A VC, a Headhunter, and a Trainer Walk into a Bar

About A VC, a Headhunter, and a Trainer Walk into a Bar

VHTB is your guide to the talent, culture, and capital forces shaping the hard tech startup ecosystem. Each episode, hosts Justus Kilian of Space Capital, Seyka, and Brian Mejeur of AdAstra Talent Advisors, and Matt Gjertsen of BUILT bring stories and lessons from the front lines of building and backing some of the most innovative companies on the planet.

Publisher

A VC, a Headhunter, and a Trainer Walk into a Bar

Category

business · business · business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

7 Jan 2025

Latest episode

21 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

56 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   21 Oct 2026

   What happens when your startup outgrows its early hires?

   What happens when your company grows faster than the people who helped build it? As hard tech startups move through Series A and Series B, the roles that once required adaptability and problem-solving can quickly demand specialized experience, established processes, and leadership at a much larger scale. The people who helped get the company off the ground may not always be the right fit for what comes next. In this episode of VHTB, Brian Mejeur of AdAstra Talent Advisors, Matt Gjertsen of BUILT, and Justus Kilian of Space Capital discuss how founders can navigate the difficult balance between supporting loyal early employees and bringing in the expertise needed to scale. We talk about why early hires don't always grow at the same pace as their companies, how to recognize when a role has outgrown someone's capabilities, and why transparency during the hiring process can prevent difficult conversations later. We also discuss the value of bringing in experienced leaders who can mentor existing team members, how narrowing responsibilities can preserve institutional knowledge, and why ambiguous leadership titles can create unnecessary challenges as companies grow. The goal isn't simply to replace people who can't keep up. It's to build a team that can evolve with the company while respecting the contributions of those who helped get it there. Episode Highlights [00:00] When a startup grows faster than its people [01:49] How roles change between early stage and Series B [04:12] Why transparency matters when roles outgrow employees [06:15] Preserving talent by redefining responsibilities [06:58] How experienced leaders can mentor early employees [08:15] Planning ahead before a hiring gap becomes a problem [10:52] When high-performing early hires aren't ready for the next stage [11:58] Preparing employees for bigger leadership responsibilities [13:13] The problem with ambiguous "Head of" titles [15:06] Defining roles before making difficult hiring decisions [17:24] Setting clear expectations for the next stage of growth [17:52] Giving employees a path to grow or transition Key Takeaways Companies can grow faster than individuals. The skills needed to build an early-stage function aren't always the same ones required to manage it at scale. Early employees bring value beyond their current roles. Trust, institutional knowledge, cultural alignment, and commitment to the company's vision can be worth preserving as responsibilities change. Transparency makes difficult transitions easier. Clearly communicating how roles may evolve helps employees understand expectations and prepare for what's next. Experienced leaders can help early hires grow. Bringing in someone with an established playbook can provide mentorship while allowing the company to retain valuable internal knowledge. Not everyone wants to work at every stage of a startup. Some people thrive on zero-to-one challenges, while others prefer the structure and specialization of a more mature organization. Ambiguous leadership titles can create problems later. Hiring someone as "Head of" a function without defining the scope can make future leadership changes more complicated. Clear roles lead to better decisions. Defining the problems a position needs to solve today and six to twelve months from now helps founders assess whether to develop existing talent or recruit externally. Have you experienced a situation where your company grew faster than someone's role or responsibilities? How did your team handle the transition? Share your experience in the comments. We'd love to hear how other founders and leaders are navigating these challenges. Subscribe to VHTB for more conversations on the talent, culture, and capital shaping the hard tech ecosystem. Links & Resources AdAstra Talent Advisors (https://adastra.us/) BUILT (https://builtleaders.com/) Space Capital (https://www.spacecapital.com/)

2. 

   14 Oct 2026

   How do founders create productive conflict on their teams?

   What happens when your team stops telling you what you need to hear? Building a hard tech company takes conviction, but that same conviction can make it difficult for founders to hear opposing perspectives. When people hesitate to challenge decisions, important problems go unaddressed, and leaders risk losing access to the information they need most. In this episode of VHTB, Justus Kilian of Space Capital, Brian Mejeur of AdAstra, and Matt Gjertsen of BUILT discuss how to create a culture where disagreement is productive, feedback is welcomed, and teams feel comfortable challenging ideas without making conflict personal. We talk about why truth-seeking matters in leadership, how communication styles can unintentionally discourage people from speaking up, and why both founders and executive teams share responsibility for healthy disagreement. We also cover practical ways to build this skill, from understanding how colleagues prefer to communicate to using pre-mortems that help teams confront difficult questions before problems escalate. Because productive conflict isn't about winning arguments. It's about creating an environment where different perspectives help everyone make better decisions. Chapters [00:00] Introducing productive conflict in hard tech teams [01:54] Why founder conviction can make disagreement difficult [03:11] Creating space for honest feedback and pushback [05:28] Why truth-seeking matters in startup leadership [06:43] Using curiosity to uncover different perspectives [09:34] The challenges of escalating disagreements [13:49] How leaders respond to bad news shapes transparency [14:36] Why productive conflict is a muscle you need to build [16:26] Why conflict can be a gift to your organization [17:39] Building a culture where disagreement leads to growth Key Takeaways Conviction shouldn't come at the expense of truth. Founders need people who can challenge assumptions and bring difficult information forward, even when it contradicts their thinking. Productive conflict is a shared responsibility. Leaders need to consider how their communication affects others, while executive teams must also be willing to push back. Curiosity makes disagreement more useful. Truth isn't always obvious, and approaching different perspectives with curiosity can uncover information that might otherwise be missed. Hierarchy changes how teams disagree. As organizations grow, leaders need clearer ways to raise concerns, escalate issues, and challenge decisions without creating unnecessary friction. Conflict is a skill that can be practiced. Low-stakes disagreements and pre-mortem exercises help teams become more comfortable giving and receiving difficult feedback. Disagreement can reveal blind spots. Instead of treating conflict as a threat, teams can view it as an opportunity to identify problems and improve decisions. How does your team handle disagreement? Are people comfortable challenging decisions and bringing difficult feedback forward? Share your thoughts in the comments, and let us know what has helped your team build a culture of productive conflict. Subscribe to VHTB for more conversations on the talent, culture, and capital shaping the future of hard tech. Links & Resources Space Capital (https://www.spacecapital.com/) BUILT (https://builtleaders.com/) AdAstra Talent Advisors (https://adastra.us/)

3. 

   7 Oct 2026

   What makes a great early hire at a hard tech startup?

   What makes someone a great hire at an early-stage hard tech startup? When you're building your first team, it's easy to look for the best engineer, the deepest technical expert, or the person with the strongest pedigree. But the person who's perfect for a 100-person company may not be the person you need when you're building your first 10. In this episode of VHTB, Matt Gjertsen (Built), Justus Kilian (Space Capital), and Brian Mejeur (AdAstra Talent Advisors) get into what makes early-stage hires different and why the definition of great talent has to change as a company grows. How much should founders value specialization versus adaptability? We talk about why early hires need to work across a broad set of problems, how a single person can raise the bar for everyone who comes after them, and why some of your first employees should be talent magnets who make other exceptional people want to join. We also get into why assembling a team of individual superstars doesn't always produce the strongest team. Existing trust, communication, and experience working together can help early teams move faster, especially when the company inevitably has to change direction. And underneath all of this is one of the most important qualities an early-stage hire can have: the ability to learn quickly. When you're operating in white space, today's problem may not be tomorrow's problem, which means the people you hire need to be able to adapt just as quickly as the company does. Episode Highlights [00:00] What makes a great early-stage hire different from a great employee? [02:45] Why your earliest hires need to have an outsized impact [05:00] Why early-stage startups need breadth, not just specialization [07:00] How founders should think about their first 10 hires [09:00] How existing trust and team chemistry can help startups move faster [10:30] Why superstar teams can create more friction [11:00] Why adaptability matters when an early-stage startup has to pivot [12:00] The most important ability Justus looks for in early-stage hires [13:00] Why experience gives early employees a useful mental model [15:00] What the interview process can reveal beyond technical ability [17:00] Why early-stage hiring is more about momentum than pedigree Episode Takeaways Early-stage hires have an outsized influence because each person represents a much larger percentage of the company. Your first employees aren't just filling roles. They're establishing the standard for skill, execution, culture, and the people who join after them. A strong early hire can be a talent magnet who attracts other exceptional people through their network, reputation, and credibility. Early-stage companies often need people with broad, adaptable skill sets because roles and priorities can change quickly. Success for an early hire can mean building a function and eventually handing it to someone more specialized as the company grows. A collection of individual superstars doesn't automatically create a high-performing team. Existing trust and shared working experience can help teams reach productive velocity faster. Early-stage startups are more likely to pivot, making adaptability especially important when there aren't enough people to reorganize around every new problem. The rate of learning can be more valuable than mastery of one narrow domain when employees are constantly working in unfamiliar territory. Experience gives early hires mental models for communication, escalation, decision-making, and solving problems without established processes. As a company matures, hiring criteria can shift toward deeper specialization because the organization has more people, structure, and clarity around the problems it needs to solve. Subscribe to VHTB for more conversations on the talent, culture, and capital shaping the hard tech startup ecosystem. Links & Resources Space Capital (https://www.spacecapital.com/) BUILT (https://builtleaders.com/) AdAstra Talent Advisors (https://adastra.us/)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

51,775

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 40 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

37

Social presence

0

YouTube

76

Engagement

32

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