Sam kicked off 2025 with a bang, sitting down with none other than Yaniv Bernstein. He's the co-host of The Startup Podcast, former VP of Engineering at Airtasker, ex-Google-er, and all-around startup legend.

In this episode, we dive into the mindset, mechanics, and missteps of scaling early-stage startups. Yaniv talks candidly about what drew him into the startup world after a decade at Google, how he accidentally launched a bootstrapped podcast business, and why the title "Principal Engineer" is often misunderstood, especially in startups.

Whether you're an aspiring founder, a startup engineer with ambition, or someone trying to decode the difference between a CTO and a VP of Engineering (spoiler: it's messy), this is one to get stuck into.

Here’s a taste of what we get into:

💡 What makes a great startup hire (smart, gets shit done, and thrives in chaos)

💡 Why founders should do everything themselves until they absolutely can’t

💡 Principal Engineers as multipliers, not managers

💡 Hiring too senior, too soon: the rookie mistake most founders make

💡 AI’s impact on engineering teams and why junior devs should be worried

💡 The difference between being a technical founder and a founder with technical help

💡 Knowing the rules of the game: the most underrated startup advice ever

💡 How a podcast side hustle accidentally turned into a real business

This episode is honest, unfiltered, and packed with wisdom from someone who’s seen it all – from corporate giant to zero-to-one startup and everything in between.

If you're in tech, thinking about launching a startup, or just want to understand how high-performing teams actually get built, do yourself a favour and listen in.

#ScaleUp #SoundBytes #ScaleUpRecruitment