No Career Ceilings Here | Working at Paperless Parts

In this episode of Culture Uncovered, Jena Dunay sits down with Elana Silver from Paperless Parts to explore what it's like to build a career-focused culture at a fast-growing software company serving the manufacturing industry.

Elana shares the company's unique evolution from a manufacturing marketplace startup into a software platform that helps machine shops and custom manufacturers streamline quoting and operations. She also discusses why Paperless Parts places such a strong emphasis on career ownership, internal mobility, and transparent conversations about professional growth.

They also discuss the realities of scaling a company, the challenge of transitioning from startup hustle to sustainable systems, and the types of people who thrive in a mission-driven, customer-focused environment.

What you'll learn:

• How Paperless Parts evolved from a marketplace concept into a software platform serving manufacturers
• Why the company encourages employees to take ownership of their career growth and internal mobility
• How leaders create transparency around career conversations, including discussions about outside opportunities
• The challenges of scaling from startup scrappiness to repeatable systems and processes
• What types of candidates thrive at Paperless Parts and why manufacturing-adjacent experience can be a hidden advantage

Guest Highlights:

• Industry: Manufacturing software / SaaS
• Customer Base: Machine shops and custom manufacturers across industries including aerospace, medical devices, and industrial equipment
• Company Stage: Growth-stage technology company
• Culture: Mission-driven, collaborative, customer-focused, and growth-oriented
• Focus Areas: Manufacturing modernization, career development, employee growth, and operational innovation

Unique Perks & Programs:

• Employee-Owned Career Development Philosophy that encourages individuals to actively shape their own career paths
• Internal Mobility Focus with transparent opportunities for employees to explore different roles and functions across the company
• Open Career Conversations where employees are encouraged to discuss long-term aspirations and even external opportunities with leadership
• Internal Interview Process that provides employees visibility into open roles and a fair path to pursue new opportunities
• Leadership Commitment to Career Transparency, helping employees make informed decisions about their professional growth
• Cross-Functional Career Exploration that encourages employees to learn about and contribute to different areas of the business
• Relationship-Driven Recruiting Approach that emphasizes networking and long-term talent connections rather than transactional hiring
• High-Impact Growth Environment where employees can make meaningful contributions while helping scale the business and modernize the manufacturing industry

To learn more about Paperless Parts:

Careers Page (they're hiring!)
LinkedIn Page
Elana's LinkedIn

Transcript

Jena Dunay: Hello friends, and welcome back to another episode of Culture Uncovered, where we go behind the scenes of cool companies to work for across different ages, stages, industries—you name it. Today, we're talking with Elana Silver from Paperless Parts. Elana, thank you so much for joining us.

Elana Silver: Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Jena Dunay: For people who may not have heard of Paperless Parts before, tell us what the company does.

Elana Silver: Paperless Parts provides software for manufacturers. Specifically, we help machine shops and custom manufacturers streamline the way they quote jobs, manage workflows, and run their businesses more efficiently. We work with companies that make everything from aerospace components to medical devices and industrial equipment.

Jena Dunay: That's such an interesting niche because it's not necessarily an industry people think about every day, but it's incredibly important.

Elana Silver: Exactly. Manufacturing touches all of our lives, but most people don't think about the systems and businesses behind it. That's part of what makes our mission so exciting. We're helping modernize an industry that plays a huge role in the economy.

Jena Dunay: Tell me a little bit about the company itself. How big are you today, and where are you in your growth journey?

Elana Silver: We're still very much in growth mode. We've expanded significantly over the last several years, and we're continuing to scale. It's a really exciting stage because we're large enough to have meaningful impact but still small enough that individuals can make a huge difference.

Jena Dunay: I love asking this question because it gives people context. What's the origin story behind the company?

Elana Silver: The company originally started with a marketplace concept. The idea was to connect buyers and manufacturers more efficiently. Through that process, the founders realized the bigger challenge wasn't actually connecting people—it was the quoting process itself. Manufacturers were spending enormous amounts of time creating quotes and managing requests.

That realization led to the development of the software platform that exists today. The company evolved from trying to facilitate transactions to solving a much larger operational challenge for manufacturers.

Jena Dunay: That's such a great founder story because it's really rooted in listening to customers and understanding where the actual problem existed.

Elana Silver: Exactly. The best companies often evolve that way. You start with one idea, learn from the market, and discover a bigger opportunity.

Jena Dunay: Let's talk about culture. How would you describe the culture at Paperless Parts?

Elana Silver: I would describe it as mission-driven, collaborative, and growth-oriented. People genuinely care about the work we're doing and the customers we're serving. We have a lot of smart, ambitious people who want to solve meaningful problems.

At the same time, there's a strong emphasis on supporting one another. We want people to grow, develop, and have opportunities to expand their careers.

Jena Dunay: What are some of the things that make Paperless Parts unique as an employer?

Elana Silver: One thing that stands out is how seriously we take career development. We don't view career growth as something that only happens when a manager decides you're ready. We want employees to actively shape their own paths.

We've built programs and processes that encourage internal mobility and career exploration. If someone is interested in another area of the business, we want to have those conversations.

Jena Dunay: That's actually something I don't hear very often from companies.

Elana Silver: It's important to us. We want people to have great careers. If that career continues at Paperless Parts, that's wonderful. If at some point their next opportunity is somewhere else, we still want to help them make the best decision for themselves.

Our leadership team talks openly about that. One thing our CEO says all the time is that if someone gets another job offer and they're debating whether they should take it, we want them to come talk to us. We'll help them think through it objectively.

If it's truly a great opportunity and something we can't offer them, we'll be honest about that.

Jena Dunay: I love that perspective. It says a lot about how an organization thinks about its people.

I think many employees have had experiences where they were afraid to be transparent about career aspirations because they worried it would be viewed negatively. It sounds like you're intentionally creating a different environment.

Elana Silver: Exactly. Trust is really important. We want people to feel comfortable having honest conversations about their careers.

Jena Dunay: Another thing that stood out to me was your internal interviewing process.

Elana Silver: Yes. We encourage employees to apply internally for opportunities that interest them. We want people to have visibility into what's available and a fair process for pursuing those opportunities.

Jena Dunay: I love that. It creates transparency and gives people ownership over their growth.

Let's switch gears. No company is perfect. What are some challenges or areas where you're still growing?

Elana Silver: One thing that comes to mind is the natural challenge of scaling.

When you're a smaller company, a lot of success comes from sheer determination and hustle. People are willing to stay up late, solve problems manually, and do whatever it takes to get something done.

That's great in the early stages, but eventually you need systems that work consistently. You have to transition from heroic one-time fixes to repeatable processes.

We're on that journey. We've made a lot of progress, but it's something we're continuously working on as we grow.

Jena Dunay: That makes so much sense. There's a difference between startup scrappiness and building sustainable systems.

Elana Silver: Exactly. The goal isn't to lose the passion or persistence. It's to channel that energy into building scalable solutions.

Jena Dunay: Let's talk about hiring. What types of people tend to thrive at Paperless Parts?

Elana Silver: A few things stand out.

First, we love people who combine strong technical skills with customer-facing abilities. That combination is incredibly valuable for us.

We also appreciate people who have some familiarity with manufacturing, although it's absolutely not required.

One thing I always tell candidates is that manufacturing-adjacent experience counts more than they think. Maybe your parent owned a machine shop. Maybe you grew up around manufacturing. Maybe you've worked with industrial customers.

Those experiences often give people useful context and familiarity with the industry.

Jena Dunay: I love that because I think people sometimes underestimate what they know.

There are so many situations where someone has indirect exposure to an industry and doesn't realize that knowledge is valuable.

Elana Silver: Exactly. We all learn things through family, friends, and life experiences. Those experiences absolutely matter.

Jena Dunay: For someone listening who thinks this sounds like a great place to work, how can they get their resume noticed?

Elana Silver: First, please apply online. I know people often feel like applications disappear into a black hole, but we really do review resumes.

Beyond that, connect with people at the company. Reach out to managers or team members whose work interests you. Even if we don't have an immediate opening, we're always interested in meeting talented people and building relationships for future opportunities.

Jena Dunay: That's great advice.

Looking ahead over the next year or so, where do you expect to be hiring?

Elana Silver: Right now, we're seeing the most hiring activity within our customer experience organization.

That includes:

• Professional services
• Implementation teams
• Customer success

Over the slightly longer term, I expect we'll continue growing in sales and engineering as well.

So those are definitely areas for candidates to keep an eye on.

Jena Dunay: Awesome. And where can people go to learn more about Paperless Parts and the culture?

Elana Silver: Definitely visit our website and careers page. We're also active on LinkedIn and Instagram.

One really unique resource is a documentary that one of our customers actually created about us. Our customers are incredibly passionate about what we do, and this documentary tells the story of the company, our founding journey, and the evolution from the marketplace model to the software platform we have today.

It's a really fun way to learn more about who we are.

Jena Dunay: I don't think I've ever had a company tell me that a customer made a documentary about them. That's definitely a first.

Elana Silver: I know! It's pretty cool.

Jena Dunay: Well, Elana, this has been such a fun conversation. I love learning about companies in industries that people may not have considered before, and you all are doing something really unique.

Thanks again for joining us.

Elana Silver: Thank you so much. This was a lot of fun.

We’ll include all the links and information in the show notes, and we’ll see you next week on another episode of Culture Uncovered.

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