Lindsay McKinley - Comms from Startup to IPO

The DTC Enterprise Tech Podcast

What's it like to be the first communications leadership hire at a hypergrowth, IPO-bound startup? In this episode of The DTC Podcast, Ronda Scott talks with Lindsay McKinley, the first comms hire and director of communications at Samsara. She shares advice on how to swing for the fences when you're at a resource-constrained early-stage startup and how to hit the ground running when you join a fast-growing company to take it all the way through an IPO.
Key Takeaways for Comms Success

• Do the work to understand how comms can best serve current business priorities.
• Develop close relationships and trust with key stakeholders by managing expectations.
• As you build your team, hire for skillset spikes and balance of egg breakers and diplomats.
• Understand the invaluable leadership comms plays throughout the entire IPO process.
• Embrace the challenges and opportunities inherent with comms at every stage of a startup.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
04:06 Getting scrappy and successful at 15-person edtech company ClassDojo
12:15 Joining the hypergrowth team at Samsara
15:00 Three tactics to thrive in your first 30 days
18:42 Building a world class team
28:06 IPO experience through the communication lens