This Startup is being Recorded is a mostly improvised, comedic audio drama that follows a few executives building, and sometimes destroying, a company. This startup is fake - you’re not listening to an audio documentary. These characters are not real - you won’t find them on LinkedIn. They are making this up as they go along - for startups, this is normal. New meetings are released weekly.
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Final update on the camera replacement project (to remove the WeWatch malware)
Introduction of new intern, Melanie Hubbard!
Takeaways:
Everyone review results of Melanie’s background check and vote on if we should offer her a position to stay
Matt follow through on idea of how to connect Melanie and John
Kate to remember to take breaks
Melanie Hubbard was played by Jenny Kessler, who can be found online and in person doing improv with Letters to Chicken, Brad's Dad, and Babeprov. You can request to follow @JennyKessKlump on both Instagram and Twitter.
Thea to do some social monitoring to see how beholden SYT will have to be to John’s promises (like carbon absorbing cushions, selling carbon credits, and having whole workforce - including drivers - work from home 50% of the time)
Reach out to DJ Khalid to propose a blood exchange to make up for the incident
Jot down ideas for next years SXSW - become the respite booth where you can have an excellent vomiting experience
Melvin is here to discuss WeWatch, the software company he runs. WeWatch builds an exclusive meeting recording software. SYT has been testing WeWatch with a free trial the last week, and Melvin wants to come in for feedback.
Takeaways:
Matt to replace all the cameras for all devices the employees, their friends, their family, and acquaintances
Weekly privacy meetings coming back
DuckDuckGo is about to be required in SYT
Thea to keep dealing with the John PR nightmare
Marvin Janine Simpson is a businessman and raconteur with homes in Italy, Manhattan, and Detroit. He is not on social media, but would like to plug his primary investor: talented actor and comedian Declan Gallagher. You have find him on Instagram and Twitter @therealdeclang
John dictated that to solve the Creative and Tech team conflict, Thea and Matt should do a “Freaky Friday” (idea came from The Hard Thing about Hard Things) and switch places
Takeaways:
Thea and Matt can, shockingly, switch back 2.5 days ahead of schedule
Matt to work on getting new iPads for the Creative team
Someone to call Verizon about the bonfire by their trucks
A user finally showed up to our weekly user interview session! Zach Lambic from Al Dente, Wyoming
Takeaways:
Kate to figure out if the server room’s sprinklers are going, hope the company isn’t destroyed, and hope she doesn’t have to pull Matt out of his therapy session
Add “Wresting with Dog” as a human impact couch breaking test scenario
Calathea and Zach to talk offline about paying for some sponsored content on Dominic the Mastiff’s Instagram account
Zach is played by Adal Rifai. Adal is an improviser, podcaster, producer and writer in Chicago. He is the creator and host of Hey Riddle Riddle and plays Chunt on the podcast Hello From the Magic Tavern. You can find him on Twitter @adalrifai
Review pitches for branded content from Matt Matthews and Matt Matthews of Big Matt’s Content
Takeaways:
Reach out to Matt and Matt, by letter, with our decision
Matt and Matt are going to meet with their lawyers… as always
Whoever sees John first (or ever again) tell them hi from everyone
Matt and Matt Matthews were played by Austin Weiford and Andrew Farley. You can hear them both with co-host Leah Morse on the Better Movie Club podcast, an improv comedy podcast about movies that could be better. Find it on your favorite podcasting app or visit www.bettermovieclub.com for links.
Meta (Facebook) has sent over some terms for an agreement to buy the Meta Market name. We ran out of legal hours this month, so get to do the review ourselves.
Takeaways:
Thea and Matt to work together to tame the negative energy leaking out of the server room
Kate to make some red lines with her red pens
Updates to the Delivery teams zombie apocalypse planning process to be updated.
Eric and Matt to have discussions with David and Lars, respectively, about their “marital issues”
John called this meeting an hour ago and said there were two important people to meet. They have a pitch to make the company better… somehow?
Takeaways:
Everyone send feedback to Kate on Mr. Mister Vooo and Frederick Lamar. She’ll add it to her positives and negatives notes and send that to John.
Update the “prohibited words” sheet
Look out for another Craigslist ad (depending on how John interprets the notes)
Our guests today were Cameron Clark as Mr. Mister Voooo and Dr. London Smith as Frederick Lamar. They have their own character-based improvised comedy called the Jock Doc Podcast that’s an absurdist take on medical education podcasts. Links at JockDocPodcast.com.
Eric and Matt to review archeology/topography/illuminated, interactable manuscript of the code base to see how it affects the product roadmap
Calathea to follow up with Lindsay about visiting from Bhutan to do a Screaming Room training - ensure Lindsay’s training aligns with when Jen is released from the hospital
Matt to ask Tech Team to start storing Tax ID information, hopefully can backfill data that was written on wall and posted on Facebook
Kate and Calathea to follow-up on the #LiberateBugsby campaign and practicality of freeing the Meta Market mascot