Why do people make the leap and join a new company? We share why some key members of our team did...
Joining any new company, let alone an early stage startup, is a really big decision. You are going to spend 10-12-14 hours a day with the people you are working with, and probably even more time thinking about what you are building together. It’s a decision that can have a major impact on your sense of professional accomplishment, your career trajectory, and, most importantly, your happiness.
I’m lucky because I knew my co-founders for years before we started Extend. Joe and I have worked together for almost a decade, and built multiple successful venture backed businesses. Over the five years Michael and I have worked together, he was the Head of Engineering at Estate Assist, and then the lead engineer for our team at DocuSign where we built DocuSign Payments and other innovative new features. Rohan has been a friend for over 3 years - someone I always enjoy chatting with about what we’re working on as well as new business ideas and opportunities.
When I think about the reasons I am so energized about Extend, the opportunity to get the band back together to build another business in a huge market is a big one. And on that note, I wanted to explore some of the reasons other team members decided to join us to work on building an API-first solution for extended warranties and protection plans. Check out what Carolina and Adam had to say about joining Extend…
Carolina Castellanos - Lead Designer LinkedIn
Hey, who wouldn’t want to join a team that wants to disrupt an industry by making processes smart, simple and beautiful?
As I looked for my next role, I wanted to find a place where I could make a real impact. There is so much room for improvement in user experiences in the extended warranty business, whether it’s the challenging ways merchants have had to interact with extended warranty providers, the ways customers discover and learn about protection plans as they shop, or the often-painful process to file and follow up on a claim. It’s great to be part of a team that is 100% focused on making those experiences awesome!
Another thing that stands out in my mind is that during my first conversation with Woody about Extend, he talked about how crucial it was for the team to have a designer right from the beginning, so I knew this was a company that would value my contributions And it turns out the folks at Extend value everyone’s contributions - it’s a really collaborative environment here.
We are a group of super smart, passionate, creative, fun, and honest people who are dedicated to innovating and making extended warranties better for everyone. This is big!
Adam Bailey - Head of Retail Partnerships LinkedIn
I joined Extend after spending the last three and a half years working at Affirm, where I helped to bring more innovative and customer friendly consumer finance products to retail.
Through conversations with frustrated merchants, along with my own frustrating experience trying to make an extended warranty claim, it became abundantly clear that the lack of access and predatory policies that plagued consumer finance were only magnified with extended warranties. For too long, consumers have been stuck with sub-par protection plan options that are full of fine print and gotchas.
The opportunity to help retailers generate meaningful incremental profit by delivering a more accessible and consumer friendly product is something that speaks to the core of what got me interested in fintech in the first place.
After meeting with the team and seeing that we had a shared vision, I knew that this group was best equipped to turn that vision into a reality.
As you can probably tell, we are all excited about the road ahead, and energized to build a game-changing next-generation eCommerce company.
Interested in joining too? Drop us a note… we are hiring for engineering, customer success, sales, and quality assurance roles now!
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