Harry Uffindell is the Chief People Officer at Partly.
He’s worn just about every startup hat: founder, growth, bizops, revops, people, culture; you name it. But he ultimately found his calling in the people space.
Now, he’s scaling Partly, hiring the world’s top 1% talent, and building a culture where people stay excited about their work a decade in.
In today’s episode, we discuss:
Scaling Partly from its first non-technical hire to ~100 employees—and the lessons behind making it the best startup to work for.
Building a company culture that lasts, where 10 years in, you’re still buzzing to show up every day.
Co-founding and selling MeatMail (a food subscription startup) with Dave Booth, the zero-to-one story.
“This is a pretty good V1” — what Tim Ryan taught Harry about quality work and scaling startups globally.
Tilt to Airbnb: From first APAC hire to Country Manager, scaling Tilt, and what it takes to land a global “boots on the ground” role.
A bad-reception phone call that changed everything. How Airbnb’s acquisition of Tilt set Harry on a path to helping make Australia Airbnb’s most penetrated market worldwide before the IPO.
Focus as a superpower. Mastering the art of focus is the most impactful skill an operator can develop.
Learning from the best. How Patti McCord, Reed Hastings (Netflix), and the Collison Brothers (Stripe) are shaping Harry’s playbook as a world-class Chief People Officer.
Angel Investing 101. His advice for operators making their first bets.
Listen On:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Harry’s Recommended Frameworks, Podcasts & Books:
Books:
Delivering Happiness (people and culture)
No Rules Rules (Netflix culture)
The Hard Thing About Hard Things (gritty leadership)
Amp It Up (high-performance culture)
Powerful by Patty McCord (freedom + responsibility)
Radical Candor (feedback and relationships)
Great by Choice (10x leadership)
Podcasts:
Acquired, a16z, Founders, Tim Ferriss, Crucible Moments, 20VC.
Frameworks:
The One Thing (goal-setting)
The Quarterly Rhythm That Fuels Growth and High-Performing Teams (includes duplicatable resources/Notion pages)
Eisenhower Matrix (urgent/important prioritization)
Radical Candor (caring personally + challenging directly).
Operators—Future leader/vision:
Patti McCord and Reed Hastings from Netflix (culture)
Patrick Collison and the Stripe brothers (execution)
Ones to Watch & Other Folks Mentioned in the Episode:
Pene Barton (CEO at Crimson Global Academy)
Kirsti Grant (Chief People Experience Officer at Auror)
Jamie Beaton (CEO and Co-Founder at Crimson Education)
Dave Booth (Founder in Residence at Blackbird)
Mike Duboe (General Partner at Greylock Partners)
Levi Fawcett (CEO at Partly)
Tim Ryan (Co-Founder and CEO at Atomic8)
Andrew Huynh (GTM Strategy Lead, New Products at Culture Amp)
Dan Brockwell (Co-founder and Head of Program at Earlywork)
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