The next play podcasts contains interviews with the world’s greatest operators, founders, and investors. We dive deep into their journey to share lessons from recent career changes and help listeners figure out their next play.
nextplayso.substack.com (https://nextplayso.substack.com/s/next-play-podcast?utm_medium=podcast)
Peter Yang: leading product at Meta, Twitch, Reddit, Roblox and scaling a newsletter to 90K readers
Peter Yang, a seasoned product lead at Meta, Twitch, Reddit, and Roblox, shares insights on crafting quality products and scaling a newsletter to 90K readers, highlighting the importance of customer-centric design.
29 Oct 2024
Chris Bakke: getting acquired 3 times, working with Elon, mastering s**t-posting on X
Chris is a repeat founder, he was the CEO of Laskie (acquired by X), Co-founder of Interviewed (acquired by Indeed in 2017), COO of 42Floors (acquired by Knotel), managed business development for Zillow (NAS $ZG), RentJuice (acquired by Zillow in 2012).
Check out Chris on X (https://x.com/ChrisJBakke) and Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bakk3/).
At next play, we help people find their next play by sending opportunities, hosting gatherings, and curating content. Everything is off the record and confidential. More here nextplay.so (http://nextplay.so/)
Huge thanks to Alex Banaga (http://alexbanaga.com/) for designing our thumbnails.
Get full access to next play at nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe (https://nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
22 Oct 2024
Devin Lewtan: joining Browser Company as first growth hire, starting viral Clubhouse group, going from founder to operator
Devin is currently at The Browser Company (https://thebrowser.company/) working on Growth, but before that was the co-founder and CEO of Mad Realities, an entertainment studio aiming to create a “participatory reality TV network” where audiences can influence content outcomes. She also founded NYU Girls Roasting Tech Guys, a pandemic-era Clubhouse dating show that had everyone on the edge of their seats.
Find Devin on Twitter (https://twitter.com/devinlewtan?lang=en) and Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/devin-lewtan-067008127).
At next play, we help people find their next play by sending opportunities, hosting gatherings, and curating content. Everything is off the record and confidential. More here nextplay.so (http://nextplay.so/)
Huge thanks to Alex Banaga (http://alexbanaga.com/) for designing our thumbnails.
Get full access to next play at nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe (https://nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
27 Aug 2024
Amanda Kleha: joining Figma at $1M in ARR to lead global go-to-market, going from employee #13 at Zendesk to IPO
Amanda (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-kleha-015599/) joined Figma in 2018 when it was $1M ARR and built out the global go-to-market (sales, marketing, support) organization. Prior to Figma she joined Zendesk as employee #13 and built and led various marketing and sales teams along with playing a key role in the IPO process. Her expertise includes PLG+Enterprise strategy, pricing and packaging, as well as two runs with learning what it takes to scale from $1->$500M.
In this episode we talk about Amanda’s career as an early employee at Zendesk, scaling at Figma, starting off in tech, managing a global team, and much more.
Thank you to our sponsor Notion. Get 6 months free of Notion with unlimited AI when you apply at notion.com/startups (http://notion.com/startups), select next play in the drop-down partner list and enter code nextplay at the end of the form.
At next play, we help people find their next play by sending opportunities, hosting gatherings, and curating content. Everything is off the record and confidential. More here nextplay.so (http://nextplay.so/)
Huge thanks to Alex Banaga (http://alexbanaga.com/) for designing our thumbnails.
Get full access to next play at nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe (https://nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
13 Aug 2024
Camille Ricketts: joining Notion as first marketing hire, editing First Round Review, and becoming Partner at XYZ Venture Capital
Camille Ricketts is Partner & Head of Marketing at XYZ Venture Capital, where she invests in product-led growth companies, creator tools, and more. Prior, she was the first marketing hire at Notion, where she helped build out its global brand, strategy, and team. With deep roots in content marketing in particular, she was the first Editor of First Round Review for First Round Capital, managed communications for Tesla Motors, and started as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. She has her BA in history, but truly majored in The Stanford Daily.Thank you to our sponsor Notion. Get 6 months free of Notion with unlimited AI when you apply at notion.com/startups (http://notion.com/startups), select next play in the drop-down partner list and enter code nextplay at the end of the form.
In this episode we talk about:
* 2:27 - serendipitous moments at First Round lead to joining Notion as first marketing leader
* 3:50 - interview process for Notion in the early days
* 6:50 - goal setting in marketing at First Round vs Notion
* 8:00 - learning about patience at Notion
* 11:25 - highlights from the Notion journey
* 15:00 - the life story tradition at Notion
* 16:24 - what leaving Notion was like to go off and explore
* 19:17 - setting your team up for success when leaving a company
* 21:30 - taking time off to be present, travel, angel invest
* 24:01 - going back to work, ways to approach exploring new opportunities
* 28:15 - from journalism scoops to joining Tesla early
* 35:30 - how magical serendipity can be in your career
* 37:00 - going from marketing to venture capital as an investor at XYZ
Follow Camille on Twitter (https://twitter.com/camillericketts?lang=en) and Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/camillericketts).
At next play, we help people find their next play by sending opportunities, hosting gatherings, and curating content. Everything is off the record and confidential. More here nextplay.so (http://nextplay.so/)
Huge thanks to Alex Banaga (http://alexbanaga.com/) for designing our thumbnails.
Get full access to next play at nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe (https://nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
23 Jul 2024
Logan Kilpatrick: joining OpenAI through LinkedIn, leaving to lead product at Google AI Studio
Logan applied for a role at OpenAI, on LinkedIn, before they had even launched ChatGPT, and got the job as the first developer relations leader. He’s worked at NASA, Apple, and the Julia Language. Most recently, he left his role at OpenAI to lead product at Google AI Studio. In this episode we dive into his journey breaking into tech, becoming a thought leader in AI, and his advice for anyone getting into tech.
Get full access to next play at nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe (https://nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
9 Jul 2024
Merci Grace: leading growth at Slack, becoming a VC at Lightspeed, repeat founder
Merci is a repeat founder, angel investor, former venture capital investor, and former Head of Growth at Slack. She started her career in tech as a game designer and has worked in product roles at SaaS and consumer companies.
In this episode we talk about* The pros and cons of being a founder* Working in a product function at a high growth company* What the early days of Slack were like* What transitioning from an operator into venture looks like* Why go back to being a founder* How to evaluate career options* and more!
Thank you to our sponsor Notion. Make sure to sign up for Notion using this link notion.com/benlang
Merci’s Linkedin (http://linkedin.com/in/merci)Merci’s Twitter (http://twitter.com/merci)
At next play, we help people find their next play by sending opportunities, hosting gatherings, and curating content. Everything is off the record and confidential. More here nextplay.so (https://www.notion.so/benlang/nextplay.so)
Huge thanks to Alex Banaga (https://www.notion.so/benlang/alexbanaga.com) for designing our thumbnails.
Get full access to next play at nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe (https://nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
25 Jun 2024
Michael Karnjanaprakorn: founding Skillshare, repeat founder cycle, improving your writing, lifestyle design
Michael Karnjanaprakorn is the founder and former CEO of Skillshare and Otis (acquired by Public). Before starting companies, he was an early employee at Behance (acquired by Adobe) and Hot Potato (acquired by Facebook). Now, he's exploring new ideas, creating content, and enjoying his sabbatical.
In this episode we talk about
* Treating yourself like a startup and upgrading your own operating system* Lifestyle design, aligning how one spends their time, energy, and money with their career choices.* How boredom can be beneficial for self-reflection and personal growth.* Becoming a better writer.* and much more
At next play, we help people find their next play by sending opportunities, hosting gatherings, and curating content. Everything is off the record and confidential. More here nextplay.so (https://www.notion.so/benlang/nextplay.so)
Huge thanks to Alex Banaga (https://www.notion.so/benlang/alexbanaga.com) for designing our thumbnails.
Get full access to next play at nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe (https://nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
13 Jun 2024
Nikunj Kothari: growth leader at Opendoor, product lead at Meter, investor at Khosla
Nikunj Kothari shares his journey going from PM at LinkedIn, to leading growth at Opendoor, joining Meter as product lead, and most recently becoming an investor at Khosla.
At next play, we help people find their next play by sending opportunities, hosting gatherings, and curating content. Everything is off the record and confidential. More here nextplay.so (nextplay.so)
Huge thanks to Alex Banaga (alexbanaga.com) for designing our thumbnails.
29 May 2024
Deedy Das: founding team at Glean ($2.2B), investor at Menlo Ventures, and former from Google Search engineer
Deedy Das is a principal at Menlo Ventures, previously was on the founding team of Glean ($2.2B valuation today), and had various technical roles at Facebook and Google. He’s also a prolific tweeter, on tech, immigration, India, fitness and search.
Thank you to our sponsor! Gelt specializes in providing comprehensive tax solutions tailored for businesses and their owners. They will help you and your business manage and optimize your taxes, helping you pay the least amount of tax legally possible.
Go to joingelt.com/nextplay (http://joingelt.com/nextplay) and make sure to let them know next play sent you to get 15% off your first year.
Join the next play community:
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14 May 2024
Alex Cohen: shit-posting Twitter legend, repeat founder, product leader at Carbon Health
Alex Cohen is a founder, investor, and shit-poster (in that order). He was most recently the Sr. Director of Product at Carbon Health. Before Carbon, he started a couple of companies and in April of this year, started yet another company.
Gelt specializes in providing comprehensive tax solutions tailored for businesses and their owners. They will help you and your business manage and optimize your taxes, helping you pay the least amount of tax legally possible.
Go to joingelt.com/nextplay (http://joingelt.com/nextplay) and make sure to let them know next play sent you to get 15% off your first year.
Join the next play community:
nextplay.so (nextplay.so)
twitter.com/nextplayso (twitter.com/nextplayso)
linkedin.com/company/nextplayso (linkedin.com/company/nextplayso)
nextplayso.substack.com (nextplayso.substack.com)
14 May 2024
Alex Cohen: s**t-posting Twitter legend, repeat founder, product leader at Carbon Health
Alex Cohen is a founder, investor, and s**t-poster (in that order). He was most recently the Sr. Director of Product at Carbon Health. Before Carbon, he started a couple of companies and in April of this year, started yet another company.
Gelt specializes in providing comprehensive tax solutions tailored for businesses and their owners. They will help you and your business manage and optimize your taxes, helping you pay the least amount of tax legally possible.
Go to joingelt.com/nextplay (http://joingelt.com/nextplay) and make sure to let them know next play sent you to get 15% off your first year.
Join the next play community:
nextplay.so (nextplay.so)
twitter.com/nextplayso (twitter.com/nextplayso)
linkedin.com/company/nextplayso (linkedin.com/company/nextplayso)
nextplayso.substack.com (nextplayso.substack.com)
Get full access to next play at nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe (https://nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
1 May 2024
Rajiv Ayyangar: from founder of Tandem to CEO at Product Hunt
Rajiv is the CEO of Product Hunt. Previously he was CEO and co-founder of Tandem, a virtual office. He studied bioengineering at Princeton and subsequently worked at Fairchild and Yahoo.
Thank you to our Gelt for sponsoring this episode. Gelt specializes in providing comprehensive tax solutions tailored for businesses and their owners. They will help you and your business manage and optimize your taxes, helping you pay the least amount of tax legally possible. Go to joing (http://joingelt.com/)elt.com/nextplay (http://joingelt.com/nextplay) and make sure to let them know we sent you to get 15% off your first year. Disclaimer: this is not tax advice.
Huge thanks to Alex Banaga (https://www.alexbanaga.com/) for designing our logo and thumbnails.
24 Apr 2024
Cristina Cordova: joining Stripe as employee #27, investing at First Round Capital, to becoming COO at Linear
Cristina Cordova is the Chief Operating Officer at Linear, a purpose-built system for managing software development. She's also an investor and advisor to technology startups. Prior to Linear, she spent her career helping build technology companies from the earliest stages. She spent more than seven years at Stripe building its partnerships organization from the ground up and leading a business unit building new financial services products for early-stage companies. She also led platform, partnerships and self-serve growth at Notion and invested in early stage startups as a partner at First Round Capital.
Thank you to our Gelt for sponsoring this episode. Gelt specializes in providing comprehensive tax solutions tailored for businesses and their owners. They will help you and your business manage and optimize your taxes, helping you pay the least amount of tax legally possible. Go to joing (http://joingelt.com/)elt.com/nextplay (http://joingelt.com/nextplay) and make sure to let them know we sent you to get 15% off your first year. Disclaimer: this is not tax advice.
Huge thanks to Alex Banaga (https://www.alexbanaga.com/) for designing our logo and thumbnails.
17 Apr 2024
Rex Woodbury: from partner at Index Ventures to starting VC firm Daybreak
Rex is the Founder and Managing Partner of Daybreak, a thesis-driven early-stage venture capital firm based in New York City. Before founding Daybreak, Rex was a Partner at Index Ventures. He focuses on the application layer of technology, investing in internet, software, and marketplace businesses with the potential for viral adoption. Rex also writes Digital Native, a publication about people and technology that reaches 55,000+ weekly readers.
Thank you to our Gelt for sponsoring this episode. Gelt specializes in providing comprehensive tax solutions tailored for businesses and their owners. They will help you and your business manage and optimize your taxes, helping you pay the least amount of tax legally possible. Go to joing (http://joingelt.com/)elt.com/nextplay (http://joingelt.com/nextplay) and make sure to let them know we sent you to get 15% off your first year. Disclaimer: this is not tax advice.
Huge thanks to Alex Banaga (https://www.alexbanaga.com/) for designing our logo and thumbnails.
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