CT
Caroline Tran
Hello Clever · EP 29
Caroline's approach is empowering people over micromanaging, plus rituals that keep a 70-person global team connected: a Monday all-hands called Clever Together, a Clever Pitch session where anyone presents their view of the company, and Clever Ideas for feature proposals.
See Caroline Tran's full take
Caroline says she and her co-founder "are all about empowering people to do their jobs — we don't go to people and micromanage them at all, we trust them to do the best of their job." With "nearly 70 employees globally," "five offices," and people who "speak like 10 languages," she gets everyone together "literally every Monday" for an all-hands "we call clever together." There's "Clever Pitch," where "whether you're an engineer… whether it's your CFO CTO," people "show us your perspective about Hello Clever," and "Clever Ideas," where anyone can "propose a feature." She adds in-person connection through a comedy trip and regular Team Upsides, because "you can't really replace the in person interactions." On hiring she says "no one works for a startup for the base salary — it's all about they align with the mission and wanna grow with the business."
AM
Andy Miller
Heaps Normal · EP 19
They started by thinking about the best and worst experiences they'd had working for different people, then built in the ways of working and employee benefits they'd appreciated. Being remote-first from the start during lockdowns let them establish the business without the perceived constraints of needing a physical office, and they've always shared openly with the team — "maybe sometimes too transparent."
See Andy Miller's full take
They started thinking about culture by reflecting on both the best and worst experiences they'd had in their careers working for different people and businesses. They literally sat down and built in all the different ways of working and employee benefits they'd appreciated elsewhere and would have liked to have had.
They were fortunate to be able to start the business remote first — they were kind of forced to during lockdowns — which helped them establish the business without some of the perceived constraints other businesses have around needing to be in a physical office. Andy also emphasises transparency: they've always shared really openly with the team what the business is going through, the challenges and the wins, "maybe sometimes too transparent." That helps a small team in a competitive category empathise and get on board.