What motivates people to get out of bed and go to work in the morning? It depends on who you ask.
“Every day, I look forward to building features that our users will greatly appreciate that also improves their learning experiences,” Talia Rhodes, a software engineer at education technology platform edX, said.
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Software Engineer Shadlee Mondestil shared a similar passion for impacting users’ lives, adding that it was the main reason he accepted his job at the company.
Rhodes and Mondestil aren’t an anomaly. Built In Boston checked in with six more local leaders to hear their stories from them on how they work on a product they truly believe benefits their users’ lives. And if you find yourself intrigued by any of their stories or company’s products, you’re in luck — each company is actively hiring.
What they do: Klaviyo is an owned marketing platform that helps online businesses accelerate their revenue using email, web and mobile.
The reason for Product Design Manager Julie Lungaro’s tenure at Klaviyo: “The biggest reason that I have stayed at Klaviyo for so long is all the opportunities I’ve had to grow in my career,” Lungaro said. “I was hired as an individual contributor working on a team, shipping large features into the product. As a product designer, I was learning so much about my craft while also building relationships with the product manager and engineers on my team. As Klaviyo was growing as a business, so did the product design team. I saw that someone needed to step in and help with hiring and managing. I dove right into the role and into areas where I could have an immediate impact on the team. Over the past few years, I have learned so much about building and scaling teams, my responsibilities have extended beyond myself. My success is my team’s success. I am continuing to grow as a leader for my team and the company.”
The biggest reason that I have stayed at Klaviyo for so long is all the opportunities I’ve had to grow in my career.”
What excites Lungaro about the future of Klaviyo: “Klaviyo is already becoming a market leader in unifying data and marketing software into one platform,” Lungaro said. “Our vision is that Klaviyo is the easiest way for all creators, no matter their experience, to own their destiny. We're focused on usability, making it easy and fast for our customers to be successful and achieve ROI. To achieve this vision, along with product and engineering, Klaviyo needs to become a leader in design. We want to be known for consistency, configurability and remarkable design.”
What they do: LogRocket helps customers understand the problems affecting their users through a software program that allows them to replay what users do on their site in order to reproduce bugs and fix issues faster.
The reason for Sales Enablement Associate Jenna Lavin’s tenure at LogRocket: “I was fortunate to join the LogRocket team when we had fewer than 20 employees and it’s been incredible to watch our growth over the last two years,” Lavin said. “To witness my work have a meaningful impact on the company’s growth, in tandem with being able to leverage my strengths and interests within my own career growth, has been really encouraging. I’m excited and grateful to call LogRocket my home for the long haul. On top of that, it’s great to work with such an awesome product that I’m proud to tell people about!”
I’m excited and grateful to call LogRocket my home for the long haul.”
What excites Lavin about the future of LogRocket: “This year will be big for LogRocket,” Lavin said. “I’m excited about the investments we’re making in our process and training at scale in order to catapult us to the next level of growth. As we kick off our sales enablement team, my inner teacher is passionate about providing great resources to our salespeople so we can continue to get better and better at telling our story and helping customers understand the value LogRocket provides to their business. I’m very much looking forward to the future!”
What they do: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston is part of the central bank of the United States and works to foster financial wellness for local and national citizens through initiatives like providing financial services and payments, participating in monetary policy-making and more.
The reason Software Engineer Shadlee Mondestil accepted a job at Federal Reserve Bank of Boston: “The deciding factor for me to accept my current job is how much of an impact a project like this will have for so many people across the country,” Mondestil said. “The ability to create a product that will cut down the amount of time it will take to make payments can really make a difference to people! An example that comes to mind is instead of taking two to three days to make a payment for a bill, people will have the ability to pay for it almost instantly, which makes a huge difference for everyone. It’s a vision for a product that I can definitely get behind.”
Through our culture, it opens the door to new growth opportunities with other new technologies.”
What excites Mondestil about the future of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston: “What makes me excited most is being able to use new technologies to meet specific and unique requirements. It shows that the company is willing to experiment, take risks and try new things to get the job done. Through our culture, it opens the door to new growth opportunities with other new technologies.”
What they do: iZotope designs software, hardware, apps and plugins for audio professionals, like musicians, music products and audio post engineers.
The reason Product Marketing Manager Rose Rutledge accepted a job at iZotope: “There are multiple factors that I take into consideration when looking at roles,” Rutledge said. “First, I look at the company’s mission and ask myself if it aligns with my personal career mission of connecting musicians to audiences. Second, I look at community and culture and ask myself if the employees and customers are happy. When an organization takes care of its people (both internally and externally) you feel a sense of reciprocal gratitude. Third, I look at the growth opportunities available within the company and whether it feels like I’m going to learn in the role. And lastly, I look at innovation and ask myself if there’s interest in coming up with new ideas and products. iZotope checked all of these boxes and since joining the company, I’ve truly felt like it’s my work ‘home.’”
It’s been incredible to learn about iZotope’s future plans and where we want to create change to support musicians, producers and engineers.”
What excites Rutledge about the future of iZotope: “It’s been incredible to learn about iZotope’s future plans and where we want to create change to support musicians, producers and engineers,” Rutledge said. “I’m especially excited to see how we develop our roadmap over time. We are talking to our audience constantly, trying to figure out how iZotope helps solve their problems, so I’m looking forward to watching those conversations manifest into the smart, innovative technology we’re known for. More specifically, I’m working on a team that has created our new Producers Club, where producers can access the tools and tips they need to up their game in the industry. I can’t wait for our members to see some of the features and content we have coming their way this year — it’s going to be a fun one!”
What they do: edX is an open online course provider that offers university-level courses in a variety of disciplines.
The reason Software Engineer Talia Rhodes accepted a job at edX: “I’ve spent my career working for companies where I didn’t really connect with the products or services they were building or felt disconnected from the goal of the company,” Rhodes said. “I was excited to work for edX because I’ve been using online education platforms for years and appreciate that it has both paid paths with great higher education and corporate partners, but also free paths that allow anyone to learn. I can finally showcase my work to my friends and family and be proud of the products we offer.”
Every day, I look forward to building features that our users will greatly appreciate that will also improve their learning experience.”
What excites Rhodes about the future of edX: “I really want to help be a part of building edX as a staple in the education industry,” Rhodes said. “Every day, I look forward to building features that our users will greatly appreciate that will also improve their learning experience. I also really love how edX is strongly involved in open source as well as accessibility, so I look forward to continuing to contribute to software that truly everyone can use.”
What they do: Matillion enables businesses to migrate and transform data into actionable insights to quickly solve business challenges.
The reason Director of Commercial Sales Joe Yesunas accepted a job at Matillion: “Sixteen months ago, I thought I was joining a special company in terms of the executive team, vision, product, culture and the market we operate in, but it has exceeded my expectations in every way,” Yesunas said. “I don’t think I've ever been as ‘all in’ with an organization in my 10+ year tech-sales career and that excitement continues to grow every single day. The culture is palpable and fully top-down from our CEO Matthew; the product is constantly improving as showcased by our best in class retention in arguably the hottest sector in technology; the vision has never been more clear; and the executive team is comprised of some of the smartest, approachable, genuine, and experienced folks I’ve ever been lucky enough to work for.
“The fast-paced nature of an organization at this stage means every team member can make an impact in achieving our collective vision, and the people I get to work alongside just make it easy to give it your absolute best day in and day out.”
The fast-paced nature of an organization at this stage means every team member can make an impact.”
What excites Yesunas about the future of Matillion: “We continue to lead with our culture and values at the forefront as we constantly evolve and make improvements across all key areas of the business,” Yesunas said. “I’m excited to grow the very important commercial sales function and deliver key revenue in order to help drive this business forward to the next level. Besides just growth and revenue, I’m personally driven by always looking to improve our sales process, coaching up the next generation of future enterprise AEs and always focused on improving personally since, at Matillion, we strongly believe no person, process or product is ever finished.”
What they do: Snyk helps software-driven businesses develop their platforms quickly and securely.
The reason Sales Development Team Lead Alexis Matthews accepted a job at Snyk: “When I was interviewing at Snyk, I very quickly knew this was an organization I wanted to be at,” Matthews said. “I was interviewing with some of the most impressive sales leaders I’ve ever encountered and I could easily see myself working alongside them. It’s rare to find an organization that’s growing as quickly as Snyk, but still maintains a strong company culture where everyone truly believes in the values.
“Snyk was listed as having one of 2020’s best CEOs for diversity and best CEOs for women, which are two things I look for in an organization and they truly speak to the inclusive culture here. After five interviews, I was so excited about the prospect of being an SDR manager at Snyk. Unfortunately, my lack of leadership experience made me unqualified for the management position I had initially applied for. However, my future manager was so invested in me working at Snyk, he had the recruitment team create a team lead position allowing me to learn the company, hone my leadership skills and ramp up as a people manager. I was so blown away by the company’s investment in my success and career development even before I joined the team that I knew Snyk was the right place for me.”
When I was interviewing at Snyk, I very quickly knew this was an organization I wanted to be at.”
What excites Matthews about the future of Snyk: “Snyk’s growth trajectory has been incredibly impressive, but I’m most excited about Snyk’s vision,” Matthews said. “We have the opportunity to be the main player in the DevSecOps space and truly support developers in building their company’s products. I’ve always been focused on the big picture and by empowering developers, Snyk is helping our customers accelerate the growth of their businesses without compromising on security.
“This space is only growing more and more significant as businesses embrace digital transformation and the shift to the cloud. As an SDR leader, I’m excited to open up more conversations with organizations around their approaches to security. My goal is to inform companies on how they can scale security and enable developers to build better, more secure products to drive their business forward.”
What they do: Numerated is a digital lending and sales platform for banks.
The reason for Senior Software Engineer Guillaume Calvet’s tenure at Numerated: “I stick around because I believe in the people leading this company and the impact we’re collectively making,” Calvet said. “I remember a moment from the early days of Eastern Labs that truly stuck with me. Two of our co-founders were debating a piece of architecture without coming to an agreement. Our CEO, Dan, overheard and approached them. He asked them to make their case, and after they were finished, he made a decision. Everyone willingly agreed and went back to work. This stuck with me. What seemed like a pivotal decision was analyzed and resolved within a matter of minutes. We had to move fast and Dan was resolute in his approach. I believe that he and the leadership team are doing what’s best.
“We’ve had a major impact and the work I do each day is helping small businesses get loans. Knowing that my contribution, in part with the amazing work of my colleagues, has allowed businesses to pay and provide healthcare to their employees, pay their bills and stay open is truly rewarding.”
I believe in the people leading this company and the impact we’re collectively making.”
What excites Calvet about the future of Numerated: “Numerated is growing rapidly and we are working to scale the company from a business and technology perspective,” Calvet said. “We’re hiring new engineers at all levels and building out a data science and engineering team. It’s an exciting time to be part of the company because we’re taking things to the next level. We’re going to face some challenges along the way, but these will be good and exciting challenges. I know I’ll make an impact and I’ll be able to continue to learn and grow in my career.”
