emotions are as critical to our well being as thinking) How to Find an Executive Coach: Co Lab (At Co Lab, we work with world-class operational and leadership coaches who have all previously been in c-suite roles at fast-growth companies, venture partners at leading VCs or academics at the world’s best universities, or a combination of all three. To find the right match, we start by working with you to develop your goals and create a profile to match you with suitable coaches based on your goals. The matching process is free for the clients going through it.) Disclaimer: Laura and Maxine work at Co Lab A note from your host, Laura: My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons. Guest ideas? Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn. Never miss an episode: Subscribe on your favourite platform: Spotify Apple Podcasts (Other) CallingOperator.com…

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Ep 31. Growth Enzyme Mindset: Taylor Fox-Smith on Academia, Channel Partnerships and Building Community at Airwallex 48:51

28 weeks پیش48:51

48:51

Today, I'm connecting with Taylor Fox-Smith, Head of Community Partnerships at Airwallex. In this episode, we explore Taylor's formative years and Montessori education and dive into her latest project: building the community function at fintech unicorn Airwallex, a cross-border payments company. We also unpack her lessons from scaling channel partnerships across various stages and verticals (PropTech and ClimateTech), her journey of finding a deep sense of self amidst the ebbs and flows of startups, and her mission to become a growth enzyme for founders. Find Taylor Fox-Smith on: LinkedIn Taylor’s Northstar: Her Dad, Gavin Fox-Smith ANZ Operators—Ones to Watch: Emily Casey , Founder & Director at What the Health Annie Liao , Chief of Staff at Relevance AI and Founder of Build Club Other Folks Mentioned in the Episode: Jethro Cohen (Investor at Square Peg) Ben Hanley (Product at Trace) Mina Radhakrishnan (Co-Founder/ex-CEO at :Different) Andrew (Soro) Sorokovsky (VP Sales/BD @ Immutable) Elizabeth Broderick (Founder and Convenor at Champions of Change Coalition) A note from your host, Laura: My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons. Guest ideas? Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn. Never miss an episode: Subscribe on your favourite platform: Spotify Apple Podcasts (Other) CallingOperator.com…

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Ep 30. Emily Robinson on Scaling with Purpose: From Leading People and Culture at Linktree to Driving Growth as GM at Kic 43:57

30 weeks پیش43:57

43:57

Emily's an incredible people and operations leader who is passionate about doing things differently. Her latest project is Kic, a fitness app quashing diet culture—founded by Laura Henshaw and Steph Claire Smith. In this episode, we explore her journey from corporate to startup land; leading inside a unicorn to a bootstrapped company with year-on-year growth. There were so many, but highlights include: Balancing anxiety and mental health around leadership and the techniques that have defined Emily. Scaling from employee #90 at Linktree to leading a 20-person people and culture team through rapid growth. Reshaping Kic's strategy from product-led to a community and content-led fitness empire. Why community-led brands will win and how to embed a community-first mindset into your company planning. How mentors and coaches can 10x your personal and career growth. Find Emily Robinson on: LinkedIn Emily’s Northstars and frameworks: Jane Martino The Four Agreements You Can Heal Your Life ANZ operators—ones to watch: Maxine Minter , General Partner at Co Ventures, Founder and Advisor at Co Lab Mikayla Hopkins , Head of Marketing at Tracksuit Other folks mentioned in the episode: Laura Henshaw (CEO and co-founder at Kic) Steph Claire Smith (Chief Community Officer and co-founder at Kic) Isa Notermans (Chief People Officer) Anth Zaccaria (Co-founder of Linktree) Alex Zaccaria (CEO and co-founder of Linktree) Jessica Trumble (CEO & Founder at We Are Charlotte) Michael Stocks (Head of Marketing, Asia Pacific at Squarespace) Do I want Kids? Miniseries with Laura Henshaw Co Lab (Matching high-growth founders with executive coaches) Simon Sinek A note from your host, Laura: My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons. Guest ideas? Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn. Never miss an episode: Subscribe on your favourite platform: Spotify Apple Podcasts (Other) CallingOperator.com…

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Ep 29. Building Scar Tissue: Albert Patajo’s Path from Venture Capital to Fatherhood and Scaling Nexl Beyond Series A 41:58

32 weeks پیش41:58

41:58

In this episode, we explore Albert’s journey from growing up as an immigrant in Australia to becoming a startup leader and new dad to his daughter, Ava. Albert is a true fundraising nerd, and watching him level up on his way to Victory Road is a joy. We dive into how he built conviction to leave venture capital and step into a leadership role at Nexl—a vertical SaaS company that provides collaboration, relationship management, and CRM software to B2B law firms (think Pearson Hardman vibes!). Albert also shares lessons from his operator journey—from building scar tissue through experience to understanding why the best teams excel at capital allocation to mastering the metrics that drive relentless focus and success in scaling startups. Find Albert Patajo: LinkedIn X Substack Albert’s Northstars and Frameworks: ChatGPT Prompt: “You are OperatorGPT, you are an expert portfolio value creation for Series A and later companies. You’ve been asked to solve [X issue in detail] to achieve [Y outcome]. The trade-offs you need to consider are that [A people in company or relevant role, B budget,C timeframes). The company’s values are [X,Y,Z values]. Draft a project plan that steps through a potential solution to solve the problem and achieve this outcome taking into account the trade-offs and ensures alignment to the company’s values. Building your Employee Handbook as you scale: The Gitlab Handbook (Open source) Bullet Proof Problem Solving (Book) Scaling people (Book) Situation, Complication and Question (Framework) Simple framework for Board and Executive communication: What we know: The information we know to be true and what we’re relying on. What we don’t know: The information we need to validate or find evidence for that will help inform our decisions. When we’ll know: The experiments/fact-finding analysis we’ll run to find evidence or validate the information we don’t know and the timeframe to do this. The Glue Club by Molly Graham (Cohort-based operator community) ANZ Operators—Ones to Watch: Annie Liao , Chief of Staff at Relevance AI and Founder of Build Club Jessy Wu , Founder at Encour, Ex Partner at Afterwork Other Folks Mentioned in the Episode: Philipp Thurner (CEO & Founder, Nexl) Niki Scevak (Co-founder and Partner at Blackbird) Allen Zhu (Investor at EVP) HBR’s The Case for a Chief of Staff article Angad Soin (Ex Deloitte, now Xero) John Henderson (General Partner at Airtree) Michael Batko (CEO at Startmate ) A note from your host, Laura: My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons. Guest ideas? Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn. Never miss an episode: Subscribe on your favourite platform: Spotify Apple Podcasts (Other) CallingOperator.com…

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Ep 28. From Rowing to an All-Women-Founded Exit: Maddi Ingham’s Playbook for Building Unstoppable Chief of Staff Partnerships and Mastering M&A 41:06

34 weeks پیش41:06

41:06

In this episode, I dial into a conversation with Maddi Ingham, 2x Chief of Staff, now working in stealth on her next venture. Maddi's career is a testament to her commitment to creating a better world for people and the planet. We explore her journey from management consulting to her catch-all role in Verve Super’s acquisition—a remarkable all-women-founded exit celebrated as “the business story we need” by Women’s Agenda. We dive into her experiences solving complex early-stage problems, the role of trust in navigating M&A processes during leadership team parental leave, and the impact of executive partnerships. Maddi also shares her thoughts on gender equality, her operator insights gained from CliftonStrengths, and the importance of building a supportive community of peers. Episode note: When discussing the gender pay gap, Maddi uses binary language (e.g., “man” and “woman”). We recognise that this isn’t always the reality for some parents. Find Maddi: Maddi Ingham Maddi's Northstars and frameworks: Why the acquisition of all-women-founded Verve Super is a story worth telling The Open Org’s Open Source Policies (…and a Rolodex of publicly sourced policies) Future Group's Open Source Policies Moving your Super to an ethical superannuation fund Startmate programs: Women's Fellowship Ladymates Gender Pay Gap How to respond to 9 myths about our gender pay gap problem by Maddi Ingham The Pay Gap Pledge Toolkit WGEA's Developing a Leading Practice Parental Leave Policy Airtree’s Open Source VC The role of the Chief of Staff CliftonStrengths The CliftonStrengths skills assessment Woo theme (One of Maddi’s top five strengths) Communication theme (One of Maddi’s top five strengths) Positivity theme (One of Maddi’s top five strengths) Activator theme (One of Maddi’s top five strengths) The CliftonStrengths Podcast ANZ operators—ones to watch: Phoebe Pincus, COO at Startmate Zoe Champtaloup, Director of Operations & General Counsel at Perx Health Alex Carr, Chief Of Staff at ReGen Ventures Other folks mentioned in the episode: Christina Hobbs Alex Andrews Verve Super A note from your host, Laura: My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons. Guest ideas? Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn. Never miss an episode: Subscribe on your favourite platform: Spotify Apple Podcasts (Other) CallingOperator.com…

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Ep 27. Mikayla Hopkins on Building a World-Class Marketing Function and Brand at Tracksuit—Journey from Beer to Beauty to B2B SaaS 39:30

36 weeks پیش39:30

39:30

Mikayla builds brands people can't stop talking about. Her latest project is Tracksuit, recognised in The Generalist's Future 50 list as one of the world's highest potential startups. We dive into her career journey from beer to beauty to B2B SaaS; the bumpy (but amazing) road of marketing leadership to $15 million ARR at Tracksuit; the challenges of rapid growth; her experience serving in her first startup board seat; and the role brand will play in the world automated by AI. Plus, some real talk on finding your identity beyond work, fighting for your seat at the table and the power of kindness. Find Mikayla: LinkedIn www.gotracksuit.com Tracksuit has been recognised in The Generalist's Future 50 list Mikayla's Northstars and frameworks: Kieran Flanagan - Hubspot He co-hosts the Marketing Against the Grain podcast Emily Kramer - B2B SaaS advisor (pay for her Substack) She writes the MKT1 newsletter (Mik recommends subscribing) ANZ operators—ones to watch: Harry Flett - Head of Product @ Tracksuit Matthew Rossi - Founder @ Oodle | ex Eucalyptus, Canva Jo Blundell - Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer @ Aglow | ex Timely Other folks mentioned in the episode: Karl Margrain Connor Archbold Matthew Herbert Elly Strang Christine van Hoffen James Hurman A note from your host, Laura: My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons. Guest ideas? Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn. Never miss an episode: Subscribe on your favourite platform: Spotify Apple Podcasts (Other) CallingOperator.com…

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