How to use 15 years of tech startup experience to build a tech startup | Caroline Cadwell on Women Disrupting Tech

Join me as I interview Caroline Cadwell to learn how she uses her 15 years of experience working for tech startups like Yelp and Wallapop to build Unpluq. Click the play button below to listen or find the 40th episode of Women Disrupting Tech via one of the links below the player.

You can also listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple, or Goodpods.

About Caroline Cadwell and Unpluq

Caroline Cadwell started her career in tech when she was only 15 years old. She got paid to remove malware from home computers, after placing an ad in a local bridge club newsletter.

After University, she joined Yelp when they had just found product-market fit. She did sales for four years and through their IPO before moving to Barcelona, where she worked with several different startups in executive roles. Nowadays, she is the CEO and co-founder of Unpluq. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.

Unpluq helps you go off your screen, and into your life. Their app and wireless keychain use existing technology to help you limit your screen time and change your habits. You can find more information on their website and download the app on your iPhone or Android device.

To follow their journey to startup fame, I invite you to follow them on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok.

The Magic You Can Expect in this episode 🪄

How does experience in the startup ecosystem help you build a startup? 

Caroline Cadwell is my guest as we discover how she uses her experiences as an early employee at Yelp in her role as CEO and co-founder at Unpluq. This Dutch startup uses technology to help you overcome your technology addiction.

In this enlightening of Women Disrupting Tech, Caroline unveils:

• ❌ the shortcomings of conventional salary negotiation advice for women, 
• 🙌🏻 how to compliment a female colleague without relying on gender stereotypes, and
• 🚀 how her experience in the startup ecosystem helps her to make Unpluq a success.

Since she worked for tech startups in both Silicon Valley and Europe, Caroline has a unique view of the strengths and weaknesses of both ecosystems when it comes to diversity in tech. On the podcast, she shares her experiences in both ecosystems: the good and the not-so-good.

What makes this episode unique 🦄?

I met Caroline through Jorn Rigter, her CTO, who suggested her as a guest. When chatting on LinkedIn, she shared so many insights that I had no trouble putting a list of questions together. 

One memorable moment for me is when she mentions that she does not like it when men say that they “like working with women because <enter your favorite gender stereotype>.”

Now, I have to admit that I’ve used this “compliment” more than once in my life. So naturally, I was curious how she perceived that and, more importantly, what to say instead. Spoiler: you actually want to make it personal.

Later in the episode, Caroline mentions a Hidden Brain podcast episode titled “Is It Better to Know?” You can find it on Spotify and all the other major podcast platforms. If you want to learn more about salary negotiation advice, please listen to this podcast episode of The Financial Feminist with Karthyn Valentine.

At the end of the episode, Caroline shares her management mantra that symbolizes how she looks at delegation as a management style: “Let me not prevent other people from being successful.”

Are you ready for some serious female founder inspo?

What’s coming up?

I will interview a Dutch VC with 30% female founders in her portfolio this Friday. And like you, I want to find out how she has made that happen.

In the weeks after, I have an exciting episode planned on creating a safe space for your team. Since psychological safety is essential to promote diversity in tech, I look forward to recording it.

By the way, you can binge the entire inspiring archive of episodes with over 1,000 minutes of Women Disrupting Tech content I published since September 2022 on Spotify, Google, Apple, or Goodpods. 

Feedback? Let me know!

 When you’ve finished listening, I’d love to hear your thoughts about this episode. 

So please do not hesitate to contact me via LinkedIn or email if you have any positive or negative feedback or if you would like to suggest a guest that I absolutely must have on the podcast.

And with that, I wish you a magical day, and keep disrupting the tech world!