Coming up to my one year anniversary at Scaler, it’s impressive to reflect on how quickly we have grown over the past months. In addition to data science, engineering and business development, quick and successful growth comes down to putting processes and procedures in place.
Cat, our Chief of Staff, has done an excellent job of connecting strands and filling in gaps across the organization, while also being a key player in driving new business and product development. With a background in financial services, capital markets, fintech strategy, and carbon finance at KPMG and FIS, Cat works out of our NYC office. She enjoys supporting companies in realizing their financial goals while operating sustainably and is excited by emerging tech that continues to lower the green premium to take action toward a sustainable future.
Here are some reflections from Cat about her time at Scaler thus far.
What do you enjoy most about coming to work everyday?
It was important to me to join an organization where I believe in what I am building and which enables me to have a direct impact on the organization and feel a sense of ownership as a result of my labor. I really get this fulfilment at Scaler. There is a great sense of collaboration, where we are constantly iterating on a product that we can stand behind and be proud of.
I felt a lot of great energy when I interviewed for the role and that everyone brought something different and important to the table. I really appreciate the high level of trust I have in my colleagues. This passion, commitment to the mission and pride in our work translates into a a great company culture and a sense that you know people will go above and beyond to rise to a challenge.
What have you found challenging thus far?
Being in a start-up environment has its unique challenges. Because we are small but growing rapidly, every person we hire has a big impact on how we shape the culture of the organization. That means we have to be very intentional during the hiring process to find people with the right fit, who can fill the gaps we are looking for and who are really looking to play this kind of role. We have to ensure that the appropriate people are interviewing each candidate to feel out skills and other characteristics, as well as ensure that everyone involved has a real shared sense of responsibility for the process. It’s exciting but also a big responsibility to be involved in the hiring process so heavily.
Related to that, we also have a fairly flat organizational structure. The team needs to be nimble with a mindset that each person is an individual contributor but also has to be able to collaborate, contribute and help shape the broader strategy. Going back to hiring, it means finding people who are self-starters and feel comfortable with ambiguity and who can connect the pieces in an environment that isn’t heavy with procedures and processes yet.
What do you feel is your biggest accomplishment to date?
As the team has grown, I think we’ve managed to build in operational excellence and develop some centralized processes and policies while also maintaining the advantages associated with being a small and nimble team. We value feedback from the team so that we can build in efficiencies while not over engineering things.
It’s something we’ve tried to mirror from the product that we are building. We want the Scaler ESG platform, as well as the company itself, to be future-proof. We are set up for flexibility in how we develop and operate, in a crisp and efficient manner. It's especially important for our product as we are in an industry that is evolving very quickly, not least of all due to a regulatory landscape that is ambiguous and constantly changing.
But I’m proud of the creativity and passion we have helped to foster within an environment that has the right guard rails to give the team confidence to thrive.
