{"id":44592,"date":"2023-10-20T15:37:05","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/easier-to-be-more-diverse-from-the-start-says-nitros-sam-chandler-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:37:05","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:37:05","slug":"easier-to-be-more-diverse-from-the-start-says-nitros-sam-chandler-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/easier-to-be-more-diverse-from-the-start-says-nitros-sam-chandler-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Easier to be more diverse from the start, says Nitro\u2019s Sam Chandler – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The earlier you start thinking about diversity in your startup the easier it will be to naturally grow a diverse team in the long run, according to Nitro Founder Sam Chandler.<\/p>\n

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Nitro raised $15 million in series B funding late last year and has grown its headcount considerably in the period since. During this process Chandler says diversity has been front of mind, but not enshrined in any particular policy.<\/p>\n

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The problem Nitro and Chandler are bumping into is it\u2019s far more difficult to address the lack of diversity in its engineering team now, than it would have been when it was much smaller. Chandler says women currently account for roughly 30% of Nitro\u2019s workforce, but in engineering it\u2019s \u201cwoefully below that number\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn the early days, it\u2019s a small team you can get around you as quickly as possible that are aligned, it doesn\u2019t matter if they\u2019ve got blue eyes, brown eyes, male or female, just that they can get shit done,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cKnowing what I know now I would have been much more conscious of it. Because now we\u2019ve got this big engineering team, 50 or 60 people, and it\u2019s majority guys, and now it\u2019s going to be harder.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI actually think when you have strong biases in teams one way or the other (it\u2019s bad), all girl teams are bad, all guy teams are bad. If you put a bunch of smart people with different perspectives around the table, you get a better solution than a bunch of specialists.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMost of that time that\u2019s true, particularly in technology, and in our case where you\u2019re building products for every market on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Chandler says ensuring diversity in executive teams is key.<\/p>\n

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Chief operating officer Gina O\u2019Reilly, one of just two women on Nitro\u2019s 13-strong leadership team, joined the company about seven years ago, when the team was roughly 20 strong.<\/p>\n

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Nitro currently employs about 200 people, and Chandler says the departments that have historically reported to Reilly are the most diverse.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe engineering market, particularly in the Bay Area and other places where we\u2019re recruiting pretty aggressively, like Dublin, they are the most competitive talent markets on Earth by far,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf you don\u2019t have strong female representation on your team, it means not only will you probably not get the applications in the first place, you won\u2019t close the candidates as they come through the process.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBeing committed to equality is one thing, but companies are set up ultimately to create value and I actually think it\u2019s smart business sense to be strategic about diversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Want to grow your business<\/i> with Instagram?<\/i><\/a> StartupSmart School can help.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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