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Beyond the Hire
On Beyond the Hire, we dive into recruiting for the GTM space, what it takes to build winning teams, and how industry leaders got to where they are today.
With your hosts: Sandra Polak and Ayse Yasas
Beyond the Hire
Inside the Art of Early Hiring with Wendy Papakostandini
Every great company starts with the people who build it. Few people know this better than Wendy Papakostandini, who has spent nearly a decade helping founders hire and scale at Anzu Partners.
In this episode of Beyond the Hire, Wendy shares practical insights for both founders and candidates, including how to assess a company’s stability and growth potential, what thoughtful questions can reveal during interviews, why low-ego operators thrive in early environments, and when it makes sense to bring in recruiting support.
She also takes us inside her work with the Volta Foundation and the Battery Talent Census, where she’s helping one of the fastest-growing sectors in tech prepare for a massive workforce expansion.
About Wendy Papakostandini: Wendy is Head of Talent and Principal at Anzu Partners, where she leads efforts to build high-performing teams for innovative hard-tech companies. In addition, she serves as Program Director of the Battery Talent Census at Volta Foundation and co-authors the Talent section of the Annual Battery Report, the industry’s most widely read workforce analysis.
Follow Wendy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypapakostandini/
