Hiring, Leadership, and the Reality of Startup Life with Natalie Ledbetter
Building a startup takes a different kind of talent, leadership, and mindset. In this episode of Trust Stories, Tom Keenan sits down with people operations leader Natalie Ledbetter to explore why even experienced professionals can struggle in early-stage companies. Drawing on her experience building people functions at startups and advising venture-backed founders, Natalie shares what she's learned about hiring the right people at the right time, avoiding processes that slow growth, preparing employees for leadership, and setting realistic expectations around equity and ownership. They also discuss why diverse perspectives matter from day one and the people mistakes that become much harder to fix as a company grows.
Other episodes
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Daniel Space joins Tom Keenan to talk about why HR business partners need more than HR expertise to become true strategic partners. They discuss why understanding the business changes how HR operates, what Daniel learned working across companies like EA and Spotify, and how better coaching, more consistent feedback, and AI could reshape the way managers support their teams.
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In this episode of Trust Stories, Tom Keenan sits down with Fred Leong, Head of People and Culture at dv01, to unpack why traditional performance management so often breaks trust. They discuss the difference between transparency and honesty, why delayed feedback and difficult conversations can derail performance, and how AI could help create a more continuous, useful, and human approach to coaching and development. This conversation is both philosophical and deeply practical. It is a reminder that trust is not built through messaging or performance. It is built through small risks, honest moments, and the courage to genuinely listen.
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In the first episode of Trust Stories, Relate co-founder Tom Keenan sits down with Noelle Mykolenko, CEO of Trusted Advisor Associates, to unpack how trust actually works in professional relationships. Drawing from decades of experience and the foundational Trust Equation, Noelle breaks down the four components of trustworthiness: credibility, reliability, intimacy, and self-orientation. Together, they explore why trust is often misunderstood, why it does not actually take years to build, and why being competent and dependable is rarely enough on its own. This conversation sets the foundation for the series and challenges common assumptions about trust in modern, virtual-first work. If you want to understand how trust is formed, measured, and strengthened in the conversations that matter most, this episode is the place to start.