In this episode of The Orita Podcast, Aaron Schwartz sits down with Ed Hallen, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Klaviyo, to talk about Ed's incredible journey from bootstrapping Klaviyo in the early days to powering some of the world’s fastest-growing e-commerce companies today. Ed shares rare, inside-the-room insights on scaling, strategy, and customer obsession.

Together, they dive into:

• Why Ed believes the founder’s mindset never goes away

• Klaviyo’s early bet on data, how it shaped their approach to product

• The real role of AI in product and marketing

• Why Klaviyo invests so deeply in partners, and what makes those partnerships thrive

• What brands are getting right, where they’re struggling, and how smart software gives them an edge

• Ed’s long view: Why the real goal isn’t going public, it’s empowering people to build things that matter

👥 Meet the guest Ed Hallen, Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer at Klaviyo

🎙 Hosted by Aaron Schwartz, Co-Founder & Co-CEO at Orita.ai

🎧 Chapters [00:00] From Code to Klaviyo: Meet Ed Hallen [02:39] “Chief Strategy Officer”...But What Does That Actually Mean? [07:16] Customer Experience Is Everything: Here’s Why Ed Still Answers Support Tickets [09:49] How Klaviyo Stays Fast While Scaling to the Moon [15:06] AI at Work: What’s Helping, What’s Hype, What’s Next [19:21] Solving More Problems, Not Just Adding More Features [20:31] The Case for Building Around Your Customer, Not Yourself [23:44] The Partnership Flywheel: Why Ecosystems Drive Growth [27:51] The ROI of Real Customer Value and What It Takes to Deliver It [30:39] Modern Brand Survival Kit: What’s Changed, What Hasn’t [36:36] The Entrepreneur Era: Why the Next Wave of Founders Look Different [39:03] Klaviyo’s Legacy: Empowering Builders at Every Scale [40:44] Two Rules for Founders: Obsess Over the Problem, Break the Playbook

🌐 Check out Orita.ai for more episodes of The Orita Podcast, where we sit down with the most interesting operators, marketers, and founders in e-commerce to talk about what’s working right now. Hosted by the Orita team. Orita uses machine learning to help brands send smarter, more profitable marketing, by figuring out who actually wants to hear from you and when.

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