Vera Kutsenko's guest appearances

Vera Kutsenko

The Empower Podcast with Emily Kennedy

Forward Thinking Founders

Healthy Bits Podcast

Startup Foundations

Jude Gomila

Hayley Leibson

Aditi Shekar

Sarah Evans

Chris Edwards

Michael Parker

Andrew Parker

Jack Altman

Austen Allred

Immad Akhund

Leo Polovets

Jason Calacanis

Daniel Gross

Gaurav Jain

Isaac Morehouse

OwlTail

In the first installment of Startup Foundations in 2022, we chat with Vera Kutsenko, co-founder &amp; CEO of Neverland — a marketplace and an online community for houseplant enthusiasts.Vera explains where she got the idea to start Neverland, and discusses the process of building a two-sided marketplace connecting plant lovers with gardening shops across the US. She shares some details about the educational functionality of their app, which includes guidance and support around taking care of houseplants.Vera talks us through the process of building an online community in an almost cult-like space of houseplant aficionados, and how they’ve used the content-first strategy to validate what consumers want. She also shares what tactics worked for her in the fundraising stage, including tips on how to effectively cold email VCs.Vera and Greg also discuss the emotional relationship that people have to plants, where it comes from, and how Neverland tries to leverage that sentiment to appeal to the younger generation and ultimately contribute to building empathy and care for nature.

In the first installment of Startup Foundations in 2022, we chat with Vera Kutsenko, co-founder &amp; CEO of Neverland — a marketplace and an online community for houseplant enthusiasts. Vera explains where she got the idea to start Neverland, and discusses the process of building a two-sided marketplace connecting plant lovers with gardening shops across the US. She shares some details about the educational functionality of their app, which includes guidance and support around taking care of houseplants. Vera talks us through the process of building an online community in an almost cult-like space of houseplant aficionados, and how they’ve used the content-first strategy to validate what consumers want. She also shares what tactics worked for her in the fundraising stage, including tips on how to effectively cold email VCs. Vera and Greg also discuss the emotional relationship that people have to plants, where it comes from, and how Neverland tries to leverage that sentiment to appeal to the younger generation and ultimately contribute to building empathy and care for nature.

Vera Kutsenko: Community building & houseplants

Today on the podcast we’ve got Hayley Leibson and Vera Kutsenko. They are serial entrepreneurs and also the founders and Co-CEO’s of Neverland, which is a modern plant company powered by technology and community. Their mission is to connect people with nature to improve their overall well-being…which I love, because I currently have about a million plants in my house. Hayley Leibson is a Forbes 30 Under 30 2020 for consumer tech, prev. co-founded an a16z-backed startup called Lunchclub, and is a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef and certified yoga instructor. Vera Kutsenko is a Cornell alum, Ex-Facebook &amp; Uber software engineer, Thrive Global Contributor, and coached over 100 people on health and wellness. Today we talk about:  burnout culture in Silicon Valley and within startups how they are building Neverland to support people’s mental health why diversity and inclusion are important to infuse into your company and concrete and actionable steps for how you can do that from Day 1    FOLLOW OUR GUEST www.enterneverland.com Follow Neverland on Instagram   LINKS TO WHAT WE DISCUSSED HireTechLadies.com Let My People Go Surfing, by Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia founder) The Uterus Is A Feature, Not a Bug, by Sarah Lacy Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys’ Club of Silicon Valley, by Emily Chang All Raise Project Include Founders for Change   RATE &amp; REVIEW If you enjoyed this episode, please go leave a rating or review on iTunes right now as it really helps grow the show.  Rate &amp; Review on iTunes!   CONNECT WITH EMILY On Instagram, Twitter &amp; LinkedIn - @heyemilykennedy Sign up for the email newsletter: www.emilykennedy.org   Music by: Taste the Vibe - “Arctic Monkeys - R U Mine? (Mungø Remix)” unedited, via Creative Commons

Today on the podcast we’ve got Hayley Leibson and Vera Kutsenko. They are serial entrepreneurs and also the founders and Co-CEO’s of Neverland, which is a modern plant company powered by technology and community. Their mission is to connect people with nature to improve their overall well-being…which I love, because I currently have about a million plants in my house. Hayley Leibson is a Forbes 30 Under 30 2020 for consumer tech, prev. co-founded an a16z-backed startup called Lunchclub, and is a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef and certified yoga instructor. Vera Kutsenko is a Cornell alum, Ex-Facebook &amp; Uber software engineer, Thrive Global Contributor, and coached over 100 people on health and wellness. Today we talk about: <ul> <li>burnout culture in Silicon Valley and within startups</li> <li>how they are building Neverland to support people’s mental health</li> <li>why diversity and inclusion are important to infuse into your company and</li> <li>concrete and actionable steps for how you can do that from Day 1</li> </ul> FOLLOW OUR GUEST <a href="http://www.enterneverland.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.enterneverland.com</a> Follow Neverland on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/enterneverland/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> LINKS TO WHAT WE DISCUSSED <a href="http://HireTechLadies.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">HireTechLadies.com</a> <a href="https://amzn.to/30ejW7y" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Let My People Go Surfing, by Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia founder)</a> <a href="https://amzn.to/3eAm5PP" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Uterus Is A Feature, Not a Bug, by Sarah Lacy</a> <a href="https://amzn.to/3evODtZ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys’ Club of Silicon Valley, by Emily Chang</a> <a href="https://www.allraise.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">All Raise</a> <a href="https://projectinclude.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Project Include</a> <a href="https://www.foundersforchange.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Founders for Change</a> RATE &amp; REVIEW If you enjoyed this episode, please go leave a rating or review on iTunes right now as it really helps grow the show. <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-empower-podcast-with-emily-kennedy/id1440536165" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Rate &amp; Review on iTunes!</a> CONNECT WITH EMILY On <a href="https://www.instagram.com/heyemilykennedy/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/heyemilykennedy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> &amp; <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/heyemilykennedy/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> - @heyemilykennedy Sign up for the email newsletter: <a href="http://www.emilykennedy.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.emilykennedy.org</a> Music by: Taste the Vibe - “Arctic Monkeys - R U Mine? (Mungø Remix)” unedited, via <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Creative Commons</a>

059 Diversity & Inclusion & How To Do It From Day 1 with Hayley Leibson & Vera Kutsenko

About this episode:Vera and Hayley are the cofounders of Modernbasket. They do all the work of curating and delivering healthy products every week so you don't have to.Listen to this episode if you are interested in:-  Healthy Eating- Understanding operations- Founder time management- Pros and cons of moving to SF- Fundraising - Activites in an early stage startup- The vision for Modernbasket - And tons more!  ★ Support this podcast ★  

About this episode: Vera and Hayley are the cofounders of <a href="https://www.modernbasket.co/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Modernbasket</a>. They do all the work of curating and delivering healthy products every week so you don't have to. Listen to this episode if you are interested in: -  Healthy Eating - Understanding operations - Founder time management - Pros and cons of moving to SF - Fundraising  - Activites in an early stage startup - The vision for Modernbasket  - And tons more! <a href="https://forwardthinking.substack.com/" rel="payment nofollow" target="_blank">★ Support this podcast ★</a>

110 - Vera Kutsenko and Hayley Leibson  (Modernbasket) On SF Tech Scene