01 - Somrat Niyogi, GM at Gusto

Somrat is the Head of Business for Gusto Embedded Payroll, so he oversees a cross-functional org that includes finance, HR, go-to-market, and product teams. He previously oversaw Gusto’s strategic partnerships, technology ecosystem, distribution partnerships, and the developer ecosystem. Somrat also has founded two VC backed companies, both of which were later acquired. Somrat gets really involved with headcount management and org design at Gusto, and shares what's made him successful over the course of his career. (00:54) - Guest introduction - Somrat Niyogi (2:53) - Why is headcount planning important? (4:14) - What has worked for you that viewers can use as a blueprint for headcount planning? (8:14) - What is effective org design? (13:10) - Why build your org chart in a slide deck vs an org chart product? (15:27) - How do you keep all of these things in sync? (20:23) - What are the best ways to work with GMs, CEOs, and also department and function leaders? (23:02) - Best practices and parting advice for adjusting strategy.