Inspired with Alexa von Tobel

At some point in every tech employee's career, one likely comes into contact with an Atlassian product, from Jira to Confluence to Trello. Scott co-founded Atlassian back in 2001 along with his university friend, Mike Cannon-Brookes, to help unleash the potential of every team. The iconic collaboration company now has over 240,000 customers around the globe and a market value over $40 billion. Scott shares why insatiable curiosity was key to their success, how Atlassian has helped the Australian tech community thrive, and why they've adopted a work-from-anywhere policy and use offices solely for intentional togetherness.

Vikram has spent much of his career as an engineer, managing database storage at Oracle and earning several patents. But in 2015, he officially took on the title of cofounder, starting Lacework to build the security layer for the cloud. The company's thesis hinges on the idea that security problems can be solved through the right datasets. In 2021, Lacework raised a $1.3B Series D round, the largest funding round for any cybersecurity company. Vikram shares why they approach security as a data problem, how they are able to onboard customers within an hour, and why solving the biggest challenges you can is what creates the best company IP and value.

For decades, Kurt House, a Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Science, has been at the forefront of climate tech. He decided to dedicate his career to helping transition the energy economy into a renewable one—and realized that a critical material shortfall would be one of the biggest hurdles in electric vehicle adoption. So in 2018, he co-founded KoBold, an AI-driven mineral exploration company. KoBold has launched 50 projects on 3 continents, partnered with major mining companies, and is now valued at over $1B. Kurt shares how KoBold's data helps identify locations with anomalously high concentrations of particular elements, why their team combines experienced explorers with technologists, and why failing fast is critical to their business model.

Julia Hartz, Co-founder and CEO of Eventbrite, shares Eventbrite's success, maternal instinct during the pandemic, and fear of phone calls. The podcast discusses the founding of Eventbrite, building a company during a recession, Julia's upbringing, managing stress, and the importance of humility in leadership.

In 2019, serial founders Leif Abraham and Jannick Malling came together to launch Public.com, the popular investing platform that allows everyone to invest in stocks, ETFs, crypto, and alternative assets. They set out to build a community around the stock market, and in just a few years, they've scaled to 3 million members. Leif started as a fintech outsider, but took his entrepreneurial experience and accolades—a double Cannes Lions Grand Prix winner who was named one of the Top 10 Minds in Digital by Adweek—to create a fintech platform that members love. Leif shares how they work to build an emotional connection with users, why it's important to have a "black swan" playbook to prepare for major market events, and why he believes in playing the long game with business relationships.

Do you know your neighbors? When Nextdoor was founded in 2008, 50% of Americans knew one or none of their neighbors. Fast-forward and Nextdoor now connects 81 million neighbors across 11 countries, building both digital and real-world connections. Sarah Friar joined Nextdoor as CEO in 2018 and took the company public in 2021 under the ticker symbol KIND. Sarah shares how her childhood in Northern Ireland during The Troubles gave her a lifelong belief in the local power of community, how Nextdoor leverages AI to encourage kindness on the platform, and why one of the company's biggest moments to date was bringing together 18 million people in person around the Queen's Jubilee. 

For anyone who's ever smelled one of her iconic scents, Jo Malone needs no introduction. Described as an "English scent maverick," Jo has created some of the world's most-loved fragrances. Her first company, Jo Malone London, gained cult status around the world and was sold to Estée Lauder, and in 2013, she launched her Jo Loves, a global fragrance brand. Jo shares how scent has been a superpower since childhood, how she conquered a bout of anxiety by jumping out of a plane, and why the desire to create led her back to the founder seat.

In 1998, Sara Blakely set out with a big idea to revolutionize the undergarment industry. Overnight, she went from being a frustrated consumer to the brilliant inventor of SPANX. Sara acted as the product's number one salesperson, using her skills honed in fax machine sales to get SPANX everywhere from the shelves of Neiman Marcus to Oprah's Favorite Things. Sara was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world by TIME and was featured on the cover of Forbes Magazine as the youngest self-made female billionaire. Twenty-two years after starting the company, Sara sold a majority stake to Blackstone and became Executive Chairwoman. Sara shares how SPANX has been profitable since day one, why what you don't know can actually be your greatest asset, and why it's important to bucket your days to spend time on what you're best at.

What does the rise of video-forward platforms like TikTok and Snapchat mean for how we work? That's the question Joe Thomas and his co-founders set out to solve at Loom, the video communication platform for async work. They started Loom in 2015, long before the pandemic, and have scaled the platform to 21 million users and more than 215 million "looms" recorded. Joe shares why it took a few product pivots to find real user traction, why asynchronous work is more inclusive, and why he invests 6 hours on Mondays in one-on-ones with his direct reports.

Julie Rice is no stranger to building massive brands. In 2006, she co-founded the fitness phenomenon, SoulCycle, with her business partner Elizabeth Cutler. They scaled SoulCycle from a small dance studio to 60 spin studios across the country, attracting Equinox as a buyer. Along the way, they realized while people came for the workouts, they stayed for the community. Julie and Elizabeth are back in the founder seat with their newest venture, Peoplehood. They have pioneered a guided group conversation practice designed to create new relational habits. Julie shares why she's working to combat the loneliness epidemic, how it feels to be a second-time entrepreneur, and why her family's weekly observance of Shabbat is key to recharging for the week ahead.