Why hiring the weirdos works with Isaiah Granet, Bland

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Mar 26, 2026

Isaiah Granet, co-founder and CEO of Bland, a voice AI startup automating real-time phone conversations. He talks hiring weirdos: prioritizing passion, curiosity, and scrappiness over resumes. Rapid pivot into voice AI and hypergrowth from pre-seed to Series B. Sourcing hidden talent in odd places, when to hire ahead, and how hiring shapes culture as headcount scales.

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ADVICE

Get Coffee With New Hires To Map Career Paths

Meet new hires one-on-one early to learn goals and tailor growth paths.
Isaiah does 20-minute coffees to discover what makes people tick and then taps them for opportunities aligned to their goals.

ADVICE

Ask The Same Interview Question Twice

Ask interview questions twice to reveal rehearsed answers or pandering.
If someone's answer changes materially or is perfectly rehearsed, it's a red flag for lack of authenticity.

ADVICE

Ask Why You'd Be Fired To Test Self Awareness

Ask candidates why they might be fired two months in to test self-awareness and ownership.
Answers blaming onboarding or resources are red flags in startups where scrappiness matters.

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If one thing has become clear this season, it’s that there is no formula to building the perfect team. But no one breaks the mold quite like this week’s guest, Isaiah Granet, the co-founder and CEO of Bland. The voice AI startup has been growing at a breakneck speed but the founding team has taken their time to prioritize passion over pedigree and find their team members in places many might not think to look.

In this episode, Isabelle Johannessen and Isaiah Granet unpack a radically different approach to hiring that prioritizes aligned work ethic, curiosity, and flexibility rather than resumes and connections. So far, that approach has worked for Bland. The scrappy team has gone from pre-seed to series B in less than a year.

They discuss:

How to identify “hidden gem” talent in unexpected places
The role of cold inbound and unconventional sourcing
When to hire ahead of need and when not to
How hiring philosophy shapes company culture at scale

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Chapters:

00:00 — Hiring for Passion Over Pedigree 02:42 — Pivoting Into Voice AI 03:49 — Explosive Growth: Pre-Seed to Series B 05:00 — Surviving Hypergrowth 10:00 — Rethinking Hiring: Finding Hidden Talent 16:30 — Building and Scaling Culture 24:00 — Who to Hire (and When to Fire) 41:30 — Compensation, Equity, and Final Lessons

New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday. Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.