Beyond the Hire
Beyond the Hire
Podcast Description
On Beyond the Hire, we dive into recruiting for the GTM space, what it takes to build winning teams, and how industry leaders got to where they are today.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on recruiting strategies for sales roles, team building in startups, and personal success stories of influential sales figures. Episodes include discussions on cold emailing techniques, building authentic business relationships, and the flaws of traditional networking methods, with guests like Drew Sechrist elaborating on relationship-based sales development.
On Beyond the Hire, we dive into recruiting for the GTM space, what it takes to build winning teams, and how industry leaders got to where they are today.
With your hosts: Sandra Polak and Ayse Yasas
What does it take to build real community in venture capital, and how can it shape your entire career?
In this episode of Beyond the Hire, Niamh O’Donnell shares how she went from running her own company at sixteen to working inside Ireland’s most influential innovation ecosystem and ultimately landing in the Bay Area. She breaks down how thoughtful networking opens doors, why intention matters more than transaction, and why founders and future investors should embed themselves in the right circles early on.
Niamh also offers a candid look at her work at Unusual Ventures, what makes standout founders and teams, and the traits that help people thrive in zero to one environments.
About Niamh O’Donnell: Niamh O’Donnell is the Director of Programs at Unusual, where she runs Unusual Academy and other initiatives to help early-stage founders access the right insights and connections at the right time. Her expertise stems from prior roles at 500 Global, where she led co-investor relations, Enterprise Ireland, where she helped Irish startups expand into the US, and Notre Dame’s IDEA Center, where she supported the commercialization of emerging startups. Before that, Niamh worked at the forefront of XR and generative AI at Ascend Learning and was an award-winning entrepreneur herself, lending her rare empathy to the pace and ambiguity of the zero-to-one stage. Niamh holds degrees from The University of Notre Dame, KEDGE Business School, and Dublin City University, and lives in San Francisco.
Follow Niamh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niamh-o-donnell/
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