next play

Ben Lang
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next play

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

  1. Peter Yang: leading product at Meta, Twitch, Reddit, Roblox and scaling a newsletter to 90K readers

    NOV 11

    Peter Yang: leading product at Meta, Twitch, Reddit, Roblox and scaling a newsletter to 90K readers

    Peter is a Product Lead at Roblox. He cares about crafting quality products with customers and has done so at Meta, Twitch, Reddit, and Roblox. He writes about AI, product, and creators via his newsletter read by 90,000+ tech professionals. Check out Peter on X and Linkedin. 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 Huge thanks to ⁠⁠Alex Banaga⁠⁠ for designing our thumbnails. Get full access to next play at nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe

    39 min
  2. Chris Bakke: getting acquired 3 times, working with Elon, mastering s**t-posting on X

    OCT 29

    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 and Linkedin. 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 Huge thanks to ⁠⁠Alex Banaga⁠⁠ for designing our thumbnails. Get full access to next play at nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe

    44 min
  3. Devin Lewtan: joining Browser Company as first growth hire, starting viral Clubhouse group, going from founder to operator

    OCT 22

    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 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 and Linkedin. 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 Huge thanks to ⁠⁠Alex Banaga⁠⁠ for designing our thumbnails. Get full access to next play at nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe

    31 min
  4. Amanda Kleha: joining Figma at $1M in ARR to lead global go-to-market, going from employee #13 at Zendesk to IPO

    AUG 27

    Amanda Kleha: joining Figma at $1M in ARR to lead global go-to-market, going from employee #13 at Zendesk to IPO

    Amanda 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, 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 Huge thanks to ⁠⁠Alex Banaga⁠⁠ for designing our thumbnails. Get full access to next play at nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe

    31 min
  5. Camille Ricketts: joining Notion as first marketing hire, editing First Round Review, and becoming Partner at XYZ Venture Capital

    AUG 13

    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, 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 and Linkedin. 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 Huge thanks to ⁠⁠Alex Banaga⁠⁠ for designing our thumbnails. Get full access to next play at nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe

    44 min
  6. Logan Kilpatrick: joining OpenAI through LinkedIn, leaving to lead product at Google AI Studio

    JUL 23

    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

    24 min
  7. Merci Grace: leading growth at Slack, becoming a VC at Lightspeed, repeat founder

    JUL 9

    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 LinkedinMerci’s Twitter 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 Huge thanks to ⁠⁠Alex Banaga⁠⁠ for designing our thumbnails. Get full access to next play at nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe

    35 min
  8. Michael Karnjanaprakorn: founding Skillshare, repeat founder cycle, improving your writing, lifestyle design

    JUN 25

    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. Thank you to our sponsor Notion. Make sure to sign up for Notion using this link notion.com/benlang 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 Huge thanks to ⁠⁠Alex Banaga⁠⁠ for designing our thumbnails. Get full access to next play at nextplayso.substack.com/subscribe

    44 min
See All (14)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

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

Information

  • Creator
    Ben Lang
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Ben Lang
  • Show Website
    next play

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