Hello! I’m Jeanette Mellinger, a researcher & advisor who helps founders

Build better products, teams & next chapters via the power of user research & behavioral psychology

...and I’ve come to believe:

The better we understand others – from our customers to our colleagues – and ourselves, the better we can serve, and the more we can collectively grow.

Yet, too often, we either skip this work, or approach it too shallowly to make a difference, leading to startups that fail, teams that burn out, and next chapters that don’t fit. 

Want to learn more? Read on, or reach out:
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I help founders & companies build strong foundations from the start.

What

  • ...when it’s critical to:

    (1) Understand yourself, your customers, or your team well, and

    (2) Build strong foundations for what you offer them and the teams who make it possible: products, processes, people

    These key moments range from early days to exciting maturity — from defining one's initial offering, to the path to product-market fit, to navigating growth, key decisions, and what comes after.

Why

  • ...to help you stay pointed in the right direction, and focused on the efforts that yield the most impact.

    User research and behavioral psychology are powerful yet often underutilized tools for building enduring, differentiating foundations — across your products, processes, people, and next chapters.

How

  • ...and often include a mix of the following:

    • Advising & Coaching:  1:1 or team-wide

    • Facilitation:  Short workshops or full courses, in-person or remote

    • Partnership: Training & direct help on projects

Build stronger foundations for your :

Path

  • If you’re asking yourself…

    • What do I actually want to do or build next?

    • Does this opportunity fit who I am?

    • How do I build something that works for others and for me?

    ...we can collaborate on the following:

    • Founder discovery arc: Ground, Aim, Path

    • Build your personal "north star"

    • Personal and founder identity (powers, purpose, conditions)

    • Decision filters for evaluating what's next

    • Founder fit — internal market signal on a live opportunity

Product

  • If you’re asking yourself…

    • Who are our customers? What do they most want or need?

    • What’s our vision for how to serve them?

    • What should we build for them first?

    • How should we build it?

    • Did we build it well?

    ...we can collaborate on the following:

    • Target customer definition

    • Build your customer "north star" (e.g., user problem statement, user needs framework(s), personas, journey maps, behavior profile)

    • Discovery research (e.g., user interviews, observation, diary studies)

    • Evaluative research (e.g., concept tests, usability, surveys)

    • Synthesis (of the above, or your existing user research data)

    • User-centered product & marketing opportunity brainstorming

    • Differentiation strategy

    • Problem-solution fit and/or product-market fit workshops

    • Team or business strategic planning (combining user needs with business needs)

Process

  • If you’re asking yourself…

    • How do we build more conviction around key decisions?

    • How do we bring less bias to our research and decision-making?

    • How do we bring in other perspectives, and build empathy, collectively?

    • How do we incorporate more scientific thinking into our ongoing product development and sales?

    ...we can collaborate on the following:

    • Research skills training

    • User research x discovery sales training

    • Customer, market, and team diligence skills training & process development

    • Company-wide research/customer empathy practices

People

  • If you’re asking yourself…

    • What is our team vision and/or mission?

    • What else defines, and matters most to, our team or function?

    • What should our organization look like now vs. at upcoming stages? What functions and skills are part of that?

    • How do I attract and close the best candidates for my team?

    • How do I enable the most impact and growth for each team member?

    • How do I effectively support team members, during good times and challenging ones?

    ...we can collaborate on the following:

    • Team mission, values, culture definition and implementation

    • Career conversations and development

    • Organizational design, development, hiring

    • Performance management

    • Change management

Who I partner with

  • Startups: Most often early- and growth-stage startups - i.e., pre-seed through IPO.

    I've also served many "startups" within more established institutions - teams or organizations seeking to build something quite new.

    Investors & Institutions: Emerging and established - e.g., First Round Capital, Character Capital, Harvard Business School.

  • Mindset: These teams and leaders seek to serve others, are curious and hungry to grow, and want to think differently as they navigate key inflection points.

    Milestones: We collaborate best when teams are driven to change.

    As previously shared, sample moments range from early days, to exciting maturity - from defining (or redefining!) one’s offerings, to the path to product-market fit, to troubleshooting challenges, to re-envisioning one's organization.

  • I'm happy to share references at any time, most closely related to your team type and topic area.

“Working with Jeanette has fundamentally changed how we engage on our most important decisions.”

Frazer Anderson, Partner - Vestigo Ventures

re:  User Research x Venture Diligence Training

First Round Capital

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Character Capital

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Harvard Business School

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Post-Exit Founders

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Stanford GSB

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Vestigo Ventures

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Primary Ventures

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United Nations OCHA

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BetterUp

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Delta40 Venture Studio

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40|86 Advisors

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DVx Ventures

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& dozens more...

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First Round Capital 〰️ Character Capital 〰️ Harvard Business School 〰️ Post-Exit Founders 〰️ Stanford GSB 〰️ Vestigo Ventures 〰️ Primary Ventures 〰️ United Nations OCHA 〰️ BetterUp 〰️ Delta40 Venture Studio 〰️ 40|86 Advisors 〰️ DVx Ventures 〰️ & dozens more... 〰️

About me

My mission

  • I do so by helping build more human-centered businesses, and creating opportunities for impact and meaning for the people who power them.

How I got here

  • I've been captivated by human behavior for as long as I can remember.

    My passion for pairing psychology with impact took hold at Stanford, where I got a master’s degree in Psychology and started QuestBridge, an educational nonprofit that supplies more exceptional, low-income student talent to top universities than all other nonprofits combined.

    My 20-year career since then has spanned a wide array of companies that seek to better serve others — from early-stage to mature companies (from pre-seed stage to P&G), across the public and private sectors (e.g., UN, Uber Eats), and on 5 continents.

    I launched my consultancy in 2020, after seeing too many businesses struggle by not being user-centered from the start, and witnessing the power of applying research skills to early team – not just product – development, as Head of UX Research at Uber Eats and later BetterUp.

    I’ve since served as Expert in Residence for First Round Capital, Advisor for Character Capital, guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, and consultant for dozens more companies and VCs beyond those named.

What else I love

  • ...on foot - running, hiking, walking.

    Current challenge: walking the full Bay Area Ridge Trail.

    …how we work - I’m constantly reading about the latest behavior change theories, and how to live and work better, then coming up with new experiments for myself (or my poor husband…).

    Current experiment: building work/life design retreats and follow-up practices for us and others.

    …how others work & live - I love to travel anywhere and everywhere (who doesn’t?). There’s no greater education or thrill for me.

    Current/lifelong challenge: visit every country.