Building company culture through a screen is a challenge more and more organizations are facing these days. The benefits of remote work will not go away, so how can organizations adapt and evolve to build a culture with everyone spread out? Our guest today is Jason Goldlist, CEO and Co-Founder of Venue, a remote-first meeting software for culture-obsessed companies. We talk about Jason’s dedication to community throughout his career working at amazing companies like Wealthsimple, and how he got Slack’s Founder, Stuart Butterfield and Accel Partners to back his startup.

About Jason Goldlist:Jason Goldlist is the Co-Founder and CEO of Venue, he has been an operator with strong ties to community-building for the last 15 years. Prior to Venue, Jason was Head of Marketing and General Manager of Wealthsimple. He also Co-Founded TechTO, one of Canada’s most prominent tech communities. He began his career at McKinsey and did his undergrad at the University of New Brunswick and his MBA at INSEAD.

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In this episode we discuss:

02:37 Jason’s journey into tech04:45 Why he leans towards counterintuitive decisions06:30 Lessons Jason took from working at McKinsey09:23 Working in sub Saharan Africa10:57 His experience working at Wealthsimple13:30 Judging his early career in terms of experience in the moment and in retrospect15:29 Jason’s first role at Wealthsimple and how it grew19:18 How he worked on Culutre at Weathsimple20:05 Origins of TechTO23:17 What TechTO has accomplished27:25 How the pandemic and the TechTO events schedule inspired Venue30:18 Steps Jason and the Venue team took to help define the problem32:18 Why 2x2 analysis can sometimes deceptive34:20 Building Venue’s MVP37:46 How venue is helping build culture and community in the remote world39:58 ROI casestudies for Venue43:09 How Venue’s $4M seed came together47:21 The long-term vision for Venue

Fast Favorites

* 🎙- Favorite Podcast: Reply All, the show about the Internet and how we relate to it, told through the lens of amazing storytelling and mysteries. Start with episode #158, the case of the missing hit. 

* 📰 - Favorite Newsletter/Blog: The TechTO newsletter. Monday is community events and people, Wednesday is career advice and opportunities, and Friday is all about news and fundraising. 

* 📲 - Favorite Tech Gadget: Stream Deck by Elgato. I use it to control my lights, speakers, music and a lot more.

* 📈 -  Favorite New Trend: Remote-first

* 📚 - Favorite Book: Bonfire of the Vanities, In Cold Blood, and The Sun Also Rises

* 🤔 - Favorite Life Lesson:Know thyself

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