🎙️ Interview w/ Stella Garber of Trello, Atlassian, and TBD stealth startup
On morning routines, new ventures, and the courage to choose your own path
Hi there 👋
This week I’m really happy to share a new interview with Stella Garber. You’ll get to learn a lot more about Stella in the Q&A below. I’ll be experimenting with the best days to send these Q&A newsletters, so any feedback you have on the ideal timing or cadence would be greatly appreciated.
Hope you all enjoy. And thank you, Stella!
Kevan
(ᵔᴥᵔ)
Thank you for being part of this newsletter. Each week, I share playbooks, case studies, stories, and links from inside the startup marketing world and my time at Oyster, Buffer, and more.
Say hi anytime at hello@kevanlee.com. I’d love to hear from you.
Check out the previous interview with Kevan Lee. 👀
Upcoming interviews include Samantha Leal and Stephanie Kwok. 🍿
Interview with Stella Garber of Trello, Atlassian, and TBD stealth startup
Stella Garber (SG) is someone I’ve greatly admired as she built and scaled marketing at Trello, and I couldn’t be more happy to have connected with her then and to stay connected with her now. Stella is based in Chicago, Illinois, and has moved on from Trello (now part of Atlassian) to found a brand new startup with some of her past Trello colleagues. In addition, Stella is an avid angel investor and writer. You can find her on Twitter at @startupstella.
The history of Stella
Education:
BA, Psychology from Northwestern
MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Experience:
Founding member / marketing and PR @ FeeFighters.com (2009-2012)
FeeFighters was a comparison engine that compared different credit card processors so that small businesses could make informed decisions about which to choose. The company was bought by Groupon 💰 in early 2012.
Entrepreneur-in-Residence @ Techstars (2012)
CEO and Cofounder @ matchist (2012-2014)
matchist connected businesses with top web and mobile developers across the country.
Director of Marketing / VP Marketing @ Trello (2014-2017)
Head of Marketing, Trello @ Atlassian (2017-2021)
Responsible for all things marketing, brand, and PR for Trello. The first Trello marketing hire! Grew the team and the business; stayed on to lead Trello marketing after the acquisition by Atlassian.
Advisor @ OpenView (2022)
Advisor @ Origin Ventures (2017 - present)
Angel investor (2015 - present)
Co-founder @ TBD stealth startup 🥷 (2022 - present)
Stella and her co-founders are building a future-of-work product to help solve the challenges around asynchronous communication and collaboration in a distributed team environment. If this challenge resonates with you, I’m sure Stella would love to add you to her market research interviews. You can grab time with her here.
Where you can find her
Stella has a really active presence on Twitter where she shares the best future-of-work content and marketing topics. In addition, she and her stealth startup co-founders have kicked off a Substack where they write about the inner workings of their founder journey and new product.
Q&A
1. How do you explain what you do to your parents, friends, kids, or non-industry people?
SG: I'm a serial entrepreneur and angel investor who loves early stage technology.
Right now, I'm working on a new startup that will empower teams to collaborate more effectively remotely. Previously, I led marketing at Trello. I'm an angel investor in over 30 tech companies.
2. What does your morning routine look like?
SG: I wake when my five year-old's "OK to wake" clock turns green and he flies into my bedroom asking what the plans are for the day. Then the baby is up, and we're all getting ready for the day — brushing teeth, eating breakfast, etc.
Once my kids are settled, I will work out in the morning. If I don't do it then, I won't work out that day, so it's important for me to get it in.
Before I open my laptop, I try to make a list of what I'd ideally like to get done that day in my notebook. Then I get sucked into email, Slack, all the things. One thing I'm trying lately is not having my phone nearby in the mornings because I will very easily get distracted and upend my routine by a random tweet or "important" email.
While I wasn't a big wearables person, I've found that wearing an Apple Watch gives me a lot of utility in receiving the few notifications I actually need without having my phone nearby.
3. Can you share a photo of your phone’s home screen, your computer desktop, or your browser window?
4. How do you measure success in your role?
SG: I always want to feel like we're moving forward on our goals, both big and small.
I'm currently in the earliest stages of a tech startup (pre-product and pre-revenue) so there's a lot of ambiguity. While I thrive in that type of environment, it's also really important for my cofounders and I to be aligned on what we plan to accomplish this week, this month, this year, and our grand vision for the future.
5. Which work project are you most excited about right now? Can you tell us a bit about it?
SG: After leaving Trello and Atlassian, my cofounders and I are really excited about the future of remote work. We're currently in a transitional phase where knowledge workers are using synchronous tools like they would in an office (meetings, Slack), but the real value of remote work is embracing asynchronous work.
Asynchronous allows people to work where, when, and how they're most productive rather than burning out sitting in meetings all day. Most software doesn't support this style of work ... yet. We see a lot of opportunity in the space and are building something that will be a meaningful part of the knowledge worker toolset soon.
You can follow along at our Substack, Jumping Through Hoops.
6. What are three staples of your "media diet"?
1 - Every.to — so much great business content, and lots of smart people I admire
2 - Kyle Poyar's Newsletter — Love Kyle's perspectives and in depth looks at topics related to Product Led Growth
3 - How I Built This — Since starting a new venture, I've enjoyed hearing the humanity behind business stories on this podcast
BONUS: How did you get your current job?
SG: After leaving Trello/Atlassian, I was in this transitional life moment of "What do I want to do next?" Luckily, my previous experiences afforded me lots of options. The real question was what I actually wanted to do, and not what recruiters were pinging me about or what felt "sexy" at the time.
It took a lot of introspection for me to realize that what I really wanted to do was get back to the earliest stages of being a founder, building a team, and defining a product that I was excited about. It was also really important for me to work with people who shared my values both personally and professionally so we could build a company that operated in a way that felt authentic to how we wanted to live and work.
It's been quite a journey already, and every day I feel grateful for choosing the path that was maybe not the most obvious or easy, but the most meaningful for this stage of my life.
So the point is: Figure out what you want, and go for it!
About this newsletter …
Each week, I share playbooks, case studies, stories, and links from inside the startup marketing world. If you enjoy what’s in this newsletter, you can share some love by hitting the heart button at the top or bottom.💙
About Kevan
I’m a marketing exec who specializes in startup marketing and brand-building. I currently lead the marketing team at Oyster (we’re hiring!). I previously built brands at Buffer, Polly, and Vox.
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