#172: Stephanie Lampkin, Fortune 40 under 40, and Founder & CEO of Blendoor, an Inclusive Recruiting & People Analytics Software, on Building Bridges, Prioritizing Corporate DE&I, and the Challenges of Fundraising as a WOC
Stephanie Lampkin is the founder and CEO of Blendoor, an AI and people analytics platform that helps companies hire and retain a diverse workforce by mitigating unconscious bias and leveraging big data and analytics to drive more meritocratic decision-making. Candidates are sourced from hundreds of strategic partners & universities and presented to recruiters without name, photo or dates. Then, Blendoor integrates with a company’s HR systems to track candidates based on demographics to identify where & how bias happens; this transparency drives accountability within orgs, teams, and even individual hiring managers. In addition to measuring bias, Blendoor provides metrics that demonstrate the ROI of diversity & inclusion initiatives. With data & AI, they aim to move the discussion from social good to business intelligent.
Stephanie has had a 15 year career in the tech industry founding two startups and working in technical roles at Lockheed, Microsoft, and TripAdvisor. She holds a BS in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from MIT.
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Some of the Topics Covered by Stephanie Lampkin in this Episode
- How Stephanie taught herself coding at age 13
- What Blendoor is and what led Stephanie to found it
- Stephanie's original vision for Blendoor and how it has pivoted and evolved into what it is today
- How Stephanie created the idea at a hackathon
- How Stephanie approaches customer acquisition
- The early fundraising process for Blendoor and what she learned from it
- The importance of relationship building
- Product development as an AI SaaS B2B company
- How Stephanie has defined her ideal customers and approached sales
- Stephanie's move to Silicon Valley
- Leveraging press and PR for sales
- Building out the team for Blendoor
- How Blendoor sources diverse talent
- How Stephanie approaches partnerships for Blendoor
- Identifying and onboarding clients that are ready to work with Blendoor
- The importance of DE&I and getting companies to prioritize it
- The challenge of fundraising as a black woman
- The business model for Blendoor
- The big vision for Blendoor
- Stephanie's advice for entrepreneurs
- How Stephanie recharges away from work
- Stephanie's book recommendations
- Stephanie's entrepreneurial experience founding Hoowenware prior to Blendoor
- Deciding to get an MBA
- How to get involved with Blendoor
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