Lessons from Employee #1: An inside look at Building From the Very Beginning
Joining an early-stage startup can be an exciting opportunity to help build something from the beginning. But for the first employees, the experience often comes with uncertainty, changing priorities, and the responsibility of creating structure before it exists.
Without established processes or clearly defined roles, early employees have to learn how to make decisions, identify opportunities, and contribute in ways that go beyond their job description.
In this episode of Non-Founder Crew, Alicia Thomas sits down with Nicole Zartarian, an early-stage product leader who joined a healthcare IT startup as employee one, to discuss what she learned from helping grow a company from early days into a scaled business.
Nicole shares her experience navigating ambiguity, developing as a product leader, and understanding the unique influence early employees have on a company’s direction and culture.
Here are some of the key topics they explore:
Learning How to Operate Without a Roadmap
Being employee one requires a different approach to work. Nicole discusses how she learned to become self-directed, find problems worth solving, and take ownership before there were clear instructions or established workflows.
She shares how this mindset helped her grow from completing tasks to actively shaping products, processes, and team dynamics.
Turning Curiosity Into Growth
Building expertise does not always follow a traditional path. Nicole talks about how asking questions, learning from engineers, and embracing curiosity helped her develop a deeper understanding of technical systems and product decisions.
The conversation explores how early employees can accelerate their growth by staying open to learning and seeking opportunities to understand how things work.
Delegation, Trust, and Creating Space for Bigger Challenges
As startups grow, early employees often have to transition from doing everything themselves to empowering others.
Nicole shares what she learned about documenting processes, letting go of ownership, and creating room to focus on higher-impact challenges as her role evolved.
How Boundaries Can Improve Focus and Effectiveness
Nicole also discusses how becoming a parent changed the way she approached work, priorities, and time management.
She shares how setting clearer boundaries helped her focus on what mattered most and rethink the difference between being busy and creating impact.
Using Influence to Shape Company Culture
Early employees often have a unique opportunity to influence how a company develops.
Nicole talks about how she used her position to help address important company needs, including policies around parental leave and inclusion, and why employees do not always need a formal leadership title to make meaningful change.
Listen to the full episode of Non-Founder Crew with Nicole Zartarian for a closer look at what it takes to grow with a startup, build influence early, and navigate the challenges of being employee one.
Tune in to the entire episode