Braydan Young

Early-stage hiring isn’t about filling seats... it’s about solving for what actually moves the business forward. Smart founders hire for impact, not headcount. #StartupHiring #OperatorBuilt #OPNCommunity #Hardboot #FounderOps #HiringSmart Jeffery Potvin (JP) Laura Lirette Hardboot Inc. | Human Resource Services The Supporters Fund

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GTM Engineering is just Rev Ops. It's not a new thing, and it's not the future. It's a clever rebranding. Having experience with a new tech stack, doesn't change the function. You support the GTM org with tools, solutions, and process that drive desired outcomes. There are people who sell, and people who support them. The tools today are way over engineered and not built for sellers. In time, that will change... and sellers will be better for it! ...and the supporting cast of "specialists" will be far less necessary.

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Great founders know where to focus. Bret Taylor knows how to break it down. We pulled some key insights from the Sierra co-founder and CEO's Frameworks for Growth episode—on customers, selling outcomes instead of features, and what some startups miss about pace, product, and predictions. 🧵 Highlights in the carousel 🎬 Watch the full ep: https://lnkd.in/g9WmVtzf

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Two of my fav questions I like to ask ask founders of VC backed companies to determine values alignment? 1️⃣ What was the biggest commission check you signed last quarter? 2️⃣ How many reps got to 90% of quota? *What* and *how* they answer typically give me all the information I need around their understanding and respect for sales 🔑 Things I don’t want to hear: “well last quarter was unique in why not a big % of reps hit quota…” 👎 “we are spending too much on commissions and need to raise goals” 👎 “It’s odd that a rep that went to a state school will make more than a PHD data scientist from Stanford” 👎 Even if some of these may be valid things if they are the first and only things you share with me, I know we are not going to see the world through the same lens 🤷🏽‍♀️ Best b2b founders that manage ent sales teams celebrate big commissions and respect sales just as much as they do engineering 🔑 #founders #sales #cro #revenue #commissions #startup #technicalfounder

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We just hosted hundreds of contractors in San Diego for Forge 2025. Our biggest one yet. And honestly, it was our best. Here's what went down... Most tech conferences serve the company's agenda. We built Forge for one reason: Give contractors real value they can use Monday morning. • Mike Rowe took the stage for a fireside chat. He reminded us why the trades matter more than ever. • Goody Goodlow brought some awesome frameworks for building better habits. • Then Jennifer Jenkins and Mary Tallouzi from Wounded Warrior Project took the stage and really reminded me why BuildOps exists. Between sessions, contractors started connecting in ways I hadn't seen before. HVAC specialists from Texas swapping retention strategies with electricians from Ohio. People sharing solutions to problems they thought only they faced. Real talk. No corporate BS. The product deep-dives were packed. Contractors learning implementations they could use immediately. Watching them lean in, take notes, ask questions. That's why we do this. And yeah. We had fun. We ended the conference aboard the USS Midway. An aircraft carrier turned stage for the builders who keep America running. Watching hundreds of contractors trade stories, I realized how rare it is for this industry to celebrate itself. It felt like a tribute to the people who keep the lights on for everyone else. Watching my team pull this off was something else. Stage production. Logistics. Every detail executed flawlessly. That's on them. They delivered. Next year, we're doubling down. This is how BuildOps operates in everything we build. We're building tools for the people who keep this country running. Software that respects contractor expertise. Systems that amplify their capabilities. If you're a builder, operator, or leader exploring your next big step, DM me.

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When most startups are still fumbling with pitch decks and half-baked MVPs, TrueMeter is already cashing checks for its customers. The San Francisco-based company just closed a $4 million seed round led by Ulu Ventures, with Pear VC, e2vc, RiverPark Ventures, Flex Capital, Sarah Smith Fund, Cyan Ventures, Costanoa Ventures, Sand Hill Angels, and a lineup of seasoned investors all backing the play. Steve Reale, Partner at Ulu Ventures, joined the board, a signal that this is more than a financial transaction, it's a vote of confidence from someone who's seen the game before. Founded by Stanford University alums Ali Sarilgan and Dr. Ozge Islegen-Wojdyla, Ph.D., TrueMeter came together with a rare mix of practical experience and deep technical expertise. Sarilgan learned the ugly truth of utility spend firsthand while managing energy costs across 3,000 GameStop stores, and later at McKinsey, where inefficiency isn't a case study, it's a recurring nightmare. Dr. Islegen-Wojdyla brings the academic and technical weight, a Stanford PhD in energy markets, teaching at Northwestern, and hands-on data science at Instacart. Together they turned #EcoTrove, the early version of the business, into a streamlined AI platform now designed to hunt down and eliminate wasted dollars at scale. And scale matters. The U.S. #commercialenergy market is a $500 billion annual bill, with $75 billion evaporating from suboptimal rate plans and billing errors. Since its March 2024 launch, TrueMeter has already delivered more than $3 million in verified savings across 500+ business locations. Companies like Yoshinoya America, FreshDirect, Studio, Misfits Market, and Local Kitchens aren't testing a hypothesis, they're stacking real savings onto their bottom lines. The technology hits where others wave their hands. AI-driven #electricity rate optimization that switches instantly to better plans. Collective gas procurement that turns volume into leverage. Automated bill auditing that finds "errors" before they become monthly losses. Real-time monitoring that flags energy theft and equipment inefficiencies before they drain budgets. And it all lands in one consolidated bill, with guaranteed pricing and zero upfront cost. In other words, TrueMeter doesn't sell savings, it guarantees them. This seed round fuels what's next: scaling #engineering, pushing the AI stack further, and accelerating customer acquisition across #restaurants, #retail, and #hospitality. One million multi-location businesses are stuck overpaying for energy, and TrueMeter is cutting directly into that problem. The investors didn't buy into a story. They bought into proof. #Startups #StartupFunding #EarlyStage #VentureCapital #SeedRound #AI #Energy #EnergyTech #Utilities #Technology #Innovation #TechEcosystem #StartupEcosystem #Hiring #TechHiring If software engineering peace of mind is what you crave, Vention is your zen.

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I’m thrilled to officially announce our $3M seed investment in Propel People, a company we built inside the 1848 Ventures studio to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing the #construction industry today: the skilled #labor shortage. For small and medium-sized contractors, hiring isn't just a challenge. It's the number one threat to their growth, profitability, and safety. With 94% of contractors struggling to find qualified workers, it’s clear that traditional hiring methods aren't built for the trades. That’s why we built Propel People. It’s a mobile-first, AI-powered hiring platform designed for how construction actually works: in the field. By leveraging smart candidate ranking, instant #SMS-based screening, and a fully #bilingual interface, Propel helps contractors build great crews faster and more efficiently. I’m also thrilled to formally announce that industry veteran Dexter Bachelder is at the helm as CEO. Having worked with Dexter and the team over the last few months, we've already seen the impact of his leadership. His 25 years of experience scaling construction tech companies will be instrumental as Propel People enters this initial stage of growth. This investment reinforces our core thesis at 1848 Ventures: building AI-native companies that solve fundamental pain points for the #SMBs that form the backbone of our economy. A huge congratulations to Dexter and the entire Propel People team on this milestone. We are incredibly proud to partner with you to support the people who build our world. Read the full announcement below. #constructiontech #venturecapital #seedfunding #ai #skilledtrades #smb

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🌟 The SaaS world moves fast, and scaling efficiently requires strategic alignment, operational rigor, and cross-functional coordination. Fractional COOs are helping early- and mid-stage SaaS companies grow seamlessly while maintaining agility. At 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, we’re committed to 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆—spotlighting leaders who combine operational expertise with strategic insight to drive measurable results. 👋 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁 Dawn Strobel, 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗢𝗢 Dawn helps SaaS companies align strategic objectives with day-to-day execution, ensuring scalable growth without sacrificing agility. She specializes in operational strategy, cross-functional alignment, process optimization, and efficiency audits. Here’s what she’s known for: ✅ Operational strategy for scaling 🏷️ Cross-functional alignment 🌟 SaaS process optimization 🔎 Operational efficiency audits Dawn empowers SaaS teams to scale smarter, improve performance, and operate with clarity—turning strategy into action at every level. 🔗 Learn more about Dawn Strobel and other Fractional COO professionals for SaaS companies here: https://lnkd.in/dSzCuv-R

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Leading product teams in regulated environments requires a different kind of discipline. In this episode of the HTD Agile Leaders Podcast, I sat down with Melissa Douros, CPO at Green Dot Corporation, to talk about how product leaders can move faster without sacrificing trust, governance, or customer safety. I enjoyed this conversation on product delivery, AI done responsibly, and what it really takes to lead transformation at scale.

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