Middle managers are facing unprecedented burnout, but AI might be the ultimate solution to scale leadership development. Join us as Jennifer Dulski, founder and CEO of Rising Team, reveals how she went from teaching high school to scaling Yahoo and Google, and why she is now transforming how companies build high-performing teams.

In this episode of Born in Silicon Valley, Jennifer shares her incredible journey from early-stage Yahoo to becoming the president of change.org, leaving massive financial incentives on the table for the sake of global impact. She breaks down the critical lessons she learned about pattern recognition, focusing resources, and why investing in your people is the ultimate growth hack.

We dive deep into the creation of Rising Team and how it functions as a personalized leadership trainer for managers. Jennifer explains why middle managers are the most under-invested group in corporate America and how AI-driven software can provide executive-level coaching at a fraction of the cost, dramatically boosting employee retention and productivity.

For founders and hiring managers, Jennifer also drops a masterclass on the exact frameworks she uses to hire top talent. Learn how to build a foolproof hiring scorecard focusing on outcomes and attributes, and discover the specific questions you need to ask during reference checks to uncover the real truth about a candidate.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Jennifer Dulski and Rising Team
05:39 Jennifer's Journey: From Coxswain to CEO
12:14 Lessons from Yahoo: Scaling and Focus
16:43 Transitioning from Google to Change.org
23:28 The Birth of Rising Team: Solving Leadership Challenges
27:08 Empowering Middle Managers: The Overlooked Heroes
36:11 Teaching and Learning: The Impact of Education
39:10 Hiring Strategies: The Importance of Scorecards
42:44 Effective Reference Checking: Getting the Real Story
46:37 Onboarding and Measuring Success with Rising Team
48:37 Reflections: What Jennifer Would Do Differently

Host: Jake Aaron Villarreal leads the top AI recruitment firm in Silicon Valley, www.matchrelevant.com, uncovering stories of funded startups and going behind the scenes to tell their founders’ journeys. If you are growing an AI startup or have a great story to tell, email us at: jake.villarreal@matchrelevant.com