When people ask about your job, what do you brag about?
For some, it’s an inclusive company culture and feeling supported by a forward-thinking team. For others, it’s a flexible work structure and the chance to forge a strong work-life balance through unlimited PTO. But for many who work in tech, it’s the chance to make a real difference — in the lives of their customers, their coworkers and beyond.
When Val Haste set out on a mission to find her next great role, she sought two essential components: working for a company that truly valued diversity and finding a role that could help change the world. Now, as a senior technical project manager at Rune Labs, she’s fulfilling both of her goals every day.
“The tools they were building have real humanitarian impact, like improving standards of care for Parkinson’s patients and empowering researchers in the search for a cure,” Haste recalled thinking during the application process. “I thought, ‘I could be a part of that or I could go back to building pizza delivery apps again.’ When you look at it that way, there’s no contest.”
For João Peixoto, it’s not only the opportunity to impact the expanding crypto space that’s important to him, but the ability to elevate his team members’ careers to new heights as an engineering manager at Anchorage Digital. “Bridging different areas of the business, developing the team, optimizing our processes for a global environment — these are all strengths that can help us achieve the balance we need,” he said.
Built In caught up with Haste, Peixoto and six other seasoned tech experts to learn more about the initial indicators that encouraged them to accept their roles, the empowering projects helping create real-time change and all the desired characteristics in their next great new hire. Like what you see? They’re all hiring now.
Why did you first apply to join Finch, and how has your experience evolved over time?
Finch caught my attention because of the space that they’re operating in. Prior to joining, I had limited working knowledge in the human resources and employment space. However, it was clear right from the start that there was a founder and product-market fit. In a nutshell, Finch is uniting an antiquated and fragmented industry and I wanted to take a product from zero to one. From a company culture perspective, the team seemed down to earth and committed.
Since I’ve joined, it’s been a really challenging yet exciting experience. Building new solutions for a traditional space is very hard. However, it’s rewarding seeing how much time and resources we have saved our customers. My contributions shape the dynamics of the business. I also didn’t realize that I would be working with all stakeholders and not just within the engineering team.
My contributions shape the dynamics of the business.”
What’s your most interesting or exciting work-related challenge right now, and how are you overcoming it?
Like most folks in early-stage startups, we’re all wearing multiple hats. At any given moment, I am juggling a handful of high-priority feature requests and problem solving through different edge cases while working with experimental ideas. Collaborating as a team to prioritize our releases and handling customer requests have been interesting, to say the least. There’s so much potential in this space but we’re working with limited resources. I do my part by creating and implementing processes to keep everyone — including myself — organized. At Finch, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Why did you first apply to join EquityBee, and how has your experience evolved over time?
There’s enormous growth taking place in the fintech space and I wanted to be a part of it. I had been working in private banking at a large financial institution prior to EquityBee, and I was ready to take on an exciting new challenge.
Specifically, I was eager to combine my interests in venture capital and startups with my experience working with investors. When EquityBee reached out, I knew this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. As the company has grown, my role has grown with it. I began as an individual contributor, and I’m now a team lead.
There is no shortage of opportunities — we are a fast-growing company with a powerful mission. While working to achieve our mission, we make sure to have a good time and celebrate our wins. EquityBee does a phenomenal job of making employees feel appreciated, and it definitely comes across in our fun company events. While trying to grow our company, we still find time to connect with one another on a social and personal level. I have never worked at a company where I feel so valued and cared about.
There’s enormous growth taking place in the fintech space, and I wanted to be a part of it.”
When you’re looking to grow your team, what’s a quality that you look for in candidates, and why is it important at EquityBee?
I look for candidates who are able to effectively voice their ideas or strategies and have a willingness to execute on them. I want someone who will speak up if something doesn’t seem right or if they have an initiative they think could help drive new business. We’re a startup, so input and desire to grow the success of the company genuinely matters here.
Why did you first apply to join Rune Labs, and how has your experience evolved over time?
I had two non-negotiable criteria for my next role: a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and a mission that leaves the world better than I found it. Rune Labs crushed both.
I’d had a couple of rounds with Big Tech, FAANG organizations where DEI was a topic of discomfort, but I was delighted to find the opposite to be true at Rune Labs. Right out of the gate, I was interviewed by a trans and non-binary executive who I really vibed with, and who was genuinely excited about building inclusive spaces. It is difficult to describe just how profound an impact it has to see someone like yourself in a position of power for the first time; the experience was nothing short of energizing.
Since joining the team, I’ve gotten to see that commitment to DEI in action. Our culture builds psychologically safe teams, and we source candidates with care, from all walks of life. The tools we build have real humanitarian impact, too.
I had two non-negotiable criteria: a commitment to DEI, and a mission that leaves the world better than I found it.”
When you’re looking to grow your team, what’s a quality that you look for in candidates, and why is it important at Rune Labs?
For me, curiosity is hands-down the most important quality a candidate can demonstrate. It’s a vital part of the scientific method, and just as important for engineers. We’re working with incredibly complex data — there are so many novel problems to solve and edge cases to anticipate. Team members who are hungry for knowledge and want to know how something ticks create better software. That’s my hypothesis, anyway.
I want to build teams that collaborate regularly and iterate quickly. I want to work with folks who ask brilliant, weird questions I never would have thought of. And I want to fill Rune Labs with folks who sincerely care about the tools we’re building and are excited to improve outcomes for our patients.
Why did you first apply to join Anchorage Digital, and how has your experience evolved over time?
I came onboard Anchorage Digital four years ago, right at the beginning. So as you can imagine with a startup, my role has changed a lot. My history with Anchorage goes back to before it was even founded, since I studied at Portugal’s Instituto Superior Técnico with Anchorage’s co-founder Diogo Mónica. We’d been discussing blockchain security and eventually he invited me to help explore his idea for a security platform. Our skill sets in distributed systems and security were a great match to build Anchorage’s technology and platform.
My role has grown in parallel with the company. Early on, we were building the company, technology and platform from the ground up, so I wore a lot of different hats and pitched in everywhere I could. Over time, the company’s needs changed as we scaled, and I was able to focus on where I bring the most value: growing and developing the engineering team. I like to be a force multiplier and a coach, helping people grow in their careers and learning from them as well. It’s rewarding to see my strengths as a manager contribute to growing and scaling Anchorage.
I like to be a force multiplier and a coach, helping people grow in their careers and learning from them as well.”
What’s your most interesting or exciting work-related challenge right now, and how are you overcoming it?
No two days at Anchorage are the same, as new challenges arise every day. As an engineering lead, my most interesting challenge right now is balancing the diverse skill sets on our team as we continue to scale. Technical, product, management and other skills are all important to Anchorage’s success, and it’s natural that in a fast-growing environment sometimes the team is stronger in one area than in others. Bridging different areas of the business, developing the team, optimizing our processes for a global environment — these are all strengths that can help us achieve the balance we need.
We’re tackling this by focusing on areas that can be easy to overlook in the hectic day-to-day, like leaning on our team’s network and growing awareness of our brand and visibility in the engineering community. Anchorage is a great place for engineers. We’re building new technology and the crypto space has almost endless potential. My challenge is to make sure we’re telling that story externally so we can attract the right talent and achieve the balance we need on the team.
Why did you first apply to join Sparrow, and how has your experience evolved over time?
I applied to work at Sparrow because I knew the demand in the employee leave management space would only continue to grow. Sparrow is focused on both HR tech and employee experience, which are very important components that companies are looking for in solutions today. This is a mission that I find incredibly impactful, and when you can back the mission of your company, it reflects in your performance every day.
Since I’ve started, I’ve been able to experience true collaboration by having the opportunity to contribute value to my own team and also cross-functionally with our operations and engineering teams. Collaboration is real at Sparrow and that in itself has helped me discover meaning in the work I do every day.
When you can back the mission of your company, it reflects in your performance every day.”
What’s your most interesting or exciting work-related challenge right now, and how are you overcoming it?
Employee leave management is a newer industry so we’re starting from scratch in many ways when it comes to building the company. This to me is very exciting because we are a leader in this space, and we have the opportunity to direct this market going forward. It’s a great opportunity to be able to work at a company that has the ability to pivot and adjust our solutions as we listen to the needs of our customers and continue to drive success in this space.
Why did you first apply to join Carbon, and how has your experience evolved over time?
I first applied to Carbon in 2014 when it was an early-stage startup. What was most exciting to me was the startup feel: A small number of employees at a company that was poised for success. I wanted my work to have a significant impact and I saw the role at Carbon as a great opportunity to contribute to the company’s growing momentum. Additionally, I saw an opportunity to work with a talented leadership team and genuine people who I wanted to learn from.
Working at the intersection of software, hardware and molecular science to make tangible parts was very exciting to me. It gave me the opportunity to work on multidimensional projects and find innovative solutions to challenging puzzles.
I’ve been at Carbon for more than seven years now, and I’ve witnessed the company grow exponentially. We have not only expanded our business offerings and global reach but we’ve also tapped into new, exciting sectors. Along with this growth, Carbon’s team remains highly collaborative, innovative and ambitious, and I still feel that my work is impactful.
Working at the intersection of software, hardware and molecular science to make tangible parts was very exciting.”
What’s your most interesting or exciting work-related challenge right now, and how are you overcoming it?
My team is building software that is on the cutting edge of computational geometry and computer aided design software. We develop web applications that enable users to design, visualize, manipulate and produce digital models for 3D printing. With our groundbreaking technology, we get to witness customers innovate and manufacture real-world parts with unmatched reliability, speed and quality. It’s a close-knit and strong team, with experts in 3D geometry, web technologies, cloud infrastructure, firmware and everything in between.
There are lots of challenging and interesting problems that my team is solving on a daily basis, while building a product that is easy and enjoyable for our customers to use. We are successful in building customer-facing software because our team is passionate about listening to our users and prospective users, and taking their feedback and opinions into account.
Why did you first apply to join Afero, and how has your experience evolved over time?
I applied to Afero in the summer of 2018 and started in September of that year. We’re a small company that is growing rapidly. That means I get the opportunity to work on a wide set of initiatives that directly impact the organization. It’s never boring here. My primary focus is on product, which has a pretty wide scope. I work on broad product strategy and interact directly with our customers. Internally, I get to work with people in all of the different roles in the company, with a specific focus on our mobile apps. The scope of my responsibility has continued to grow since I arrived here.
We look for people with a strong combination of expertise and experience who thrive on the challenges that come with working at a smaller company.”
When you’re looking to grow your team, what’s a quality that you look for in candidates, and why is it important at Afero?
Right now, one of our most exciting challenges is scaling the company. We’re hiring for a lot of different roles. I’m currently looking for product managers and mobile app developers. We look for people with a strong combination of expertise and experience in their fields who thrive on the benefits and challenges that come with working at a smaller company. The team is a fun and passionate group of technologists, and we are always on the lookout for people who add to our culture and diversity.
