(4/4) “In the early days Kristen and I would write every single email together. We’d typ
(4/4) “In the early days Kristen and I would write every single email together. We’d type them together, and hit send together, normally late at night, over a glass of wine. Everything felt so important. All we had was this crazy idea. But we believed in it so hard, and we kept shouting it from the rooftops until other people believed in it too. It’s been five years now. And Paladin is one of the first successful justice tech companies. Dozens of top law firms use our product. The business is working. But it’s so much more than a business. A law firm that uses Paladin will increase its pro-bono cases by an average of 30 percent in the first year. We’ve connected over 20,000 lawyers with low-income clients who need help. And it all came from a crazy idea that we had on the floor of a tent. That’s what I’m best at: ideas. I’m a philosophy major. I love to daydream. But Paladin isn’t about the idea anymore; it’s about the execution. And that’s where KBad really shines. I led the charge for five years, but Kristen is our CEO now. She’s our leader. And I want her to be so successful, and happy, and celebrated. She was chosen recently as a Crain’s 40 under 40. It’s a really big deal, and she deserves all of it. I know because I’ve had a front row seat to how amazing she is. That’s been the biggest gift of Paladin, beyond the impact. I didn’t come into this looking for friendship, but Kristen and I have become as close as two people can be who aren’t related or married. We built a business together. We became mothers while doing it. We’ve watched each other grow so much. Last week I was looking through some old photos, and I came across our very first Paladin headshots. We took them in the hallway with my camera. We had such baby faces. We had no clue how hard it was going to be. But we’d decided that we were going to take the reins of life and see what was possible. We had this crazy dream to make the world a fairer place. It wasn’t a normal dream, to become a doctor or a lawyer. It was our specific dream. And you know what? It worked. The crazy dream worked. We built a justice machine.” -- source link