In Depth
First Round
Welcome to In Depth, a new podcast from First Round Review that’s dedicated to surfacing the tactical advice founders and startup leaders need to grow their teams, their companies and themselves. Hosted by Brett Berson, a partner at First Round, In Depth will cover a lot of ground and a wide range of topics, from hiring executives and becoming a better manager, to the importance of storytelling inside of your organization. But every interview will hit the level of tactical depth where the very best advice is found. We hope you’ll join us. Subscribe to “In Depth” now and learn more at firstround.com
Episodes
Mentioned books
10 snips
Apr 4, 2024 • 1h 16min
Building products that delight customers | Adam Nash (Daffy, Wealthfront, LinkedIn, eBay, Apple)
Guest Adam Nash discusses building platforms, delighting customers, disrupting donor-advised-funds, LinkedIn strategy lessons, leadership transitions. Insights on successful digital platforms, strategic decision-making, interconnectedness of product and company strategy, product development at LinkedIn, Wealthfront and Robinhood strategies, intentional product design for customer delight.
32 snips
Mar 28, 2024 • 44min
A masterclass in founder conviction | Eilon Reshef (Co-founder and CPO at Gong)
Eilon Reshef, Co-founder at Gong, shares insights on recording sales calls, finding product-market fit, design partnerships, AI in B2B sales, and the future of AI. The episode covers lessons from riding the AI wave since 2015, expanding into multi-product offerings, and the importance of design partners in scaling a startup.
Mar 21, 2024 • 59min
Essential lessons for building and scaling DevTools | Dennis Pilarinos (Unblocked, Apple, Amazon, Buddybuild, Microsoft)
Learn from Dennis Pilarinos, founder of Unblocked, as he shares culture/product lessons from Amazon, Apple, Microsoft. Dive into building/scaling DevTools, finding product market fit, dealing with AI complexities, and prioritizing mental health as a founder. Discover common hiring mistakes and key insights on team dynamics and product success in the tech industry.
36 snips
Feb 29, 2024 • 40min
Scaling and selling AI products for enterprise | May Habib (Co-founder and CEO of Writer)
May Habib, CEO of Writer, delves into scaling AI products for enterprise, importance of champions, healthy co-founder relationships, and the future of agentic AI. Discusses advice for AI founders in 2024. Highlights investing in smaller AI models for specific use cases and building a business with strong team dynamics.
5 snips
Feb 15, 2024 • 54min
The secret lever Replit pulled to scale ahead of its competition | Amjad Masad (Co-founder and CEO)
Amjad Masad, co-founder and CEO of Replit, discusses how AI is reshaping the software landscape, bridging the gap between ideas and software, Replit's fundraising difficulties, the secret lever they pulled to scale ahead of competition, and Replit's impressive distribution engine.
Feb 8, 2024 • 59min
Lessons from Gusto & Square on finding your product wedge | Michael Cieri
Michael Cieri, CPO at Gusto and former Head of Product at Square, shares key product strategies, building for SMBs, pros and cons of vertical SaaS, moving faster in product teams, developing intuition, and impactful individuals at Square.
14 snips
Feb 1, 2024 • 1h 11min
A customer success masterclass | How to design, build, and scale a CS org | Stephanie Berner (LinkedIn)
Stephanie Berner, Customer Success Executive at LinkedIn, discusses common customer success mistakes, building a world-class customer success org, tactics for hiring exceptional talent, and where customer success fits into the wider org. She shares successful strategies from Box, Medallia, and LinkedIn. Topics also include early-stage customer success metrics, addressing churn problems, building trust with customers, connecting customer success with product development, and determining the size of a customer success team.
56 snips
Jan 25, 2024 • 1h 5min
The human side of world-class engineering leadership | Michael Lopp (Apple, Palantir, Slack)
Michael Lopp, experienced engineering leader at Apple, Palantir, and Slack, talks about his 'utopia' where engineers have time to create, what makes an excellent engineering leader, navigating internal dynamics between design, engineering, and product, and key lessons from over 30 years in the industry.
30 snips
Jan 18, 2024 • 54min
Clay’s path to product-market-fit: Building vertical, creating power users, and understanding founder psychology | Kareem Amin (Co-founder and CEO)
Kareem Amin, co-founder of Clay and former VP of Product at The Wall Street Journal, talks about building power users, finding product-market fit, understanding founder psychology, and using data to improve outbound messaging.
Jan 11, 2024 • 1h 8min
Inside Figma’s early days: How to build a world-class sales org | Kyle Parrish (VP of Sales)
Kyle Parrish, Figma's first sales hire, discusses the right time to build a sales function, hiring and scaling a successful sales org, building a unique sales culture, and career advice for ambitious salespeople. They also explore Figma's early sales motion, integrating the first sales hire, and navigating the founder/Head of Sales relationship.
