How I decided to move on from Constructor

A few friends and former colleagues have reached out to ask what I’ve been up to, so I thought I’d fill folks in with changes in my career, how I decided on them and what I’ve been up to since. Read on!

Way back in 2016, I joined Constructor as the first employee and worked over that time with Eli, Dan and a growing team to build a new type of eCommerce search and discovery powered by AI. At various points, I contributed to product, marketing, sales and operations - basically tackling whatever needed to be done to grow the company and team.

Fast forward 6 years and the company had grown to a healthy 8-figure ARR, 80 people, customers in over a dozen countries serving results in even more languages and a $50 million fundraise. The product and team behind it had also grown, to encompass all aspects of eCommerce discovery as well as an incredible team of PMs and engineers. In short, the future was never brighter.

So why leave??

When I thought about what I wanted to do for the next 6 years I had to pause and consider.

Friends know that three identities define me: Builder, Learner and Adventurer.

I love to build. A few of our engineers joked that I was a closet engineer myself! I feel most alive when I get to build – sometimes that’s welding or woodworking and sometimes it’s assembling teams of people to make incredible things together. As a builder, the greatest joy is going from zero to one - delivering a product where none existed before.

I love to learn. Going from 0 to 80% proficiency in a space is my happy place. In the past, I’ve taught myself to kiteboard, ski tour, mountaineer, ice climb, kayak, ultra run, mountain bike, woodwork, weld, throw ceramics, brew beer and kombucha, garden, code and 3d model. Growing with an early startup was great because it meant continual learning and finding the 20% effort to drive the 80% outcome.

I love to adventure. All those years ago when I was considering joining a small startup composed of two founders and a dream, I chose it over more staid alternatives because I reasoned it would be a great “business adventure.” It was exactly that and more! Fast forward 6 years and staying with the high-growth startup I helped build began to feel like the safe choice – it was time to seek out my next great adventures in business and life.

All these identities convinced me it was time to set off on my own path.

But first, I wanted to take the opportunity to put some distance between my identity and my work. Startup hypergrowth is great, but it led me to connect my identity with my work a little too closely. Also, I was frankly burnt out after 6 years.

So what have I been up to since then? Stay tuned!