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2 episodes with amy spurling
2 episodes with amy spurling
2 episodes with amy spurling
Amy Spurling is the Founder and CEO of Compt, an employee lifestyle benefits reimbursement platform that helps companies provide flexible, customizable, and scalable perk solutions to their employees. In this episode, KJ and Amy discuss the importance of equity in workplace benefits, challenges faced by HR and finance departments, and the impact of localized spending through personalized benefits. Amy also shares her personal journey and passion for equity-driven innovation. Key Takeaways: 06:36 Challenges in Building Equitable Benefit Packages 08:26 The Ineffectiveness of Current Benefit Solutions 11:00 The Cost and Utilization Dilemma 20:34 Supporting Small Businesses Through Wellness Programs 23:36 The Role of Local Providers in Wellness 24:30 Challenges in HR and Finance Post-COVID Quote of the Show (21:00): "Our entire world has gone personalized, and there is a way to do that when you're looking at your employee benefits in a way that makes sense." - Amy Spurling Join our Anti-PR newsletter where we're keeping a watchful and clever eye on PR trends, PR fails, and interesting news in tech so you don't have to. You're welcome. Want PR that actually matters? Get 30 minutes of expert advice in a fast-paced, zero-nonsense session from Karla Jo Helms, a veteran Crisis PR and Anti-PR Strategist who knows how to tell your story in the best possible light and get the exposure you need to disrupt your industry. Click here to book your call: https://info.jotopr.com/free-anti-pr-eval Ways to connect with Amy Spurling LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyspurling/ X: https://twitter.com/amyspurling?lang=en Company Website: http://www.compt.io Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/compt/ How to get more Disruption/Interruption: Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlD See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Amy Spurling is the Founder and CEO of Compt, a company specializing in HR software. Their platform enables companies to offer personalized perks that comply with tax regulations and cater to global teams. With extensive experience, including three CFO and two COO roles, Amy emphasizes the importance of supporting employees for enhanced company performance. Over her nearly two-decade career in executive positions at venture-backed firms, she has successfully secured over ten rounds of financing totaling more than $200 million and completed two acquisitions.
The A Better HR Business podcast looks at how consultants and tech firms in the broad Human Resources field grow their business; and how they help employers get the best out of their people. In this episode of A Better HR Business, we are kindly joined by Amy Spurling, the CEO and co-founder of the employee lifestyle benefits platform, Compt. Compt helps HR build, manage, and streamline lifestyle benefit programs so employees can get the benefits they want and need most. Seasoned executive with over 20 years experience in leadership roles at venture-backed companies ranging from early start-up phase through high growth and ultimately exit. Responsible for strategic planning, international expansion, team development and scale, finance and accounting, human resources, corporate governance, and risk management. During her career so far, Amy has closed twelve rounds of debt and equity financing from venture firms and institutional sources totaling more than $200M. She also managed two acquisitions to close with values ranging from 10-30x revenue. In a wide-ranging discussion, Ben and Amy talked about: ✅ What is Compt and how does it help employees and employers? ✅ The surprising range of lifestyle benefits possible using Compt. ✅ The challenges of marketing to HR buyers. ✅ Compt's main marketing methods (content marketing with impressive SEO results & partnering). ✅ Compt's Lifestyle Benefit Benchmarking Report. ✅ And much more. Thanks, Amy! For show notes and to see details of our previous guests, check out the podcast page here: www.GetMoreHRClients.com/Podcast WANT MORE CUSTOMERS OR CLIENTS? Want more clients for your HR-related consultancy or HR Tech business? Check out the HR Business Accelerator: www.GetMoreHRClients.com/Services. WANT TO START AN HR BUSINESS? Want to launch your own consulting business in the broad Human Resources sector? Check out: www.GetMoreHRClients.com/Start for resources.
Leveraging competitive benefits that appeal to everyone is a challenge for a lot of HR pros today. According to Amy Spurling, the founder and CEO of Compt, “A lot of companies have really great programs, but when they start looking at utilization, it's usually around 3 to 5% per thing that you're offering. It is very low. And so you're spending across each individual thing and getting incredibly low utilization. The challenge is then to reach more people and keep more people engaged without cutting benefits.” A former CFO and COO, Amy shares strategies for increasing engagement while offering employees the opportunity to make personalized decisions that are best for them. Highlights [3:00] The kinds of benefits it takes to attract and retain talent today [9:41] How does a stipends-based benefits program give employees more control? [13:50] What benefits employees are attracted to [15:37] The impact of stipends on the local economy [18:01] How one company got its CFO behind a stipend-based benefits program [20:54] Impact of stipend benefits portfolios on employee engagement and retention [24:50] Emerging benefits trends [26:32] The impact of benefits on employee diversity, equity and inclusion [30:01] Stipend utilization by salaried vs. non-salaried employees [35:52] Stipends can dramatically improve employer-employee relationships Guest Bio Amy Spurling, Founder and CEO, Compt Amy Spurling is the founder and CEO of Compt, an HR software company that enables companies to offer personalized, globally inclusive, and fully tax-compliant employee lifestyle benefits. Amy's experience as a former CFO and COO drives her belief that companies and employees can achieve much more together when employees are fully supported. A seasoned executive with nearly 20 years of experience in leadership roles at venture-backed companies, Amy has also closed over 10 rounds of financing, totaling more than $200 million, and managed two acquisitions to close. Amy received her master's of business administration from the Simmons School of Management, and a bachelor of arts from the University of Rochester. Links https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyspurling/ https://www.compt.io/ https://resources.compt.io/2024-lifestyle-benefit-benchmarking-report-0 https://www.hrmorning.com/articles/lifestyle-benefits-in-2024/ https://www.hrmorning.com/articles/cancer-benefits-in-2024/ Berta Aldrich's best-selling book, Winning the Talent Shift, is available on Amazon https://a.co/d/iS7MuPJ We want to hear from you. Leave a review (5-Star would be nice!) on Apple Podcasts and add your question in the comment. We read every review and use them to choose topics, guests, and interview questions for the podcast. You can also reach out at podcast@hrmorning.com. If you love this show, please share your favorite episodes with colleagues and on social media. We greatly appreciate your support. Thank you for listening. Remember to subscribe and follow us so you never miss an episode! Voices of HR is brought to you by HRMorning.com.
A platform that gives employees the freedom and flexibility to choose the type of benefits that they want to fit their own personal needs? Sign us up! We can't wait for you to listen to our chat about employee experience, the data behind diversifying benefits, and the how Compt is changing the NOW and future of work with Amy Spurling, CEO and Founder of Compt Compt's mission is simple. They help companies build and scale flexible employee perks, stipends, and rewards that delight teams. Named the Innovative HR Platform of the Year in 2021, Compt supports global teams with fully customizable HR Tech software to fit a company's needs. Whether it's a health and wellness stipend, student loan stipend or equipment stipend, they believe that benefits should and can align with an employee's life stage. In this new world of work Compt believes that "Fair pay and health insurance are merely table stakes. To truly support your team, remain competitive, and retain top talent, you must offer meaningful benefits to every lifestyle." Their CEO, Amy's experience as a former three-time CFO and two-time COO managing Finance and HR fuels Compt's belief that companies and employees can achieve much more together when employees are fully supported.
Amy Spurling is the Founder and CEO of Compt, helping companies build and scale flexible perks, stipends that delight teams. She explains how Compt's approach to benefits aligns with an employee's life stages, and shares insights from data that revealed the vast diversity of vendors utilized by employees. Amy talks about fundraising for Compt, highlighting the gender investment gap and the difficulties faced by female founders. She also shares her personal experiences as a lesbian founder and emphasizes the importance of a diverse workforce. She outlines Compt's mission to provide equitable compensation and foster a broader perspective within companies, the economic miss of not investing in female-founded companies, and the complexities of transitioning into different roles within a startup. Amy's leadership values of balance and belonging are explored, and she shares insights about navigating hurdles like SOC 2 and GDPR compliance. Additionally, they talk about trends in the tech industry, such as AI's use in healthcare and the potential for bias in software, along with data privacy issues. __ Compt.io (https://www.compt.io/) Follow Compt.io on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/compt/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/compthq/), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ComptHQ), or Xr (https://twitter.com/ComptHQ). Follow Amy Spurling on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyspurling/) or X (https://twitter.com/amyspurling). Follow thoughtbot on Twitter (https://twitter.com/thoughtbot) or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/150727/). Become a Sponsor (https://thoughtbot.com/sponsorship) of Giant Robots! Transcript: VICTORIA: This is the Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots Podcast, where we explore the design, development, and business of great products. I'm your host, Victoria Guido. WILL: And I'm your other host, Will Larry. And with us today is Amy Spurling, Founder and CEO of Compt, helping companies build and scale flexible perks, stipends that delight teams. Amy, thank you for joining. AMY: Thanks so much for having me. VICTORIA: Amy, I saw in your LinkedIn background that you have a picture of someone hiking in what looks like a very remote area. So, just to start us off today, I wonder if you could tell us a little bit more about that. And what's your hobby there? AMY: Sure. I do spend a lot of time backpacking. That picture, I believe, was actually taken in Mongolia a couple of years ago. We spent ten days kind of hiking around in, I mean, everything is backcountry basically in Mongolia. So, spending a lot of time walking around, looking at mountains, is kind of my pastime. WILL: I have a question around backpacking itself. When you say backpacking, what does that mean? Does it mean you only have a backpack, and you're out in the mountains, and you're just enjoying life? AMY: It depends. So, in Mongolia, there were a couple of folks with camels, so carrying the heavy gear for us but still living in tents. My wife and I just did a backpacking trip in the Accursed Mountains in Albania, though, and everything was on our backpack. So, you're carrying a 35-pound pack. It has all your food, your water, your camping gear, and you just go. And you're just kind of living off the land kind of. I mean, you're taking food, so it's not like I'm foraging or hunting but living in the outback. WILL: Wow. What does that do for you just internally, just getting off the grid, enjoying nature? Because I know with tech and everything now, it's kind of hard to do that. But you've done that, I think you said, for ten days. Like, walk us through that experience a little bit. AMY: Some people use yoga, things like that, to go to a zen place, be calm, you know, help quiet their mind. For me, I need to do something active, and that's what I use this for. So getting off away from my phone, away from my laptop—those are not available to me when I'm in the mountains—and just focusing on being very present and listening to the birds, smelling the flowers. You know, pushing myself to where I'm, you know, exerting a lot of energy hiking and just kind of being is just...it's pretty fantastic. VICTORIA: And I'm curious, what brought you to decide to go to Albania to get to that experience? Because that's not a top destination for many people. But -- AMY: It is not. So, we travel a fair amount, and we backpack a fair amount. And the mountains there are honestly some of the most beautiful I've seen anywhere in the world. And so, we're always looking for, where can you get off the grid pretty quickly? Where can you be in the mountains pretty quickly in a way that still has a path so that you're not putting yourself in danger? Unless...I mean, we've done that too. But you want to make sure you have a guide, obviously, if you're going completely no path, no trail kind of camping, too. But it just looked really beautiful. We planned it actually for three years ago and had to cancel because it was May of 2020. And so, we've had this trip kind of on the books and planned for it for a while. VICTORIA: That's awesome. Yeah, I know of Albania because I had a friend who worked there for a few years. And she said the rock climbing there is amazing. And it actually has one of the last wild rivers in Europe. So, it's just a very remote, very interesting place. So, it's funny that you went there [laughs]. I was like, wait, other people also go to Albania. That's awesome. I love the outdoor space. Well, what a great perk or benefit to working to be able to take those vacations and take that time off and spend it in a way that makes you feel refreshed. Tell me more about Compt and your background. What led you to found this company? AMY: Sure. I've been in tech companies for, you know, over 20 years. I've been a CFO, a COO building other people's dreams, so coming in as a primary executive, you know, first funding round type of person, help scale the team, manage finance and HR. And I loved doing that, but I got really frustrated with the lack of tools that I needed to be able to hire people and to retain people. Because the way we compensate people has changed for the last 10, 15 years. And so, ultimately, decided to build a platform to solve my own problem and my own team's problems, and started that getting close to six years ago now. But wanted to build a tech company in a very different way as well. So, in the same way, I take time off, I want my team to take time off. So, we operate on a basis of everyone should be taking their time off. Don't check in while you're out. We'll make sure we're covered. You know, let's build a sustainable business here. And everybody should be working 40 to 45 hours a week, which is definitely not a startup culture or norm. WILL: Yeah. I love that. I was doing some research on Compt. And so, in your words, can you explain to everyone exactly what your company does? AMY: Sure. So, we build lifestyle benefit accounts for companies. And what that means...and the terminology keeps changing, so some people may call them stipends or allowances. But it's really looking at how you pull together employee perks, benefits that will help compete for talent. And right now, retention is kind of the key driver for most companies. How do I keep the people I have really happy? Competitive salaries are obviously table stakes. Health insurance for most industries is table stakes. So, it's, what else are you offering them? You can offer a grab bag of stuff, which a lot of companies try and do, but you get very low utilization. Or you can do something like a stipend or a lifestyle spending account, which is what we build, which allows for complete flexibility so that every employee can do something different. So that even if you're offering wellness, you know, what the three of us think about as wellness is likely very different. I spend a lot of money at REI, like, they are basically, like, as big as my mortgage. I spend so much money there because I want backpacking gear. Wellness for you folks may be a little bit different. And so, allowing for that personalization so everybody can do something that matters to them. VICTORIA: Right. And I love that it comes from a problem you found in your own experience of working with early-stage startups and being on the executive level and finance and building teams from the ground up. So, I'm curious, what lessons did you find in your previous roles that were maybe ten times more important when you started your own company? AMY: I learned so much through all of my prior companies and pulled in the lessons of the things that worked really well but then also the things that it was, like, wow, I would definitely do that different. DEI is very important to us. I knew building a diverse team was going to be a competitive advantage for us. And none of my prior teams really met that mark. You know, most of them were Boston-based, the usual kind of profile of a tech company: 85%-95% White guys, mostly from MIT, you know, very, very talented, but also coached and trained by the same professors for the last 20 years. So, I knew I wanted different perspectives around the table, and that was going to be really key. So, looking at non-traditional backgrounds, especially as we were looking at hiring engineers, for instance, that was really interesting to me because I knew that would be part of our competitive advantage as we started building up this platform that is employee engagement but very much a tax compliance and budgeting tool as well. VICTORIA: I love hearing that. And it's something I've heard from actually thoughtbot's founder, Chad. That is something he wished he invested more in when he first started it. So, I'm curious as to how that's played out from when you started to where you are now. You said, I think, it's been six years, right? AMY: January will be six years, so five and a half-ish, I guess, right now. I mean, it was a stated part of what we were going to do from day one. All of my prior companies wanted that as well. I don't think anybody starts out and says, "Hey, I'd really love a one-note company." No one says that. Everybody thinks that they're doing the right things and hiring the best talent. But what you do is you end up hiring from your network, which usually looks just like you. And when you get to be, you know, 100, 150 people and you're looking around going, wow, we have some gaps here, it's really hard to fill them because who wants to be the first and the only of whatever? You know, I've been the only woman on most management teams. So, for us, it was day one, make it part of the focus and make sure we're really looking for the best talent and casting a very wide net. So, right now, we're sitting at 56% female and 36% people of color, and somewhere around 18%-19% LGBTQIA. So, we're trying to make sure that we're attracting all those amazing perspectives. And they're from people from around the country, which I also think is really important when you're building a tech company. Don't just build in areas where you're in your little tech bubble. If you want to build a product that actually services everyone, you need to have other kind of cultural and country perspectives as well. VICTORIA: Yeah. And that makes perfect sense for what you described earlier for Compt, that it is supposed to be flexible to provide health benefits or wellness benefits to anyone. And there can be a lot of different definitions of that. So, it makes sense that your team reflects the people that you're building for. AMY: Exactly. WILL: Yeah. How does that work? How does Compt accomplish that? Because I know early on I was doing nonprofits and I was a decent leader. But I struggle to get outside of myself, my own bubble if that makes sense. So, like, that was before I had kids. I had no idea what it meant to have kids and just the struggles and everything if you have kids. So, there's so many different things that I've learned over the years that, like, just people have their own struggles. So, how does Compt accomplish the diversity of a company? AMY: So, it's so interesting you mentioned that. I was on a podcast the other day with somebody who was, like, "You know, we didn't really think about our benefits and how important they were." And then, the founder who was the person on the podcast, and he was like, "But then I had kids. And suddenly, I realized, and we had this amazing aha moment." I'm like, well, it's great you had the aha moment. But let's back it up and do this before the founder has children. Sometimes you need to recognize the entire team needs something different and try and support them. My frustration with the tools out there are there are tools that are like, hey, we're a DE&I platform. We will help you with that. You know, we've got a benefit for fertility. We've got a benefit for, you know, elder care. There's all kinds of benefits. These are great benefits, but they're also very, very specific in how they support an employee. And it's very small moment in time, usually. Whereas with something like Compt, where we say, "Hey, we support family," your version of family, having children is very different from my version of family, where I don't have children, but we both have families. And we can both use that stipend in a way that is meaningful for us. What puts the employee back in charge, what matters in their lives, instead of the company trying to read everyone's mind, which is honestly a no-win situation for anyone. So, it just makes it very, very broad. VICTORIA: Yes. And I've been on both sides, obviously, as an employee, but also previously role of VP of Operations. And trying to design benefits packages that are appealing, and competitive, and fair is a challenging task. So -- AMY: It's impossible. It's impossible. [laughs] VICTORIA: Very hard. And I'm curious what you found in the early stages of Compt that was surprising to you in the discovery process building the product. AMY: So, for me, I mean, discovery was I am the buyer for this product. So, I wanted this about five years before I decided to go and build it. And I was talking to other finance and HR professionals going around going, "All right, are you feeling this exact same pain that I'm feeling? Because it is getting completely insurmountable." We were all being pitched all these different platforms and products. Everybody had something they wanted to sell through HR to help attract, and engage and retain talent and all the things, right? But there's no tracking. It's not taxed correctly. And ultimately, no matter what you bring in, maybe 2% to 3% of your team would use it. So, you're spending all this time and energy in putting all this love into wanting to support your team, and then nobody uses the stuff that you bring in because it just doesn't apply to them. And so, I realized, like, my pivotal moment was, all right, none of this is working. I've been waiting five years for somebody to build it. Let's go build something that is completely vendor-agnostic. There's no vendors on this platform by design because everyone ultimately wants something different. And, you know, through that process, we were, of course, pushed by many VCs who said, "Hey, build your marketplace, build your marketplace, you know, that's going to be your moat and your special sauce." And I said, "No, no, no, that's not what we're going to do here because that doesn't solve that problem." And we finally had the data to prove it, which is fantastic. You know, we actually did a sample of 8,700 people on our platform, and we watched them for a year. And said, "How many different vendors are these 8,700 people going to use?" Because that's the marketplace we'd have to build because we have 91% employee engagement. Nobody can beat us in the industry. We've got the highest employee engagement of any platform in our category. So, how many different vendors could 8,700 people use in that time period? Do you guys have any guesses how many they used in that time period to get to that engagement? VICTORIA: Out of 8,700 vendors? AMY: No, 8,700 employees. So, how many different vendors they used in that time period. VICTORIA: Hmm, like, per employee, I could see maybe, like, 10? I don't know. Two? AMY: We saw 27,000 different vendors used across all the employees, so 27,000 different unique vendors. So, on average, every employee wants three unique vendors that no one else is using. VICTORIA: Oh wow. WILL: Wow. VICTORIA: Yeah, okay. [laughter] Right. AMY: So, it's just you can't build that, I mean, you could build that marketplace, but nobody's going to visit that marketplace because nobody wants to scroll through 27,000 things. And so, it just keeps changing. You know, and I saw that even with the woman who started the company with me, you know, when she...we, of course, use Compt internally. And she started using her wellness stipend. You know, at first, she was doing 5Ks. So, she'd register for the race. She'd go train. She'd do all the things. Then she got pregnant and had a baby and started shifting over to prenatal vitamins, to Lamaze classes, to, you know, mommy yoga, things like that. Then once she had the baby, it shifted again. And so, it allows for a company to flow with an employee's lifecycle without having to get into an employee's life stage and, "Hey, what do you need at this moment in time?" Employees can self-direct that, so it makes it easier for employees and a lot easier for companies who are not trying to...we don't want to map out every single moment of our employee's personal life. We shouldn't be involved in that. And so, this is a way to support them but also give them a little space too. WILL: I absolutely love that because that is, yes, that is a flow. Like, before you have kids, it's, like, yes, I can go run these 5Ks; I can do this. When you have kids, it totally changes. Like, okay, what can I do with my kids? So, workout, or that's my away time. So, I love that it's an ebb and flow with the person. And they can pick their own thing, like -- AMY: Right. We're all adults. WILL: Yes. [laughs] AMY: I think I sat there going; why am I dictating someone's health and wellness regimen? I am not qualified for this on any stretch. Like, why am I dictating what somebody's mental health strategy should be? That's terrifying. You're adults. You work with your professionals. We'll support it. WILL: Yes. I remember at one company I worked for; they had this gym that they had, you know, got a deal with. And I was so frustrated because I was like, that's, like, 45 minutes away from my house. AMY: [laughs] Right. WILL: It's a perk, but it means absolutely nothing to me. I can't use it. So yes, yeah. [laughs] AMY: Well, and, like, not everybody wants to work, say...there was, you know, we see a lot of that is there's been a transition over time. COVID really changed that as people couldn't go to gyms, and companies shifted to stipends. But you may not want to work out with your co-workers, and that's okay, too. Like, it's okay to want to do your own thing and be in your own space, which is where we see this kind of decline of the, you know, on-site company gym, which, you know, some people just don't want to do that. VICTORIA: Yeah. So, I love that you stayed true to this problem that you found and you backed it up with data. So, you're like, here's clear data on, say, why those VCs' advice was bad [laughs] about the marketplace. AMY: Ill-informed. They needed data to see otherwise. [laughs] VICTORIA: Yeah. Well, I'm curious about your experience going through fundraising and starting up for Compt with your background as a CFO and how that was for you. AMY: It was...I naively thought it would be easier for me, and maybe it was because I had all this experience raising money as a CFO in all these prior companies. But the reality is that women receive less than 2% of all funding, even though we start 50% of the businesses. And if you look at, you know, Black female founders, they're receiving, like, 0.3, 0.5% of funding. Like, it's just...it's not nice out there. You know, on average, a lot of VCs are looking at 3,000, 4,000, or 5000 different companies a year and investing in 10. And so, the odds of getting funded are very, very low, which means that you're just going to experience a whole lot of unique situations as a female founder. I saw that you folks work with LOLA, which is fantastic. I'm a huge fan of LOLA and kind of what their founders put together. And I've heard some amazing things about the pitches that she's done for VCs and that she's just not shy about what she's building. And I really appreciate that. It's never a fun situation. And it gets easier the later stages because you have more metrics, and data, and all of that. And we ultimately found phenomenal investors that I'm very, very happy to have as part of our journey. But it's definitely...it's not pretty out there is the reality. VICTORIA: Right. And I saw that you either attended or put on an event about the gender investment gap, which I think is what you just referred to there as well. So, I'm curious how that conversation went and if there were any insights about what the industry can do to promote more investment in women and people of color founders. AMY: So, that's actually coming up August 10th, and so that's coming up in a few weeks that we're going to be hosting that. I'm actually part of a small group that is spearheading some legislation in Massachusetts to help change this funding dynamic for female founders, which I'm pretty excited about. And California also has some legislation they're looking at right now. In Mass, we're looking at how fair lending laws can apply to venture capital. There are laws on the books on how capital gets distributed when you look at the banking system. But there's virtually no regulation when you look at venture funding, and there's no accountability, and there's no metrics that anybody is being held to. I don't believe that you know, just because I pitched a VC that they should be funding me, you know, it needs to be part of their thesis and all of those things. But when you see so much disparity in what is happening out there, bias is coming into play. And there needs to be something that helps level that playing field. And so, that's where legislation comes into play and helps change that dynamic. So, pretty excited about the legislation that's before both the Senate and the Mass State House, likely going to be heard this November. So, we're pretty excited about that. Mid-Roll Ad: As life moves online, bricks-and-mortar businesses are having to adapt to survive. With over 18 years of experience building reliable web products and services, thoughtbot is the technology partner you can trust. We provide the technical expertise to enable your business to adapt and thrive in a changing environment. We start by understanding what's important to your customers to help you transition to intuitive digital services your customers will trust. We take the time to understand what makes your business great and work fast yet thoroughly to build, test, and validate ideas, helping you discover new customers. Take your business online with design‑driven digital acceleration. Find out more at tbot.io/acceleration or click the link in the show notes for this episode. WILL: So, Amy, you're talking a lot about diversity, inclusion, and just biases, and things like that. You're doing a great job with it. Your product is perfect for that because it reaches so many different levels. And I just want to ask you, why are you so passionate about it? Why is this so important to you? AMY: For me, personally, I am a lesbian founder. I am the only, you know, LGBTQ in many of my companies. And I'm always the, I mean, very frequently, the only woman in the boardroom, the only woman on the leadership team. That's not super comfortable, honestly. When you are having to fight for your place at the table, and you see things that could be done differently because you're bringing a different perspective, that, to me, is a missed opportunity for companies and for employees as well who, you know, there's amazing talent out there. If you're only looking at one flavor of talent, you're missing the opportunity to really build a world-class organization. And so, to me, it's both the personal side where I want to work with the best people. I want to work with a lot of different perspectives. I want to work with people who are bringing things to the table that I haven't thought about. But also, making sure that we're creating an environment where those people can feel comfortable as well, and so people don't feel marginalized or tokenized and have the ability to really bring their best selves to work. That's really important to me. It's a reflection of the world around us. It's bringing out the best in all of us. And so, for me, that's the environment I want to create in my own company. And it's also what I want to help companies be able to foster within their companies because I think a lot of companies really do want that. They just don't know how to go about it. They don't have actual tools to support a diverse team. You pay for things for the people you have, and then you hire more people like the people you have. We want to be a tool to help them expand that very organically and make it a lot easier to support a broader perspective of people. VICTORIA: I appreciate that. And it speaks to something you said earlier about 50% of the businesses are started by women. And so, if you're not investing in them, there's a huge market and huge potential and opportunity there that's just not -- AMY: The economic miss is in the trillions, is what's been estimated. Like, it's an absolute economic miss. I mean, you also have the statistics of what female-founded companies do. We tend to be more profitable. We tend to be more capital efficient. We tend to, you know, have better outcomes. It's just so the economics of it are there. It's just trying to get folks to understand where their biases are coming into play and funding things that may be a little outside their comfort zone. VICTORIA: Right. That's going to be a big project to undo all of that. So, each piece that works towards it to break it down, I think, is really important. And it seems like Compt is a great tool for companies to start working towards that, at least in the equity of their benefits, which is -- [laughs] AMY: Exactly. Because, I mean, if people can't use a perk, then it's inequitable compensation. And if you have inequitable compensation, you're already going down that path. You end up with wage gaps, and then you end up with promotion gaps. And all these things feed into each other. So, we're just trying to chip away at one piece of the problem. There's lots of places that this needs to be adjusted and changed over time. But we want to at least chip away at that one piece where this piece of compensation can be equitable and support everyone. WILL: Yeah, I love that. I was looking at your LinkedIn. And it looks like you've been almost, later this year, maybe six years of Compt. What was some of the early traction? Like, how was it in the early days for you? AMY: It was an interesting transition for me, going from CFO and COO over to the CEO role. That was easier in some ways than I thought it was going to be and harder in other ways. You know, on the easy side, I've already done fundraising. I understand how to write a business model, and look at financial plans, and make sure the concept is viable and all the things. But I also am not an engineer. I'm not a product designer. And so needed to make sure we immediately surrounded ourselves with the right talent and the right help to make sure that we could build the right product, pull the things out of my brain that are conceptual but definitely not product design. No one wants me touching product design. I've been barred from all codebases in this company. They don't want me touching anything, with good reason. And so, making sure that we have those right people to build and design the software in a way that functionally makes sense. VICTORIA: I think that is great that...I laughed when you said that you are barred from touching any of the code. [laughs] It's like, you're able to...I think a strong leader recognizes when other people have the expertise and makes space for them to do their best work. I also see that, at the same time, you've been a mentor with the MassChallenge group. And I'm curious if you have a most frequent piece of advice that you give to founders and people starting out building great products. AMY: The biggest piece of advice, I think, is to make sure you're taking care of yourself through this process. It's an exhausting process to build a company. And there's always way more that you should be doing every day than you can possibly get done. And if you just completely absorb yourself in it, you're going to end up burning out. So, making sure that you rest, that you still make time to exercise and to move, and that you spend time with family. All of those things, I think, are really, really important. That's been part of our core tenets. From day one, I said, "No more than 40 to 45 hours a week." It doesn't mean I'm not thinking about this business far more than 45 hours a week, but I'm not going to sit behind a computer that many hours in a week because I will burn out. And if I'm out and I'm reading something, or I'm, you know, going for a walk, I'm going to have moments of inspiration because I can actually have those creative thoughts firing when I'm not just putting out fires. And so, I think that's really, really important for founders to make sure they take that time and allow their brains to clear a little bit so that they can build more efficiently, build faster, and have really good critical reasoning skills. WILL: I love that you not only have the product to, you know, help taking time off, but you also are preaching it per se, like, take time off. Don't work more than 40-45 hours. Like, take care of yourself. So, I love that advice that you're giving is right in the message with your product. So, I love it. AMY: Thank you. I do hammer home with this team. What we build is obviously very, very important to me, but how we build this company is equally important. We spend just as much time thinking about how we're building and designing this company internally as we do about our product because they need to be a virtuous cycle between the two, quite frankly. And so, if they aren't aligned, we're going to fail. WILL: Definitely. Wow. Awesome. What does success look like for you and Compt in the next, you know, six months to a year? AMY: For us, it's really about reaching as many people as possible. So, how do we have an impact on as many lives as possible and help people be able to access this piece of their compensation? What is interesting right now is we're in a really interesting moment. The tech industry is going through...shall we call it an awakening? Where money is tighter. There's been some layoffs. You know, it's just a very different world in tech right now. And everybody's in a little bit of a holding pattern to figure out, okay, what's next? What we're seeing across our portfolio of companies is that there's a lot of industries that are, for the first time, really thinking about how do we retain folks? How do we think about hiring in a new way? So, industries like construction and manufacturing. Industries that never had employee kind of lifestyle benefits or perks they're taking a look at that because unemployment is so, so low. And so, for the first time ever, we have the ability to have an impact on groups that never had access to professional development, to wellness, to things like that. And that's really exciting because you can have such a huge, impactful moment where people have just been without for so long. And so, that's pretty exciting for us. VICTORIA: You're touching upon a topic that I've thought about before, where in the tech industry, we're used to having a lot of benefits and perks and that not every industry is the same way. So, I'm curious; you mentioned construction and some other groups that are looking to adopt more of these benefits because unemployment is so low. I'm curious, like, if there are any patterns or things that you see, like, specific industries that are more interested than others, or what's going on there? AMY: Our portfolio of tech companies are only about...they're less than 40% of our customers, actually. So, a relatively low percentage of our customers come from the tech industry. What we find is that healthcare systems this is really important. As you're thinking about how you're going to retain nursing staff, it is incredibly difficult. And so, we see a lot of movement in the healthcare space. We see a lot of movement, again, across manufacturing and construction, you know, financial services. Pretty much anybody who is struggling to hire and is worried about retaining is trying to figure out what's my strategy? How do I do this in the least expensive way possible but reach everyone? Because those employee engagement metrics are so consistently important to look at. And most platforms and things that you could be doing out there are going to give you a 2% to 3% utilization. So, it's very, very low. You know, wellness is by far the most common use case we see companies putting in place. It's good for employees. It's good for the employer. That's by far the most important or the most common. But we also see things like family, and just more of a whole well-being kind of concept as well, so beyond wellness, so allowing for that broader reach. We're also seeing industries where people are starting to age out. So, we've got five generations at work right now. There's industries where folks have historically stayed forever. You know, you've got the people who have been there 20-30 years. Well, those same industries are now sitting there going, all right, how do I get the next two generations to come in here? Because it's such an old-guard and old approach. We've got to change things up. And so, we're seeing a pretty big cultural shift happen within a lot of these more nascent industries. WILL: Yeah. I can definitely see how that would be tough going from, you know, you said five generations are currently in the workforce? AMY: Yep. WILL: I didn't even think about that. Wow. AMY: Yeah, you got a lot of different parts of the life cycle. You know, think about professional development. Professional development for a 22-year-old is very different from professional development for a 65-year-old. But both are in the workplace, and both want to keep learning. It's just what your needs are and what you need to learn. And how you want to learn is going to be very, very different. WILL: Wow. So true. I love how you're talking about your leadership and just the way you lead. I can just hear it in what you're saying. What are some of your core values that drive you every day? AMY: One of the big ones, and it probably goes back to, you know, I'm sure, birth placement, whatever. I'm an oldest child, all the things that come with being an oldest child. But fairness is a really big one for me. And so, it's thinking about how we apply that as a company, so equitable compensation falls under that. Making sure that we've got a team that is balanced and diverse is really important to me. You know, thinking, you know, our core values are balance and belonging. That runs through absolutely everything that we do and is core and central to it. Because, again, how we build this company is just as important to me as what we're building. And so, making sure that we hold true to those values is critical because we have amazing people, and they need to feel supported as well. VICTORIA: Well, that really comes through in everything that you say and that we've talked about so far today, and I really appreciate that. And I'm curious if you could go back in time to when you first started Compt and tell yourself any piece of advice or information; what would you say? AMY: That piece of advice has changed over time; I will tell you that. The one that is most recent for me is really because we're an HR tech platform, and we service, you know, an entire organization, is really thinking about how you support different industries at different moments in time, the concept of product-market fit. When you're that type of a platform, which there aren't many, there's not many platforms that sit across an entire organization, but compensation is one of them. You need to be thinking about which industries are struggling to hire, which are struggling to retain at this moment in time. And so, I don't think there's one place, like, hey, we have product-market fit, now we can scale. I think that's a misnomer for our part of the HR tech space. And so, it's constant experimentation on go-to-market strategy and constant kind of adjustment as markets ebb and flow over time. WILL: What is some of your biggest hurdles right now or even in the future that you can see coming? AMY: If I had a crystal ball, life would definitely be easier. I'd love to know when this economic cycle is going to shift and, you know when things get a little bit easier for companies. You know, HR leaders and finance leaders are not having the most fun at this moment in time. They're being tasked with making everybody happy but on very small budgets, and so they're really challenged with that. And they're really burnt out, and they're exhausted. So, I'm looking forward to a shift so when people can get back to feeling a little bit physically better. But also, it just helps navigate a market and be better able to support your employees. VICTORIA: I've been thinking about that question recently, what I would tell my past self, and I think it's mostly, like, food related. [laughter] AMY: Ooh, interesting. VICTORIA: Use better vinegars, like, invest in fancier olive oil. [laughs] AMY: So, my new luxury pro-tip is you buy a $7 bunch of eucalyptus at the grocery store, and you tie it above your shower head. I'm not kidding; you will feel like you're at a spa. It costs $7. I learned it because I was at some fancy resort. One of my investors, you know, paid for us to go to a conference that I was not paying for. And I was like, that is genius. You suddenly feel like you are in someplace fancy, and it was seven bucks. It's amazing. WILL: Yes. VICTORIA: That sounds incredible. I'm going to do that. WILL: Same. [laughter] VICTORIA: [inaudible 34:35] buy some. No, it's so good. Do you have any questions for us, Amy? AMY: Yeah. I mean, what trends are you seeing in the market right now? Like, what types of companies are being developed? Where do you see growth happening in the market? VICTORIA: That's probably a better question for me. As a managing director, I spend more time networking and going to events. And it's interesting being in San Diego. There's a big biotech startup here. So, I went to an EvoNexus Demo Day and saw the things that people were using. And there seemed to be a trend of using AI and machine learning to create better health outcomes, whether that's for predictors for which people will respond better to anti-cancer drugs, or, you know, how do we monitor the release of drugs for someone's system who's, you know, going through methadone in therapy. So, it's really interesting. I think that you know, you mentioned that there's not the same amount of money in the tech market, but I think there is still a lot of work being done to solve real problems that people have. So yeah, I'm really curious to see those types of projects and which ones are going to be successful, and how much the AI trend will really fade out. Like, clearly, in some use cases, you can see how beneficial it could be. And other times, it seems like it's kind of just like slapped on there for -- AMY: Agreed. VICTORIA: Marketing purposes, so... AMY: That's really just a database query. It's not AI. [laughs] VICTORIA: Right. [laughs] It's interesting because, you know, I just had lunch with a bunch of other CTOs in San Diego, and we were talking about AI, and some of the inherent risks of it, and the damage it can cause. And I always like to bring it back to, like, there are some people who are already harmed by these trends. And we have to work around that. Like, there is some, you know, greater supposed existential threat with AI that I think is rather unlikely. But if we think about that too much and not focus on the current harm that's being done, then that's, you know, more dangerous than the other one. AMY: Yeah. No, absolutely. I mean, there's definitely, I mean, even just with facial recognition and how that's applied and what that's used for. I mean, any software that is built with people has bias. And so, whatever biases they're bringing into it is the bias that's going to exist in the software. And so, there's...we already are starting from, you know, going back to our earlier conversation, if companies are not diverse and not building for really diverse perspectives, they're inherently going to build bias software, whether or not, I mean, I don't think that's anybody's intention. But that's what's going to happen because you just didn't think about things you didn't know. VICTORIA: Right. And, of course, I'm here in Southern California. There's the strikes for the actors and writers' strike happening a few hours north of us. And they were actually, you know, for some actors, signing away their rights to their likeness. AMY: Wow. VICTORIA: And then they could make an AI image and -- AMY: Wow. You could just create an entire movie with somebody's image and dub in a voice, and suddenly you don't need actors. VICTORIA: Right. And it's, of course, more often non-White actors and models who are being replaced. And so, I think that's a very interesting trend that people may not have thought about yet. AMY: Fascinating. VICTORIA: So yeah, I mean, having people on your leadership team who are thinking about these [laughs] different types of issues, like, yeah, I think it's really important. And then also, from, like, a data privacy perspective, all the laws that are coming out and that have come out. And I think that some founders and CTOs are really struggling with how to comply and protect everyone's data that way. AMY: No. It's something we think about a lot because we have the potential to have access to a lot of employee data. We take a very minimalist approach stated, not a big data play. That's not what we're here for. That's not what we're trying to do, this mountain of data on people, and then we'll figure out how to monetize it. We want to build something a little bit different. And so using only data that needs to be used so that we can truly support people with what our actual goal and aim is, rather than having that be a secondary cause. VICTORIA: Yeah. And I wanted to ask you about that actually because you have SOC 2 and GDPR compliance. And it's a topic that I think a lot of founders know that security is important, but it can be a significant investment. So, I'm curious your trade-offs and your timing for when you went for those compliance frameworks. AMY: We went early for it. I mean, so our platform, I mean, we're integrated with payroll platforms. We're touching employee data. So, we went for it early because we knew that it was going to be important, and it's a lot easier to do it before you make a mess than it is after the fact. I've done SOC 2 compliance in two prior companies. It's not fun. It is not my most fun thing that I've ever done. Fortunately, there are geniuses out there who built platforms to make this very, very easy now. We use a platform called Vanta that is absolutely incredible, made it super easy to get SOC 2 compliant, go through our audits, do all the things, so that, at least, is a lot easier. But it was something that we needed the funding to invest in. It's not inexpensive. But we knew that it was going to be critical because people need to feel that their data is secure and that you know what you're doing, and that you're not just kind of flying by the seat of your pants. There's a lot of tech companies that operate on, we'll figure out the tax, or we'll figure out the law. We'll figure out the compliance later. And that's been a stated part of their mission. That's just not the way I'm going to operate. And that doesn't work very well when you're dealing with HR, quite frankly, or finance because we have to comply with laws. So, getting ahead of that early was part of our strategy. VICTORIA: That makes sense. Your finance background making it clear what the legal implications are. [laughs] AMY: Exactly. Like, I'm not messing around with the IRS. Nobody wants to get audited by the IRS. It's not fun. Let's just keep things tax compliant. Chances are you're not going to get audited by the IRS. But if you are a tech company, if you do want to go public, if you do want to be acquired likely from a public company, you have to have these things in order because otherwise, it's coming off your purchase price or your stock price because you've got disclosures you've got to put out there, so little hidden, nasty gotchas. And it can be a six-year lookback period. So, you're like, oh, I'll worry about it later. Six years is a long time. And if you start messing around with that, it gets very, very expensive to clean up. So, just do it right from the beginning. You know, the same way you're doing payroll correctly now, invest a little bit, and it makes it a lot easier. VICTORIA: Yeah, I agree. And I think the tooling that's out there makes it a little bit easier; at least then, you know you have the confidence that your data is protected. Especially if you're a non-technical founder, I can imagine that makes you feel better that things are the way they should be. AMY: Exactly. Somebody has looked at this thing. Somebody is making sure that it's working the way it's supposed to. You know, that definitely helps when you're a non-technical founder, or just not a tax expert, or a legal expert, you know, around these things. It's not even the technical founders that have to worry about it. Data comes in all kinds of forms. VICTORIA: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. AMY: This has been a fantastic conversation. I've really enjoyed it. VICTORIA: Well, thank you. WILL: Same. VICTORIA: I've enjoyed it as well. I really appreciate you taking the time. You can subscribe to the show and find notes along with a complete transcript for this episode at giantrobots.fm. If you have questions or comments, you can email us at hosts@giantrobots.fm. You can find me on Twitter @victori_ousg. WILL: And you can find me on Twitter @will23larry. This podcast is brought to you by thoughtbot and produced and edited by Mandy Moore. Thanks for listening. See you next time. ANNOUNCER: This podcast is brought to you by thoughtbot, your expert strategy, design, development, and product management partner. We bring digital products from idea to success and teach you how because we care. Learn more at thoughtbot.com. Special Guest: Amy Spurling.
In this episode, Rhys interviews Amy Spurling, founder, and CEO @ COMPT. COMPT is an all-in-one innovative reimbursement platform that is revolutionizing benefits. Not a vendor platform by design, Amy and her team built COMPT to allow organizations to offer truly personalized benefits and stipends. Rhys and Amy dive into why personalization is the way to optimize benefits, especially for a distributed workforce, and how COMPT supports local vendors. Rhys asks Amy if benefits and stipends can ever become too flexible, and how managers can balance that tension. They also explore how personalization has improved benefits offerings outside of the tech industry. This podcast episode was produced by Quill.
Sylvie is talking too loud about travel woes and mishaps. A PSA to everyone, if you're headed to Europe, be sure to check out the requirements of the Schengen Agreement and check your passport's expiration date. You're welcome.Chris is talking too loud about the F1 Grand Prix and getting to see the Aston Martin racing team in action.And TTL guest Amy Spurling is talking too loud about leveling the playing field for female founders and entrepreneurs.Links to learn more about Amy:Amy's LinkedInFollow us:twitter.com/wistiaSubscribe:wistia.com/series/talking-too-loudLove what you heard? Leave us a review!We want to hear from you!Write in and let us know what you think about the show, who you'd want us to interview on future episodes, and any feedback you have for our team.
Welcome to episode 51 of Future Driven, this week Adam spoke with Amy Spurling, Founder and CEO of Compt, an all-in-one employee reimbursement platform. Amy has a background as a COO and CFO with 20+ years of leadership experience at venture-backed companies. She has successfully guided companies from the startup phase to high growth and eventual exit. Her expertise spans strategic planning, international expansion, team development, finance, accounting, human resources, corporate governance, and risk management. In this episode, Amy tells us how her frustration with HR Technology platforms resulted in her creating a company of her own. She discusses the importance of giving employees benefits and the ways to increase benefit utilization. Learn more about her company Compt and how they provide a fully optimized employee reimbursement platform for companies of all sizes. Future Driven is hosted by Adam Lejeunekopp, CEO of the strategic marketing agency, Madak. In each episode, Adam talks to different entrepreneurs and industry leaders, discussing their careers, leadership styles, and goals for the future.
Amy Spurling is the Founder and CEO of Compt, HR software that enables companies to offer truly personalized employee perks while being fully tax-compliant and inclusive for global teams. Amy's experience as a former three-time CFO and two-time COO managing Finance and HR drives her belief that companies and employees can achieve much more together when employees are fully supported. A seasoned executive with nearly 20 years of experience in leadership roles at venture-backed companies, Amy has also closed over ten rounds of financing totaling more than $200M and managed two acquisitions to close. Amy received her Master of Business Administration from the Simmons School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Rochester.Connect with Behind Company Lines and HireOtter Website Facebook Twitter LinkedIn:Behind Company LinesHireOtter Instagram Buzzsprout
People love perks. Employees love them even more. Unfortunately, startups looking to make employee perks easy, scalable, and tax-compliant have come and gone over the years. Compt.io thinks they have a better mousetrap. That's why Amy Spurling, CEO, and founder, has come on the Firing Squad. In a market expected to reach approximately $346 million by 2025, the stakes are high. Does Amy make it out alive? Gotta listen.
People love perks. Employees love them even more. Unfortunately, startups looking to make employee perks easy, scalable, and tax-compliant have come and gone over the years. Compt.io thinks they have a better mousetrap. That's why Amy Spurling, CEO, and founder, has come on the Firing Squad. In a market expected to reach approximately $346 million by 2025, the stakes are high. Does Amy make it out alive? Gotta listen.
People love perks. Employees love them even more. Unfortunately, startups looking to make employee perks easy, scalable, and tax-compliant have come and gone over the years. Compt.io thinks they have a better mousetrap. That's why Amy Spurling, CEO, and founder, has come on the Firing Squad. In a market expected to reach approximately $346 million by 2025, the stakes are high. Does Amy make it out alive? Gotta listen.
Times have changed. Whereas HR professionals used to find themselves sequestered to the back of the office filing paperwork, now Chief HR Officers find themselves on the path to company leadership roles. Listen in on this interview with Amy Spurling, Founder and CEO of Compt, and learn how HR leaders can maximize their “seat at the table” in an ever-changing business climate. TAKEAWAYS Instead of filling out compliance paperwork behind-the-scenes, today's CHROs are better positioned to take on the CEO role than ever before. Today's tight labor market ensures HR's “seat at the table.” Companies must hire an HR person if they want to build a functional, viable company. The CHRO role should complement the CFO role as they are the only two positions that sit across every department in a business. A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST
In the episode, Nick Day is joined on The HR L&D Podcast by Amy Spurling, an LGBTQ+ entrepreneur and Founder and CEO of Compt - HR software that enables companies to offer truly personalized employee perks that adapt to remote and hybrid needs.Amy has nearly 20 years of experience in venture-backed companies' leadership roles, ranging from the early start-up phase to high growth and exit.Amy is an industry thought leader who has spoken at a variety of conferences and in webinars, from Fortune's Brainstorm Tech to the Society for Human Resource Management's Annual Expo.Amy has also been published repeatedly in top publications like Fortune, Insider, Bloomberg, NPR, Fast Company, BBC, TechCrunch, Yahoo! Morning Brew, and more.Amy was named Boston's 2016 CFO of the Year by Boston Business Journal, and Compt has won its fair share of awards, including SHRM's Top HR Platform of the Year Award.In this “Personalising Remote & Hybrid Employee Perks” episode with Amy Spurling on The HR L&D Podcast, we also explore:What do the words Human Resources mean to you?How can employee perks help companies attract and retain employees?Are perks just for those in offices?How can HR leaders satisfy the needs of those who may not work at a desk?What do HR teams need to consider when implementing stipends?If companies can afford stipends, shouldn't they pay people higher wages instead?What's the case for stipends?What is a common misconception/myth about employee perks or fringe benefits?Links highlighted in this “Personalizing Remote & Hybrid Employee Perks” episode are included below:Website: https://www.compt.io/Amy Spurling LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyspurling/The host of The HR L&D Podcast - LinkedIn Profile: Nick DayLeading HR Recruiters: JGA HR RecruitmentEnjoyed this show? Why not also check out our other podcast focused on all aspects of payroll: The Payroll PodcastRemember, If you are an HR or L&D Leader listening to this podcast and you have an #HRvacancy that you would love some specialist #humanresources #hragency support with, please get in touch with me, Nick Day! I would love to help show you what a great #HRRecruitment experience feels like! You can reach out to me directly at nick@jgarecruitment.com or give me a call – at 01727800377
Amy Spurling is Founder and CEO at Compt. She is a seasoned executive with over 20 years experience in leadership roles at venture-backed companies ranging from early start-up phase through high growth and ultimately exit. Amy's backgound is finance and her resume includes CFO roles at Jana; Backupify and EXOS and COO at Bedrock Data. She has completed successful fundraising rounds at each of these organisations, including a $57m series C. Now Amy Spurling is running her own company. Compt helps companies build, streamline, and scale employee perk stipends that delight teams and give companies a more productive and engaged workforce. Everyone has different needs, and she beleives that when perks take this into account the value to the employee goes beyond just beer or catered lunches and becomes so much more. We talk about the concept behind Compt, and look at how you can retain people and improve employee engagement very effectively without breaking the bank to do so. Something thats very welcome when you have budget constraints. Links Amy Spurling on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn Find out more about Compt Flexible training at Learnerbly CFO Competency Framework New free resources: The GrowCFO CFO Competency Framework eBook and Career Routes to CFO report Future CFO programme Timestamps 0:11 What role do you have in Compt? 4:12 What's the current state of employee perks in the US? 9:06 Sustaining employee engagement is part of a multivariable puzzle. 14:03 The company gets to customise what they want employees to be able to focus on. 19:19 What is the difference between a benefits system that is personalised to company culture and one that is aligned with the company culture? 22:47 The learnerbly allowance 28:25 Why is all of this on a budget? 33:30 How do you approach that particular conundrum at the moment if you want to reduce the number of people you've hired?
In this episode, Katee and Jackye chat with Amy Spurling. Amy is the Founder and CEO of Compt, HR software that enables companies to offer truly personalized employee perks that adapt to remote and hybrid employee needs, while being fully tax compliant and inclusive for global teams. Amy's experience as CFO and COO managing HR and Finance at early and growth stage companies prior to Compt drives her belief that companies and employees can achieve so much more together when employees are fully supported. Named Boston's “CFO of the Year” by the Boston Business Journal in 2016, she is a seasoned executive with nearly 20 years experience in leadership roles at venture-backed companies ranging from early start-up phase through high growth and ultimately exit. Over her career, she has closed over ten rounds of financing totaling more than $200M, and managed two acquisitions to close. Amy received her Master of Business Administration from the Simmons School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Rochester. If you like what you hear, we would like to encourage you to subscribe to our channel! We would also appreciate it if you would rate this channel by going here: RateThisPodcast.com/inclusiveaf We create this podcast as a labor of love. But if you would like to support this channel you can buy us a cup of coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/InclusiveAF
In this episode, Katee and Jackye chat with Amy Spurling. Amy is the Founder and CEO of Compt, HR software that enables companies to offer truly personalized employee perks that adapt to remote and hybrid employee needs, while being fully tax compliant and inclusive for global teams. Amy's experience as CFO and COO managing HR and Finance at early and growth stage companies prior to Compt drives her belief that companies and employees can achieve so much more together when employees are fully supported. Named Boston's “CFO of the Year” by the Boston Business Journal in 2016, she is a seasoned executive with nearly 20 years experience in leadership roles at venture-backed companies ranging from early start-up phase through high growth and ultimately exit. Over her career, she has closed over ten rounds of financing totaling more than $200M, and managed two acquisitions to close. Amy received her Master of Business Administration from the Simmons School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Rochester. If you like what you hear, we would like to encourage you to subscribe to our channel! We would also appreciate it if you would rate this channel by going here: RateThisPodcast.com/inclusiveaf We create this podcast as a labor of love. But if you would like to support this channel you can buy us a cup of coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/InclusiveAF
In this episode, Katee and Jackye chat with Amy Spurling. Amy is the Founder and CEO of Compt, HR software that enables companies to offer truly personalized employee perks that adapt to remote and hybrid employee needs, while being fully tax compliant and inclusive for global teams. Amy's experience as CFO and COO managing HR and Finance at early and growth stage companies prior to Compt drives her belief that companies and employees can achieve so much more together when employees are fully supported. Named Boston's “CFO of the Year” by the Boston Business Journal in 2016, she is a seasoned executive with nearly 20 years experience in leadership roles at venture-backed companies ranging from early start-up phase through high growth and ultimately exit. Over her career, she has closed over ten rounds of financing totaling more than $200M, and managed two acquisitions to close. Amy received her Master of Business Administration from the Simmons School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Rochester. If you like what you hear, we would like to encourage you to subscribe to our channel! We would also appreciate it if you would rate this channel by going here: RateThisPodcast.com/inclusiveaf We create this podcast as a labor of love. But if you would like to support this channel you can buy us a cup of coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/InclusiveAF
In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Amy Spurling, Founder and CEO of COMPT.Amy shares some of the challenges companies face in providing an inclusive and equitable opportunity for their employees. She explains how a major shift in work dynamics has employees complaining about a more balanced and tolerant work environment.Amy explains how COMPT, an employee perk stipend software, can solve this problem by helping companies create customizable programs that can meet the needs of their employees. Some of the software's features include stress-free refunds, full tax compliance, custom allowances, and more! Amy describes this software as the modern way to deliver employee benefits in today's fast-paced and changing work environment.Key Points from the Episode:Overview of what COMPT isWhy does COMPT fit into today's employee workforce and culture?The most unique and popular perks commonly consumed by employeesAbout Amy SpurlingAmy is a seasoned executive with over 20 years of experience in leadership roles in venture-backed companies, from early start-up to high growth and ultimately exit. She is responsible for strategic planning, international expansion, team development and scale, finance and accounting, human resources, corporate governance and risk management. She was able to close twelve rounds of debt and equity financing from strategic, insider, venture capital and institutional sources totaling over $200 million, and managed two acquisitions to close with values ranging from 10 to 30 times earnings.About COMPTCompt is a new and unique way to provide employee benefits. Compt transforms each user's employee program into separate lifestyle spending accounts that meet each employee's individual needs. The company determines its unique program of customizable benefits and specifies how much each employee must spend. This is further optimized by determining the period and category of expenses. The team then begins uploading their receipts after spending their Lifestyle Spending Account for their most relevant needs. The HR manager can even upload reports and reimburse their employees based on their benefit spend. They can then focus on other initiatives instead of managing multiple vendors for each benefit. This helps to retain employees as their benefits can be individually customized. Compt also ensures that your benefits are accounted for in accordance with the latest tax code.Links Mentioned in this Episode:Want to learn more? Check out COMPT's website at https://www.compt.io/Check out Amy Spurling on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyspurling/Check out COMPT on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/compt/Check out COMPT on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComptHQ/Check out COMPT on Twitter at https://twitter.com/compthqCheck out COMPT on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/compthq/ Don't forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time! More...
Welcome to the Use Case Podcast, episode 248. Today we'll be talking to Amy from Compt about the use case or business case for why her customers choose Compt.
What is a culture of belonging? And, what is its benefit? Tim Reitsma and Amy Spurling—Founder and CEO at Compt—take a deep dive into how to create a culture belonging.Support the show
SummaryFor Amy Spurling, the future of work is all about people. As CEO of Compt, Amy is helping companies reimagine the way they take care of their employees to create a more inclusive, more productive, happier workplace.GuestAmy SpurlingHighlights While workplaces have evolved, Amy says worker benefits have not evolved to meet the needs of all employees. After some time teaching English in Italy, Amy returned to the US to pursue marketing. She soon realized her passion was numbers and analytics. Through her work managing HR in various companies she learned the vital importance of People Ops, and the need for companies to manage people better. Amy sees opportunities for companies to embrace new work and social dynamics to strengthen teams and tap the vast potential of employees.
June 16, 2022 - Compt Benefits Amy Spurling and Save your Asks Chris Tuff
Guest: Amy Spurling - Compt Interviewer: Jeffrey Davis - MAGE LLC The post “The Rising Value Of Customized Employee Perks In Today's Job Market” with Amy Spurling of Compt appeared first on Radio Entrepreneurs.
Jess was in the US last week as part of Ireland Gateway to Europe. She met with Eric Mosely of unicorn 'Workhuman', Amy Spurling of 'Compt' and Jim Kelliher of 'Drift' to hear about the role tech is playing in the current status of work and how it will help with talent retention. Plus the MD of Video of a Service explains what the company does.
Personalized employee perks? Aren't those just for executives? CEO Amy Spurling says the answer is a resounding, “Hell, no!”Amy Spurling, founder and CEO of the HR tech company Compt, thinks perks should be a lot less exclusive. She advocates for “personalized perks” to help all employees take care of themselves and their families. She's shaking things up in corporate America and leveling the playing field, offering her employees the same perks she has access to, and she encourages other leaders to do the same.A seasoned executive with more than 20 years of experience in leadership roles at venture-backed companies and startups, Amy is a strong believer in leading with empathy. There's a reason she's been CFO three times and COO twice. She was also named Boston's CFO of the Year in 2016 by Boston Business Journal.She's expecting some interesting HR trends to come in 2022 like:Personalized employee perks to boost engagement, create a more inclusive work environment, and stop wasting the company budgetMigration from the 3 or 4 major city centers to smaller cities and townsChanges to employment law to reflect the new way we workMore innovation in the services sectorThe end of fully in-office work environments for tech companiesAbout ComptCompt is the number one employee stipends platform that gives people the freedom to choose the lifestyle perks that they really want. Founded by a five-time CFO and COO, Compt's employee stipend and rewards software is fully customizable to a company's needs, IRS-compliant, and can support global teams. Compt is proud to be named the #1 HR Tech platform by SHRM's Better Workplaces Challenge. Compt is based in Cambridge, MA.For more information, please visit https://www.compt.io/. Rebel HR is a podcast for HR professionals and leaders of people who are ready to make some disruption in the world of work.We'll be discussing topics that are disruptive to the world of work and talk about new and different ways to approach solving those problems.Follow Rebel HR Podcast at:www.rebelhumanresources.comhttps://twitter.com/rebelhrguyhttps://www.facebook.com/rebelhrpodcastwww.kyleroed.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-roed/Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/rebelhrpodcast)
What employees want and what employers think they want in terms of benefits and compensation are often misaligned. In this episode of All Things Work, host Tony Lee speaks with Amy Spurling, co-founder and CEO of Compt, a firm specializing in helping employers build, streamline and scale employee benefits, on how organizations can identify benefits and perks employees actually value - and attract and retain great workers.Compt was selected as the first winner of SHRM's 2021 Better Workplaces Challenge Cup, a competition highlighting the most innovative workplace technology solutions. Follow All Things Work wherever you listen to podcasts; rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts.Music courtesy of bensound.
Here's the recap...Welcome to Season 2!! In today's episode, we chatted with Amy Spurling, the CEO & Co-founder @ Compt. We spoke about how most benefits packages offered by companies today are rarely used and therefore greatly underappreciated. Whether the company selects specific types of perks like a mental health app, gym memberships, or ping pong tables it's not providing value to all employees. We discuss the future approach of companies replacing this method with stipends for a specific topic. Allowing the individual employee to decide what health means to them and getting the maximum value from that stipend. For a full transcript of the show click here. To learn more about the show click here. This show is all about you, so we'd love to hear your feedback on how to make it better. Drop us a note feedback@leadingfromafar.com
Welcome to More Equity. In this episode, in celebration of Pride, we have Nicole DeTommaso, a Senior Associate at Harlem Capital, interviewing Amy Spurling, Co-Founder & CEO of Compt, an HCP portfolio company. Amy is both a groundbreaker as a CEO and a voice for the LGBTQ+ community. Amy discusses her journey as both a woman and LGBTQ+ entrepreneur as well as what she does to make her company an inclusive workplace for all. Listen in to gain insight into how both Amy and Nicole have navigated their careers identifying as LGBTQ+.
On this episode, CEO of Compt Amy Spurling joins Courtney Morrison to share what companies can do to improve employee engagement. You'll hear how companies use personalized and flexible employee perks to see results. Amy also shares some of the pitfalls to avoid when setting up an employee perks program. To learn more, visit everyonesocial.com and compt.io
Culture is a major component in differentiating your company -- what better way to support culture than employee perks? My guest today, Amy Spurling, talks with me about the challenges companies face trying to satisfy employees with unpersonalized benefits and offers a solution for HR and sales teams alike. As Co-Founder and CEO of Compt, Amy is determined to alleviate the pain HR experiences and restructure company compensation for fairness and sensibility's sake. Charismatic and thoughtful, Amy Spurling empowers businesses to craft a culture that cherishes their diversity and rewards the uniqueness of each employee. Have any questions for Amy Spurling? Visit her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyspurling. A big thanks to Allego for sponsoring this episode! Does improving your overall sales performance for everyone, new hires and leaders alike, sound appealing? Not only does Allego allow you to record your best sales content for practice, collaboration, and feedback, but it gives you a way to organize your best content into one place, making it easily accessible. Email me, webb@thejaydavidgroup.com, so I can personally introduce you to someone on Allego’s team who will take great care of you.
Amy Spurling is a seasoned executive with over 15 years experience in leadership roles at venture-backed companies ranging from early start-up phase through high growth and ultimately exit. Within those roles, she's been responsible for strategic planning, international expansion, team development and scale, finance and accounting, human resources, corporate governance and risk management. Spurling has closed twelve rounds of debt and equity financing from strategics, insiders, venture firms and institutional sources totaling more than $200M and has managed two acquisitions to close with values ranging from 10-30x revenue. Connect with Amy:LinkedInTwitterComptMade possible by:This show is brought to you by Recess.io. The platform for internal marketing communications professionals.
Welcome to More Equity. Today, we're bringing you part 2 of our female founders series—a collection of honest conversations with trailblazing female founders who are thinking big picture about the state of women in startups and tech. In this episode, we're speaking with the newest member of the Harlem Capital family, Amy Spurling. Amy is the founder and CEO of Compt—a platform for personalized lifestyle benefits that allow employees to spend their budget for benefits where and when they want to. We sat down with Amy to discuss her strategies for building an all-star team, why she values diversity on her cap table, and how we can build a more just and equitable tech industry.
We're joined by Amy Spurling, Co-founder and CEO of Compt in Boston, MA. We talk about why Amy started Compt to help HR professionals manage perks for remote employees, why personalizing perks is beneficial, and how COVID-19 has changed many employers' perception of remote work. We also discuss Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and starting your day with chocolate cake. It's an incredibly fun and education conversation with our newest sponsor! Amy's recommendation: https://twitter.com/HeatherDoshay How to reach Amy: https://twitter.com/amyspurling https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyspurling/ https://www.compt.io/ Be sure to join us 06/14/2020 at 7 PM ET for the #HRSocialHour chat on Twitter that will be sponsored and co-hosted by Compt!
In this episode, JoDee and Susan discuss perks that help attract and retain the best teams with Amy Spurling, CEO and Co-Founder of Compt. Topics include what kind of perks most companies are providing, what employees really want out of their perks, and the perks employees ask for the most. Visit www.getjoypowered.com/show-notes-episode-87-managing-perks for full show notes and links. This episode is sponsored by MJ Insurance. MJ's proprietary analytics solution, APERTURE, transforms data into solutions, giving insight into the future that helps you make smart, forward-thinking decisions about your business.
Today, my guest is Amy Spurling Amy is the co-founder of Compt, a startup that creates fully-customizable programs for perks while eliminating the administrative burden on HR. Prior to founding Compt, Amy served in a variety of executive roles for Boston tech companies, having raised over $200M and managed two different acquisitions. In this episode, you'll learn: Amy's experience in a company that scaled from 100 to 650 employees How diversifying your employee benefits will help diversify your team The current state of work culture, and its evolution from authoritarian, to paternal, to autonomous Why Amy says the future of work is complete compensation transparency And with that I give you…Amy Spurling
Welcome to Episode 125 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. For this episode of our podcast, I interviewed Amy Spurling, Co-Founder and CEO of Compt. By the time Amy started Compt, she was well-versed in the world of startups. As a COO or CFO for multiple venture-backed companies, where many had exited, she knew the playbook around raising funding, negotiating an acquisition, and running the operations of a startup. This experience all led her down the path to where she is today as a Co-Founder & CEO. The idea behind Compt came from a real-world problem that Amy was experiencing. Companies give a standard list of benefits, but not all employees are able to leverage them. So, Compt's is changing this with their platform that allows employers to develop and manage lifestyle spending accounts so employees can get the perks they want and need the most. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of topics, like: -Amy's background as a northern California native and how she ended up on the east coast. -A walk through her career and how Amy methodically prepared herself to run a company. -All the details about Compt and the company's mission to empower employees to choose their own benefits. -How you need to think about the valuation of your company when raising funding and why you shouldn't always swing for the fences with the highest number. -Advice on how to negotiate the sale of your company. -When a company should think about hiring a CFO. -And so much more. Did you know that every Monday at 9:15 & 10 am, we send out two weekly digest emails? There is one for Boston and one for NY. It is your weekly email to stay connected to all the “must-know” information from the local tech scene. It includes information on companies, jobs, events, deals and more. Go to venturefizz.com/email and look for the “Weekly Tech Buzz” to sign up. Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!
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