👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Ashwin talks about creating a category of healthy eating before it existed, telling customers about the tough decision to add meat to their plant-based service, and more!\

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Ashwin (Ash) is CEO & Co-Founder of Thistle, the tech-enabled organic meal delivery company focused on healthy, plant-based food to address health and climate concerns. Coming from a family of medical doctors, Ash brings a unique perspective to the business, utilizing his leadership to help the modern consumer invest in their own health and that of the planet. Ash and his wife, Shiri, were driven to found Thistle because two of the greatest challenges of our generation – our growing health crisis and the current climate emergency – pointed to a common solution: eating more plants and consuming less meat. Thistle aims to make eating healthy, plant-forward, and planet-friendly meals easy, with irresistible meals delivered directly to your door. He received his B.A. in Economics from Brown University and his JD from the University of Texas School of Law.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Shriya Nevatia (50K+ followers on LI and X) has been building community for 12+ years for founders, investors, and builders around the world. She launched the On Deck Catalyst community for elite global young leaders, helped hundreds of women start angel investing at The Council Capital, and founded The Violet Society, a pre-accelerator for female & non-binary startup founders.

👉🏼 Timestamps:

• 00:00: Episode Highlight
• 00:18: Intro to Taste & Tactics
• 00:32: Intro to Ashwin Cheriyan, co-founder and CEO of Thistle
• 02:43: How to choose the problem you want to solve
• 07:41: Choosing your audience and users
• 10:59: Being the first mover in a market, before the audience is ready
• 14:35: Why all-in-one products are important
• 16:35: How to roll out product changes and gauge customer needs
• 18:57: Catering to customers' stated (and unstated!) desires
• 25:00: Carving out a niche when the market doesn't even exist
• 29:10: How authenticity in marketing made Thistle's growth trajectory shoot up
• 33:23: How to make product decisions as a founder
• 37:47: How personal taste can (and sometimes should!) take over data
• 39:35: Learnings and takeaways from the episode
• 41:50: Outro

👉🏼 Where to find Ashwin:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashwin-cheriyan-3324137/
• Thistle - Website: https://www.thistle.co/
• Thistle - Instagram: https://instagram.com/thistleco
• Thistle - X: https://x.com/ThistleCo
• Thistle - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thistle/

👉🏼 Where to find Shriya:

• Twitter: https://x.com/shriyanevatia
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shriyanevatia/
• Taste & Tactics Twitter: https://x.com/tasteandtactics
• Taste & Tactics Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tasteandtactics/
• Taste & Tactics TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tasteandtactics
• Taste & Tactics LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/taste-and-tactics
• Taste & Tactics YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tasteandtactics
• Taste & Tactics Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72Xgo0svsNOKkCdWQnaggM

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Michele talks about scaling her startup with an intern program, teaching absolute beginners about AI, finding your target market, and more!

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Michele Van Ruiten has built AI and personalization systems from 0→1 and scaled them through YC, IPOs, and acquisitions over the last decade. She's led product across some of the most innovative consumer platforms — Stitch Fix (IPO), The Yes (acquired by Pinterest), and Capsule (YC S22, acquired) — always focusing on turning complex AI into simple, engaging user experiences.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Shriya Nevatia (50K+ followers on LI and X) has been building community for 12+ years for founders, investors, and builders around the world. She launched the On Deck Catalyst community for elite global young leaders, helped hundreds of women start angel investing at The Council Capital, and founded The Violet Society, a pre-accelerator for female & non-binary startup founders.

👉🏼 Timestamps:

• 00:00: Episode Highlight
• 00:44: Intro to Taste & Tactics
• 01:00: Intro to Michele van Ruiten, founder and CEO of CAPSULE, which was Shazam for shopping
• 02:58: How CAPSULE was acquired
• 04:54: How Michele built an intern program that actually improved the company's bottom line
• 06:43: Hiring the best interns in a crowded market
• 09:39: How to create an excellent internship program
• 15:33: Teaching beginners about AI
• 18:24: How to be a manager without being overwhelmed
• 20:00: Making sure your internship program is moving with the times
• 22:53: Building community for CAPSULE via the intern network
• 25:11: How interns change the game
• 29:30: How an internship program actually contributed to company growth
• 31:30: What Michele would change about the program
• 33:30: How personal taste can (and sometimes should!) take over data
• 38:35: Learnings and takeaways from the episode
• 40:08: Outro

👉🏼 Resources:

• Stitch Fix: https://www.stitchfix.com
• Co-Founder of CAPSULE, Kelsey Pedersen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelseypedersen

👉🏼 Where to find Michele:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelevanruiten/
• X: https://x.com/micheleraevr
• CAPSULE - YC Page: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/capsule
• CAPSULE Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopcapsule.ai/

👉🏼 Where to find Shriya:

• Twitter: https://x.com/shriyanevatia
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shriyanevatia/
• Taste & Tactics Twitter: https://x.com/tasteandtactics
• Taste & Tactics Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tasteandtactics/
• Taste & Tactics TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tasteandtactics
• Taste & Tactics LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/taste-and-tactics
• Taste & Tactics YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tasteandtactics

Taste & Tactics Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72Xgo0svsNOKkCdWQnaggM

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Aquibur talks about building agents to make marketers more efficient, how to approach employee-led company marketing, using AI to create a compelling launch video, and more!

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Aquibur Rahman is the CEO of Mailmodo (YC S21 & Sequoia Surge), a SaaS platform revolutionizing email marketing with interactive solutions. With a strong background in marketing at ClearTax India and degrees from IIT & IIM, he has positioned Mailmodo as a leader in driving ROI for marketers worldwide.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Shriya Nevatia (50K+ followers on LI and X) has been building community for 12+ years for founders, investors, and builders around the world. She launched the On Deck Catalyst community for elite global young leaders, helped hundreds of women start angel investing at The Council Capital, and founded The Violet Society, a pre-accelerator for female & non-binary startup founders.

👉🏼 Timestamps:

• 00:00: Episode Highlight
• 00:49: Intro to Taste & Tactics
• 01:05: Intro to Aquibur Rahman, founder and CEO of Mailmodo (YC S21), a SaaS platform revolutionizing email marketing
• 04:01: Using traction to validate your idea
• 05:43: Using AI to reduce marketers' load
• 08:11: How Mailmodo started an employee-led marketing campaign
• 11:05: How to set up your own employee-led marketing program
• 12:20: Using AI to create an entire launch campaign
• 16:52: Prompting advice for the best AI videos
• 17:57: Advice when building an AI-only launch video
• 18:46: Product Hunt launch mistakes at Mailmodo
• 20:26: Building an influencer marketing engine
• 23:21: Scheduling your influencer campaign for maximum impact
• 24:48: Choosing the best influencers for your campaign
• 26:10: What Aquibur would do again when repeating a launch campaign & what he'd avoid
• 27:30: The best ad platform for SaaS companies
• 28:39: What's next at Mailmodo
• 29:54: Will AI ever develop its own unique taste?
• 32:05: Learnings and takeaways from the episode
• 33:58: Outro

👉🏼 Where to find Aquibur:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aquibur
• X: https://x.com/AR_Bits
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aquibur_rahman
• Mailmodo - About Aquibur: https://www.mailmodo.com/guides/author/aquibur-rahman/
• Mailmodo: https://www.mailmodo.com/
• Mailmodo LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mailmodo
• Mailmodo X: https://x.com/mailmodo
• Mailmodo AI Launch Video: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aquibur_big-day-for-us-at-mailmodo-were-launching-activity-7383762494558912512-5fj5

👉🏼 Where to find Shriya:

• Twitter: https://x.com/shriyanevatia
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shriyanevatia/
• Taste & Tactics Twitter: https://x.com/tasteandtactics
• Taste & Tactics Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tasteandtactics/
• Taste & Tactics TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tasteandtactics
• Taste & Tactics LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/taste-and-tactics
• Taste & Tactics YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tasteandtactics
• Taste & Tactics Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72Xgo0svsNOKkCdWQnaggM