Lynn Perkins is CEO and co-founder of UrbanSitter, a mobile and online service that is reinventing the way parents find trusted childcare. Launched in 2011, quickly Lynn grew UrbanSitter into a national marketplace in less than a year. To date, more than 2 million hours of babysitting have occurred on the platform across 60 cities.
An Internet startup veteran, UrbanSitter is Lynn’s third startup experience. Outside of the startup space, Lynn has held roles focused on real estate strategy, services and transactions for Joie de Vivre Hospitality, Gap Inc. and LaSalle Partners.
A successful “mompreneur,” Lynn relies on a number of things to keep her energized, including a daily 6:30 AM wake up from her three kids, a good cappuccino, working with a great team, solving real-world problems and of course…great babysitters!
Sneak Peek Into What You’ll Learn…
01:44 – Lynn tells us about how being a mom of 3 kids influenced her decision to start UrbanSitter.
04:40 – We learn how Lynn developed UrbanSitter while home with twin toddlers.
08:03 – Lynn shares the things they learned in the early days of UrbanSitter that helped them to refine the service.
09:33 – Lynn gives us insight into how having children made her a better entrepreneur and start-up leader.
10:35 – Lynn tells us about the decision to seek venture funding and how they raised their seed round of capital.
12:09 – Lynn gives concrete advice about pitching to venture capitalists and the specific steps to take, especially for women, to secure funding.
15:27 – Lynn discusses what she learned that changed her perspective on mentors and how she gains insight from other women.
17:32 – Lynn shares what has been surprising about her entrepreneurial journey in building UrbanSitter.
18:48 – We learn the hardest part of her journey in scaling UrbanSitter.
20:14 – Lynn shares her expertise on best practices in haring a sitter or a nanny.
22:30 – We discuss how Lynn juggles work and family life.
25:03 – Lynn reveals the habits she’s cultivated to take care of herself.
26:59 – Brass Tacks— The lightning round of concrete advice and tips.
Quotable quotes:
- “I think when you have other commitments…it really forces you to prioritize in the workplace. I think I’m probably a more productive worker now than I was before I had kids.”
- “[On mentoring] I think having very specific questions and very specific nuggets of information that you can get from somebody, not looking for one person to provide all of it rather, taking little pieces of it from people here and there has really been my method.”
- “My number one pieces of advice (in hiring a sitter or a nanny)… is go with your gut.”
- “Worry less about the career trajectory and take advantage of the opportunities that come up spontaneously.”
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