(#11) Aaron Rubens: Kudoboard, Celebrating Moments That Matter At Work, Building Products that Deliver Joy, Gratitude & Appreciation At Scale, Staying Capital Efficient & Riding Viral Waves.
Aaron Rubens is the Co-Founder & CEO of Kudoboard. An online workplace appreciation software that’s helping tens of millions of people every day at top companies globally, work harder, and stick around longer, thanks to feeling more appreciated at work.
Aaron graduated from Tulane University, after becoming a high school math teacher through Teach for America. After teaching, he led the creation of Khan Academy’s White House-sponsored 4-year college admissions technology resource, for low-income, high potential students. From there, he got his MBA from Harvard Business School, and went on to build Kudoboard, growing it into the incredible cash-efficient enterprise it's become today.
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OUTLINE:
00:00 Start
02:20 Mission
05:47 The Conceiving of Kudoboard
07:06 The Power of Niching Down
11:27 Superpower
14:22 Kryptonite
19:38 Aaron’s 5-Minute Hero’s Journey
28:45 From Bootstrapping to Raising Growth Capital
34:06 Early Signals of Strength & Interest
36:41 Harvard Business School
39:01 From Idea to Going Full Time
43:43 Testing & Building the MVP
50:03 Biggest "Woah" Moments (So Far!)
01:00:19 Product Usage, Segmentation & Competition
01:04:35 Core Values That Drive Kudoboard's Culture
01:19:45 Rhythms & Rituals At Kudoboard
01:22:23 12-18 Month Focus
01:30:35 Aaron’s 5-Year Crystal Ball
01:35:11 Generative AI In The Product?
01:40:06 Internationalizing The Product
01:42:08 Rapid Fire Questions
01:44:03 Career Advice
01:48:30 Personal Insights
01:50:03 Closing Remarks
Honorable Mentions:
More info on Aaron Rubens:
Aaron Rubens is the co-founder and CEO of Kudoboard, a platform primarily used for workplace appreciation on special occasions, company events, and everything in-between. Rubens, a Tulane graduate with an MBA from Harvard Business School brings a rich background in education and technology.
His early career was focused on education, having taught high school math at Alta Vista Charter School in Kansas City, joining a highly selective national service corps, Teach for America. During this time, he designed and taught the entrepreneurship class and conceived the idea of Kudoboard: at year-end, he’d have students write their name and what they liked about each other on notes and pass it around to classmates.
After teaching, he led the creation of Khan Academy’s White House-sponsored 4-year college admissions technology resource for low-income, high potential students. As a concerned citizen during college, Aaron established a 501(c)(3) nonprofit called The NOLA Fund dedicated to rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina where he fundraised over $100,000 during the first year of operations through viral marketing and email campaigns.
Connect with Aaron Rubens on LinkedIn.
More info on Kudoboard:
Kudoboard is an online workplace recognition platform for special occasions, company events, and shout-outs. Kudoboard’s mission is to empower people to give authentic appreciation. Kudoboard was founded in 2015 and is used by 10,000+ organizations globally, including companies like T-Mobile, Gusto, and GoFundMe. With over 10 million users enrolled, the company is continuously inspired by the creative appreciation initiatives companies and employees embark upon using the platform.
Visit Kudoboard on the web.