Recruit Rockstars 329: 2,600-Mile Hike Prepared Her to Become C.O.O. - a podcast by Strong Suit

Emma Stubbs is a Rockstar.

After graduating from Harvard in Neurobiology, she decided to take a hike.

Literally.

Covering 2,600 miles from Mexico to Canada.

Then, she joined a little-known startup called CircleUp. And after 4 promotions in 5 years, she’s now Chief Operating Officer.

Since then, CircleUp has become the leading investment platform providing capital to innovative, early-stage CPG brands with a modern, scalable approach to private markets.

In short, she helps CPG entrepreneurs thrive.

CircleUp’s investment platform finds & evaluates potential investment deals all algorithmically. It then invests equity and/or debt.

CircleUp has raised venture funding from the best: Union Square Ventures, Collaborative Fund, GV, Canaan Partners, QED Investors, Rose Park, and Maveron.

I wanted to find out how she’s scaled the CircleUp team to 70 people (and what possessed her to take that 2,600-mile hike.)