Non-Founder Crew

Building a startup from the earliest stages (think employee #1 and up) requires a specific mindset and approach to work. Often, there’s a lack of processes to guide you, a lack of clarity on roles, and minimal teammates to rely on and fall back on. The only given is a relentless pursuit of growth.  Early employees have to learn how to create processes, identify business opportunities, and take own...

Startup employees hear a lot about equity, but most of the conversation is based on anecdotal data from assumptions, headlines, or individual experiences. To really understand what’s happening in the market, you need hard data to back up the trends. In this episode, I sit down with Hamza Shad, Insights Manager at Carta, to unpack what Carta’s startup compensation data reveals about the current sta...

If you want more like this, I share deeper breakdowns on my Substack. In this episode of Non-Founder Crew, I’m breaking down one of the most overlooked skills in startup careers: how to properly evaluate a startup before you join it. Most candidates spend interviews answering questions while barely asking any of their own. But joining a startup is an investment of your time, energy, and often your...

In this episode of Non-Founder Crew, we’re diving into the real side of building a career in a startup. It’s all about navigating uncertainty, saying yes even when you don’t have the answers, and constantly figuring out the next step in the process. Chathri Ali , CEO and Co-Founder of Accel Health , has done all of this and more. Formerly from Recharge Payments and Klaviyo , Chathri shares her exp...

In this episode of Non-Founder Crew, we’re diving into something that can completely change the trajectory of your career at a startup, and that’s creating your own role.  If you’ve ever felt stuck in your job, waiting for the “right” opportunity or wondering how people land those seemingly custom-fit roles, this episode is for you. My guest, Sam Melnick , the Vice President of Marketing at Postsc...

If you want more like this, I share deeper breakdowns on my Substack . In this episode of Non-Founder Crew, we're diving into something nobody ever tells you when you join a startup: the unwritten rules of titles. If you’ve felt stuck in your career, unsure of how decisions around titles get made at the leadership level, then this episode is for you. My guest, Sam Melnick , the Vice President of M...

If you want more like this, I share deeper breakdowns on my Substack . In this episode of Non-Founder Crew, I’m breaking down a skill that’s crucial to your success in the tech startup world…networking.  If you’ve ever felt intimidated by the idea of networking or thought it was just for extroverts, this episode is for you. I’ll share practical strategies that you can easily incorporate into your...

Hi, I’m Alicia Thomas, and I’ve spent over a decade working in tech startups of all shapes and sizes. My journey includes everything from working in a small team of five people, all the way to being an early employee at a company that has gone on to IPO.  After years of working in the trenches, trying to figure out how it all worked, I looked back at my experiences, and thought, “there’s gotta be...

Working in a tech startup can be a crazy ride. And if you feel like you’re regularly scratching your head wondering, “what does that mean?”, you’re not alone. Non-Founder Crew is a show for employees navigating the unpredictable world of tech startups, from the moments of chaos and uncertainty to chasing impossible goals. In each episode, host Alicia Thomas shares the lessons she learned after spe...