Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
For an audio-only podcast, transcripts, and custom Notion Mercor templates, please visit: https://ntn.so/pbpai9
To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/f91ze2
Welcome to First Block, a Notion series where founders from the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey—and what they learned from that experience.
In this episode, we spoke with Brendan Foody, Co-Founder and CEO of Mercor. Mercor is an AI-powered recruiting platform that scaled from $1 million to $100 million in revenue run rate in just 11 months, making it one of the fastest-growing companies in Silicon Valley.
Brendan shares his journey from selling donuts in eighth grade to building automated hiring solutions, the decision to drop out of college, and how he positioned himself perfectly for the AI talent revolution.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
03:28 Mercor by the Numbers
05:36 Obsession Over Discipline
08:39 Fundraising as Input
10:59 Scaling Self & Culture
13:40 Automating Manual Processes
17:40 Finding the Right Market
21:08 Staying Long-Term Oriented
22:58 The Tool Stack
25:22 Advice Block
For an audio-only podcast, transcripts, and custom Notion Mercor templates, please visit: https://ntn.so/pbpai9
To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/f91ze2
Welcome to First Block, a Notion series where founders from the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey—and what they learned from that experience.
In this episode, we spoke with Brendan Foody, Co-Founder and CEO of Mercor. Mercor is an AI-powered recruiting platform that scaled from $1 million to $100 million in revenue run rate in just 11 months, making it one of the fastest-growing companies in Silicon Valley.
Brendan shares his journey from selling donuts in eighth grade to building automated hiring solutions, the decision to drop out of college, and how he positioned himself perfectly for the AI talent revolution.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
03:28 Mercor by the Numbers
05:36 Obsession Over Discipline
08:39 Fundraising as Input
10:59 Scaling Self & Culture
13:40 Automating Manual Processes
17:40 Finding the Right Market
21:08 Staying Long-Term Oriented
22:58 The Tool Stack
25:22 Advice Block
