Episode 8: Legal @ Google, Life @ LinkedIn, & San Francisco Fashion with Kelsea Carlson, InSITE Bay Area + President (UC-Berkeley JD 2018)

*You can skip ahead & Listen to the FULL interview RIGHT HERE!

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HERE’S THE QUICK SUMMARY

Startups & Companies mentioned:

• GroupStake — “Finally. Create wealth as a group.”
• StoryJumper — “#1 rated site for making storybooks”
• LinkedIn — “the world’s largest professional network”
• Google — “don’t be evil”
• NerdWallet — “better financial decisions start here”
• Uber — “Sign up to drive or Tap & Ride”
• PoshMark — “fun and simple way to buy and sell fashion”
• TrunkClub — “personal stylists for men and women”

InSITE Fellows & Alumni mentioned:

• Josh Ephraim (InSITE Berkeley President, JD/MBA 2018)
• Sawyer Kelly (InSITE St Louis, VP Recruiting, Olin MBA 2017)
• Elaine Cheng (InSITE DC, fellow, Georgetown JD 2018)

Books, Resources, & Websites mentioned:

• A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
• The Defining Decade by Meg Jay
• Google Hangouts — “get started by calling or messaging a friend”
• Call your Girlfriend — “a podcast for long-distance besties everywhere”
• Embedded — “a podcast that goes deep on the news”
• Winston Churchill — in-depth Forbes profile
• Hillary Clinton (cool LinkedIn picture)

INTERVIEW

GUEST: Kelsea Carlson, InSITE Bay Area (Berkeley JD 2018)

[1:45] Meet Kelsea. Where did you go for college, how did you choose law school, and where are you working now?

I’m in Sunnyvale, CA this summer — one of two legal interns at LinkedIn. We have about 20 lawyers here, overall company HQ is in Mountain View.

My first job after college I was on a team of 12 legal assistants at Google supporting mobile, Chrome, and apps. I did 50% contracts work for inbound requests, making sure terms were fair when teams outsourced work and protecting trade secrets. The other 50% was product counsel support, researching launches to make sure we’re compliant in every country Google operates in.

I chose Berkeley Law School because they’re the #1 IP [intellectual property] program in the country, and because this is where I grew up! I didn’t know how many awesome speakers they have come to campus.

[8:45] Intro. How did you first hear about InSITE?

I actually heard about InSITE while I was visiting another law school, but didn’t know it was national at the time. So when I got to Berkeley, I heard about it through and friend and rushed to apply before the deadline. I connected with the president Josh Ephraim, and voila!

[9:45] Impression. What was your 1st impression based on the application process?

Pretty intimidating, but it made me think critically about my long-term vision, and I decided if I got it, I would commit to it big-time.

[10:45] Jumping into work. Describe your FIRST semester consulting assignment.

We worked with an ed-tech startup (StoryJumper) for a whole year. We wanted to start by understanding, Who’s influencing teachers? and how much does it change over time? Deliverable: We presented this info to the founder and recommended where he should be focusing his marketing efforts. One of the things we learned about was how Charter Schools are:

• more flexible since not bound to Common Core
• more open to technology adoption
• more risk-taking with innovative curriculum

2nd semester Deliverable. We created a marketing playbook: here are the channels, here’s how to reach them, here are the job titles you should reach out to on LinkedIn. The team was just a handful of employees, but we met with the founder every week over Google Hangouts.

[15:30] Expect the unexpected. What was the most unexpected thing you learned about startup culture?

“Startups don’t always know what their value will end up being, how users will use their product, and how they’ll appreciate it... A lot of it is just in their head, so getting culture right early on is a unique challenge but very important to success.”

[21:15] Turning Point. Was there a turning point during the InSITE fellowship that reinforced your desire to continue focusing on startups in your career?

This year I’ll be a co-president of InSITE. One of the best things you can do as an attorney is fully understand your client. I’ll be firm-bound after graduation, so getting experience at both massive public and small private companies so far has been great.

[23:30] Investing. What 3 companies would you angel-invest in right now?

1. NerdWallet — “better financial decisions start here”
2. Uber — “Sign up to drive or Tap & Ride”
3. PoshMark — “fun and simple way to buy and sell fashion”
4. TrunkClub — “personal stylists for men and women”

The traditional fashion vibe in San Francisco has been ratty clothes + workout gear + fleeces. It can feel like no one gets dressed up for work because there are so many young people and hipsters around.

Leaders of tech companies are often very humble people with strong core values, so they’re not too flashy and don’t overstate wealth with the way they dress.

[29:00] Events. What is your favorite event you’ve been to with InSITE?

The Trek we planned in January was one of the first things that sparked my passion. We visited all the startups and VC firms that Sawyer mentioned in his episode. I put a lot of work into making it happen, and it was great to see so many InSITE Fellows meet each other at an alumni mixer.

[30:30] Strategy. What’s your plan for running the Exec Board this year?

I want to make sure our Fellows feel like they really know each other. At my kickoff we had pizza and bowling, so I think it’s really important to have that chance to kick back and get to know each other. We’re about the same size as the DC chapter, 25–30 fellows at a time.

Our chapter can only be as strong as the Fellows willing to pitch in, help us grow, give us feedback, and stay connected.