Kieran Snyder, co-founder and former CEO of Textio, dives deep into her transformative journey from academia to tech leadership. She shares insights on raising over $40 million in funding while building equitable teams. Kieran candidly discusses her experience with burnout and the difficult decision to step down as CEO. Passionate about mentoring women, she highlights her efforts in coaching girls' basketball and her unique storytelling approach in her newsletter, Nerd Processor. This conversation offers both inspiration and practical advice for aspiring leaders.
01:47:22
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
menu_book Books
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
question_answer ANECDOTE
April Fool's Computer
Kieran won her 8th-grade science fair by recreating a computer made of ropes and pulleys.
The design, featured in a science magazine, was later revealed to be an April Fool's joke.
insights INSIGHT
Parental Influence
Kieran's parents, an engineer and a writer, shaped her career by demonstrating perseverance.
Witnessing their pursuit of challenging goals influenced her own drive, despite not initially intending to follow their paths.
insights INSIGHT
Linguistics: A Broad Field
Linguistics is a broad field, ranging from mathematical analysis of language to its social impact.
Kieran's interdisciplinary program at Penn combined these aspects, contributing to her and several classmates' later success in tech entrepreneurship.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents
Lisa Damour
This book provides parents with practical, research-informed strategies to support their teenagers through the challenges of adolescence. It covers what to expect in normal adolescent emotional development, why mental health is about having feelings that fit the moment, and how to help teens manage their emotions. The book also addresses common challenges such as academic pressure, social media stress, anxiety, and navigating friendships and romances, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a connected and supportive relationship with teens.
This week, I talk with Kieran Snyder, the co-founder and former CEO of Textio, a groundbreaking company at the forefront of the AI revolution. Kieran’s journey is one of resilience, leadership, and innovation. We discuss how she transitioned from academia to leading a tech startup, raising more than $40 million in funding, and building equitable, high-performing teams along the way. Kieran opens up about the tough decision to step down as CEO after experiencing burnout and shares her path to recovery and rediscovery. We dive into her passion for building up young female leaders, from coaching girls’ basketball to supporting women in tech, and her talent for transforming surprising data into compelling stories through her newsletter, Nerd Processor. Whether you’re a leader, entrepreneur, or just curious about AI’s impact on the workplace, I hope this conversation will inspire and offer some practical insights as well. Let’s get to it!
In this episode:
(00:00) - Intro
(02:55) - Kieran's 8th grade science project
(05:07) - How parental influence shaped Kieran's career path
(08:29) - Academic journey in linguistics
(17:19) - Kieran's transition to tech
(23:47) - Founding Textio
(30:11) - Building a company with your spouse
(36:18) - Navigating product market fit
(46:46) - Burnout and stepping down as CEO
(56:35) - Leadership and knowing when to walk away
(01:01:23) - Detaching identity from career outcomes
(01:05:33) - How Kieran evaluates her performance as a CEO
(01:08:39) - The value of a board of advisors
(01:11:45) - Kieran's advice for someone recruiting a mentor, advisor or board member
(01:15:25) - Starting Nerd Processor and embracing creativity
(01:19:14) - How Kieran chooses what to write about
(01:23:20) - How to create substantial and insightful content
(01:30:11) - What Kieran has learned about hiring execs
(01:35:13) - Coaching youth basketball and personal fulfillment
Good Work with Barrett Brooks 