Hiring, Leadership, and the Reality of Startup Life with Natalie Ledbetter

What makes someone successful at a large company doesn't necessarily make them successful at a startup.

Natalie Ledbetter has spent more than a decade building people operations at early-stage companies, supporting founders across the venture capital ecosystem, and helping startups navigate the growing pains that come with scaling.

In this episode of Trust Stories, Natalie joins Tom Keenan to talk about what it really takes to build a company from the ground up. They discuss why hiring for the stage of your business matters more than hiring the most impressive résumé, how too much process can slow a startup down, and why the best individual contributors don't always make the best managers.

They also get into the complicated reality of startup equity, the expectations founders place on employees, and why building a team with different perspectives is critical long before a company reaches its growth stage.