Founder Outcome Speaker Series: Who should I hire first and who not?
📍 Location: Venture Dock — Palo Alto
🗓 Date & Time: April 22nd, 5:00 PM – 7:30 PM
About the Event
We’re continuing our Venture Dock program: The Founder Outcome Series: conversations focused on the real decisions founders face while building companies.
For early-stage founders, few decisions matter more than the first few hires. In this candid fireside chat, Amit will share practical lessons on how founders should think about early team building, which roles matter most in the beginning, common hiring mistakes to avoid, and how to make smarter talent decisions as you scale.
A great session for founders looking for real-world, experience-driven advice on building the right team early.
👋 We’re Excited to Welcome Amit Aggarwal
Amit Aggarwal
Co-Founder & CEO, Iris (GoIris.ai)
Amit is a two-time founder and experienced operator at the intersection of AI and data. He is currently the Co-Founder & CEO of Iris, an AI-powered analytical intelligence platform backed by Bain Capital Ventures.
Before Iris, he co-founded THE YES, an AI-powered shopping platform that raised over $30M and was acquired by Pinterest.
He has also served as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Bain Capital Ventures, CTO/VP Engineering at BloomReach, and held engineering leadership roles at Groupon, Google, and Microsoft.
Amit brings a rare combination of deep technical expertise and real-world experience building and scaling teams—from early hires to high-growth environments.
This session is an opportunity to learn directly from that experience and ask the questions founders don’t usually get to ask.
Questions We’ll Explore
• Who should be your first hires and why
• What roles actually matter at the earliest stages
• Common hiring mistakes founders make early
• When to hire vs. when to wait
• How to think about talent as you move from 0 → 1 → scale
Why This Matters
A great product won’t save a misaligned team.
And the wrong early hires can slow you down for months or years.
This is a conversation about making better decisions early, when they matter most.
Event Format
• Fireside conversation with Amit Aggarwal
• Moderated discussion
• Founder Q&A
An intimate and interactive session where founders can ask real questions and learn directly from experienced operators.
Agenda
5:00–5:30 PM
Arrivals + Networking
Check in, grab a drink and food, and connect with other founders.
5:30–6:15 PM
Fireside Conversation: Building Your Early Team
A conversation with Amit Aggarwal
6:15–6:45 PM
Founder Q&A
Open discussion with the group
6:45–7:30 PM
Networking + Conversations
Continue the discussion and connect with the community
Who Should Attend
• Startup founders
• Early-stage builders
• Teams making their first hires
• Founders thinking about scaling their team
• Members of the Venture Dock ecosystem
About Venture Dock
Venture Dock is a founder-first community in Silicon Valley built for people who are actively building.
We bring together startup founders, investors, operators, and corporate partners into one space designed for real connection and real outcomes.
Through curated programming, small-room conversations, and direct access to experienced operators and investors, we focus on helping founders move faster, make better decisions, and build meaningful companies.
This is not traditional coworking.
It’s a community built around execution.
Not a Member Yet?
If you’re interested in being part of the Venture Dock community, you can apply here:
https://venturedock.fillout.com/t/gHcUcf7Tz8us