A podcast about making connections matter

We've all heard it a hundred times: Your network is your net worth. Who Got Me Here features leading executives looking back on the relationships that transformed their careers, unearthing lessons that anyone can use to build more meaningful connections and make the most of them.

Episode 13: Mark Anderson, CEO at Alteryx

Mark Anderson: Utilizing Sales Skills to Open Your Horizons

In a conversation with Annie, Mark talks about his humble beginnings in retail sales that helped him break into the tech world. He shares stories about working with Jeff Bezos and Amazon in the ‘90s and how learning from John Chambers at Cisco informs his current leadership style. Prior to his role as CEO at Alteryx, Mark was President of Palo Alto Networks, where he and the team grew the company from pre-IPO in 2012 to become one of the largest security companies in the world.

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Episode: 8: April Underwood, Former Chief Product Officer at Slack

April Underwood: Company Networks Are The Foundation Of Your Network

April Underwood is the former Chief Product Officer at Slack. She was early at Twitter and made great friends at Google. As she describes in the podcast, the collection of people from companies A, B, and C is the foundation of one's network. April picked companies where she loved the product and knew these were people (Stewart Butterfield, Dick Costolo) she'd love building with. At this point in her career, April is an early-stage investor, co-founder of #ANGELS, and serves on the boards of Zillow and Eventbrite. In a fun conversation with Annie, hear April’s recommendations on building relationships, making good asks, and connecting friends.

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Episode 9: Jamie Grenney, CMO at Connect The Dots

Job Searches: How to Uncover New Opportunities

Kicking off a job search can feel overwhelming. It takes motivation to put yourself out there, and it’s emotionally draining when you don’t know where to go next. The good news is there are simple techniques to surface new opportunities and set yourself apart from all the other applicants. Who Got Me Here is a podcast about connections, career building, and relationships. In this episode, Annie and Jamie will share advice on tapping your network, making great asks, and acing the interview. If you know someone who has been laid off or is coming to you for career advice, share this link. The recommendation might prove immensely helpful in thinking about their next career move.

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Episode 7: Pejman Nozad, Founding Managing Partner at Pear VC

Pejman Nozad: Use Your Differences

Pejman is the co-founder and managing director of Pear VC, one of the most successful investment firms in Silicon Valley. Over the past two decades, he has been a seed investor in some of the most iconic tech companies, including Doordash, Dropbox, Applovin, Gusto, and many more. An Iranian immigrant, Pejman took an unconventional career path, building up his network while working as a rug salesman in Palo Alto. Hear him share incredible stories—like the time he brought the entire partnership of Sequoia Capital into his rug gallery—and timeless lessons about the value of carefully building a network over time and the power of leaning into what makes you unique.

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Episode 6: Bob Metcalfe, Inventor and Entrepreneur

Bob Metcalfe: The Inventor Of Ethernet On A Lifetime Of Connections

Bob, the godfather of ethernet and namesake of Metcalfe’s Law, knows a bit about networking. His perspective on how connected nodes come together to form a whole greater than the sum of its parts is well-earned after a 50+ year career stretching back to the salad days of Xerox PARC. Hear Bob offer timeless advice on building relationships, making connections, and the value of helping others succeed.

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Episode 5: Kate Taylor, Head of Recruiting at Notion

Kate Taylor: Deviating From The Path Is What Makes You Interesting

As Global Head of Recruiting at Notion, Kate has an interesting vantage point on tech career journeys. But her own path is a powerful example of how growth is a jungle gym, not a ladder. Kate launched her career with a cold email to Marc Benioff (at a point when Salesforce had 4,000 employees!) and spent years in sales roles at Salesforce, Dropbox, and Notion, where she rose to become Head of SMB revenue before making a leap into people and recruiting. Kate’s story is full of simple but powerful points on the value of relationships across careers—and she offers priceless advice on how to ask strangers for help.

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Episode 4: Veere Grenney, Principal of Veere Grenney Associates

Veere Grenney: Being of Service And With Integrity

Veere has been recognized multiple times as one of the top interior designers in the world by leading magazines and tastemakers. At the helm of his eponymous firm, Veere has designed interiors across the globe and seen his own home featured in Architectural Digest. Veere built his career slowly but organically, combining a relentless drive to follow his passions with a strong work ethic and commitment to service. In our conversation, Veere offers timeless and universal insights into how apprenticeship, professionalism, and dedication to craft can weave into a powerful fabric of relationships capable of elevating anyone to the top of their profession.

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Episode 3: Michael Jaconi, Founder and CEO of Button

Michael Jaconi: Share Your Passion And Vulnerability

Michael is the CEO of Button, with a long career including executive roles at Rakuten and a stint as a presidential campaign aide to John McCain. Authentic, meaningful relationships have been a throughline across his expansive career—and he offers a load of helpful tips on how to build them. Check out this episode for nuggets including the best jobs to get out of college, the three strongest paths to connecting with a VC, and how to avoid a major networking mistake the first time you meet someone.

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Episode 2: Molly Graham, ex-Facebook, Google, and Lambda School Executive

Molly Graham: Just Make Friends

Molly is a technology executive, advisor, and board member whose resume includes helping both Google and Facebook navigate periods of intense scaling, serving as COO of Lambda School, leading operations at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and more. Molly credits relationships for opening doors and catapulting her career forward. Her story is packed with lessons on the outsized power of being a friend, how curiosity can forge meaningful relationships quickly, and how to build and make use of a personal council of advisors.

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Episode 1: Tod Sacerdoti, CEO of Pipedream

Tod Sacerdoti: The Power Of Bringing People Together

As a 2x CEO with a $640 million exit and early investments in unicorns AppLovin and Chime on his resume, relationships have been essential to Tod’s success. But for him, “networking” isn’t the right word to describe his strategy. It’s all about genuine, meaningful connections, built by bringing people together around shared interests and passions. Our conversation with Tod was packed with insights about the value of being a host, why curation is a relationship-building superpower, and the importance of reminding people you’re still alive.

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Episode 12: Jeff Epstein, Operating Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners

Jeff Epstein: The Trillion Dollar Connector

Jeff Epstein is an Operating Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, a global firm with $4 billion under management that invests in early-stage and hyper-growth startups, partnering closely with entrepreneurs to build durable businesses including innovative companies like Pinterest, Twilio, Box, LinkedIn, Shopify, Yelp, and Skype. Formerly, Jeff was the executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Oracle, one of the world’s largest and most profitable technology companies, with a market value of over $200 billion. In this conversation with Annie Riley, Jeff talks about how he was able to make over 10,000 introductions throughout his career, his experience co-teaching the Lean Launchpad at Stanford, and the path he took to become CFO, leaving us with advice for those aspiring to do the same.

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Episode 11: Magdalena Yesil, Entrepreneur, VC, and Board Member

Magdalena Yesil: Breaking In

Magdalena Yesil was the first investor and founding board member at Salesforce, a company that now has a $200 billion market cap. She is the Founder of Broadway Angles and serves on the SoFi, Smartsheet, and Zuora board. In a conversation with Annie, Magdalena shares her experience breaking into Silicon Valley, including stories about how Steve Jobs and Marc Benioff shaped her career. She describes how persistence and resilience let you take bold steps forward.

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Episode 10: Nick Mehta, CEO at Gainsight

The Best Time To Network Is Always

Nick Mehta is the CEO of Gainsight, a company with 1200+ global employees and 20k growing customers. Their mission is to be living proof that you can win in business while being human first. 99% of the reviewers on Glassdoor approve of their CEO. So what’s Nick’s secret to success? In a conversation with Annie, Nick talks about breaking into the customer success industry, standing out through the details, utilizing LinkedIn as a career-building strategy, and his most important advice for what NOT to do when networking.

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A podcast about making connections matter

A few of our favorite episodes

Episode 13: Mark Anderson, CEO at Alteryx

Mark Anderson: Utilizing Sales Skills to Open Your Horizons

Episode: 8: April Underwood, Former Chief Product Officer at Slack

April Underwood: Company Networks Are The Foundation Of Your Network

Episode 9: Jamie Grenney, CMO at Connect The Dots

Job Searches: How to Uncover New Opportunities

Episode 7: Pejman Nozad, Founding Managing Partner at Pear VC

Pejman Nozad: Use Your Differences

Episode 6: Bob Metcalfe, Inventor and Entrepreneur

Bob Metcalfe: The Inventor Of Ethernet On A Lifetime Of Connections

Episode 5: Kate Taylor, Head of Recruiting at Notion

Kate Taylor: Deviating From The Path Is What Makes You Interesting

Episode 4: Veere Grenney, Principal of Veere Grenney Associates

Veere Grenney: Being of Service And With Integrity

Episode 3: Michael Jaconi, Founder and CEO of Button

Michael Jaconi: Share Your Passion And Vulnerability

Episode 2: Molly Graham, ex-Facebook, Google, and Lambda School Executive

Molly Graham: Just Make Friends

Episode 1: Tod Sacerdoti, CEO of Pipedream

Tod Sacerdoti: The Power Of Bringing People Together

Episode 12: Jeff Epstein, Operating Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners

Jeff Epstein: The Trillion Dollar Connector

Episode 11: Magdalena Yesil, Entrepreneur, VC, and Board Member

Magdalena Yesil: Breaking In

Episode 10: Nick Mehta, CEO at Gainsight

The Best Time To Network Is Always