Hiring great people is essential to growing and scaling your startup. Interns are a key part of this strategy, especially in the early days. Most founders I speak to are looking for one (or many 😉) interns at any given time.

I love interns and keep in touch with many that I worked with. Lots of them have gone onto great things. Why? Students applying to business jobs in college are incredible!!

Interns are one of the best values in business. Get top talent at a fraction of the price in exchange for offering them coaching and experience.

(Note: I’m a huge believer in always paying your interns fairly. It’s the right thing to do, you’ll get a wider talent pool, and they’re more likely to stay on or refer other interns. It’s still a great value compared to what you’ll pay for a recent grad of the same caliber.)

To get started on finding your own powerhouse interns, here’s an overview of the process I’ve used to attract, vet, and retain the very best candidates.

7 Steps To Find (& Win) Outstanding Startup Interns

1. Job Description

First things first. Align internally on the projects and tasks for the role and turn it into a job description.

A Great Job Description Will:

• Showcase your company’s brand and personality - make a great first impression!
• Be positive but accurate about the work. Misaligned expectations = big headaches later.
• Highlight startup competitive advantages like interfacing with customers, doing meaningful work, exposure to a variety of projects, and working directly with the CEO
• Appeal to a wide range of candidates. Follow these tips to remove gender bias.

How To Promote:

• Post to college career sites, co-working sites, your social profiles, local channels.
• Share with your network especially previous interns, other employees, folks with college connections.
• Avoid the big name, mainstream career sites to start. Very noisy. Start with the targeted options first.

2. Resume Review

Once your job posting is out in the world, it’s resume time. I try to review daily in batches and follow up quickly with top candidates.

What To Assess:

• Leadership experience (clubs, sports, side hustles)
• Work experience
• Resume organization, clarity, and writing
• GPA
• GPA and job performance are correlated when you're in or just out of school. The more work experience you have, the less it matters.
• Take into account the average GPA for the school.

Look at all of these items holistically. If someone has a lower GPA but put themself through school and started a company, that’s pretty awesome. If they have a high GPA but no other activities or work experience, they may not have the practical work skills for a startup.

When on the fence, I usually give the candidate the benefit of the doubt and set up a video chat.

3. 15 Min Video Chat

It’s a quick intro on both sides. You can learn a lot in a short time.

What To Assess:

• Professionalism - on time, dressed appropriately
• Preparation - researched the company or team
• Social Skills - general politeness, will they be good in front of customers?
• Role Alignment - will they be happy in this role based on their goals?
• Positivity - any subtle complaining or blaming?
• Startup Compatibility - are they self-starting? can they handle change and ambiguity?

Example Questions:

• “How did you pick UniversityXYZ?”
• “What are you looking for in an internship?”
• “How did you prepare for our call?”
• “How did you hear about the role?”
• “Do you have any questions?”

4. Real Work Exercise

Great resume. Excellent video chat skills. Now it’s time to see — can they do the work?

This can be a coding exercise, a work sample, or — my favorite — a take-home activity that involves writing, thinking, and light research.

This step also gives the candidate a chance to understand what the day-to-day work is like.

Example Questions:

• Event XYZ is coming up. Write an announcement for LinkedIn and Twitter.
• Customer is upset because of XYZ. Draft an email reply.
• Research 3 locations for a team event with criteria ABC.
• Our ideal customer is ABC. Find 3 leads with contact information.

What To Assess:

• Writing Quality - clarity, grammar, consciseness
• Thought Process - thorough, logical, smart
• Conscientiousness - done correctly, on-time
• Can they do the work at hand?

(Note: Answers don’t need to be perfect! Especially for interns. Problem-solving skills, effort, and coachability are key. )

5. In-Person Interview

If they’ve made it to this stage, you’re getting close. Here’s where you drill in on specifics or concerns, meet others on the team, and continue to win them over!

What To Assess:

• Experience & Project Details
• Cross-Functional Fit - can they work well across the company?
• Core Values Alignment - do they embody your Core Values?

Example Questions:

• “What project are you most proud of? Why?”
• “What was the most challenging customer situation you faced?”
• “What was the most complex event you led? How did you stay organized and handle problems when they came up?”
• “Tell me about a time that you <did action that aligned with company Core Value>.”
• “What’s the hardest group project that you worked on? Why? How did you work through it personally and as a group?”

Address their questions throughout but especially at this stage. Understand their priorities or objections and speak to those. Always be closing!

6. The Offer

Speed is your friend. Big firms (or indecisive startups) move slowly. College students want to be done and get back to their other day job. Make it easy for them to choose you.

This can be as simple as a Google Doc with a company logo that you tweak for each new hire. (Convert to a PDF before sending.)

Information To Include:

• Job title
• Compensation (e.g. hourly rate)
• Hours per week limits or expectations
• Job responsibilities
• Start and end dates
• Other benefits and perks
• Why your company and this opportunity are awesome
• Why you want them
• A friendly welcome

Remember - this isn’t just a transactional document or contract. The tone and content of your offer letter will help close the deal!

7. An Internship They Love

Now that you’ve got them onboard, here’s how to keep them happy and make the most of the experience for you and them.

Top Strategies For Happy Interns:

• Pay them!
• Paid internships level the playing field so students of all economic situations can join you
• Great for recruiting 💪
• Some common ranges for startups in the Southeast
• $10-15 non-engineering
• $18-20 engineering
• Ask them to do work that matters.
• Share business tips, advice, and company insights.
• Provide opportunities to do or learn about their areas of interest.
• Be appreciative — say thanks and acknowledge their work within the company.
• See if they have referrals for future interns!

BONUS - Future Full-Time Hires!

Interns are a fantastic pipeline for full-time hires. Do you have an amazing intern and want to snag them after graduation? Make an offer as soon as you can. Lock it in before they start getting recruited or think about applying elsewhere.

Two Final Thoughts

1. Give yourself time to calibrate your talent compass.

It may take 10-20 candidates before you get a feel for what “good” looks like. Over time, the “A” players will stand out quickly.

2. Be kind and win people over at every stage.

At Pardot, we got referrals from candidates who didn’t get hired but they had such a positive experience in the interview process, they told their friends to apply. It was one of the best compliments.

The interview process is nerve-racking and time consuming for candidates. Being organized, thoughtful, and making candidates feel good, regardless of the outcome, is a powerful (and free!) flywheel for your company’s recruiting and growth engine!

What other strategies have you used to hire great interns? Do you have other steps or recommendations for the process?

Going From Early Stage To Unicorn

Last week, I shared Part 1: 4 Strategies Unicorn Founders Embrace. This week – surprise — we’re sharing Part 2 with more unicorn founder strategies.

These posts were inspired by an early stage founder with big goals who asked great questions:

Now that I’ve raised money and have passionate customers – what’s next? How do I build a unicorn, think like a unicorn, execute like a unicorn?

Here are 4 (more) common themes and strategies from unicorn founders to guide you and inspire you along your journey! 🦄

4 More Strategies That Unicorn Founders Embrace

1. Define your mission, pitch, and values.

Spend time crafting clear, concise:

• Mission statement
• One-line pitch
• Core values

Then talk about those things ALL. THE. TIME.

Why? These cornerstone elements will help:

• Attract candidates
• Hire faster
• Bring in new deals
• Close deals
• Drive performance
• Build a unique and powerful culture that people want to be a part of

Infinite Giving does an amazing job:

• Mission statement: leverage modern financial technology to grow the world’s giving
• One-line pitch: automated investment platform for non-profits
• Core values: Be kind and do excellent work.

Because they are simple, easy to remember, and communicated weekly by their awesome CEO, Karen Houghton, I can repeat them to anyone (aka future customers or hires) and I understand exactly what they do. This clarity helps throughout the sales funnel, hiring funnel, and company growth!  

David Cummings has long been a proponent of culture and core values with some great, specific blog posts if you want more.

2. Move fast.

One trend I’ve seen from unicorn founders – they have a bias for action and make decisions quickly. Speed is a key advantage especially against incumbents or other up-and-comers in the market.

3 Keys To Moving Fast:

1. Be responsive when asked for a decision.
2. Empower others to make decisions. (I mention my favorite delegation framework here.)
3. Have clear goals and core values (see Strategy #1) that serve as a decision-making guide.

In other words, avoid a CEO bottleneck.

A bonus of this approach is more time and energy for you to spend on hard-to-undo, strategic decisions.

3. Accelerate your rate of learning.

Kyle Porter, CEO of Salesloft, shared this advice at Salesloft in the Studio (43:00) and David Cummings’ also recounted it.

The concept is simple. Learn aggressively so you can grow faster than your startup is growing. Set up systems like peer groups, executive coaching, and daily business reading to turbo charge your personal growth. More suggestions here.

4.  Be confident.

Here’s the thing…

Every founder, no matter how successful, has something they’re insecure about. Unicorn founders are not exempt from imposter syndrome.

I’ve talked to wildly successful founders, who exude public confidence, and privately tell me things like:

• I got lucky.
• I don’t know what I’m doing.
• I have good people around me.
• When we hit <next milestone>, the wheels will fall off.
• I’m terrified of <normal CEO thing like public speaking>.
• This <other unicorn founder> is so much better than me at _____.

Why am I sharing this?

If you are feeling worried or insecure, that doesn’t mean you can’t do it.

It means you’re a perfectly normal unicorn founder!

Go to your place of resilience and strength:

• Rephrase “I don’t know” into “I can’t wait to learn.”
• Do it anyway.
• Pray.
• Fake it ‘til you make it.
• Reflect on your past successes.
• Think about your vision and your why.
• Call your #1 superfan for a pep talk.

And then keep going.

Amazing things are ahead! 🚀🦄

What other strategies do unicorn founders embrace? What have you seen or experienced with unicorn founders that helps them build?

“How do I go from early stage to unicorn?”

I recently met with a fantastic founder who raised her hand when I shared the goal of 10 female unicorns in 10 years.

She’s picked a big market and she’s secured funding. What’s next, she asked? What have you seen in unicorn companies and founders?

[Kathryn’s note: What a great question. Clearly thinking like a unicorn founder already!]

What are the strategies or characteristics of companies that cross over that $1 billion valuation mark?

Specifically – what’s within a founder’s control that they can start doing today?

Here’s the first 4 strategies that unicorn founders use to take them from $1 to $1 billion. Check in next week for Part 2!

4 Strategies That Unicorn Founders Embrace

1. Pick a big market.

I’m a broken record on this one. The first step to being a unicorn is being in a big market! No matter how amazing your leadership or product, you can’t build a billion dollar company in a small market. It’s way easier (and more probable) to grab 1% of a $100B market than grab 100% of a billion dollar market.

Think your market isn’t big enough? Adjust your strategy or pick a new idea.

You can also build a great small to mid-size business. Be clear on your personal goals to decide what’s right for you.

2. Embrace 10x thinking.

In the early days, the question is: how do we get 1 more customer?

When you’ve found product market fit (in your HUGE market), it’s easy to continue that pattern: how do we get a few more customers?

In a unicorn mindset, you ask, how do we get 10x more customers?!?

It’s straight out of the Google playbook. They’ve built a pretty nice business 😉

Try it at your next strategy or planning session. Take a problem or goal and brainstorm what 10x looks like. How do you get there? What big ideas does it trigger?

3. Stay focused.

Once you find product market fit, optimize for your ideal customer.

Design your marketing programs, sales process, and product roadmap for this ideal customer. Do not get distracted by shiny objects!!

Examples of shiny objects:

• enterprise deals that aren’t a good fit
• one-off product features
• marketing to fringe user segments
• a new product line or platform before you’re ready

Pardot was fantastic at this focus. We knew our sweet spot was SMBs. We didn’t chase enterprise deals or crazy technical requirements (even though our competitors did). We followed the 80/20 rule with product development and only added a feature if 80% of our customers could use it.

As a result, we had strong retention, a repeatable sales process, and scaled faster in the long run.

4. Settle in.

Building a unicorn is the fastest marathon of your life. On average, it takes 10 years for a startup to reach unicorn status. It will feel fast and slow all at once!

Be prepared for the long haul. Everything is urgent and crazy – and it will be for 10 years! Figure out ways to take care of your physical and mental health along the way.

But wait…

…there’s more! Tune in next week for 4 more strategies for building unicorns. 🦄

I had the honor of grabbing coffee with the brilliant and fun Susan Cohen, business professor at University of Georgia and leading expert on startup accelerators.

If you haven’t had the privilege of working with her as a mentor, following her on Twitter, or taking her entrepreneurship class…NEVER FEAR!

We crammed decades of research and experience into a 60 minute chat and now I’ve distilled that into 6 practical, actionable gems to maximize your accelerator experience.

Thank you, Professor Cohen, for generously sharing your knowledge with startup founders and leaders.

1. Accelerators work!

A good program can:

• Accelerate customer traction
• Shorten time to raise
• Increase the amount raised
• Shorten time to exit

Accelerators also increase the influx of investment into startups in the region. Not just to the startups at the accelerator but to other startups in the market as well. So even if you don’t get into that local accelerator, know that it may still be helping you long term!

2. Not all accelerators are created equal.

There are good accelerators and not-so-good ones. What should you consider when evaluating an accelerator?

• Deal Terms
• Most accelerators take a % of ownership in exchange for seed capital.
• Are the terms similar to other accelerators?
• Is the value of the accelerator worth the dilution?
• Mentorship
• Who are the mentors and how can they help your business?
• Resist the sway of big names. The best athletes are not necessarily the best coaches.  
• Some of the best mentors are founders a bit ahead of you.
• Do the mentors have experience in your industry and company size? A great tennis coach won’t help you play basketball.
• Multiple mentors per entrepreneur is better than a single dedicated mentor. A variety of opinions, backgrounds, and personalities is key.
• Managing Director
• What’s their background?
• Are they a previous founder? Investor?
• How’s their network? Will it help your business?
• Track Record
• Have companies similar to yours graduated from the program? How have they fared?
• Talk to alums of the program and ask about their experience.

3. Accelerator fit matters. A lot.

Pick the right accelerator based on your industry, target customer, geography, business model, and personality.

Geography matters - a good accelerator will exponentially grow your network. Where do you want your future network?

If you are a hardware company at a mostly SaaS accelerator, the learnings, mentors, and peer relationships may not be as helpful as a hardware accelerator.

If you sell to government and everyone else in your group sells to SMB, the customer traction process may be wildly different. Or maybe you’re pre-product and everyone else has a product already.

If you sell to the accelerators’ alumni base — other startups, for example — that’s a home run!

Being in the wrong accelerator even if you can “get in” has potentially negative downstream effects:

• Waste of time
• Discouraging
• Negative investor perception

If you go through top tier accelerator and don’t get funded, investors assume something was wrong even you’re a great founder with a great business.

4. Attend all sessions. Meet all people.

What accelerator style performs better?

• (A) Customized sessions and mentors for each company
• (B) Standardized tracks regardless of product, market, or founder experience

Surprise! Even the most innovative, creative founders do best on (B) – the standardized track.

Why?

• We’re not as smart and special as we think. (Except for you. YOU are a unique snowflake. I’m talking about the others 😉)
• If we’re already knowledgeable about a topic, our default is to opt out:
• “I know how to play tennis, I don’t need a tennis lesson.”
• But if we have previous experience, we’re better able to learn MORE:
• “Because I already know the basics of tennis, I can fine tune my game. I’ll get more out of a tennis lesson than someone who doesn’t know tennis at all.”
• Varying levels of knowledge in each session helps entrepreneurs learn from each other. The former-CPA founder learns from the former-CMO founder and vice versa.

5. Leverage the peer group.

One of the best parts of accelerators is the founder/CEO peer group. Starting a company is lonely and hard. Having others that understand can help you weather the roller coaster.

Peers also increase the speed of learning and execution. You push yourself harder when others around you are pushing too.

Achievement inspires achievement: “If they can do it, so can I!”

Peer-to-peer learning tends to be more tactical. It’s a quick question via Slack. One question to a peer could save you a whole day of research or testing.

Professor Cohen puts it best:

You learn strategy from your mentors. You learn execution from your peers.

6. Make the most of mentors.

Step 1: Listen for different ideas

Mentors may suggest advice that conflicts with your own ideas.

Most entrepreneurs (ahem, most people) hear advice that jives with their own ideas louder than advice that conflicts with their ideas. Resist this temptation and listen for advice that is different.

The goal of advising sessions is to deepen your understanding, not to confirm what you already know.

Step 2: Listen for trends across advisors

Keep track of what different mentors say to see where they agree and where they don’t. If you keep hearing similar advice over and over, the general advice is probably right.

For example, if you keep hearing suggestions about your business model, even if the details differ, you probably need to re-examine your business model.

Bonus! Ask for ideas about alternative business models in your next mentor meeting.

Step 3: Test it!

Advice is not take it or leave it. When in doubt, test it! Design a quick test to gather data and assess the results.

Need help? Work with a mentor to craft a lightweight test.

Want More Accelerator and Startup Research?

Do you love these learnings from Professor Cohen? (I do!!!) For more awesome research and insights, check her out on LinkedIn, Twitter, or read the research:

• The Role of Accelerator Designs in Mitigating Bounded Rationality in New Ventures
• What Do Accelerators Do? Insights from Incubators and Angels
• Do accelerators work?

Extra Credit — take her evening MBA class at UGA’s Terry School of Business in Lenox!

She’s a startup mentor, angel investor, and huge asset to entrepreneurs everywhere. 🙏🙏🙏

I recently warned against “set it and forget it” productivity strategies. Your calendar, inbox, and workflows need regular review to keep them manageable.  

Gardens need tending, closets need clean outs, and work systems need audits!

Use this checklist of topics and questions to periodically review your systems and time allocation so you can stay efficient, energized, and focused.

I’d recommend a productivity audit 1x/quarter or whenever you’re falling behind on key priorities and need a reset.

Productivity is not getting lots of things done. It’s getting the important things done!

1. Priorities Audit

Am I spending time on the right stuff?

It’s easy to get stuck reacting to fire drills, one-off requests, new ideas, and other startup busyness.

The first step of a productivity audit is reviewing the big picture.

Priorities Questions

• What are the most important things personally and professionally?
• What specific goals did you lay out for yourself or the company?
• How are you tracking towards those priorities and goals?
• How are you spending your time now? (Check your cal or track your time for a day.)
• Do any of the goals or priorities need to be recalibrated based on a change in circumstances? (e.g. you added 10x more customers than expected and it’s all hands on deck – a good reason to recalibrate!)
• What needs to be canceled or changed to make more time for the priorities?

#protip

Eisenhower Matrix is a great tool to organize work by importance and urgency.

2. Meeting Audit

Are your regular meetings still productive and necessary?

Meeting creep is a thing. One more meeting here and there isn’t a big deal until you’re only free from 8pm to midnight.

Projects wind down, strategic priorities change, roadblocks resolve, and new hires need less hand holding. Review your meetings to make sure they’re still important and helpful.

Meeting Questions

Could any meetings be…

• Moved to every other week or monthly?
• An email instead?
• A Slack channel or thread?
• Combined with another meeting?
• Shortened by 15 min or cut in half?
• Improved with a new format?
• Canceled?
• Handed off to someone else?
• Declined because you don’t need to be there?

#protip

Block one day per week with no meetings. We had company-wide “Freestyle Friday” at Pardot and “Yoursday Thursday” at Rigor. Everyone loved the deep work and productivity.

3. Direct Report Audit

How are your direct reports doing? Does the reporting structure make sense?

When startups grow quickly, the org structure changes constantly. New hires join, senior leadership is brought in, departments and roles are added.

Here’s a few examples of things that happen when you grow fast:

• too many direct reports with one person
• an early “utility player” hire that could use an experienced manager
• the junior person reporting to the CEO because “they always have”  

Thinking about time and energy spent on your direct reports is helpful to identify problem areas and possible solutions.

Direct Report Questions

• Are folks happy? Any attrition risks?
• What new challenges or opportunities might be interesting for someone?
• Is anyone ready to be promoted?
• Could someone be a “team lead” to help coach and mentor new hires?
• Any difficult conversations to have about performance or reporting structure?
• Any new hires to make?
• Is your number of direct reports manageable?
• Are you spending an appropriate amount of time on people management?
• Is external training, coaching, or mentoring needed?  
• What can a direct report own to free up your time and also help them grow?

#protip

5-7 people is a reasonable number of direct reports. It could scale up to 10 when you’re growing quickly and building out teams. It could be 2-4 if you have other responsibilities.

4. Task Audit

What daily or weekly tasks are most time consuming? Are they a good use of your time?

The wise Bob Lewis speaks about the “best and highest use of time.”

Yes, the CEO can answer a support ticket. But is that the best use of her time? While she’s answering the support ticket, who is cultivating strategic partnerships, recruiting executive talent, and communicating company vision?!?

Only the CEO can do those. So while she can answer support tickets, she should focus on work that is the best and highest use of her time.

This applies to all roles! Delegate, automate, or discontinue tasks that don’t align with the best use of your time.

Task Questions

• What tasks can be streamlined by tools like Calendly, Zapier, or TextExpander?
• What items would be easier with CRM, marketing automation, or support platforms?
• Is it time for a virtual assistant, grocery delivery, MyPanda, or meal service?
• Can you hire an intern or contractor to own certain projects?
• What tasks or projects could be handled by someone else on your team?
• What tasks are no longer important and can be dropped?
• What tasks keep falling through the cracks? Why?
• Can a task be combined with something else, like scheduling a regular call during your commute?
• If you didn’t do it, what would happen? Would someone else do it? Would it not matter? Will it get handled later?
• Can you make it easier or more fun by working as a group or gamifying?

#protip

Don’t feel guilty about delegating! What’s “boring” to you may be an interesting, challenging growth opportunity for someone else. Explain your expectations about the work, why it matters, and express gratitude. Here’s my favorite framework for delegation decisions.  

5. Friction & Fatigue Audit

What feels harder than it should? What is wearing you down?

This is a catch-all category to identify any other frustrations or pain points in your workflow, schedule, or overall energy.

Friction & Fatigue Questions

• Do you feel fulfilled, energized, and interested on a daily basis?
• Is there something you’re spending way too much time on?
• Do you dread XYZ each week?
• Is there anyone that you don’t want to talk to anymore?
• Are you taking care of your basic health needs like sleep, social connection, physical activity, and nutrition?

#protip

Productivity isn’t about being a work robot! Listen to your feelings or gut reactions to guide you towards improvements.

What other items do you look at when assessing your productivity? What should be included in a productivity audit?

Startups (and life) can be busy and hectic. Having good systems is key to managing the chaos and staying on top of tasks and projects.

I’ve already shared my 3 favorite strategies for staying organized and efficient. Today, we’re going to cover some common productivity misconceptions.

These myths hold people back from their best, most-productive selves. They induce people to focus on the wrong things, judge themselves unnecessarily, and get discouraged.

Let’s deconstruct these 6 productivity myths so we can get back on track with simplicity, consistency, and efficiency.

6 Productivity Myths To Watch Out For

Productivity Myth #1

I bought this new tool/planner/colored pen/magic rock and now I’ll be able to get organized!

In my experience, more tools do not equal more organization. It just means more to keep track of, more places to update, and more complexity. When in doubt, simplify.

Productivity Myth #2

One item slipped through the cracks, therefore this system doesn’t work.

It takes a bit to get the hang of any new system and customize it to your needs. Give yourself time and wiggle room as you get started.

Productivity Myth #3

When I have the right system, everything will be perfect.

No organization system or tool is perfect. Even when you have things dialed in, these systems depend on humans. And sometimes humans make mistakes - gasp!

Don’t get distracted by outliers or one-time exceptions. If these “exceptions” happen regularly, then they are no longer exceptions and you should plan for them in your normal workflow. Otherwise, figure out the one-time game plan or chalk it up to a fringe case and get back to work.

Productivity Myth #4

Set it and forget it.

I like to run as many things as possible on autopilot. Especially if they are repetitive or not a good use of time. But life and startups change pretty fast. Always revisit your systems to see if they are still serving you!

Plan a quarterly audit. Or pay attention to your stress levels, what tasks are most time consuming, or when you start dropping balls.

I regularly review my systems, schedule, workflows, inbox, and to-do items to see if something needs to be dropped, changed, or added.

Productivity Myth #5

Hit Inbox Zero every day.

Inbox Zero is beautiful and calming. It’s heralded by many as the pinnacle of productivity.

I get there a few times per week but I don’t make it a daily goal. As long as I have confirmed that all time-sensitive items are taken care of, I’m okay letting some things hang out until the next day.

I find that sleep and letting my brain reset are more important to my overall productivity than daily Inbox Zero. I rule my inbox. It doesn’t rule me!

Productivity Myth #6

Sleep less to get more done.

Sleep is really important. It makes you smarter, able to work more quickly, and stay calm and happy. All of those things are fantastic for productivity.

The next time you want to stay up late to get more done, get a good night’s sleep instead. You’ll be able to tackle that work in the morning and get it done better, in less time, and feel happier.

2 Things That Work!

If you’re working to be more organized and productive, don’t let these myths derail you. Productivity strategies are never one size fits all, but I’ve seen two recurring themes when people have systems that work.

1. Simplicity

• Use as few tools as possible.
• Stay as close to the “source” of the work or communication as possible. If you work mostly in email, stay in email. If you use Slack all the time, make that your main tool for organization.
• Adding extra steps or transferring to-dos from one system to another leads to mistakes and process fatigue.

2. Consistency

• An organization system only works if you follow it!
• Pick something that makes sense for your personality, role, and lifestyle.
• A decent system executed consistently is better than a “perfect” system implemented every few weeks. Do small tests and tweaks, not overhauls.

What are some productivity misconceptions that you’ve come across? What productivity tips have hurt your productivity?

A Passion For Productivity

I’m into efficient systems. I’ve led company training sessions on emails, calendar management, time saving tricks, follow ups, agendas, project planning, and more. My closet has been color coordinated since age 9. One of my favorite gifts is my “Get Shit Done” mug.

I love trying out new tips or strategies and iterating my approach. After a decade in tech startups and many decades as a type A nerd, here are the top 3 strategies I use to stay productive and organized.

3 Simple Strategies To Stay Organized

1. Inbox as a To-do List

Shout out to the original efficiency guru TJ Gephart who taught me this one – Inbox as a To-do List for the win!

How It Works

• If it’s in your inbox, you need to take action on it.
• Once you’ve taken action, archive the email.
• If you haven’t done the thing, keep it in your inbox.
• Ta-da! Your inbox has become your to-do list.

Why I Love It

• One source of truth. I don’t check my to-do app, planner, calendar, email, notebook, spreadsheet, and project tool to find out what’s going on. I go to one place for all my action items. And I go to that place all the time anyway!
• Clear inbox. Full brain. Can’t lose (track of it). Once you archive an email, you can find it if you need it. But it’s not taking up physical or mental space in your inbox. Brain power is preserved for things that need it.

In Action

Only 11 emails. 1 is going to be archived. 10 items left that need to be reviewed, followed up on, or serve as reminders.

ProTips

• Want to track a non-email item? Send yourself an email.
• Send follow up emails with next steps. It’s helpful to meeting attendees and now you’ve got the action items in your inbox.  
• Use calendar reminder emails for meeting follow up. I get email alerts for any meetings on my calendar. That email stays in my inbox until I’ve sent a thank you, made the intro, or sent the article from that meeting.
• Snooze. If I don’t know how to respond to something or am not yet ready to make a decision, I kick the can a few hours or days with Snooze. Sometimes I’ll have an email-as-a-reminder about a longer term project. If I can’t get to it this week or month, Snooze that thing for 30 days. It’s not taking up headspace but you know you won’t forget!
• If you don’t know what Snooze or Archive is, switch to Gmail!

2. Calendar Blocks

How It Works

• I block time on my calendar for projects or any non-meeting work that takes >15 min.

Why I Love It

• Visual understanding and accountability for my to-do list!
• Realistically plan what can get done and when
• Helps you make time for important “deep work” things like writing or presentations

In Action

Example calendar that’s mix of “real” meetings and time blocks for priority projects.

ProTips

• Plan for 2x more time than you think on any given project or task. Humans are beautifully optimistic. We always think it’s going to be easy and we’ll go fast. This is true .0001% of the time. Give yourself more buffer than you think.
• Use your calendar to set expectations and manage workload. Because you see your availability on your calendar, you can easily clarify timelines and priorities:
• “I am committed to other projects this week but should be able to get to this next week.”
• “I was planning on completing ABC today. Should I swap that to prioritize XYZ instead?”

3. Sticky Notes

Going old school, non-tech for the last one. Stay with me!

How It Works

• I keep high priority items on a sticky note next to my laptop.
• When I get sucked into the vortex of Slack/email/internet memes, the paper note outside the digital black hole helps me refocus on that day’s must-do items.
• “Must-dos” can range from 5 - 7 small items or 1 big one.

How It Works (Personal Variation)

• For my personal life, I have a 3-item to-do list.
• ONLY 3 ITEMS ALLOWED!
• Complete an item? Yay! I get to add a new item.
• An urgent item came up? That’s cool. I’ll take something else off for now.  
• If I see 12 things, I get overwhelmed and do nothing. With 3 items, I pick one and get started.

In Action

Gee. I wonder what’s important today?

ProTips

• Splurge and get the Post-It brand sticky notes. Knock off brands don’t stick well. (I have some off brand ones you’re welcome to try if you don’t believe me...)
• If you’re worried about not remembering your “other” to-dos, feel free to keep a master list.  I like the fluid, organic process of identifying my personal to-dos as they come up, but it can relieve stress to have a place to jot items down.  

BONUS: Tech Recs

Other Tools I Use

• Google Drive: Docs, Spreadsheets, Slides, Forms
• Google Keep: Lightweight note-keeping - similar to Evernote. I use it for collaborative lists with my family (shopping, packing, house projects) or saving random thoughts.

Tools My Productive Friends Use

I don’t personally use these but trusted sources speak highly of them.

• Todoist - task tracking
• Google Tasks - within Gmail interface, seamless syncing across GSuite
• Superhuman - clean, fast email interface
• Things - task tracking app
• Getting Things Done - a classic how-to-stay-organized book

How Do You Stay Organized?

Organization and productivity is never one size fits all. The right system varies based on your personality, job, company culture, tech stack, daily workflow, and more.

What tools or systems work for you?

No Time To Be Healthy?!?

Startup life can get crazy at times. When you’re the CEO, it can feel crazy all the time. You’d love for it to be a 9-5 but the reality is - that’s not possible right now.

You know health and well-being are important. Stress is not good. Exercise and sleep are. But how do you find the time for healthy habits when you’re working 60, 70, 80 hour weeks?!?

I’m a bit of a health nerd. I bring healthy snacks and a water bottle (or four) everywhere I go. I wake up early to workout. I analyze my Whoop score. I eat kale for fun. But I’m also busy, practical, and efficient. I’ve spent a decade figuring out how to maximize my health and wellbeing while also being in the thick of high growth startups.

Here are 6 tiny but impactful healthy habits you can incorporate into your day that don’t take up ANY EXTRA TIME.

6 Healthy Micro Habits For Busy People

1. Eat more vegetables. (Especially green ones.)

Everyone has to eat. If you’re busy, you’re usually eating on the go, opting for prepackaged foods or meal kits, or having business meetings over meals.

Add more veggies to those on-the-go meals:

• Order a salad
• Get a side of broccoli
• Opt for veggie soup over chowder
• Throw spinach into your smoothie
• Select a vegetable-heavy option from your meal service
• Add a veggie tray or baby carrots to your grocery delivery

All of these things take literally no extra time!

Vegetables have lots of water, volume, nutrients, and fiber. All things universally endorsed for healthy eating. From Paleo to Keto to nutritionists, no one doesn’t recommend veggies!

Plants, especially green leafy ones, help you:

• live longer
• have more energy
• prevent cancer
• stay leaner
• make better business decisions

Okay, okay. I extrapolated that last one. But when you have more energy and feel healthier, it’s easier to keep a clear head, manage your emotions, stay upbeat, and think through issues.

Want the data? How Not To Die is a fantastic deep dive into nutrition research.  

2. Walking meetings.

Guess what? Other people want to be healthier and don’t like sitting all day either!

Start with a few internal 1:1s or friendlies and see if they want to walk around the block instead of grabbing coffee. I’ve never had anyone say no to this!

(Note: Confirm a walking meeting ahead of time so they can dress appropriately.)

The activity is good. Fresh air is good. Changing up the environment gives you extra energy and new perspective.

3. No phone in the bedroom.

You can’t work while you’re sleeping. But you can sabotage your sleep by keeping your phone at your bedside!

This year I started using:

• Wake up alarm on my smart watch
• Kindle only in the bedroom
• Notepad on my bedside table to “remember” items in the night

My sleep got way better. So did my work. The only output that decreased was middle of the night emails on non-urgent items that increased stress for me and the recipient.

Let me put this another way. If David Cummings doesn’t have his phone in his bedroom (0:59:00 of Salesloft in the Studio), you don’t need to either!

4. Take the stairs.

Walk up to your floor. Walk the escalator. Take the stairs between floors. Take the stairs in the parking deck.

It usually takes the same amount of time (OR LESS – no stops!) to take the stairs.

Yes, you may get a little bit winded or sweaty. (Oh? Just me?) But it clears your head, gets the blood pumping, and infuses a tiny bit of healthiness into your day!

5. Standing desks.

Sitting is bad for you. It shortens your life, increases diabetes, cancer, and heart disease risk, increases dementia, blah blah blah. Yeah, not good to sit a bunch (as I’m typing from the couch – oops).

Standing desks are an awesome fix for this. You can make one, hack one, buy one. These are top rated by Wirecutter. I have one and love it.

A standing desk for meetings where attendees stand or sit on stools is another nice option. Bonus: meetings are shorter if people are standing!

6. Sleep hygiene.

Bundle this with no-phone-in-bedroom or implement each separately.

Sleep hygiene includes:

• Blackout shades, sleep mask, or both
• Blue light blocking glasses if you look at screens after dinner
• Cooler temps, ideal for sleeping
• White noise

Set up your sleep palace one time and reap beauty sleep for years!

With a Nest thermostat and Hatch sound machine, you can pre-program 2 of 4 items. Install blackout shades, get your Inactivators, and hope these $8 blue light glasses work. (Should I upgrade? Feel free to share blue light glasses recs or research!)

Want more on sleep?

• Why We Sleep - best sleep research book
• Huberman Lab Podcast - treasure trove of sleep science

1 Tiny Habit This Week

You’re busy. You don’t have time for a daily workout, home cooked meals, 8 hours of sleep, or meditation sessions.

I get it!

These tiny tweaks are all things I have been able to consistently execute over the years of startup leadership, acquisitions, company scaling, birthing and raising tiny humans, training for Ironmans, and other life busyness. Set it and forget it with healthy autopilot.

Pick 1, 2, or all 6 of these mini habits that take NO EXTRA TIME and test them out this week.

You’ll feel healthier, more energized, and ready to dominate your day no matter what startup surprise is ahead!

How Do I Network?

I often get asked about networking. What does networking look like in the startup world? How have I networked over the years?

Spoiler alert: I am the anti-networker. I dislike networking and I’m not good at it. Every time I’ve tried to get serious and “network,” I get exhausted, bored, and feel disingenuous. Some folks love cocktail parties, networking events, or staying in touch with that friend from the conference 5 years ago. I envy these people. This is not me :)

What I DO like is meeting and staying in touch with smart, positive, interesting people that I genuinely enjoy. I like going to events where I can catch up with people I know or the topic is something I want to learn about. I like small groups with a common thread uniting us.

I don’t consider this “networking.” This is just “doing fun, interesting stuff with good folks.”

So if you’re not sure what networking looks like in the startup world or you know you should network but aren’t sure where to get started, here are 5 ways to network when you don’t like networking!

5 Ways To Network At Startups (Even If You Don’t Like Networking!)

1. Do good work and be nice.

The best networking is at your current job. What?!? That makes no sense, Kathryn. What if I want to leave my job?

Here’s the thing: the startup world is small and things change quickly.

Your boss/co-worker/person-in-another-dept may go to another company. If they love working with you and you’re well-respected by the team, they’ll recruit you to the new company.

Another scenario is that the company does fantastically well. With CompanyAwesome on your resume, it’s easy to find great opportunities when the time comes. You’ve moved up quickly, you have high growth experience, and many former co-workers are now working at the next hot company so you’ll have a warm intro.

But you have to do a good job right now for this to work!

Be great in your role. Be nice to folks. Help out on projects or team activities. Make genuine connections. These will pay dividends in the long run even if you don’t know when or how.

When you do leave, do it with respect, professionalism, and positivity. Wrap up loose ends. Be gracious and appreciative. The last impression is how people remember you. Keep it classy. End on a high note.

2. Be authentic.

There’s a hundred different ways to network.

Do you love social media? You will probably thrive on LinkedIn and Twitter.

You are passionate about community service? Amazing! Connecting with people through volunteer efforts is meaningful and inspiring.

You live for parties and meeting new people? This is the most traditional view of “networking.” Lots out there for you.

Do you like small groups and prefer to talk about ideas over chitchat? Book clubs, coding challenges, or research discussions might be your thing.

Maybe you love writing and online communities? Sounds like a future blogger to me! Get to know folks through comments, posts, and online discussion.

There’s lots of ways to build relationships with people. The most energizing, authentic, and sustainable way to do it is what feels easy and natural to you.

3. Stay in touch with people you like.

Who do you naturally stay in touch with? Who do you look forward to seeing? Who makes you laugh, lifts you up, or makes you feel as if you haven’t missed a beat even if it’s been a year? Who has been a true friend or helpful mentor? Who do you really respect and learn from every time you talk?

THESE are the folks I stay in touch with. They are people I’d genuinely like to work for or with but, ironically, I don’t stay in touch with them because of that!  

“Stay in touch” can mean many things:

• Shoot a quick email or LinkedIn message if you hear a behind-the-back compliment to share or you meet someone who knows them
• Send over a fun memory or joke
• Mention them on social media
• Text or chat to see what’s new
• Send over a good candidate
• Recommend them for a role or award
• Set up a 20 min Zoom
• Grab drinks, coffee, lunch

Staying in touch doesn’t have to be a heavy lift. Do what feels right based on how much you like them, how much time you have, and how much time they have. It should be easy and fun!

4. Find interesting groups.

Big groups, small groups, work groups, neighborhood groups, exercise groups, book clubs – whatever is interesting to you!

Some groups I’ve enjoyed:

• Customer Success leadership groups
• Informal #GirlBoss get togethers
• Decatur Tech Meetup (okay, I missed this because I was sick but, IN THEORY, I love it)
• Women + Tech Meetups
• Atlanta Startup Conversations
• Women Investors in the Southeast (WISE)
• Atlanta Saas leaders email list and quarterly meetup
• Dynamo Multisport
• Happy hours with former or current co-workers
• Company kickball teams

At any given point in my career, I’ve had bandwidth to be involved in 3-4 groups depending on my schedule and the commitment. It’s usually a mix of business, role-specific content, sports, and fun.

I genuinely enjoy the people and content of these groups. When it’s no longer a fit, I phase it out and find something else.

I know folks that have loved their religious/small groups, gamer communities, run clubs, coding meetups, alumni events, bocce leagues, and hundreds of other things.

Find what’s interesting to you and you’ll naturally make connections.

5. Avoid the “shoulds.”

I’m finally wise enough to embrace my inner toddler:

I try not to do things I don’t like doing.

If there’s an event that I should go to but I really don’t want to, I take a hard look at it. The reality is – the most helpful networking events are ones that you enjoy. You’re excited to see or meet the type of people there. You’re interested in the content. The format feels like one that fits your personality. If you’re not excited, it will be forced, awkward, or tiring.

If you don’t want to go, examine:

• Why do you not want to go?
• What happens if you don’t go?
• If you don’t go, how else could you spend that time?
• What other events or activities would you enjoy more that might serve as an alternative?

Another “should” to watch out for:

I should do more on social media/go to conferences/talk to strangers. Look at how great this person is at it and how well it works for them!

Always be you. It’s great to improve yourself but do it authentically. You may hate social media but be awesome at mentoring. That is a great way to network too!

A New Way to Network

Networking doesn’t have to be hard!

Do good work, stay in touch with nice, interesting people, be yourself, and — tada—you’re a master networker.

What other networking tips do you have? What have you seen work well for networking at startups?

The Mysterious VC

The world of investing, specifically venture capital (VC), can be opaque and intimidating. Lots of acronyms, insider vocab, and websites with general terms like vision, tech, or support.

If you’re a founder, startup leader, or aspiring investor who wants to learn more about VCs, how do you get started in learning things like:

• How do VCs think?
• What do they care about?
• What are differences among investors in personality and strategy?
• How do they like to work with people?
• What are their pet peeves?
• What business ideas or markets are they excited about?

Good news! No mind-reading necessary. VCs are sharing their inner thoughts all over the internet.

By regularly reviewing some great blogs and podcasts, you can start to understand the wide range of personalities and philosophies, as well as the similarities.

6 Ways to Get Inside a VC's Head

1. All-In Podcast

Jason Calacanis hosts David Sacks, David Friedberg, Chamath Palihapitiya each week in my favorite podcast in the VC and investing space!

• 4 super smart, successful investors who are “besties”
• 4 different perspectives on investing strategies and world views
• Lots of heckling and jokes
• Many innovative or non-mainstream opinions
• Discussions of current events and market conditions

I’m exposed to new concepts and perspectives every week!

2. Both Sides of The Table

I’ve been reading this blog by Mark Suster, Partner at Upfront Ventures, for over a decade.

Mark is candid, funny, specific, and opinionated! He regularly and boldly advocates for underrepresented groups which I love.

He shares specific scenarios, email language to use, and shines the light on unspoken assumptions or rules of the VC world.

A few good ones to get you started:

• How To Ask For Help, Favors, and Intros
• What You Should Send Your VC Before a Meeting
• How Much You Should Raise in Your VC Round? And What is a VC Looking at in Your Model?
• Why Confidence Is So Important In Fundraising

3. AVC

Fred Wilson, Managing Director at Union Square Ventures, publishes a bite-size post several times a week on this great blog. He shares a reasonable, calm, long-term perspective on many investment and life topics.

A few examples of the diversity:

• Employee Equity: How Much? - one of the top articles on this topic
• Competing To Win Deals - inside look at VCs
• Swapping NFTs - call for founders
• A Range Anxiety Weekend - personal story with innovation opportunity
• New Leadership at Tech:NYC - New York community news

It’s interesting to compare Fred and Mark. Very successful VCs with wildly different styles. They each care passionately about entrepreneurs but have varied investing philosophies, market interests, and personal priorities.

4. 20 Minute VC

Harry Stebbings interviews a different VC in each podcast episode. With several episodes per week, that’s a lot of VC exposure in a short time! David Friedberg was a recent fascinating one.

The Memo is a sub-category of the pod that dives into the “why” of an early investment in companies like Pinterest, Snapchat, and Doordash.

Find out:

• What investors looked for
• What gave investors conviction
• What the risks and unknowns were
• Fun stories from the early days

5. Invest Like The Best

Patrick O’Shaughnessy interviews different types of investors including VCs on his podcast. Learning about non-VC investors is helpful in understanding the broader ecosystem.

For example:

• Jenny Lefcourt is a 20-year investor and entrepreneur sharing what markets excite her (elder-focused tech, future of work, low-code/no-code) and what she looks for when investing.
• Jenny Johnson is CEO and President of the one of the world’s largest asset managers, Franklin Templeton, overseeing $1.5 trillion dollars.

Both investors named Jenny, wildly different stories!

6. Venture Deals

A classic book by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson on VC deals, terms, motivations, legalese, and more.

It explains:

• What terms VCs care about and why
• Where to negotiate
• What to let go of
• What signals you’ll be sending (good and bad)

It’s incredibly helpful if you’re going to be fundraising or negotiating term sheets! It’s very specific so if you’re not there yet, start with the others.

VCs Revealed!

1. VCs are more transparent than you think. VCs candidly share what they care about, how to work with them, and how they invest. Get the inside scoop through blogs, podcasts, Twitter, LinkedIn, books, recordings, and more.

2. Each VC is different. Job titles look similar but VCs are very different! Learn the various personalities, leadership styles, and investment strategies with common themes around success.

3. VCs are human! They have good days, bad days, personal stress, intra-firm politics, quirks, egos, strengths, and weaknesses. They make mistakes, great decisions, and get lucky. It’s easy to create a mystique about them or put them on a pedestal.

The reality is – VCs are smart folks who know their industry. Just like you.

What other VC blogs, podcasts, books, and resources do you enjoy? Do they help you understand the inter-workings of the VC brain? What remains a mystery?