Elliott Gibb is a co-founder at Mercu, a startup that makes it easier to hire, train, and retain frontline staff.

Built entirely on chat apps like WhatsApp, Mercu meets people where they already are and helps businesses save time and money by automating communication and engagement at scale.

They’re backed by investors like Peak XV Partners, Ten13, 500 Global, and more.

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👋🏼 How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

I help our team to build and sell software that makes it easier for employers to engage and retain their frontline workforce.

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🧐 What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

Building a startup will impact every aspect of your life and force you to ruthlessly prioritize what's most important to you. 

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🏆 What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

The last week.

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In early 2023 we had one month's payroll left and no parachute. It was life or death.

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Fast forward to today, and I've just spent the last ten days with our Sydney team; my co-founder Jascha just signed our biggest deal yet; we onboarded our eighth team member and shipped a massive release over the weekend that went off without a hitch.

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🔍 What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?‍

I'm genuinely excited to see how startups adapt to the new macro-environment with limited access to capital and increased scrutiny on the bottom line.

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As a product person, I like that it emphasizes building great products with fewer people rather than scaling through expensive paid acquisition, bloated teams, or discounting.

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There's going to be a lot to learn from the startups that do it well.

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💼 What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry? 

Put yourself in positions that allow you to shorten the feedback loop on good vs great work. Join a team or company that operates in sprints, not marathons. 

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Take the role before you're ready for it on paper. If you can, optimize for learning (good boss, great team, strong product), not salary.

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🗣 What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours? 

Formula 1. The combination of strategy, engineering, and drama is spicy.

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🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show? 

Succession.

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🍨 What's your go-to ice cream flavor?‍

Dark chocolate!

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FYI. We've edited this interview for clarity.