Meeting Title: Brainforge Onboarding Check-in Date: 2026-03-25 Meeting participants: Kaela Gallagher, Advait Nandakumar Menon
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1 00:01:07.740 ⇒ 00:01:08.770 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Hello.
2 00:01:09.720 ⇒ 00:01:11.470 Kaela Gallagher: Hey, how’s it going?
3 00:01:12.940 ⇒ 00:01:14.779 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Going good, how about you?
4 00:01:14.780 ⇒ 00:01:21.100 Kaela Gallagher: Good. Thanks for taking a few minutes for me. Yeah.
5 00:01:21.100 ⇒ 00:01:21.919 Advait Nandakumar Menon: No problem.
6 00:01:22.340 ⇒ 00:01:30.519 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, I… I’ve been traveling all morning, and I just got to my desk. Okay.
7 00:01:30.520 ⇒ 00:01:30.840 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Oh, God.
8 00:01:30.840 ⇒ 00:01:45.710 Kaela Gallagher: Excuse me if I’m a little bit all over the place, but I didn’t want to just do, like, a one-week check-in and make sure, like, everything is going super smoothly for you. So I guess just starting off, like, how has your experience been so far?
9 00:01:47.790 ⇒ 00:01:54.280 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I’ve really enjoyed this first week, like, I have definitely, it’s a fun challenge.
10 00:01:54.400 ⇒ 00:02:10.139 Advait Nandakumar Menon: And since you guys are in a fast-moving environment, I’ve been learning a lot of things very quickly, and I’ve expressed this to Uttam and Robert as well, like, how impressive this whole Brainforge platform and the automated setup is like, and how…
11 00:02:10.139 ⇒ 00:02:16.009 Advait Nandakumar Menon: The overall team works, and how the communication flows, and how collaborative you guys are, so…
12 00:02:16.150 ⇒ 00:02:22.489 Advait Nandakumar Menon: At the same time, there is space to work independently as well, since we are all async, so…
13 00:02:22.490 ⇒ 00:02:23.110 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah.
14 00:02:23.110 ⇒ 00:02:34.739 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, it’s… it’s a nice space to have our own thoughts and ideas, so… so far, I’m really… really like… I really like working here, and I can see myself contributing more, so… yeah, it’s… it’s fun so far.
15 00:02:35.120 ⇒ 00:02:45.849 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, amazing, I’m so glad to hear that. And you… okay, so you’ve met with Utam, Robert, Awash, Amber, and I’m sure.
16 00:02:46.220 ⇒ 00:02:48.530 Kaela Gallagher: Other people on the team, as well.
17 00:02:48.530 ⇒ 00:02:49.130 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, yeah.
18 00:02:49.130 ⇒ 00:02:53.029 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, do you have regular calls set up with Robert?
19 00:02:53.390 ⇒ 00:03:08.039 Advait Nandakumar Menon: No, that’s something I’m planning to do. I want to check with Robert, like, what’s his, what preference for the one-on-one, like, recurring meeting? So, that’s something I’m yet to do, but it’s on my to-do list.
20 00:03:08.580 ⇒ 00:03:17.009 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay, yeah, I would say definitely, like, reach out to him, at least in the beginning, I feel like, especially. It’s good to have just regular touchpoints.
21 00:03:17.010 ⇒ 00:03:17.490 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Okay.
22 00:03:17.490 ⇒ 00:03:22.789 Kaela Gallagher: just make sure you’re on the right track. So, I think that’s, like, very fair to… to ask him.
23 00:03:22.790 ⇒ 00:03:24.440 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Cool.
24 00:03:24.670 ⇒ 00:03:36.799 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, and you’ve got everything set up, or is there any, like, pending tooling, or any, like, access to platforms, or anything like that that you… you need?
25 00:03:38.030 ⇒ 00:03:47.460 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I don’t think so. I’ve got access to all the tools, by now. Yeah, I’m using Clockify as well regularly, so I don’t think…
26 00:03:47.930 ⇒ 00:03:51.700 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I… I have access to all the platforms for now, yeah.
27 00:03:51.940 ⇒ 00:04:00.999 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Okay. Oh yeah, maybe HubSpot is one thing that’s mentioned in my ramp-up plan, like the 10, 30, 60, 90-day plan that you guys have set up for me, so…
28 00:04:01.220 ⇒ 00:04:05.400 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I don’t have access to HubSpot as of… no.
29 00:04:05.400 ⇒ 00:04:10.140 Kaela Gallagher: Okay. What would you be using HubSpot for? Like, what client was that for that they mentioned?
30 00:04:10.140 ⇒ 00:04:17.109 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Even I’m not sure. It was just mentioned in my ramp-up plan, so I thought of checking with you.
31 00:04:17.290 ⇒ 00:04:24.739 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay. I’ll, ask Rico about that, and I’ll look into your, like, ramp-up plan, too, and.
32 00:04:25.220 ⇒ 00:04:28.840 Kaela Gallagher: see if we… we might need to get you access to that. Okay.
33 00:04:28.840 ⇒ 00:04:29.180 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Okay.
34 00:04:29.180 ⇒ 00:04:29.790 Kaela Gallagher: Okay.
35 00:04:29.970 ⇒ 00:04:42.400 Kaela Gallagher: I guess, like, overall, have you feel like the ramp-up has been smooth? Like, you’re really the first person we’ve kind of, like, piloted this onboarding program with, so curious if you have any.
36 00:04:42.400 ⇒ 00:04:42.830 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Hell yeah.
37 00:04:42.830 ⇒ 00:04:44.090 Kaela Gallagher: back about that.
38 00:04:44.590 ⇒ 00:04:52.320 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, so I… it has been pretty smooth, it’s very, like, structured and laid out, the…
39 00:04:52.430 ⇒ 00:05:03.599 Advait Nandakumar Menon: documents you have given me, the onboarding guide, the ramp-up learn, and everything. I did want to mention this as a feedback, since, you guys said you would appreciate me being transparent.
40 00:05:03.600 ⇒ 00:05:20.889 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah. Some of the GitHub links, some of the Notion pages, it wasn’t really accessible. Like, for the GitHub links, it said it doesn’t exist anymore, or the Notion page has been moved to trash, so that’s one feedback I wanted to give. I thought of filling this in the survey form as well, which…
41 00:05:21.040 ⇒ 00:05:26.429 Advait Nandakumar Menon: You sent a link for, so… yeah. That’s the only thing I would say.
42 00:05:26.510 ⇒ 00:05:41.019 Kaela Gallagher: You know what is so funny is I actually had the same issue when I used that onboarding guide, like, very recently, so, that is a very good point. I know that that is totally correct, so I will look into.
43 00:05:41.020 ⇒ 00:05:41.400 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah.
44 00:05:41.400 ⇒ 00:05:42.969 Kaela Gallagher: Make sure we can get, like.
45 00:05:43.550 ⇒ 00:05:47.709 Kaela Gallagher: Up… I’m sure we just need to, like, update the links, so.
46 00:05:47.710 ⇒ 00:06:05.610 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, once you are in the system, like, within GitHub and Notion, like, when you are used to a couple of the workflows and stuff, it’s easy to find, but for someone new that’s joining on the first day and not able to find it, I would imagine it makes sense to improve that aspect for whoever’s going to join next, so yeah.
47 00:06:05.610 ⇒ 00:06:10.759 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah. Were you able to find, like, the GitHub content eventually? Like, once you were within.
48 00:06:10.760 ⇒ 00:06:11.830 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Oh, yeah, yeah.
49 00:06:11.830 ⇒ 00:06:13.310 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay, so it’s.
50 00:06:13.310 ⇒ 00:06:17.289 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I had to find my way through, yeah, you have to just update the link.
51 00:06:17.660 ⇒ 00:06:25.390 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay, cool. That should be simple. I’ll definitely be sure to do that. Thank you for that, that feedback. Yeah.
52 00:06:25.560 ⇒ 00:06:35.639 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, cool. And in terms of, like, your hours, your schedule, what you’re working on moving forward, you feel like you have, like, pretty clear expectations?
53 00:06:36.170 ⇒ 00:06:44.649 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, so for right now, I’m focusing on Element, and, like, just this morning, between me, Robert, and even Greg.
54 00:06:44.750 ⇒ 00:06:52.580 Advait Nandakumar Menon: We had a meeting discussing what it’s going to look like with respect to staffing, because I think they’re waiting for a renewal as well.
55 00:06:52.700 ⇒ 00:07:11.230 Advait Nandakumar Menon: So, yeah, so for now, the main work is going to fall on me and Greg, and Amber will be there to support as I ramp up and get used to the environment and the workflow and the context of Element overall. So, yeah, I have, pretty much a clear,
56 00:07:11.460 ⇒ 00:07:13.469 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Direction as to how it should go.
57 00:07:13.660 ⇒ 00:07:20.829 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay, cool, awesome. You’re based out in Ohio, right?
58 00:07:21.230 ⇒ 00:07:22.010 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, yeah.
59 00:07:22.010 ⇒ 00:07:24.189 Kaela Gallagher: Right. How long have you lived there?
60 00:07:25.070 ⇒ 00:07:39.159 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I came to the US for my Master’s at the University of Cincinnati. I’m not sure if you have heard of it, but I’ve been in Ohio since then. I have been here for two and a half years now. I came in 2023 fall.
61 00:07:40.010 ⇒ 00:07:48.539 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay. Would you be open to, like, relocating to maybe LA or Austin? Okay, okay, cool.
62 00:07:48.540 ⇒ 00:07:55.570 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, yeah, that’s… or is that a plan you guys have, like, I’m just trying to understand.
63 00:07:55.920 ⇒ 00:08:00.199 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, we’re… we’re talking about it, because right now, there’s, like.
64 00:08:00.480 ⇒ 00:08:06.920 Kaela Gallagher: five of us in LA, and we just get together, like, once a week, like, we just go get lunch.
65 00:08:06.920 ⇒ 00:08:07.910 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I’ve been down there.
66 00:08:07.910 ⇒ 00:08:08.630 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah.
67 00:08:08.630 ⇒ 00:08:10.430 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I’ve seen the… yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
68 00:08:10.430 ⇒ 00:08:23.259 Kaela Gallagher: So that’s been, like, super fun, and I think Robert is feeling a little bit of FOMO, and so I think he’s considering, like, moving back to LA, because he used to live here.
69 00:08:23.500 ⇒ 00:08:40.610 Kaela Gallagher: And so then Robert’s like, well, if I move there, like, maybe we could get an office space, and maybe we could, you know, look for team members that would be, you know, interested in moving there, too. We’re just… nothing’s set in stone yet, but I’m just like…
70 00:08:40.610 ⇒ 00:08:41.299 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Thus, throughout.
71 00:08:41.309 ⇒ 00:08:44.149 Kaela Gallagher: Throwing it out there. Just… just… yeah.
72 00:08:44.150 ⇒ 00:08:44.580 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I am…
73 00:08:44.580 ⇒ 00:08:46.179 Kaela Gallagher: Probably be later this year.
74 00:08:46.560 ⇒ 00:08:52.489 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, I’m open to a relocation if that’s in the books or in the cards, but yeah, it’s not an issue for me.
75 00:08:52.490 ⇒ 00:09:02.940 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay, cool, that’s exciting. Just curious. Alrighty, well, I’m glad to hear things are going well. Is there anything else that you need from me outside of the HubSpot?
76 00:09:03.700 ⇒ 00:09:13.619 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, I wanted to check this with you, like, I know it’s still a little early, but I wanted to check in and see if there’s any feedback so far on how I’ve been doing, and…
77 00:09:13.730 ⇒ 00:09:16.390 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Do you have any opinion on that?
78 00:09:16.390 ⇒ 00:09:22.009 Kaela Gallagher: So, the people that I’ve heard from so far are Robert Utam, and Amber, and they all have, like.
79 00:09:22.340 ⇒ 00:09:36.340 Kaela Gallagher: amazing things to say. They’re like, you’re just catching on really quickly, like, you’re able to ramp up really fast, and, like, you’re making a good impression with the team. So, that’s the feedback I’ve heard so far, so definitely positive. They’re really loving how…
80 00:09:36.340 ⇒ 00:09:50.090 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Love that. I like that, yeah, thanks for giving me that. So talking about feedback, I would love to know, like, apart from the positive feedback, like, is there anything you would like me to do differently, or any area
81 00:09:50.270 ⇒ 00:10:08.450 Advait Nandakumar Menon: you… we would want me to improve over the next couple of weeks, so that I can be better aligned with the team, with how we are working, and how we are collaborating and communicating. So, as I said before, I can see myself contributing here, so… over the next couple of weeks, and…
82 00:10:08.580 ⇒ 00:10:15.010 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I’m curious where I can improve, and how we’re thinking about the next couple of weeks, so,
83 00:10:15.260 ⇒ 00:10:15.870 Advait Nandakumar Menon: like…
84 00:10:15.870 ⇒ 00:10:16.260 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah.
85 00:10:16.260 ⇒ 00:10:24.549 Advait Nandakumar Menon: you would want to see me in that position really strongly, and continuing this relationship beyond the trial period. So, in that aspect.
86 00:10:24.770 ⇒ 00:10:26.699 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Do you have anything?
87 00:10:26.970 ⇒ 00:10:45.769 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, I… so I haven’t heard anything, like, constructive or negative at all. Obviously, like, you and I don’t work together, you know, every single day, so, I don’t have anything on my end, but I would say that would be a great question for, like, Utam and Robert. I think at the end of the day, like.
88 00:10:45.770 ⇒ 00:10:50.349 Kaela Gallagher: You know, they’re gonna make the call on that, and they might ask, you know… Sure.
89 00:10:50.360 ⇒ 00:10:54.839 Kaela Gallagher: Greg or Amber or people who are working really close to you for their feedback as well.
90 00:10:55.480 ⇒ 00:11:04.109 Kaela Gallagher: But yeah, I feel like the next time you have a little, like, sync with Utam or Robert, like, that would be totally a fair question to ask.
91 00:11:04.110 ⇒ 00:11:14.530 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Okay, okay, okay, yeah, that’s… that’s good. That’s… that’s fair enough. I… I was wondering if you had any feedback, so… yeah, I can check this withdraw bottle thumb as well.
92 00:11:14.530 ⇒ 00:11:21.839 Kaela Gallagher: Okay. Okay, cool. Yay! Well, I’m glad to hear that it’s going well. I feel like you’ve been such a great addition to the team already, and…
93 00:11:22.470 ⇒ 00:11:24.979 Kaela Gallagher: If you need anything at all, just let me know.
94 00:11:25.430 ⇒ 00:11:29.130 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Sure, I think this just popped into my head,
95 00:11:29.230 ⇒ 00:11:44.380 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I had sent an email about the offer letter requirements before I started here. I don’t think Rico was able to get back with it, and honestly, it slipped my mind as well, so it just now poured into mine, maybe.
96 00:11:47.350 ⇒ 00:11:48.579 Advait Nandakumar Menon: I’ve got a couple things.
97 00:11:48.580 ⇒ 00:11:49.560 Kaela Gallagher: on their…
98 00:11:50.040 ⇒ 00:11:51.130 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, I have.
99 00:11:51.130 ⇒ 00:11:51.490 Kaela Gallagher: Okay.
100 00:11:51.490 ⇒ 00:12:03.960 Advait Nandakumar Menon: an email from my university, like, ID before I joined on 18th last week, so I think that’s the last feedback I had from SR. I didn’t see any update after it.
101 00:12:04.640 ⇒ 00:12:07.469 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, okay, let me follow up with.
102 00:12:07.470 ⇒ 00:12:07.830 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Oh, God.
103 00:12:07.830 ⇒ 00:12:11.350 Kaela Gallagher: Rico on that one, too, that’s a good point. Thank you for reminding me.
104 00:12:11.840 ⇒ 00:12:12.470 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah.
105 00:12:12.970 ⇒ 00:12:17.520 Kaela Gallagher: Alrighty, awesome! Well, thanks so much for meeting with me today, appreciate it.
106 00:12:17.520 ⇒ 00:12:17.849 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Huh.
107 00:12:17.850 ⇒ 00:12:20.830 Kaela Gallagher: And yeah, we’ll chat again soon.
108 00:12:21.300 ⇒ 00:12:22.350 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah, sounds good. Thanks.
109 00:12:22.350 ⇒ 00:12:22.810 Kaela Gallagher: Alrighty.
110 00:12:22.810 ⇒ 00:12:23.450 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Yeah.
111 00:12:23.450 ⇒ 00:12:25.459 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, of course! Talk to you later.
112 00:12:25.910 ⇒ 00:12:27.139 Advait Nandakumar Menon: Talk later, bye-bye.
113 00:12:27.140 ⇒ 00:12:27.730 Kaela Gallagher: Bye.