Building, Leading, and Paying It Forward - Ellen Rubin - Causely

How to Spot Future Founders Inside Your Company: By encouraging curiosity and inviting team members into strategic conversations, Ellen helped cultivate talent that would eventually become leaders. She looked for people who asked questions, engaged outside their lane, and showed deep interest in how the business works.

Practical Support for Women in Tech: Ellen shares her multi-layered approach to supporting women in technology. She has a personal policy of responding to every outreach from a woman Founder or aspiring leader, offering both encouragement and actionable help.

Building Strong Local Ecosystems: As a passionate advocate for Boston’s tech scene, Ellen emphasizes the importance of keeping post-exit Founders and big companies engaged with the next generation. She believes physical proximity and local mentorship still matter, even in a hybrid work world.

The Value of Regular All-Hands and Real Transparency: At her startups, Ellen hosted weekly all-hands to build alignment and trust. She prioritized consistent updates, company-wide visibility into fundraising stages, and direct Q&A with leadership to keep teams connected and focused.

Lessons from Amazon and the PR/FAQ Method: Ellen talks about her time at Amazon and how the press release and FAQ approach to product planning shaped her thinking. She encourages Founders to use writing and storytelling as a way to clarify product vision before building anything.

AI That Solves Real Problems: Now an Operating Partner at Glasswing Ventures, Ellen focuses on “intelligent verticals” that use AI to automate industry-specific workflows. She emphasizes the importance of AI being integral to the product, not just a wrapper for marketing.

Building, Leading, and Paying It Forward - Ellen Rubin - Causely - Episode #53