Brick by Brick Garuda Ventures

In this episode of Brick by Brick, Rishi Taparia sits down with Jared Fliesler, a seasoned operator who has held key roles at companies like Slide, Square, and Scribd.

Jared shares his untraditional path into the startup world, the importance of storytelling as a leader, his philosophy on making the most of "mundane" tasks, and how to hire and fire well. He also discusses his own venture, First Call, his own coaching practice built to help founders navigate the challenges of scaling.

In this episode, we dig into:

- How Jared transitioned from finance into startups

- The importance of storytelling and narrative development for founders and leaders

- "Making magic of the mundane" - Jared's approach to tackling necessary but boring tasks that are core to growing any company

- Early "hacks" Jared and the Square experimented with as they began to scale

- The importance of communicating the "why" as a founder, not just giving directives

- Jared's new coaching venture, First Call, and his unique approach to founder coaching


Where to Find Jared:

Linkedin: ⁠linkedin.com/in/jaredsf/⁠

Twitter: ⁠x.com/JaredSF⁠

Website: ⁠firstcall.co⁠

Brick by Brick is presented by Garuda Ventures (⁠https://garuda.vc⁠).


About Garuda Ventures:

Garuda Ventures is a B2B-focused pre-seed and seed venture fund. Garuda is a first-check firm and aims to earn the right to be a founder's first call as they go about building their companies. To learn more, visit ⁠https://www.garuda.vc⁠

Today's episode was hosted by Rishi Taparia. Find Rishi on LinkedIn (⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rktaparia/⁠), Substack (⁠taps.substack.com⁠) or X/Twitter (⁠x.com/taps⁠)

Brick by Brick is available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts & Spotify. Hit 'subscribe' to stay up to date with new episodes!

In this episode, Andrew Peterson, co-founder of Aviso Ventures, engages in an insightful conversation, sharing insights on the founding story of Signal Sciences, strategies for hiring and managing employees in early-stage startups, the importance of scaling a company while maintaining culture, and advice for founders and early employees in the startup ecosystem.

The discussion also touches on the role of AI in achieving business value and differentiation, the effectiveness of AI in product development and investment, and the challenges faced by founders in the cybersecurity industry.

Topics discussed:

- Founding Story of Signal Sciences (Exit to Fastly for $825 Million)

- Importance of Establishing Clear Roles and Dynamics Among Co-founders

- Finding the Right Fit for Early Employees

- Unique Hiring Strategies in Startups

- Strategies for Closing Candidates in Early-Stage Startups

- Impact of Scaling Up on Team Dynamics and Culture

- Transition from Early-stage to Scaling in a Startup

- Identifying and Embracing Product Market Fit

- Advice for Founders and Early Employees

- Importance of Grit and Hard Work

- Challenges Faced by Founders in the Cybersecurity Industry

Links:

Find Andrew on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewmarshallpeterson/)

Aviso Ventures' website (https://avisoventures.com/)


Brick by Brick is presented by Garuda Ventures (https://garuda.vc).


About Garuda Ventures:

Garuda Ventures is a B2B-focused pre-seed and seed venture fund. Garuda is a first-check firm and aims to earn the right to be a founder's first call as they go about building their companies. To learn more, visit https://www.garuda.vc


Today's episode was hosted by Arpan Punyani. Find Arpan on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/arpanpunyani/), Substack (https://arpanpunyani.substack.com/) or X/Twitter (https://x.com/arpanpunyani)


Brick by Brick is available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts & Spotify. Hit 'subscribe' to stay up to date with new episodes!

In this episode, our guest Aston Motes shares his experience as the first employee at Dropbox, sharing insights into the early days of the company's growth, decision-making processes, and challenges faced. We explore the importance of product-market fit, the dynamics of startup culture, the impact of talent and diversity in teams, and the transition from early employee to founder.
Aston also shares advice for prospective founders and early employees.

Topics discussed include:

- Aston's background and journey from South Carolina to becoming the first employee at Dropbox- Why he decided to join Dropbox and how they grew the early team- The importance of product-market fit and the evolution of the company- The role of talent, diversity, and relationships in startup success- Lessons learned from the early days of Dropbox and the transition from early employee to founder- Advice for anyone considering joining a new startup or becoming a founder- Essential questions for prospective founders and early employees to ask themselves before taking the leap

Links:
Find Aston on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/aston-motes/) or on his website (astonmotes.com)
Brick by Brick is presented by Garuda Ventures (https://garuda.vc).



About Garuda Ventures:Garuda Ventures is a B2B-focused pre-seed and seed venture fund. Garuda is a first-check firm and aims to earn the right to be a founder's first call as they go about building their companies. To learn more, visit https://www.garuda.vc



Today's episode was hosted by Rishi Taparia. Find Rishi on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rktaparia/), Substack (taps.substack.com) or X/Twitter (x.com/taps) 



Brick by Brick is available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts & Spotify. Hit 'subscribe' to stay up to date with new episodes!

Brick by Brick is presented by Garuda Ventures (https://garuda.vc)

Welcome to the Brick by Brick podcast, hosted by Rishi Taparia and Arpan Punyani, co-founders of Garuda Ventures. Garuda is a first-check pre-seed and seed venture firm backing ambitious B2B founders right when they’re getting started.

We’ve both had the pleasure (and experienced the pain) of operating at early-stage companies, Arpan at Okta and Rishi at Poynt and Legion. We know firsthand how much successful company-building is a team sport, with the founders, early employees, early investors working together to lay the foundation for the business.

The reality of building a startup is it’s chaos everyday. There are no processes or systems. Fires are burning everywhere. And each day you and the small group of believers you’re working with are trying to justify your reason for being. It’s unglamorous. It’s blocking and tackling. And it’s not for the faint of heart.

We want to share more of those stories with you. So, join us as we learn how successful startups were really built from the people who built them. We’ll hear from early employees, founders, and investors as they share the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of building startups, brick by brick.

Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you’ve got ideas for a show, topics you’d like us to discuss, or any feedback, shoot us an email at brickbybrick@garuda.vc

About Garuda Ventures:
Garuda Ventures is a B2B-focused pre-seed and seed venture fund. Garuda was founded by Rishi Taparia, a 2x startup exec and former venture investor at Matrix Partners, and Arpan Punyani, a lawyer turned startup operator who was an early employee at Okta and helped it grow from a small startup to a world-renowned publicly traded company.

Garuda is a first-check firm and aims to earn the right to be a founder's first call as they go about building their companies. To learn more, visit https://www.garuda.vc