Ep 376 - The Hustle Behind Rush Technologies
EPISODE INTRODUCTION
This week on Hustleshare, host Ron Baetiong welcomes Stephanie Kubota, president and CEO of Rush Technologies—one of 917Ventures’ most successful portfolio companies. Steph shares her journey from being a Subway sandwich artist in Boston to becoming one of the youngest CEOs in the Globe ecosystem, navigating imposter syndrome, building social capital, and making the hardest call any founder faces: downsizing her team during tech winter.
Ep Timeline:
00:02:27 – Steph’s hustle: Rush, the e-commerce and loyalty SaaS platform
00:03:50 – Origin story: growing up in an entrepreneurial family
00:06:05 – Boston University days: Skills and lessons learned
00:09:07 – Entering the Globe ecosystem
00:11:24 – Learning to sell: the three-step persuasion process
00:15:12 – Leveling up in the mothership: Globe’s detail-oriented culture
00:20:05 – How Rush was born in 2017 under Digital Ventures
00:24:56 – Folding into 917Ventures and the pandemic pivot
00:29:05] – From GM to CEO: faking it till you make it
00:32:50 – The double-edged sword of being a corporate venture
00:34:07 – The evolution of Rush to what it is today
00:39:16 – The Frankenstein leadership style: Glenn, Vince, and Ernest
00:49:25 – Social capital: planting seeds that earn interest over time
00:52:30 – The hardest call: downsizing with empathy and humanity
“People always say, "Oh, it's right sizing the organization." But to the recipient of that right sizing letter, it's all the same. And one of the biggest things I've learned going through this journey is you have to do it. There's no way around it, but do it with humanity, with empathy and be able to communicate it well and why it happened.”
Resources:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniekubota
Website: https://www.rush.ph
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
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