Meeting Title: Healthcare Plan Review Date: 2026-05-06 Meeting participants: Uttam Kumaran, Kaela Gallagher, Robert Tseng
WEBVTT
1 00:00:42.920 ⇒ 00:00:44.600 Kaela Gallagher: Hello, hello!
2 00:00:44.600 ⇒ 00:00:47.169 Uttam Kumaran: Hello! Sorry, I just got back from this, like.
3 00:00:48.300 ⇒ 00:00:52.630 Uttam Kumaran: Meeting with this… this, like, investment firm after
4 00:00:52.890 ⇒ 00:00:56.859 Uttam Kumaran: Pixel, and it was, like, it was really good, but we just… I had to call Robert and, like.
5 00:00:57.680 ⇒ 00:00:59.960 Uttam Kumaran: Think through some… some topics.
6 00:01:00.290 ⇒ 00:01:02.249 Uttam Kumaran: It was good, though, it was a really good meeting.
7 00:01:02.770 ⇒ 00:01:06.269 Kaela Gallagher: Oh, like they’re interested in Brainforge, sort of thing.
8 00:01:07.190 ⇒ 00:01:13.189 Uttam Kumaran: Not even, it’s like… Some of these guys, you just don’t know what the, like, move is.
9 00:01:15.410 ⇒ 00:01:22.929 Uttam Kumaran: like, the guy from Kaelin, who was on the panel, was all the way to the right. I called him… I called him last week.
10 00:01:23.560 ⇒ 00:01:29.580 Uttam Kumaran: And… Part of it is, like, with these guys, you don’t know in what way they can help us.
11 00:01:30.420 ⇒ 00:01:36.060 Uttam Kumaran: It’s just, like, I just go and, like, Interact, and you just…
12 00:01:36.750 ⇒ 00:01:44.470 Uttam Kumaran: put them in your Rolodex. You don’t know, like, somehow someone will know them, and like, Yeah, so…
13 00:01:45.300 ⇒ 00:01:46.790 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, it was good.
14 00:01:47.090 ⇒ 00:01:47.960 Uttam Kumaran: Cool.
15 00:01:47.960 ⇒ 00:01:49.010 Kaela Gallagher: That’s exciting.
16 00:01:49.630 ⇒ 00:01:53.430 Kaela Gallagher: Robert, you’re finally done with exams, hopefully?
17 00:01:53.430 ⇒ 00:01:56.529 Robert Tseng: No, it’s, ends next Wednesday, so…
18 00:01:56.530 ⇒ 00:01:57.130 Kaela Gallagher: Oh, my God.
19 00:01:57.130 ⇒ 00:01:59.970 Robert Tseng: I’m in the library every day until then.
20 00:02:01.500 ⇒ 00:02:02.650 Kaela Gallagher: Crazy.
21 00:02:04.270 ⇒ 00:02:13.370 Kaela Gallagher: Well, I can make it quick, because I know it’s getting later for you, but I wanted to just tell you guys the options that we have for benefits, and kind of what I…
22 00:02:13.530 ⇒ 00:02:18.399 Kaela Gallagher: would suggest… But would love for you guys to…
23 00:02:19.560 ⇒ 00:02:23.790 Kaela Gallagher: Ask questions, and let me know if you think…
24 00:02:24.070 ⇒ 00:02:34.040 Kaela Gallagher: I’m wrong on these, but I’ll share my screen. You guys have access to this document as well. This is where, like, all of our W-2 benefits planning lives.
25 00:02:34.380 ⇒ 00:02:38.090 Kaela Gallagher: So, for…
26 00:02:38.220 ⇒ 00:02:49.129 Kaela Gallagher: the medical plans, there was a couple different things that I took into consideration with… with these. First off, I took out any plans that were only
27 00:02:49.130 ⇒ 00:03:04.320 Kaela Gallagher: in-network plans. Given that we have a remote team, some people may be in rural areas with limited medical options, we have a team that’s traveling, I think it’s important for there to be some sort of coverage for out-of-network providers as well.
28 00:03:04.320 ⇒ 00:03:10.720 Kaela Gallagher: So, the plans listed here are just the ones that have some sort of out-of-network coverage.
29 00:03:11.800 ⇒ 00:03:31.739 Kaela Gallagher: So that was the first consideration. The second consideration is, you’ll see I’m going to present, like, groups of 3 plans. In theory, we could offer up to, like, 6 plans, I think, but it just makes it really confusing for people to choose their benefits when you offer so many different options.
30 00:03:31.800 ⇒ 00:03:43.779 Kaela Gallagher: So, what the advisors recommended, what Leo Luna recommended, is just do 3, and make sure the 3 that are very, like, different from each other, so it’s clear for people to choose.
31 00:03:44.880 ⇒ 00:03:46.050 Kaela Gallagher: So…
32 00:03:46.470 ⇒ 00:03:57.130 Kaela Gallagher: We also have dental and vision benefits. The ones that I highlighted are my recommendations. They are recommended because they are also under…
33 00:03:57.130 ⇒ 00:03:59.540 Uttam Kumaran: ones on the… for the… for medical?
34 00:03:59.800 ⇒ 00:04:01.880 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, so I grouped those down here.
35 00:04:01.880 ⇒ 00:04:02.559 Uttam Kumaran: Oh, sorry, okay.
36 00:04:02.560 ⇒ 00:04:20.849 Kaela Gallagher: buckets of three. Great, great, great. But the reason that I chose these ones for dental and for vision is because they’re also within the Aetna bucket, so instead of choosing, like, a different, like, MetLife for vision, it’s just easier, it’s all in one place, and the costs are…
37 00:04:20.970 ⇒ 00:04:23.919 Kaela Gallagher: pretty much the same.
38 00:04:25.130 ⇒ 00:04:32.539 Kaela Gallagher: Dental, these plans are pretty similar, except there’s just the maximum coverage is gonna be a little bit different.
39 00:04:32.550 ⇒ 00:04:46.680 Kaela Gallagher: But the deductibles are the same, so honestly, like, we could go with the cheaper one here. This is monthly, and this is for just the employee, employee plus spouse, employee plus children.
40 00:04:46.680 ⇒ 00:04:52.729 Kaela Gallagher: And then employee plus family means spouse and children, so the spouse wouldn’t be on a separate one.
41 00:04:52.730 ⇒ 00:04:54.540 Uttam Kumaran: What does E… what does EE mean?
42 00:04:54.940 ⇒ 00:04:59.390 Kaela Gallagher: It’s, like, employee only. Or it’s, like… eligible.
43 00:05:00.570 ⇒ 00:05:01.090 Uttam Kumaran: Oh, I bet.
44 00:05:01.410 ⇒ 00:05:02.380 Kaela Gallagher: I think, yes.
45 00:05:02.380 ⇒ 00:05:03.209 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, okay.
46 00:05:03.830 ⇒ 00:05:07.189 Kaela Gallagher: So those are all the buckets.
47 00:05:08.070 ⇒ 00:05:13.400 Uttam Kumaran: That’s optional, right? You don’t have to do dental or vision, right? Isn’t that optional? Yeah. Yeah.
48 00:05:13.400 ⇒ 00:05:16.509 Kaela Gallagher: So we can offer them, people can opt into them if they want to.
49 00:05:16.660 ⇒ 00:05:17.990 Kaela Gallagher: And for.
50 00:05:17.990 ⇒ 00:05:20.499 Uttam Kumaran: I need… I need… I have my own vision, but…
51 00:05:20.870 ⇒ 00:05:23.500 Uttam Kumaran: It’d be nice to get another pair of contacts.
52 00:05:23.800 ⇒ 00:05:32.489 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, and, like, this will give you 150 towards your frames.
53 00:05:32.490 ⇒ 00:05:37.930 Uttam Kumaran: We have a lot of people at the company that stared at screens their whole lives, so… a lot of glass, a lot of.
54 00:05:38.390 ⇒ 00:05:38.730 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah.
55 00:05:38.730 ⇒ 00:05:45.930 Uttam Kumaran: A lot of glasses needed, or people that need glasses that should start to get on insurance and get some.
56 00:05:46.240 ⇒ 00:05:52.749 Kaela Gallagher: I, yeah, I use both contacts and glasses, so I will be opting into whatever we offer here.
57 00:05:53.050 ⇒ 00:06:00.579 Kaela Gallagher: But, yeah, like, for each of these plans, we have to cover, like, a minimum of 50%.
58 00:06:00.840 ⇒ 00:06:05.019 Kaela Gallagher: So we would be looking at, you know.
59 00:06:05.460 ⇒ 00:06:09.150 Kaela Gallagher: 20 bucks a month, or something like that, for dental.
60 00:06:09.480 ⇒ 00:06:10.070 Kaela Gallagher: And…
61 00:06:10.070 ⇒ 00:06:10.730 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
62 00:06:11.320 ⇒ 00:06:14.389 Kaela Gallagher: I don’t know, $5 for vision, something like that.
63 00:06:16.990 ⇒ 00:06:27.810 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, so going down to the medical plans that I would recommend, I came up with two different groupings. They each have, like, a lean, a mid, and a rich.
64 00:06:28.090 ⇒ 00:06:36.680 Kaela Gallagher: plan in them. So, for example, like, this lien plan here has a $6,350 deductible.
65 00:06:38.100 ⇒ 00:06:57.810 Kaela Gallagher: And these are all quoted for just the employee, so $342 a month is for eligible employee only. If we have somebody opting in to a more advanced plan, this cost would go up. But the only person who would do that is Greg, so far. The rest of us are, employee only.
66 00:06:58.800 ⇒ 00:07:08.119 Kaela Gallagher: Cost for employers, so this is the total cost, and then if we’re covering 75%, this is the monthly cost that we would take on for this plan.
67 00:07:09.960 ⇒ 00:07:19.029 Kaela Gallagher: So, the first grouping has the 2,000, and $250 deductible offerings.
68 00:07:19.130 ⇒ 00:07:26.780 Kaela Gallagher: And the second grouping, breaks it down by 2,000, and $300 groupings.
69 00:07:28.740 ⇒ 00:07:31.630 Kaela Gallagher: Any… Questions about this?
70 00:07:31.630 ⇒ 00:07:37.720 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, maybe my one question is, like, do you think it’s worth, like, doing a survey, or you feel good? I… I honestly am…
71 00:07:37.930 ⇒ 00:07:42.220 Uttam Kumaran: I’m fine, like… I… Yeah.
72 00:07:43.200 ⇒ 00:07:49.819 Kaela Gallagher: A survey to figure out what people would ultimately choose to opt into, or a survey of what people would want to see.
73 00:07:52.720 ⇒ 00:07:53.660 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, go ahead, Robert.
74 00:07:53.660 ⇒ 00:07:57.010 Robert Tseng: I think one of ours should just be a straight HSA.
75 00:07:57.950 ⇒ 00:08:06.349 Kaela Gallagher: Yes, so these, offer HSA, so anything with HDHP is high deductible, so it has the HSA offering.
76 00:08:06.500 ⇒ 00:08:09.339 Robert Tseng: Okay, there’s still a cost for employer for HSA?
77 00:08:11.820 ⇒ 00:08:16.560 Kaela Gallagher: Yes, if we’re offering medical plans, like, we have to cover.
78 00:08:16.560 ⇒ 00:08:16.940 Robert Tseng: Isaac.
79 00:08:17.180 ⇒ 00:08:17.960 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah.
80 00:08:19.290 ⇒ 00:08:19.910 Robert Tseng: Okay.
81 00:08:19.910 ⇒ 00:08:22.819 Kaela Gallagher: So this, this over here notes the ones here.
82 00:08:22.820 ⇒ 00:08:37.750 Robert Tseng: Because most young single people are just gonna get HSA, they’re gonna do, like, minimum contributions, like, I don’t know, like, $0 a month, and then when they need it, they’ll spend it, like, once or twice a year. So, I just… yeah. And then, I think that’s gonna be most of our… or, I mean.
83 00:08:38.240 ⇒ 00:08:50.709 Robert Tseng: I guess U.S.-based people. And then anybody that’s, like, has, obviously, you know, medical conditions, they’re gonna go for the… for the, for the higher plans. Like, I feel like that’s typically how it shakes out. Most people don’t go for the mid option anyway.
84 00:08:50.710 ⇒ 00:09:09.319 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, so another thing we could consider right now, both of these are built out with, like, an HSA plan, and then two that are not HSA, with a little bit lower deductibles. But what we could do is, like, for example here, instead of this $2,000 deductible one, we could do this
85 00:09:09.430 ⇒ 00:09:21.670 Kaela Gallagher: $3,000 deductible one that still has an HSA. That’s about as low as you can go while still having HSA. Then we would have two plans that offer HSA, and one that’s low deductible.
86 00:09:22.290 ⇒ 00:09:22.880 Robert Tseng: Yeah.
87 00:09:23.860 ⇒ 00:09:27.150 Kaela Gallagher: So we could really lean HSA heavy.
88 00:09:28.390 ⇒ 00:09:31.329 Kaela Gallagher: If… if we think, like, that’s what the team will want.
89 00:09:31.950 ⇒ 00:09:35.809 Kaela Gallagher: Which I think is probably a fair guess, considering our team is pretty young.
90 00:09:41.540 ⇒ 00:09:45.729 Robert Tseng: And we can update this once a year, is basically what it is. Once a calendar year, so… whatever.
91 00:09:45.730 ⇒ 00:09:46.150 Kaela Gallagher: I feel like.
92 00:09:46.150 ⇒ 00:09:57.129 Robert Tseng: I think that makes sense. Like, that’s predictably what our team’s gonna look like for this year, and then obviously things may change. But, yeah, that seems… that seems like a clean, cleaner way to do it for now.
93 00:09:57.450 ⇒ 00:09:58.240 Kaela Gallagher: Okay.
94 00:09:58.550 ⇒ 00:10:01.030 Kaela Gallagher: So I’m gonna add in a note…
95 00:10:01.570 ⇒ 00:10:05.310 Kaela Gallagher: I’m gonna switch it, and I’m gonna have it be…
96 00:10:06.640 ⇒ 00:10:17.239 Kaela Gallagher: the 3,000 deductible, and then the $250 deductible. So we have two HSAs and one low deductible.
97 00:10:17.240 ⇒ 00:10:22.059 Robert Tseng: 50 is great. That’s, like, it’s better than I’ve ever had in my career.
98 00:10:22.060 ⇒ 00:10:25.509 Kaela Gallagher: And it’s only $7.50 a month total.
99 00:10:25.510 ⇒ 00:10:30.980 Robert Tseng: That’s crazy. I gotta send this to my dad, be like… Oh, look at this.
100 00:10:31.460 ⇒ 00:10:40.250 Kaela Gallagher: I’ve never seen anything like that. Like, right now, my cost is 2,000 deductible plan.
101 00:10:40.490 ⇒ 00:10:46.690 Uttam Kumaran: Now, can you… are you… is it… are we legally able to, like, put this in our total rewards, that these are the plans we offer?
102 00:10:48.120 ⇒ 00:10:51.450 Kaela Gallagher: We can, we can,
103 00:10:51.690 ⇒ 00:10:58.889 Kaela Gallagher: Yes, we could also have a separate benefits document where, for people we are wanting as W-2,
104 00:10:59.490 ⇒ 00:11:02.160 Kaela Gallagher: here’s our benefits PDF. Like.
105 00:11:02.790 ⇒ 00:11:11.489 Kaela Gallagher: this is what we can offer you. Because we would have to be really careful if we put it in total rewards that it was clarified as, like, only W-2.
106 00:11:13.850 ⇒ 00:11:19.520 Kaela Gallagher: But yeah, these are really good. Like, something that we could really… Sell to people.
107 00:11:19.520 ⇒ 00:11:25.409 Uttam Kumaran: I literally… I’m telling you, I’m just not gonna be the best… I like that we’re giving options.
108 00:11:25.620 ⇒ 00:11:31.030 Uttam Kumaran: In terms of understanding whether this is high or not, I have no clue.
109 00:11:31.250 ⇒ 00:11:34.560 Uttam Kumaran: Because I just picked whatever I got from whatever startup
110 00:11:35.140 ⇒ 00:11:44.940 Uttam Kumaran: shit company I worked at, and just… just maxed in my HSA, if I could, and went to the doctor minimally. Wow.
111 00:11:44.940 ⇒ 00:11:47.609 Kaela Gallagher: No, these are… these are really.
112 00:11:47.610 ⇒ 00:11:48.719 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, that’s good, I’m really…
113 00:11:48.720 ⇒ 00:11:56.620 Kaela Gallagher: We’re looking at cost for employer per month. These are per month, like, what we would be paying for these plans, so…
114 00:11:57.010 ⇒ 00:11:58.280 Kaela Gallagher: I mean, this is…
115 00:11:58.390 ⇒ 00:12:04.500 Uttam Kumaran: I hear cost to employer. I don’t like that, but hey, I, this is great.
116 00:12:04.500 ⇒ 00:12:08.710 Robert Tseng: And how does this… how does it change? Like, is it the same price across the country?
117 00:12:10.050 ⇒ 00:12:18.400 Kaela Gallagher: For… yes. So it doesn’t vary per state. This is gonna be, like, nationally. Yeah.
118 00:12:20.380 ⇒ 00:12:21.659 Robert Tseng: Wait, who’s the provider?
119 00:12:21.660 ⇒ 00:12:23.390 Kaela Gallagher: So, it’s Aetna?
120 00:12:23.880 ⇒ 00:12:24.730 Robert Tseng: Aetna.
121 00:12:28.720 ⇒ 00:12:34.450 Kaela Gallagher: And then one other thing I wanted to show you guys is, like, the additional benefits that they books.
122 00:12:34.590 ⇒ 00:12:47.179 Kaela Gallagher: That JustWorks would provide, so going through these, like, super quickly, I’m sure you guys have heard of One Medical, Amazon’s. Like, you can literally call a doctor and get a prescription for free, and they.
123 00:12:47.180 ⇒ 00:12:51.010 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, one… One medical is good, Talkspace is good.
124 00:12:51.140 ⇒ 00:12:51.660 Kaela Gallagher: Yep.
125 00:12:51.660 ⇒ 00:12:53.229 Uttam Kumaran: Some of the other stuff, this is great.
126 00:12:53.230 ⇒ 00:12:58.740 Kaela Gallagher: This is, like, OBGYN, like, fertility IVF benefits.
127 00:12:59.050 ⇒ 00:13:08.429 Kaela Gallagher: They offer retirement plans, and they are at a cost to, the employee, so I want to say it’s, like.
128 00:13:08.990 ⇒ 00:13:10.799 Kaela Gallagher: I thought it was somewhere on here.
129 00:13:11.020 ⇒ 00:13:14.120 Kaela Gallagher: Oh, yeah, $86 a year.
130 00:13:15.410 ⇒ 00:13:16.569 Uttam Kumaran: Oh, damn, that’s great.
131 00:13:16.570 ⇒ 00:13:21.999 Kaela Gallagher: For… for the employee, we pay nothing, JustWorks has this set up for us.
132 00:13:22.330 ⇒ 00:13:35.209 Kaela Gallagher: There’s, like, HR support, so different questions, like, per state when you’re dealing with employee issues. Like, they have advisors that you can contact, HR consultants that come…
133 00:13:35.210 ⇒ 00:13:41.210 Uttam Kumaran: corner the market? What’s their… what is the… how did these guys win this thing? Robert, do you know about this? I only know, like.
134 00:13:42.580 ⇒ 00:13:45.909 Uttam Kumaran: I don’t even know who… I’ve been on JustWorks, and then…
135 00:13:48.370 ⇒ 00:13:48.950 Kaela Gallagher: So.
136 00:13:49.100 ⇒ 00:13:49.910 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah.
137 00:13:50.070 ⇒ 00:13:54.459 Kaela Gallagher: JustWorks charges $109 per
138 00:13:54.590 ⇒ 00:14:05.500 Kaela Gallagher: employee that you have in the system, doing payroll, receiving all these benefits. That’s how they offer… offer all of this package.
139 00:14:06.940 ⇒ 00:14:08.620 Uttam Kumaran: In addition to all the other fees.
140 00:14:09.660 ⇒ 00:14:11.210 Kaela Gallagher: In addition to benefits.
141 00:14:12.750 ⇒ 00:14:13.820 Kaela Gallagher: So, a hundred…
142 00:14:13.820 ⇒ 00:14:14.270 Uttam Kumaran: It’s no life.
143 00:14:14.270 ⇒ 00:14:19.129 Kaela Gallagher: I think includes… I think that includes workers’ comp.
144 00:14:19.130 ⇒ 00:14:25.860 Uttam Kumaran: I’m basically budgeting for, like, yeah, but even then, like, I thought benefits were gonna be, like, 20-30%.
145 00:14:26.010 ⇒ 00:14:28.499 Uttam Kumaran: Of people’s in… of people’s annual…
146 00:14:28.810 ⇒ 00:14:31.149 Uttam Kumaran: So, if our average is, like, 8,
147 00:14:31.590 ⇒ 00:14:34.929 Uttam Kumaran: Or, I don’t know what our… whatever our average is it… is.
148 00:14:35.800 ⇒ 00:14:38.040 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, maybe you were around 10%.
149 00:14:40.080 ⇒ 00:14:42.889 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, I mean, this is what we’re paying people
150 00:14:43.210 ⇒ 00:14:50.600 Kaela Gallagher: monthly, I just built this out today, but yeah, I don’t know. If… if we’re looking at $700…
151 00:14:51.060 ⇒ 00:14:55.070 Kaela Gallagher: A month for this person, and they’re taking home 11 grand.
152 00:14:56.830 ⇒ 00:14:58.930 Kaela Gallagher: We’re looking at less than 10%.
153 00:15:02.300 ⇒ 00:15:02.950 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
154 00:15:04.370 ⇒ 00:15:05.569 Kaela Gallagher: Anyway, they have communal.
155 00:15:05.570 ⇒ 00:15:08.580 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, lock it in, I’m gonna try not to age so we can keep getting this.
156 00:15:09.850 ⇒ 00:15:20.959 Uttam Kumaran: I’m gonna submit my, like, actually, maybe I shouldn’t submit my blood work right now, but maybe when I get really healthy, I’ll submit my actual… my WHOOP score. We can keep our age low.
157 00:15:24.270 ⇒ 00:15:39.760 Kaela Gallagher: Anyway, they have… they have commuter benefits, not super applicable to us. I think it’s only New York City, so maybe for you, Robert, and then they have different disability insurances, and life insurance that they… they offer as well. So, that’s all part of the package.
158 00:15:40.040 ⇒ 00:15:52.969 Robert Tseng: Yeah, I mean, I just know… I mean, I did a little bit of research. I mean, Aetna’s… I mean, it’s a large provider, it’s not the largest. I think Blue Cross and Health United would be ours. So, I mean, as far as options, like, local options, maybe people in, like, the…
159 00:15:53.400 ⇒ 00:15:59.349 Robert Tseng: like, wherever Greg is in the world, like, I don’t know how much Aetna coverage he gets there, but…
160 00:15:59.460 ⇒ 00:16:05.970 Robert Tseng: I mean, it’s… it’s large enough that I feel like there’s options for everybody, no matter where they live in the States, so…
161 00:16:05.970 ⇒ 00:16:12.409 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, I’ve used Aetna now for a while. They work with, like, Cedars-Sinai and UCLA, and… I don’t know.
162 00:16:12.410 ⇒ 00:16:17.810 Robert Tseng: Yeah, I’m sure they’re good in the major cities, I just wonder if they’re… if they’re strong in the… in the…
163 00:16:17.810 ⇒ 00:16:18.140 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah.
164 00:16:18.140 ⇒ 00:16:24.040 Robert Tseng: Not major cities, but… Okay, cool.
165 00:16:24.820 ⇒ 00:16:44.000 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, the other option that they said they could give us was Kaiser, and I was like, no. Yeah, Kaiser’s… That’s not gonna work for us. Okay, so I can… I can put together the… the three health insurance plans, I’ll send you guys the vision and the dental one more time, and then…
166 00:16:44.150 ⇒ 00:16:47.139 Kaela Gallagher: We can move forward with them.
167 00:16:48.670 ⇒ 00:16:51.589 Kaela Gallagher: And these will kick in July 1st.
168 00:16:52.200 ⇒ 00:16:58.530 Kaela Gallagher: But we will need to… everybody will need to choose their plans, like, I think it’s 2-3 weeks ahead of time.
169 00:17:02.580 ⇒ 00:17:03.240 Kaela Gallagher: Too?
170 00:17:03.240 ⇒ 00:17:04.020 Uttam Kumaran: Amazing.
171 00:17:04.329 ⇒ 00:17:05.060 Uttam Kumaran: This is great.
172 00:17:05.069 ⇒ 00:17:06.039 Kaela Gallagher: You have.
173 00:17:06.209 ⇒ 00:17:07.809 Kaela Gallagher: Any questions?
174 00:17:14.020 ⇒ 00:17:19.130 Uttam Kumaran: I think try to get… have as much documentation ready
175 00:17:22.670 ⇒ 00:17:24.490 Uttam Kumaran: But, this is really good.
176 00:17:25.609 ⇒ 00:17:38.089 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, cool, and we’ll do the W-2 transition at the same time. We’re working on a W-2 contract right now for Abdullah, and then we’ll kind of use that as a framework for us moving forward, too.
177 00:17:41.640 ⇒ 00:17:42.240 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
178 00:17:44.200 ⇒ 00:17:50.410 Uttam Kumaran: Great, yeah, I think, I think as much of this, Kayla, as, like, we can use to recruit better, and…
179 00:17:50.850 ⇒ 00:17:56.339 Uttam Kumaran: as much of this we can codify and doc so that you don’t just become, like, every HR question.
180 00:17:56.920 ⇒ 00:17:59.960 Uttam Kumaran: and we try to use JustWorks Hotline, like.
181 00:18:00.610 ⇒ 00:18:03.019 Uttam Kumaran: As much as possible, that’d be great.
182 00:18:03.440 ⇒ 00:18:04.170 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah.
183 00:18:04.300 ⇒ 00:18:06.059 Kaela Gallagher: Cool. Sounds good.
184 00:18:06.360 ⇒ 00:18:06.980 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
185 00:18:08.110 ⇒ 00:18:08.780 Kaela Gallagher: Alright.
186 00:18:09.280 ⇒ 00:18:14.919 Uttam Kumaran: I think one other thing, like, I want to make the decision on the AI stuff, AI people.
187 00:18:17.510 ⇒ 00:18:18.150 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
188 00:18:18.630 ⇒ 00:18:22.740 Kaela Gallagher: I sent you… Yeah, I sent you their top 3.
189 00:18:24.320 ⇒ 00:18:35.900 Kaela Gallagher: And so, yeah, it’s about just seeing how those compare with Arish. I did reach out to Arish, he says he’s in two other final rounds right now, so I agree, we should make a decision this week.
190 00:18:38.250 ⇒ 00:18:39.140 Uttam Kumaran: Oh, really?
191 00:18:41.040 ⇒ 00:18:42.960 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, let me review the other two.
192 00:18:43.420 ⇒ 00:18:48.529 Uttam Kumaran: No one else got to final, yeah?
193 00:18:49.670 ⇒ 00:18:56.440 Kaela Gallagher: No. So the top 3 from Sam and B are just people that have done first rounds.
194 00:18:57.950 ⇒ 00:19:01.979 Kaela Gallagher: Nolan is doing a second round with Pranov tomorrow.
195 00:19:03.000 ⇒ 00:19:03.590 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
196 00:19:05.340 ⇒ 00:19:10.010 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, I will review these. I’m still kind of Team Arish.
197 00:19:10.470 ⇒ 00:19:12.130 Uttam Kumaran: But I will review them.
198 00:19:12.390 ⇒ 00:19:12.740 Kaela Gallagher: Okay.
199 00:19:12.740 ⇒ 00:19:18.539 Uttam Kumaran: If some of them got better reviews than I reached, then I would be, like, just… I would love to talk to them, like, immediately.
200 00:19:18.640 ⇒ 00:19:19.140 Uttam Kumaran: But I.
201 00:19:19.140 ⇒ 00:19:19.570 Kaela Gallagher: Go ahead.
202 00:19:19.570 ⇒ 00:19:20.400 Uttam Kumaran: review that.
203 00:19:21.060 ⇒ 00:19:22.780 Kaela Gallagher: I can compare Arisha’s first.
204 00:19:22.780 ⇒ 00:19:31.910 Uttam Kumaran: Well, I mean, the other thing is, like, Arish is in India, so, like, automatically, if we can find an equivalent of Arish here, I’m sort of more pro that, because then he can come to client stuff.
205 00:19:32.030 ⇒ 00:19:32.890 Uttam Kumaran: Like, on-site.
206 00:19:33.410 ⇒ 00:19:39.010 Uttam Kumaran: Ultimately, though, he seems like… Okay, thanks, Robert. It seems like…
207 00:19:39.260 ⇒ 00:19:44.590 Uttam Kumaran: He’s kind of a dog, like… Yeah.
208 00:19:44.590 ⇒ 00:19:53.799 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, let’s see. So, Sam’s number one person scored 21 out of 25, and Arish on his first round scored…
209 00:19:58.180 ⇒ 00:20:00.050 Kaela Gallagher: 19 out of 25.
210 00:20:02.770 ⇒ 00:20:05.189 Kaela Gallagher: So technically, somebody scored higher.
211 00:20:06.030 ⇒ 00:20:07.130 Kaela Gallagher: Do you remember that guy?
212 00:20:07.130 ⇒ 00:20:08.719 Uttam Kumaran: Who came up with these scores?
213 00:20:09.340 ⇒ 00:20:10.720 Kaela Gallagher: It’s from the rubric.
214 00:20:10.720 ⇒ 00:20:11.770 Uttam Kumaran: And they were both…
215 00:20:11.770 ⇒ 00:20:16.060 Kaela Gallagher: I will say, Sam, do you remember that guy, Austin Whitaker, that you were.
216 00:20:16.060 ⇒ 00:20:16.670 Uttam Kumaran: Yes.
217 00:20:16.670 ⇒ 00:20:21.809 Kaela Gallagher: So, B did a first round with him and ranked him really highly.
218 00:20:22.230 ⇒ 00:20:23.060 Uttam Kumaran: He’s good.
219 00:20:23.180 ⇒ 00:20:26.010 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, but he’s not coming for AI, is he?
220 00:20:26.210 ⇒ 00:20:27.170 Uttam Kumaran: Maybe.
221 00:20:27.170 ⇒ 00:20:30.670 Kaela Gallagher: So… So, I chatted with him first.
222 00:20:30.670 ⇒ 00:20:38.690 Uttam Kumaran: he… he sort of has… well, he… me and him are texting about data, AI and data stuff, so I assume he, like, is picking it up. I didn’t know if he, like.
223 00:20:39.570 ⇒ 00:20:42.709 Uttam Kumaran: Kind of wanted to fully pivot into that, or whatever, but…
224 00:20:43.060 ⇒ 00:21:00.060 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, so he said most recently he’s been doing AI services for internal tooling for, like, a health management system, and so he’s doing, like, generative AI, deep research, like, but his past is all analytics and data and stuff, so…
225 00:21:00.430 ⇒ 00:21:04.500 Kaela Gallagher: he’s… Somebody that they want to move forward.
226 00:21:04.620 ⇒ 00:21:07.600 Uttam Kumaran: Good! I mean, that’s… he’s a… that’s a two-for-one.
227 00:21:08.220 ⇒ 00:21:10.769 Uttam Kumaran: That is what we call a two-for-one special.
228 00:21:10.770 ⇒ 00:21:20.699 Kaela Gallagher: And I asked him, I said, do you think you’re more of an AI engineer, or an AE, or something like that? Like, what team do you want me to have you talk to? And he was like, AI.
229 00:21:21.400 ⇒ 00:21:23.610 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, and duh.
230 00:21:23.610 ⇒ 00:21:26.909 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah. He wants 140.
231 00:21:27.020 ⇒ 00:21:28.350 Kaela Gallagher: He’s in DC.
232 00:21:29.020 ⇒ 00:21:32.380 Uttam Kumaran: I like him. He got recommended by Jody.
233 00:21:32.610 ⇒ 00:21:37.700 Uttam Kumaran: Who I actually need to connect you with, Jody.
234 00:21:38.090 ⇒ 00:21:49.790 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, so that’s great. I love Austin. Austin’s, like, a two-for-one, like, he could really… he’s, like, a demi, except, like, super AI. So, one thing that…
235 00:21:50.020 ⇒ 00:21:56.290 Uttam Kumaran: I sent you this screenshot, and then I could probably connect you with him .
236 00:21:56.540 ⇒ 00:22:01.910 Kaela Gallagher: So do I almost… like, do I move Austin forward for an AE role?
237 00:22:04.090 ⇒ 00:22:06.399 Uttam Kumaran: I don’t know, this is kind of where I’m like…
238 00:22:08.790 ⇒ 00:22:12.190 Uttam Kumaran: I… the way I would think about it is I’d probably split his time in half.
239 00:22:12.780 ⇒ 00:22:18.119 Uttam Kumaran: If you ask me, like, I would probably be like, we have dbt work.
240 00:22:19.050 ⇒ 00:22:21.839 Uttam Kumaran: but we may also ask for some AI work.
241 00:22:23.180 ⇒ 00:22:31.509 Uttam Kumaran: Ultimately, I think you’re getting the picture that everybody kind of needs to… like, he is someone with a deep subject matter expertise that’s in AI, so…
242 00:22:31.950 ⇒ 00:22:36.310 Uttam Kumaran: I kind of, like… 8.
243 00:22:36.570 ⇒ 00:22:41.240 Kaela Gallagher: Like… a cracked AE, like, he could be just, like.
244 00:22:41.240 ⇒ 00:22:42.630 Uttam Kumaran: You’re feeling it, yes.
245 00:22:42.630 ⇒ 00:22:43.790 Kaela Gallagher: steroids.
246 00:22:43.790 ⇒ 00:22:51.960 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, so ultimately, it’s like, Are you just a Brainforge engineer? Like, is Austin actually what a Brainforge engineer
247 00:22:52.340 ⇒ 00:22:59.059 Uttam Kumaran: Should just be looking like… And then we have, like, a Davis, Who is, like.
248 00:22:59.160 ⇒ 00:23:02.820 Uttam Kumaran: so AI that his SKU is actually AI engineering.
249 00:23:03.940 ⇒ 00:23:05.950 Uttam Kumaran: Versus you have a… you have a…
250 00:23:06.120 ⇒ 00:23:09.359 Uttam Kumaran: Austin, whose SKU is, like, data modeling.
251 00:23:09.630 ⇒ 00:23:14.639 Uttam Kumaran: they both are, like, super, super AI-forward, and should we just interview them.
252 00:23:14.770 ⇒ 00:23:22.320 Uttam Kumaran: kind of for a little bit of both. Like, if they have a deep subject matter expertise, should we interview them for the subject matter expertise?
253 00:23:22.940 ⇒ 00:23:27.059 Uttam Kumaran: by default, I think we should start asking people about skills and things like that, but…
254 00:23:27.160 ⇒ 00:23:28.910 Uttam Kumaran: You can kind of see how, like.
255 00:23:29.330 ⇒ 00:23:33.650 Uttam Kumaran: It’s all blending into, like, one superhuman that we need to…
256 00:23:33.650 ⇒ 00:23:34.040 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah.
257 00:23:34.040 ⇒ 00:23:38.659 Uttam Kumaran: We interview for, like, a person who’s just as, like, Mustafa and Davis, who are just, like.
258 00:23:39.130 ⇒ 00:23:48.759 Uttam Kumaran: so fast, and, like, can learn anything. Then you have an Austin who’s, like, deep in data, but, like, is probably… can output the same amount as, like, 3… 3 people.
259 00:23:49.040 ⇒ 00:23:49.910 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah.
260 00:23:50.100 ⇒ 00:23:56.430 Uttam Kumaran: And, like, an Austin is someone who I’d be like, Okay, if, like…
261 00:23:57.090 ⇒ 00:24:07.149 Uttam Kumaran: If Demi doesn’t kind of crush a lot of this stuff in service lead, maybe he owns that. Or if he’s more customer-facing, he becomes a CSO for data.
262 00:24:07.360 ⇒ 00:24:14.259 Uttam Kumaran: But ultimately, everybody has to use AI. I think, ultimately, the AI strategy stuff is more like, can you teach it?
263 00:24:15.270 ⇒ 00:24:18.509 Uttam Kumaran: But I know our… if, like, for example, for AI Engineer.
264 00:24:18.730 ⇒ 00:24:23.770 Uttam Kumaran: I would say he has… for it to be a truly great engineer, he has to be as good as Arish.
265 00:24:24.270 ⇒ 00:24:26.789 Uttam Kumaran: Davis and Mustafa, which I don’t know.
266 00:24:27.020 ⇒ 00:24:28.400 Kaela Gallagher: And I don’t think…
267 00:24:28.640 ⇒ 00:24:29.989 Uttam Kumaran: I don’t know if he’d be there.
268 00:24:30.260 ⇒ 00:24:34.849 Kaela Gallagher: I don’t think he’s at that level in AI specifically, but B…
269 00:24:34.850 ⇒ 00:24:35.830 Uttam Kumaran: Combination.
270 00:24:35.980 ⇒ 00:24:47.119 Kaela Gallagher: He’s such a good learner, like, he moves really quickly, like, he has great communication, he works with clients, like, you know, he has a lot of the skills that we’re looking for.
271 00:24:47.120 ⇒ 00:24:50.429 Uttam Kumaran: So then I think he should come in on the data side first.
272 00:24:50.610 ⇒ 00:24:54.629 Uttam Kumaran: Because the AI engineering group Needs to be, like.
273 00:24:56.080 ⇒ 00:25:04.050 Uttam Kumaran: like, I want to jump to go talk to these guys. These guys have been working, like, probably, like, 14 hours on, like, the Slack assistant, the work product, like…
274 00:25:04.990 ⇒ 00:25:09.909 Uttam Kumaran: So maybe he gets… maybe he can get there, but I think his skill set is perfect to come in and just basically, like.
275 00:25:10.740 ⇒ 00:25:13.219 Uttam Kumaran: Do amazing modeling work.
276 00:25:13.400 ⇒ 00:25:15.270 Uttam Kumaran: Build all the playbooks.
277 00:25:15.380 ⇒ 00:25:17.920 Uttam Kumaran: To do modeling work with… with…
278 00:25:18.210 ⇒ 00:25:23.020 Uttam Kumaran: with, AI, and that, that more looks like a service lead.
279 00:25:23.470 ⇒ 00:25:25.339 Uttam Kumaran: But this is where, maybe we, like…
280 00:25:26.280 ⇒ 00:25:31.840 Uttam Kumaran: maybe we kind of… maybe I talk to him, and maybe he makes it through, and I kind of talk to him, and see, like, yo, here’s, like.
281 00:25:32.370 ⇒ 00:25:37.550 Uttam Kumaran: I’m trying to give someone like you, who’s… who is not really placeable a place here.
282 00:25:37.680 ⇒ 00:25:45.480 Uttam Kumaran: So either you go into normal data world, here’s how I’m going to create upside for you there, Or…
283 00:25:45.850 ⇒ 00:25:56.709 Uttam Kumaran: like, I don’t feel comfortable yet… I don’t know him yet enough to say, like, he can teach AI, but I’m like, maybe… maybe you do the data stuff for, like, 3 months, or 2 months, and then we see, like.
284 00:25:57.100 ⇒ 00:25:57.520 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah.
285 00:25:57.520 ⇒ 00:26:00.229 Uttam Kumaran: You think you could actually just do AI stuff full-time?
286 00:26:00.430 ⇒ 00:26:08.569 Uttam Kumaran: Which is, like, building, or do you want to go teach, which is then, like, kind of, like, teaching people skills? Or do you want to just stay and be, like.
287 00:26:09.620 ⇒ 00:26:17.020 Uttam Kumaran: So this is the thing. For him, it’s actually a great place, because in most firms, he wouldn’t qualify as, like, an AI engineer.
288 00:26:17.360 ⇒ 00:26:18.170 Kaela Gallagher: Right.
289 00:26:18.170 ⇒ 00:26:22.589 Uttam Kumaran: But also, if he gets put into a dado place, then he has no breaking out of that.
290 00:26:22.800 ⇒ 00:26:25.740 Uttam Kumaran: So, it’s actually… I think this is the… this is a good stat.
291 00:26:26.010 ⇒ 00:26:34.050 Kaela Gallagher: Yeah, yeah, I think he’s… he’s a good… he would be a good addition to the team, so… Okay, so for him, I’m gonna move him… I’m gonna have him chat with…
292 00:26:35.680 ⇒ 00:26:39.990 Uttam Kumaran: You should have talked to a… yeah, you almost should have them talked to aish.
293 00:26:41.830 ⇒ 00:26:47.030 Kaela Gallagher: Hmm… Instead of Demi, you think Awaze should do, like, a second round with him?
294 00:26:56.230 ⇒ 00:27:02.710 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I think you should have him talk to Awash, and mention to Awash that this guy’s, like, a really AI-forward.
295 00:27:02.920 ⇒ 00:27:04.489 Uttam Kumaran: analytics engineer.
296 00:27:07.570 ⇒ 00:27:08.480 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
297 00:27:08.480 ⇒ 00:27:11.930 Kaela Gallagher: And if a waste clears him, then we give him a final technical.
298 00:27:11.930 ⇒ 00:27:12.959 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
299 00:27:13.270 ⇒ 00:27:14.030 Kaela Gallagher: Okay.
300 00:27:18.570 ⇒ 00:27:19.450 Kaela Gallagher: Okay.
301 00:27:21.550 ⇒ 00:27:22.900 Kaela Gallagher: And then…
302 00:27:23.660 ⇒ 00:27:30.399 Kaela Gallagher: Or… Okay, so then it’s just the other two that we and Sam recommended. I’d be curious to…
303 00:27:31.540 ⇒ 00:27:33.000 Kaela Gallagher: See if they compare.
304 00:27:33.270 ⇒ 00:27:34.339 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, okay.
305 00:27:36.680 ⇒ 00:27:45.919 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, and then, yeah, we have some AEs coming through as well, so your first final for the AE side is on fri… Monday.
306 00:27:46.380 ⇒ 00:27:47.240 Kaela Gallagher: Monday.
307 00:27:47.530 ⇒ 00:27:49.100 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, great.
308 00:27:50.400 ⇒ 00:27:51.030 Kaela Gallagher: Cool?
309 00:27:52.200 ⇒ 00:27:55.669 Uttam Kumaran: Awesome, amazing. And looks like Sunstone just closed.
310 00:27:56.570 ⇒ 00:27:57.599 Kaela Gallagher: So that’s… that’s…
311 00:27:57.600 ⇒ 00:28:00.289 Uttam Kumaran: It’s, like, 17 grand up front.
312 00:28:00.290 ⇒ 00:28:02.049 Kaela Gallagher: Send a message to the team.
313 00:28:02.250 ⇒ 00:28:06.549 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I need to… I guess I should have Robert. I’ll send… I can… I can send a note.
314 00:28:06.700 ⇒ 00:28:08.080 Uttam Kumaran: And then…
315 00:28:08.580 ⇒ 00:28:13.460 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, we have a few more that are, like, right at the finish line. So, and I interviewed
316 00:28:13.790 ⇒ 00:28:16.679 Uttam Kumaran: I interviewed 4 people for Element today.
317 00:28:17.350 ⇒ 00:28:17.980 Uttam Kumaran: On.
318 00:28:17.980 ⇒ 00:28:18.560 Kaela Gallagher: Oh.
319 00:28:19.790 ⇒ 00:28:20.899 Kaela Gallagher: Are you of them good?
320 00:28:21.470 ⇒ 00:28:26.859 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, one of them I’m… because Shivani wants is her guy, one of the guys we should take.
321 00:28:27.140 ⇒ 00:28:31.960 Uttam Kumaran: So I’m basically gonna tell her, if you mix this guy, I want him.
322 00:28:32.310 ⇒ 00:28:34.699 Uttam Kumaran: Really, really nice, like, nice dude.
323 00:28:35.180 ⇒ 00:28:36.080 Kaela Gallagher: AE.
324 00:28:36.420 ⇒ 00:28:38.779 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, that’s the thing, it’s a lot of, like.
325 00:28:39.850 ⇒ 00:28:46.159 Uttam Kumaran: analytics people, and I’m, like, nervous that, like, Yeah, so let’s see.
326 00:28:47.310 ⇒ 00:28:47.930 Kaela Gallagher: Okay.
327 00:28:47.930 ⇒ 00:28:49.150 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, okay.
328 00:28:49.380 ⇒ 00:28:52.859 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, I’m gonna go call, like, this platform, guys.
329 00:28:52.860 ⇒ 00:28:53.830 Kaela Gallagher: Okay, alrighty!
330 00:28:53.830 ⇒ 00:28:54.220 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
331 00:28:54.220 ⇒ 00:28:54.720 Kaela Gallagher: Thank you!
332 00:28:54.720 ⇒ 00:28:55.540 Uttam Kumaran: Thank you. Bye.