Jack Dorsey Hired Me from My Dorm Room As Employee 100 @ Square | Mike Donahue, CRO @ Maven AGI
Vibescaling Podcast
Growing Leanplum From Series A to D
Mike reflects on scaling Leanplum globally, building leadership, and lessons from rapid growth.
Episode Description:
Mike Donohue is the CRO at Maven AGI, one of the fastest-growing AI agent companies focused on customer support automation.
Before Maven, Mike was SVP of Sales at Gubshup, a messaging AI tool, and spent time at PayPal to give BigCo a spin.
He was an early sales hire at Lean Plum, growing with the company from Series A through Series D and competing head-to-head with Braze during the mobile marketing wars.
Mike's career started unconventionally - while captain of the varsity heavyweight rowing team at Columbia, he ran a dorm business doing room cleaning, dry cleaning, and beverage delivery.
He started using Square to process payments, fell in love with the product, and eventually got hired directly by Jack Dorsey when the company was sub-100 employees.
He's a Philly native who will tell you Tony Luke's beats Pat & Geno's as the best cheesesteak in Philly.
Discussed in this episode:
- Why sales is a science, not an art - and why hiring "artists" at scale doesn't work
- The interview question that reveals how candidates actually use AI: meh, good, and great answers
- How Mike went from running a dorm business at Columbia to getting hired by Jack Dorsey at Square
- The athlete mentality in sales and why "the score takes care of itself"
- Where AI agents are actually delivering ROI in customer support today
- The Braze vs. Lean Plum horse race: what competing from Series A to C taught him about GTM
- Why sales dinners are dead and education-first selling is the new playbook
- How to stand out when reaching out for a job (hint: it's not just a LinkedIn DM)
- Why the best salespeople are building with AI tools like Claude and Windsurf, not just using ChatGPT for interview prep
Episode Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro & Best Philly Cheesesteak: Why Tony Luke's Beats Pat & Geno's
(04:00) Running a Dorm Business at Columbia & Discovering Square
(08:00) Getting Hired by Jack Dorsey When Square Was Sub-100 Employees
(12:00) The Athlete Mentality in Sales: "Score Takes Care of Itself"
(18:00) Why Sales is a Science, Not an Art - Playbooks Beat Artists
(24:00) How to Evaluate AI Usage in Sales Interviews: Meh, Good & Great Answers
(30:00) "I Vibe Coded 80% of My Outbound in Windsurf" - What Impresses Hiring Managers
(38:00) Where AI Agents Are Actually Working in Customer Support
(45:00) The Braze vs Lean Plum Horse Race: Competing from Series A to C
(52:00) Why Sales Dinners Are Dead & Education-First Selling is Winning
(58:00) Maven AGI is Hiring - What Mike Looks For in Candidates
About The Vibescaling Podcast:
The Vibescaling Podcast interviews GTM leaders and investors at top AI startups and early-stage companies.
Every week, host Chris Balestras, partner @ Vibescaling (an advisory, recruiting, investing, & media firm for seed through series C AI-natives & SaaS startups) sits down with GTM operators from the fastest-growing AI natives and SaaS companies to break down what's actually working in go-to-market today.
No fluff, no theory - just honest, tactical insights from people in the trenches building the next generation of AI breakouts.
About Vibescaling:
Vibescaling is an advisory, recruiting, media, & investing firm for seed through series C AI-natives & fast-growing SaaS startups scaling from 0 to $100M ARR.
Where to Find VibeScaling:
The AI-powered Podcast Player
