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20VC: Guild Education's Rachel Carlson on The Benefits of Scaling Startups Outside of Silicon Valley, Why Mission and Margin Are So Tightly Integrated & Why Mums Are The Most Under-Utilised Asset In The Economy

Oct 11, 2019

Rachel Carlson, Co-founder and CEO of Guild Education, discusses her journey from politics to startups, inspired by her experiences during the 2008 Obama campaign. She highlights ambitious mothers as undervalued assets in the workforce and challenges misconceptions around hiring them. Rachel shares insights on finding top talent, emphasizing relationship-building and aligning mission with margins. She also reflects on relocating from Silicon Valley to Denver, noting the advantages of nurturing talent in less competitive markets.

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ANECDOTE

From Politics to Startups

Rachel Carlson's journey into startups began in politics, working on campaigns including Obama's 2008 campaign.
This experience revealed her passion for fast-paced, mission-driven environments, leading her to recognize a problem in higher education and found Guild Education.

INSIGHT

Higher Ed's Hidden Problem

The average community college graduation rate is surprisingly low (5%), partly due to high customer acquisition costs.
These costs, driven by Google and Facebook ads, hinder effective marketing for many good schools.

INSIGHT

Trust in the Workplace

Students trust their employers more than the government or higher ed institutions regarding future work skills.
This highlights the need for diverse distribution channels and better college information access for those who need it most.

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Rachel Carlson is the Co-Founder and CEO @ Guild Education, the leader in education benefits offering the single most scalable solution for preparing the workforce of today for the jobs of tomorrow. To date, Rachel has raised over $71m in funding with Guild from some of the best in venture with the likes of Michael Dearing @ Harrison Metal, Wes Chan @ Felicis, Byron Deeter @ Bessemer, Aileen @ Cowboy Ventures and Scott Raney @ Redpoint, all backing Guild. As for Rachel, prior to Guild, Rachel was the Founder of Student Blueprint, providing students with academic and career planning tools.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Rachel made her way into the world of startups having started her career in politics and how insights gleaned from politics formed the idea for Guild Education?

2.) Why does Rachel believe that ambitious Mums are the most under-utilized asset in the economy? What are the biggest misconceptions people have about hiring and working with Mums? How can founders really implement practically facilities, tools and an environment where one can be both ambitious personally and professionally?

3.) Before the show, Byron Deeter @ Bessemer said, "Rachel has been among the best at recruiting star execs across their portfolio”. What have been Rachel's biggest lessons when it comes to hiring the very best talent? Where do most go wrong? How has her hiring style changed over the years? What are Rachel's favourite questions to ask candidates?

4.) Why does Rachel believe that mission and margin are tightly integrated? How did Rachel acquire Walmart as one of their first clients? What are the positives and negatives of having a client so huge, so early? What advice would Rachel have for other early-stage companies when they have such behemoths as clients in the early days?

5.) Why did Rachel make the move from SF to Colorado? What did Rachel strategically do to ensure the chances of success were higher? How does Rachel feel about keeping leadership teams in SF and then the rest elsewhere? How did the move impact their ability to hire the best talent? How did their move impact their ability to access the best capital? Between customers, capital and employees, who is it most important to be near?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Rachel’s Fave Book: To the End of June: The Intimate Life of American Foster Care, Where The Crawdads Sing

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