Today we're joined by Donald DeSantis. Donald is a founder, designer, investor, and (soon to be) author. He was previously co-founder of Hightower (now VTS), which he grew from an idea in a Seattle coffee shop to a 250 person company. In this episode, we talk about why people join early-stage startups, the foundational and operational obsessions of founders, the golden triangle of hiring and why Merit is called Merit.