The word of the month in New York tech is “thoughtful.” And local tech professionals say there’s no more thoughtful place than their offices.
Libby Perold, senior manager of product design at Alma, a healthtech company focused on mental health, commended her colleagues for their empathy, humility, and their quickness to learn from their mistakes. Alma is currently hiring, and Perold told Built In NYC she specifically looks for these and other markers of thoughtfulness during interviews.
“I look for collaboration and curiosity in candidates,” Perold said. “Do they consider their colleagues’ needs in addition to their users? Do they seek to understand before jumping to conclusions? How do they invite others into their process and show a bias toward inclusion?”
At fellow healthtech company Zocdoc, Nick Finger, director of commercial analytics and strategy, said thoughtful teammates make a direct impact on his work. Finger said his teammates take a careful and considerate approach to their analysis, which makes them better problem-solvers and ultimately improves the quality of Zocdoc’s analytics.
Thoughtfulness manifests itself in different ways, but the common denominator in the workplace is a team and company that do things in the best interests of each other and their users. Alma and Zocdoc fit the bill and are both hiring, as do the five other companies featured here.
Audible is an entertainment company that is changing the way people access stories through audio storytelling.
What’s one word you would use to describe your colleagues?
The one word I would use to describe my colleagues at Audible is “Bar-raising”. I choose the word “Bar-raising” as my colleagues and company culture not only encourage me to think deeply but also go above and beyond with my responsibilities. Following are some of the important traits that I would look for in potential colleagues at Audible.
Problem solver: My colleagues should inherently be problem solvers. Audible offers wide scale opportunities that not only foster growth but also challenge you with solving global customer impacting problems. As a manager, I am presented everyday with technical as well as non-technical problems that do not have a straight forward solution. Being able to think out of the box and consider alternative solutions is an important problem-solving skill to have.
Team Player: At Audible, we believe in team work. It is important to teach those around you and also learn from your team members irrespective of experience levels. This is also another way of exemplifying one of our People Principles, “Activate Caring”, which is an important aspect of Audible’s culture. This also means we succeed as a team and celebrate as a team.
Inclusive: Given the inclusive culture at the company, our colleagues are encouraged to be themselves and also support each other’s differences. Our various initiatives such as the Tech Allyship Committee reinforce the message on mindful communication.
Audible believes in investing in its employees and I believe the same with my team.”
How has your skill set and overall career grown at Audible?
My overall career goal is to be a tech leader as well as a mentor. Since joining the company nearly two years ago, I have had opportunities to lead international initiatives that gave me exposure to revenue-impacting large scale projects. These opportunities have helped me grow personally as well as professionally. In a short amount of time, I have gained a broader business perspective by working with large teams across the company.
In addition, working with my team on day-to-day issues and challenges has provided opportunities to learn and grow technically. Participating in AWS study groups, an initiative led by employees across teams, has encouraged me to upskill my technical knowledge. Audible believes in investing in its employees and I believe the same with my team. Mentoring folks inside and outside my team has given me an opportunity to give back and internalize the growth mindset.
People use Zocdoc to book appointments with local healthcare professionals, including doctors, dentists and psychologists. Along with booking appointments, users can also read and write reviews.
What’s one word you would use to describe your colleagues?
I would describe my colleagues as thoughtful and feel lucky that I can say they’re extremely thoughtful in several ways. Working in analytics, it is important to carefully think through how to approach problems and to double- and triple-check your logic. My teammates are thoughtful in the way they conduct deep analysis, which makes them very effective in solving complex problems and a great group to work with.
In addition, and more importantly, the people I work with are also very thoughtful and considerate of others in working to create a collaborative work environment. I’m grateful to work with a group of people who apply their thoughtfulness both to our work and to the culture that we are building.
Zocdoc has given me the chance to expand my technical toolkit and taught me invaluable problem-solving skills.”
How has your skill set and overall career grown at Zocdoc?
I’ve gotten the opportunity to take on an immense number of fascinating analytical challenges. Zocdoc has given me the chance to expand my technical toolkit and taught me invaluable problem-solving skills. Beyond that, I have gotten the opportunity to grow into a leadership role, build out a team, and coach and mentor more junior team members. I am learning new things constantly at Zocdoc and could not think of a better place to build a career.
Keyway is a real estate technology company that uses artificial intelligence to streamline and bring increased transparency to consumer real estate deals for small and medium-sized businesses. Its solutions enable companies to sell their properties, buy new ones and find rent-to-own deals entirely online.
What’s one word you would use to describe your colleagues?
I would describe my teammates as “thoughtful” for several reasons. At Keyway, we are focused on simplifying the selling and buying of commercial real estate for everyone. By aligning with this goal, our team is thoughtful about how they can challenge the status quo in the industry. This runs in tandem with being thoughtful about our customer experience and how we can make it better. Given we are still in the early stages, the team is also thoughtful about what we can do better when it comes to teamwork or even with regard to how we run our business.
I’ve been given the opportunity to be a leader and rise to the challenges that interest me.”
How has your skill set and overall career grown at Keyway?
At Keyway, I’ve sharpened my product execution and strategy skills by building zero-to-one product roadmaps, doing market analysis and prioritizing building features that matter. I have also fine-tuned my UI/UX skills and learned new technical skills, like Google Cloud Platform. I’ve been given the opportunity to be a leader, rise to the challenges that interest me and focus my time on where I can have the most impact. Keyway has also invested in personalized tools and resources to support me and is open to talking about what I need to be my best self.
Alma is on a mission to expand access to mental healthcare through technology. It provides a directory of mental healthcare providers for those seeking treatment while giving the caregivers on its platform access to tools designed to make running their practices easier, including tech for accepting insurance as payment.
What’s one word you would use to describe your colleagues?
I’d choose “thoughtful” because it describes three qualities I recognize and admire in my colleagues. First, they seek to understand one another and lead with empathy and acknowledge how our work impacts all people. Second, they stay open-minded and humble and are willing to be wrong and to learn. Finally, my colleagues put empathy into action.
As someone who comes from a human-centered design background, I look for collaboration and curiosity in the candidates I interview. Do they consider their colleagues’ needs in addition to their users? Do they seek to understand before jumping to conclusions? How do they invite others into their process and show a bias toward inclusion? These are behaviors I hold myself accountable to as well.
I feel grateful to show up to work every day and make an impact alongside a group of people who are high-empathy and low-ego.”
Why is your industry an exciting place to work right now, and what role does Alma play within it?
I’m excited to work in mental healthcare because the problems are complex and access to care matters more than ever. Coming out of the pandemic, I think my work has even greater meaning. Our mission at Alma is to simplify access to high-quality, affordable care. We deliver on that mission by giving care to the caregivers — helping mental health providers run and grow thriving private practices.
Without being prescriptive or overly directive, we strive to make the experience of accepting insurance feel approachable for both providers and their clients. As for technology, we do what we can to support our users’ well-being, respecting the gravity of the space we’re in and working hard to earn and keep their trust. I feel grateful to show up to work every day and make an impact alongside a group of people who are high-empathy and low-ego.
Large general contractors and more specialized subcontractors use Constrafor’s software to manage contracts, invoices and process payments. According to the company, its software has been used by more than 15,000 contractors to manage more than 1,500 projects and $500 million-plus worth of invoices.
What’s one word you would use to describe your colleagues?
Authentic. I have been part of highly innovative teams in 10 different industries over the past couple of decades. While the Constrafor team checks off all the positive attributes that are critical to succeed as an innovative startup, it’s their authenticity that really stands out. Our team adheres 100 percent to our values, which include making the construction industry more productive, inclusive and financially stable through digital innovation.
The Constrafor team checks off all the positive attributes that are critical to succeed as an innovative startup.”
Why is your industry an exciting place to work right now, and what role does Constrafor play within it?
It’s an exciting time to play a role in the construction space. Construction is one of the largest industries, and its impact on the economy and environmental sustainability truly intrigues me. Particularly, its reemergence from COVID-19 and the scale of its impact on climate pledges make it an exciting space to innovate and create a positive impact through digital technologies.
Constrafor’s innovative SaaS and fintech products ensure financial sustainability for thousands of small and medium specialty contractors as well as large general contractors.
Dentists use Torch’s inventory management and supply ordering platform to bring down costs and streamline previously manual processes. The company helps dentists save money on supplies by pooling orders, thereby enabling smaller practices to secure bulk pricing deals.
What’s one word you would use to describe your colleagues?
Collaborative. At Torch, one of our core values is “one team,” and my colleagues embody this trait. Whether it is a tenured AE showing new SDRs the ropes or a product manager hosting office hours to unite sales and operations, Torch is committed to improving as a whole. Unlike other sales floors that have cutthroat competition and individualism, everyone at Torch is willing to share what they are doing to be successful. It is this commitment to being a team and to our supportive culture that sets us apart.
Everyone at Torch is willing to share what they are doing to be successful.”
Why is your industry an exciting place to work right now, and what role does Torch play within it?
Most people don’t realize how far behind the dental industry is in terms of modernization. I never realized that just to get my cavity filled, dentists have to jump through so many hoops to get their supplies. Practices face many threats, like antiquated ordering processes and opaque pricing. Vendors do not put dentists’ interests first, investor-owned practices are popping up more and more, and on top of all of that, there is no professional ordering system.
Torch is focused on disrupting the industry with innovative technology that empowers doctors and their staff to be more efficient. To me, it is surprising that the current system has lasted this long and it is exciting to be a part of the solution. Torch is obsessed with revolutionizing how the dental industry orders and bringing the power back to practices.
Sisense’s software enables companies to embed analytics dashboards into applications and workflows. Its platform is designed to be easy to use, with dashboards able to be installed without any coding required.
What’s one word you would use to describe your colleagues?
Inclusive, which is one of our core values. Everyone on the team welcomes all and that’s part of what makes Sisense so great because it creates a culture of collaboration, idea generation, open communication and trust.
Everyone on the team welcomes all and that’s part of what makes Sisense so great.”
Why is your industry an exciting place to work right now, and what role does Sisense play within it?
Business intelligence is key to all companies. Having data readily available and easy to access makes companies better equipped to make smart business decisions. At Sisense, this is what we do.
