Stephanie “Brez” Breslin

𝗖𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗮’𝘀 "𝗣𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀" 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 📔 Early in our journey as eShares we had weird policies like everyone took their shoes off at the front door of our Palo Alto office. In hindsight we should have been raided by OSHA but fortunately that never happened. 😓 One of our early benefits was “Pay for Books” which we still have. Carta employee can expense any book they want to read. Initially we limited it to “business books”, whatever that means, but quickly expanded it to any book. The reason is we are a “curious company” and reading is a “curious activity”. We want to support any pursuit of curiosity by our employees. It is one of our best used benefits. Employees buy a lot of books on their own. But they are also core to our off-sites. For example at Carta Business School** we read four books: Zero to One, Loonshots, How to Win Friends and Influence People, and High Output Management. The first morning of CBS we break into groups to discuss the books. Next week we are having our Annual Leadership Offsite with the Top 50 Carta Leaders and we are reading Ben Horowitz's What You Do Is Who You Are. The first morning will be breakfast and group discussions about the book. As a kid and younger man I was a voracious reader. Pay for Books is my favorite Carta benefit. It is a way for me to pay it forward to everyone that gave me a book as a kid. But more importantly, it also keeps Carta a “curious company”. I’ll leave you with a quote on why Pay for Books is such a great program. I hope more companies do this for employees. “Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them. And it’s much cheaper to buy somebody a book than it is to buy them the whole world!” 
 ― Neil Gaiman ** 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗮 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 is this awesome program I started doing a few years ago where I take the top 30 mid-level managers at Carta away for three days to teach Business School the way I wish Business School was taught. We cover all kinds of topics that a Business School would teach but I do it the Carta way in an intensive three day format. It is the highlight of my year every year.

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Employee terminations: they're a topic no one wants to discuss but that every company has to navigate. Thankfully, Melanie Naranjo and wonderful Ethena advisor (& Gusto's former People Leader) Jess Yuen are tackling this tricky topic for the next Ethena webinar. Register if you want to learn more about these topics: How to pressure test whether or not termination is the right course of action Best practices for communicating termination decisions How to minimize risk and choose the best course of action when things get tricky Critical pitfalls to avoid

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Today is Workstream’s 7th birthday! 7 years ago today --- Max, Lei and myself started Workstream after going door to door around San Francisco Bay Area talking to hundreds of business owners and learning that there was not a good all in one solution built for hourly businesses. Business owners were doing manual tasks from payroll, onboarding, hiring to HR tasks and spending 10s of hours each week manually running HR processes. Therefore, we started Workstream together! We have never looked back since. On our 7th birthday, I like to share 7 learnings from the past years 1/ Find truly great co-founders to be on this journey together I am incredible thankful to say I found not one, but two amazing co-founders. Just last week, Max, Lei and myself had our usual weekly sync and we had a 6+ hours call on Friday late night till midnight. To be able to be at it for 7 years, and still feel the same passion, determination and drive -- I'm thankful to have met the best co-founders one can ever have! 2/ Find a pain point that you want to invest 10 or 15 years in To build something great, you need time. Media and PR often glamorizes businesses & startups growing overnight. That is often not the truth. Choose wisely what you really want to spend 10 or 15 years on, because you will spend that and more on it. 3/ The team you build is the company you build Find great people who align with you on values, mission and purpose. The people you hire and work with is the team you build = the company and product you will build for your customers. 4/ Embrace the lows and highs Building a business is not easy. There's more lows than highs on the average, but one should learn to embrace both of them. Michael Jordan often says "I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. That's why I win" 5/ Find a mission and purpose you care about Both my parents are hourly workers and I grew up seeing how hard it is for hourly businesses to manage payroll, HR and hiring all in the same place. Find a calling that you really want to work on and care about, despite the lows and highs. 6/ Go all-in 120% Building a business, whether you are an early employee/streamer or a founder, is extremely hard. We need to go all in to have a chance at winning. 7/ Enjoy the journey The days are long but the years are short. Enjoy the journey! Happy birthday, Workstream! P.S Photo was taken in 2018 when Workstream was a 6 months old baby (I would say we all looked younger back then too!) as we were outside our co-working space in San Francisco at South Park / Soma.

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As of today, Commenda has an official book of operating principles. We owe a significant portion of our success to this book. All our new hires read it! It’s called “The score takes care of itself.” It’s about legendary San Francisco 49ers head coach Bill Wash. Coach Walsh took over the 49ers as one of the worst teams in the NFL and turned them into a 3-time Super Bowl-winning team. His secret? Coach Walsh set a “standard of performance” rather than focusing on winning. Here’s how to translate this strategy for your business: 1. Lists are the road to success: Simplify complex processes into easy-to-digest actionable to-do’s 2. Expect ups and downs: This will always happen, just follow the standard of operations. 3. Show self-control: Manage your “game face,” especially under pressure. 4. Continuously improve: Constantly work toward marginal improvement If you don’t have the operations systems - BUILD THEM. And here’s what to avoid: 1. Don’t ask, “Why me?” 2. Don’t expect sympathy 3. Don’t create noise 4. Don’t keep accepting condolences 5. Don’t blame others What’s important to remember: It’s not all about leadership, efficiency, or any other buzzword. It’s about treating people right to build a culture where results are a by-product. We optimize for input and effort and we trust that results follow.

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👉 Attention Pacific-Northwest founders ✅ Are you building in B2B SaaS/AI? ✅ Have you raised less than $250K? ✅ Had one-too-many VCs tell you you’re too early? I’d love to chat. The Pacific Northwest is home to two of the magnificent seven, the birthplace of some awesome companies (Slack, Outreach, Remitly, Redfin, Auth0 to name a few) and a magnet for great AI/technical talent. Forum Ventures, will be doubling down in this awesome ecosystem and writing more checks into B2B SaaS/AI founders for $100K+ admission to our pre-seed accelerator. Our pre-seed program is highly personalized - not your generic startup school. Here’s what you can expect: 🤝 Hands on GTM and Sales support to get you to $200k+ ARR 🌎 A community of B2B founders who have raised $1B+ in follow-on funding 🚀 An awesome Managing Director who will work alongside your team as a fractional senior operator / co-founder. They’re all former founders and have lived 0-1. 💸 No-bs investors who will help quarter back your seed round and show up through the good and the bad. 👋🏻 PNW founder? Pitch us here: https://hubs.ly/Q02tdP_r0 🙏 Not a founder? Please share with your network or tag a founder below ⬇️ cc Simon Chou Dominic Lau Richard Kerby Casey Van Maanen Ryan Holmes Adarsh Pallian Paul Irving Scott Barker Sara Lindquist John Eng Sarah Studer Jacob Laes Marius Ciocirlan Chris DeVore Brendan Wales Sheila Gulati Jen Haller Kirby Winfield Andy Liu Matt Wang Sanford W Spivey Amy Sallin Erik Benson Annie Luchsinger Lauren Glatter Bryan Hale Brian Glaister Kristopher Alford Jeffrey Manner Julian (Jay) Rhind Connor Edwards Daniel Baraghoush Kaylee Lieffers (Astle)

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I was fortunate enough to attend a great Talentful and HIGHER Community event on the state of TA in New York, a few takeaway 👇 - Still some uncertainty, many teams aren't planning HC very far out - Knowing talent inside org is just as key for hiring plan and staffing, but truly getting a handle on this is still a hard nut to crack for many large orgs - There's a growing conversation about tapping into fractional talent, at least amongst growth-stage companies, one panelist noted how Hollywood movies are an interesting source of inspo on assembling great talent for a project - Talent density & QoH is a big focus, but 53% of co's don’t have a way to measure them — those that do most commonly rely on periodic reviews - Jessica Z. mentioned a really interesting take on the above, a Q posed to hiring managers: “If you could go back in time would you pay 100% of the persons salary to keep them, 50%, or cut ties altogether” - Although 87% of orgs think TA is at or under capacity, 75% of orgs aren’t planning to hire recruiters, big discussion is AI and how it impacts staffing   - Overall panel felt like AI was a copilot that’ll change roles, but people will re-skill and find new areas of focus in their roles   - DEI fallen off since 2023 (aligns to BrightHire data) but it’s still up dramatically from pre-pandemic levels, but there was a big discussion about how DEI leaders won't have impact w/out the power to make real biz change Thanks so much Talentful HIGHER Community Chris Abbass Jessica Z. for the lively discussion!

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Now that we’ve delivered custom workforce management solutions for a few contractors in California, I’ve had a chance to really see the folks in the field and the management issues that trace back to the days when laptops were a luxury thing. (I’m talking about small to mid-sized organizations here.) It turned out to be quite a conservative vertical, with many still relying on outdated stuff. Challenges Faced by Field Service Businesses: A survey by Verizon Connect highlights the most challenging issues: - Customer satisfaction (56%) - Profit margins (48%) - Talent acquisition and retention (47%) Other challenges include: Technology Alignment: Many companies use multiple outdated technologies that don’t integrate whatsoever. Operational Cost Increase: Dispatches generate revenue but also generate crazy overhead. Talent Pool: Poor technology frustrates field staff, leading to higher turnover. When it comes to field service management, some industries are particularly notorious for poor management. The top five industries that struggle the most with FSM are: Telecommunications: Companies in this sector often face challenges with scheduling, dispatching, and maintaining the vast network infrastructure, leading to delays and inefficiencies​ Utilities: The management of services like electricity, water, and gas supply is complex, often plagued by outdated systems and equipment, leading to frequent service disruptions and customer dissatisfaction​ Healthcare: Field service in healthcare involves the maintenance and repair of critical medical equipment. Issues here can severely impact patient care and safety due to delays in service and equipment downtime​ Construction: Managing field services in construction is challenging due to the dynamic and fragmented nature of projects. Poor coordination and communication often result in project delays and increased costs​ Manufacturing: This industry deals with maintaining machinery and equipment both in-house and at customer sites. Ineffective FSM can lead to prolonged downtimes and significant productivity losses​ TBC

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Never discount what you can learn from the people who are an arm's reach (or a keyboard strike) away from you. One of the breakout sessions I did last week for the California Staffing and Recruiting Professionals Association's annual conference was bringing in the voice of industry leaders to talk about common #recruiter pitfalls. Honestly, their insights were so valuable that they apply to every role. Here are the threads that they touched on, ➡ Accountability ➡ Trust and empathy ➡ Resourcefulness ➡ Balanced focus ➡ Building and nurturing relationships Thank you Jay Ramos, Lauren B. Jones 🐐, Tammi Taylor Heaton, ARM, CSP, Liliana Bernal, and Lesly Cardec for your contributions. The conversations that took place based on your sharing were deep, purposeful, and actionable 💥 ! #staffingandrecruiting #staffingindustry #learningfromleaders #learningandgrowth #lessonsfromothers

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This article is another example of how AI is reshaping the way we work. The idea of using enterprise AI to replace multiple tools—even moving away from something as big as Workday—is a trend I think we’ll see more of as internal teams get more comfortable with AI use cases, especially in HR. #ai #hr #workforce #technology

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SaaStr in San Mateo is back, and this year we’re doubling the team! Last year was a huge success (a bit of a surprise, honestly) – we connected with so many CFOs, controllers, founders, and CEOs who had major concerns about their billings and revenue. This year, I’m excited to discuss key topics like: • Hybrid growth strategies • Efficient growth approaches • The mix of sales-led and product-led growth • Ensuring the right data is available for decision-making Come meet me and the Younium team at booth G106 or spot us by our signature pink hats! Let’s connect and talk about how we can help drive your growth! #saastr #saastr2024 #hybridgrowth #subscriptionmanagement

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Hiring the right sales, marketing, and CX leaders is incredibly challenging, especially for early-stage startups. Check out our ElevenX Talent's Janine O'Neill (she/her) and Dan Hurwitz discuss all things GtM hiring in this awesome podcast. Some great wisdom nuggets in this one. Watch the full episode, now live at howtounfuckyourstartup.com

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Are we helping or hurting? That is a question many residents of San Francisco ask ourselves in the midst of a stark and increasing equity gap. As a parent, community member, and incoming board member of the Horizons at San Francisco Friends School, I’m keenly aware of the potential learning loss our public school students in the Mission District experience in the summer months without our support. Our city is undergoing another crisis - looming budget cuts threaten vital programs like Horizons at SFFS that provide equitable learning for Mission youth. We urgently need your support to secure bridge funding and ensure our summer enrichment continues. Our scholars and families are relying on Horizons' high-quality academics and social-emotional growth.  Horizons has been successfully leveraging the months when students are out of school to stem summer learning loss for children in San Francisco for ~10 years. The program has also intentionally increased impact by supporting their scholars through their educational journey during the school year and into High School. Last year, Horizons impacted 150+ scholars with targeted small classroom instruction, confidence-building, and joyful community enrichment experiences- thanks to our dedicated summer education workforce. But we can't continue without you. Please join me in supporting Horizons at SFFS today to expand partnerships, engage more crisis-impacted families, and grow our supportive community stronger. In past years, the SF Department of Children, Youth and Families has been a partner to increase access to education for our students. This summer, as we face a potential 40% loss to our summer program due to DCYF funding cuts that have impacted so many vital programs in our city, we’ve decided to celebrate Horizons Giving Day, the whole month of May. Please join me in our movement - your gift saves the summer for San Francisco scholars and helps bridge the educational equity gap in our city. Let’s help together. In gratitude, friendship and community, Aneesha #GiveTheGiftofSummer #SparkPassions #HorizonsGivingDay https://lnkd.in/gJAYnibC Links for reference: Horizons at SFFS: https://lnkd.in/gfsdugDX Impact Report: https://lnkd.in/gZc2jn85 Press Release on DCYF Loss of Funding: https://lnkd.in/gNprpSyB

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where’s OpenAI ‘s sama? oh look. he’s in elon’s shadow. makes sense. he’s shorter. Lol. the island of cannibals that is silicon valley has a new co-chair as mayor of sf. unelected. uninfluential in washington. has weasled his way into a transition team for sf. I wonder is watching elon w trump he found his trump locally in sf. sama is a mirror. he was for pg. he was also for many others. including elon. I guess this is a way to perhaps shore up political points locally in sf. to protect himself as best as he can. washington is a country wide, global game. kinda reminds me of another rebranding. im just jenny from the block. https://lnkd.in/e_jNXXRD if ai companies are to flourish OpenAI Google Microsoft Amazon Apple will require that startups are not somehow impeded. this is a game of davids and goliaths. where the slingshot appears innocuous. that is llms, transformers, access to privileged data. this out of no-where announcement demonstrates that this is a defense tactic by sama. he speaks fondly of sf and has done nothing until now. so his disingenuous nature finds yet another loop hole to worm into. we would be more supportive of his efforts except he’s created an industry for himself through a con game approach. why is he ceo of OpenAI when he’s there 6-7 hours a week. forgive me. isn’t a ceo supposed to be singularly focussed. his game is getting funding that invests in companies that he’s already invested in and as it’s a non for profit there are no conflicts of interest applied. wow. he uses other peoples money to invest in what he’s already invested in. sounds like y combinator showed him how to play the sv players. the next trick will be to do something no one has ever done. take a multi-billy non for profit and flip to for profit. as a non for profit there is no reporting required. there are tax incentives. a moral narrative to spin. then. oooops. how do we monetize this. we believe he will not succeed. to do so would cannibalize capitalism as it’s structured. it also would create a new pathway for universities which are by definition research centres. creating this precedent would alter their business. given that elon has beef with sama. and elon has never been more on top of his game. well. we find local political maneuvering is a way of squirming. OpenAI investors chiefly Microsoft are about to be thrown under the bus. unwittingly. recall it’s the talent at OpenAI that makes it special. the a team has left. the b team is in place. 2025 will not be good for OpenAI elon will have his revenge. 44 millys invested. for what. for sama to throw his weight around. he’s a lightweight. just look at him. lol. source: https://lnkd.in/e9WtQ48k < . >

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Interesting report from the people iHire. Looking at talent holistically is the winning strategy.

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Friendly reminder for folks with businesses in San Francisco (or, in some cases, even just staff who work in SF): Many of SF’s strict laws have employee count thresholds based on total number of employees ANYWHERE in the world! Furthermore, employees is often loose defined to include contractors (including temps), full time/part time, etc. Extreme example: - you have 1 employee in SF, 20 in Texas = 21 employees total - you are likely now a “covered employer” for SF’s Health Care Security Ordinance - which means for that 1 employee in SF, you are required to pay some amount for benefits

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🚨 The cracks are showing, and this is just the beginning. A Bay Area tech giant, once valued at $12B, has now plummeted to $159M, laying off hundreds in its wake. What went wrong? The inability to adapt to AI’s transformative potential. AI isn’t just a tool; it’s a revolution reshaping industries at lightning speed. Organizations that harness AI for process productivity—streamlining operations, automating workflows, and scaling efficiency—are thriving. Those who don’t? They risk being left behind. 👉 Here’s the takeaway: Evolve now, or risk irrelevance in the next few years. AI-driven process optimization isn’t just a competitive edge; it’s survival. From predictive analytics to operational automation, the potential for innovation is limitless—but only if you act now. 💡 How are you future-proofing your organization against AI disruption? Let’s discuss in the comments!

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At 7:30 PM EST, while most were winding down, I jumped into a 30-minute sprint calling leads in the California market. One call turned into a deep dive with an interested prospect—resulting in a warm follow-up and a booked meeting for after the New Year! This is the real, raw side of founder-led sales—building connections one call at a time. Watch to see how Saleslights helps make this process not just efficient, but truly human. 🔥🎄 #FounderLedSales #ColdCalling #SalesLights #AIinSales #SalesTech #StartupLife

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The #1 question I get asked is: “How do I hire a CEO?” (How to hire, incentivize, and manage a CEO) I created a guide with all my learnings from hiring ~40+ CEOs and leaders across Tiny (and many epic fuck ups along the way). Topics I cover include: Is hiring a CEO the right choice for you? When to hire a CEO? How to find the right CEO? Should you invest in a recruiter? What to look for in your CEO? How to diligence candidates? How to ensure a culture fit? How to negotiate & structure compensation? How to transition from founder to owner? How to relinquish control? How to determine CEO success? When to replace the CEO? Book Recommendations * A cheatsheet is included with key points from all sections. Get my guide for free → https://bit.ly/4bSTeUY Enjoy!

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For early-stage startups, not building in SF is a competitive disadvantage. Roughly a week ago, I hosted a small private dinner with the most exceptional people I know here. It reminded me—again—what makes this little city so special. There's something here you can’t just copy-paste; a density of talent and ambition that pushes everyone around to go further. And I’m grateful to everyone who made that night possible. You’re all truly special. 🫶 But there was one more thing—I realized hours later that there wasn’t a single American in the group. Instead, we were a bunch of foreigners. Mostly Europeans, each one seeing firsthand that building outside the Bay is like tying one hand behind your back. Sure, if we take on our European hat, we have impressive people too, but here in SF you run into them constantly. In Europe, we have to be so much more intentional about curating those circles. Establishing a extremely high standard, where exceptional people flourish. Not falling for quantity optimized, mediocre meet ups or events. But let's not just do the talking. Back in Paris, I’m setting up something similar—another private dinner with the best people I know in the city. If you’re interested in joining, drop me a message or leave a comment. Seats are limited but I will see what I can do. Love, F 🫶

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