When I used our AI tools to prep for this conversation, they pulled up a role Mick was hiring for about 20 years ago. That says a lot about how long he’s been building teams in EdTech, and how much the work has changed since.
That’s why he was the perfect guest to talk about building winning teams, as he’s navigated building from scratch while maintaining the human element in leadership.
A few questions were driving this conversation:
- How do you hire when you’re never fully sure you’re right?
- What skills matter most when the jobs themselves keep changing?
- And how is AI changing who startups hire?
Mick co-founded MasteryConnect in 2008, stayed on after Instructure acquired it, and now leads Ednition, which helps EdTech companies handle K-12 district integrations. He swore we wouldn’t turn this into an AI conversation. We did anyway, and I’m glad.
🎙️ What we talk about
- 01:51 Growing up in a family of educators and finding his way to edtech
- 02:54 Why no founder ever feels fully confident about hiring
- 07:39 MasteryConnect’s early days and first hires
- 10:31 Former educators vs. experienced salespeople
- 15:03 Moving on quickly, and the rise of fractional teams
- 19:41 Hiring senior engineers, and where new grads fit
- 27:55 Why writing is still the skill that matters most
- 46:08 Advice for founders: culture and becoming AI native
🤔 A few things that stuck with me
- At MasteryConnect, former educators who learned to sell often outperformed experienced salespeople. Caring about the problem mattered more than knowing how to close.
- Mick believes good hires are almost always good writers, and AI makes that skill matter more, not less.
- The best AI culture is one where people get celebrated for automating their own work, not worried about it.
About Mick
Mick Hewitt is co-founder and CEO of Ednition, which helps edtech companies say yes to every type of district integration, including rostering, SSO, secure data sharing, and LMS integrations. He previously co-founded MasteryConnect in 2008, which Instructure acquired in 2019, and helped integrate the platform into the Canvas ecosystem.
🤝 Connect with Mick | Ednition
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