April 2026,
The last several weeks have reminded me why I started StartupExperts in the first place — the power of showing up, staying curious, and learning alongside people you respect.
In early March, I had the privilege of attending the Snafu Conference, organized by the incredibly thoughtful Robin Zander. The premise was simple but provocative: teaching sales skills to people who don't identify as salespeople. I'll be honest — in my role on the growth team at Sequoia, a lot of my day is considered sales but I've never thought of myself as a salesperson but as a “startup expert” and a storyteller. What I genuinely want is for the people I meet to walk away feeling like they learned something about HR, benefits, and scaling their startup and they are now equiped to make a more informed decision.
For many in-house HR, Finance, and Operations leaders, the ability to influence without authority isn't just a nice-to-have…it's the job. You're fighting for a training budget, selling a benefits package to a skeptical CFO, or trying to get a founder to slow down long enough to build the right process. Nobody handed you a quota, but you're selling every single day. Snafu gave me, and I think many in that room, a sharper framework for exactly that: how to be assertive, how to advocate for yourself and your team, and how to navigate objections with confidence. It was one of the more practically valuable conferences I've attended.
Later in March, I was at Transform — and what stood out most was the private workshop we hosted for StartupExperts members on Monday focused on “Building your Personal Brand Strategy.” Watching our community team deliver a longer-form learning experience as part of a conference felt like something genuinely new for us and it’s something worth scaling. I left with a clear vision and now goal…I’d like StartupExperts to cohost curated workshops at a half-dozen conferences around the country each year. I believe that kind of offering can meaningfully change our community — and level up the leaders inside it. Does anyone have any suggested conferences or contacts to share?
And then two weeks ago, I had the privilege of traveling to Austin and Boston with my family as my oldest daughter navigates her final college decisions. In two very different cities, I hosted two StartupExperts gatherings — and what struck me was how consistent the energy was. People want to come together, they want to connect, and they want to share what they're learning.
If you live in one of our StartupExperts Chapter cities — I'm looking at you Denver, Atlanta, Dallas, and London in particular — let's make something happen. We have the budget. We have partners who want to co-host. What we need are a few members in each city willing to step up and help organize. Reach out to me directly. Let's plan some events together!
DISCLAIMER
The opinions in this newsletter are solely my own and don't represent any affiliated organization's views. Information is provided for general purposes only without warranties regarding accuracy or completeness.
