Who Got Me Here

Magdalena Yesil was the first investor and founding board member at Salesforce, a company that now has a $200 billion market cap. She is the Founder of Broadway Angles and serves on the SoFi, Smartsheet, and Zuora board. In a conversation with Annie, Magdalena shares her experience breaking into Silicon Valley, including stories about how Steve Jobs and Marc Benioff shaped her career. She describes how persistence and resilience let you take bold steps forward.---“The piece that a lot of people miss is that if you are going to go get advocates and you are asking them to basically be putting their own necks on the line for you, then you need to think, ‘what will I do for them?’ Life is always a two-way street. ‘If you are advocating for me, how do I return the favor?’” - Magdalena Yesil---Episode Timestamps:*(01:19) - Magdalena’s career success with networking*(13:58) - Attending Stanford and breaking into Silicon Valley*(20:46) - Experience working with Apple’s Steve Jobs*(26:57) - First investor and founding board member at Salesforce*(33:29) - Magdalena’s approach to advocates and networking*(37:48) - How to overcome obstacles and earn acceptance*(44:58) - Final thoughts---Sponsor:Who Got Me Here is brought to you by Connect The Dots, mapping professional relationships so you can find the strongest connections to the people and companies you want to reach. Visit ctd.ai to learn more.---Links:Connect with Magdalena YesilConnect with Annie RileyLearn more about Connect The Dotswww.caspianstudios.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whogotmehere.substack.com

Kicking off a job search can feel overwhelming. It takes motivation to put yourself out there, and it’s emotionally draining when you don’t know where to go next. The good news is there are simple techniques to surface new opportunities and set yourself apart from all the other applicants. Who Got Me Here is a podcast about connections, career building, and relationships. In this episode, Annie and Jamie will share advice on tapping your network, making great asks, and acing the interview. If you know someone who has been laid off or is coming to you for career advice, share this link. The recommendation might prove immensely helpful in thinking about their next career move. ---“Don't think about the job search as a one-time campaign. This is really about developing your career. So success in a job hunt and success in your career is about the number of good relationships that you can foster. These are the people that are going to be your advocates and sources of your next career opportunity. Reid Hoffman said this, “if you're looking for an opportunity, you're really looking for a person.” So you want to think about developing good relationships throughout your career and keeping track of those people. The second thing is really about the number of quality touches. It's about how many people you reach out to, how many conversations you're able to set up, and quality means that you're taking the time to craft good asks of different people. And then, finally, acing the interview. You want to make sure that, if it's a company that you love, you are the best candidate and you're going to land that job.” - Jamie Grenney---Episode Timestamps:*(02:11) - Introducing Jamie Grenney, CMO and Head of Product at Connect The Dots*(02:47) - A story about Annie Riley, Host of Who Got Me Here*(05:12) - Advice for first steps and getting tactical with job searching*(14:54) - Building relationships and making good asks *(19:02) - Relationship refreshes as a means of reconnecting the dots*(27:56) - Keeping conversations going by following up on initial connections*(31:02) - A multi-time CMO’s advice for acing the interview process*(37:48) - How to decide which company to accept an offer from*(40:14) - Final piece of advice - don’t think about the job hunt as a one-time campaign; think about relationship building as the key to career success---Sponsor:Who Got Me Here is brought to you by Connect The Dots, mapping professional relationships so you can find the strongest connections to the people and companies you want to reach. Visit ctd.ai to learn more.---Links:Connect with Jamie GrenneyConnect with Annie RileyLearn more about Connect The Dotswww.caspianstudios.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whogotmehere.substack.com

Pejman is the co-founder and managing director of Pear VC, one of the most successful investment firms in Silicon Valley. Over the past two decades, he has been a seed investor in some of the most iconic tech companies including Doordash, Dropbox, Applovin, Gusto, and many more. An Iranian immigrant, Pejman took an unconventional career path, building up his network while working as a rug salesman in Palo Alto. Hear him share incredible stories—like the time he brought the entire partnership of Sequoia Capital into his rug gallery—and timeless lessons about the value of carefully building a network over time and the power of leaning in to what makes you unique. ---“For me, I realized there is an opportunity. I think I was very lucky. I saw people around me and I wasn't really afraid. I wasn't afraid to jump into a community that I was not part of, ask a lot of questions, and I used my differences as my power.” - Pejman Nozad---Episode Timestamps: *(02:10) - Pejman's beginnings from Iran to Palo Alto*(04:32) - How working at a Rug Gallery gave Pejman access to tech and venture capita entrepreneurs *(06:22) - Have a genuine interest in getting to know people*(07:23) - Using you differences as a power*(10:21) - Cultivating a relationship Lou Montulli founding member of Netscape, from customer to friend*(12:30) - How a relationship with Doug Leone changed the trajectory of Pejman's career*(14:07) - Getting Sequoia Capital to invest in Dropbox early on, with a ROI around $2 billion *(17:38) - How Pear VC is partnering with founders to turn great ideas into category-defining companies.*(29:27) - Understanding the market and product when investing---Sponsor:Who Got Me Here is brought to you by Connect The Dots, mapping professional relationships so you can find the strongest connections to the people and companies you want to reach. Visit ctd.ai to learn more.---Links:Connect with Pejman NozadLearn more about Pear VCConnect with Annie RileyLearn more about Connect The Dotswww.caspianstudios.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whogotmehere.substack.com

As Global Head of Recruiting at Notion, Kate has an interesting vantage point on tech career journeys. But her own path is a powerful example of how growth is a jungle gym, not a ladder. Kate launched her career with a cold email to Marc Benioff (at a point when Salesforce had 4,000 employees!) and spent years in sales roles at Salesforce, Dropbox, and Notion, where she rose to become Head of SMB revenue before making a leap into people and recruiting. Kate’s story is full of simple but powerful points on the value of relationships across careers—and she offers priceless advice on how to ask strangers for help. ---I think people often are afraid to reach out to someone up, down, whichever direction they are near you. But at the core, most people I run into, want to help other people or they want to lend a helping hand. Anyone who’s asked me anything on LinkedIn, even if I don't even know them, I'm like sure, why not? Let me help you in some way. I find that's not unique to me asking a favor from someone or reaching out to someone, and not being afraid of what the answer is, and the response. Don't overthink it, just ask someone for help.” - Kate Taylor---Episode Timestamps: *(02:10) - How a cold email to Marc Benioff launched Kate’s carrer*(05:57) - How Kate moved from Salesforce to Dropbox*(07:42) - Why Kate gravitated towards Armando Mann’s leadership style at Dropbox*(11:16) - The importance of having a job that shares your core values*(15:08) - The benefits of building genuine connections and personal relationships*(16:35) - Why you shouldn’t be afraid to reach out to people or to ask for help*(19:55) - Being authentic with your ask*(22:08) - How a personal connection with Kate’s intern came full circle to a job at Notion*(29:15) - People love to be remembered ---Sponsor:Who Got Me Here is brought to you by Connect The Dots, mapping professional relationships so you can find the strongest connections to the people and companies you want to reach. Visit ctd.ai to learn more.---Links:Connect with Kate TaylorConnect with Annie RileyLearn more about Connect The Dotswww.caspianstudios.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whogotmehere.substack.com

Michael Jaconi is the CEO of Button, with a long career including executive roles at Rakuten and a stint as a presidential campaign aide to John McCain. Authentic, meaningful relationships have been a throughline across his expansive career—and he offers a load of helpful tips on how to build them. Check out this episode for nuggets including the best jobs to get out of college, the three strongest paths to connecting with a VC, and how to avoid a major networking mistake the first time you meet someone.---"I think that a lot of times people just let life go by with their usage of time, and the most finite thing we've got is time. So how you can spend it and who you value is really important." -Michael Jaconi---Episode Timestamps:*(01:37) - Sharing your passions and vulnerability*(04:11) - How Micheal’s fishing passion lead Don Garber to join the board of the Billion Oyster Project*(06:16) - Securing a connection with Mickey (Hiroshi Mikitani), Founder & CEO of Rakuten*(11:03) - Why grit is paramount, and the best transferable skill*(16:20) - How Mark Lore provided a valuable introduction for Michael*(18:18) - Why working for presidential campaign or startup gives you opportunity to ascend ranks *(26:25) - Finding a more intimate way of staying connected *(35:41) - Why its important to listen, be curious, and understand the passions of people---Sponsor:Who Got Me Here is brought to you by Connect The Dots, mapping professional relationships so you can find the strongest connections to the people and companies you want to reach. Visit ctd.ai to learn more.---LinksConnect with Michael on LinkedInConnect with Annie RileyLearn more about ButtonLearn more about Connect The Dotswww.caspianstudios.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whogotmehere.substack.com

As a 2x CEO with a $640 million exit and early investments in unicorns AppLovin and Chime on his resume, relationships have been essential to Tod’s success. But for him, “networking” isn’t the right word to describe his strategy. It’s all about genuine, meaningful connections, built by bringing people together around shared interests and passions. Our conversation with Tod was packed with insights about the value of being a host, why curation is a relationship-building superpower, and the importance of reminding people you’re still alive.---"I think the single most important thing is authenticity. Relationship building is the absolute core of human nature, and the absolute worst thing I think you can do to bring to that experience is something that is incongruent with who you are." - Tod Sacerdoti---Episode Timestamps:*(01:20) - Why networking is super- important kryptonite*(02:30) - How Steve Abbot change the trajectory of Tod’s career*(06:21) - The power of ambition, persistence, and tenacity*(10:37) - The role of relationships in Tod’s investing career*(17:18) - Finding the superpower in organizing events*(26:31) - The fundamental mistake of being too transactional *(37:52) - Why authenticity and relationship building are most important---Sponsor:Who Got Me Here is brought to you by Connect The Dots, mapping professional relationships so you can find the strongest connections to the people and companies you want to reach. Visit ctd.ai to learn more.---LinksConnect with Tod on LinkedInConnect with Annie RileyLearn more about PipedreamLearn more about Connect The Dotswww.caspianstudios.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whogotmehere.substack.com