Hey there – I’m Charlie Liao.
I’m the first business operations hire at Column, a developer infrastructure bank founded by Plaid’s technical co-founder. I report directly to him, which has given me a front row view into what building a generational business looks like. We move billions of dollars each month on behalf of our customers. This demands systems that are scalable, resilient, and compliant. Column sits at the intersection of deep technology and nuanced regulation, meaning I cover a lot of scope and complexity.
Roles like mine don’t come with a playbook and neither do the interviews that fill them. I’ve scoped and launched an API across our entire customer base, built AI-driven workflows that transformed ways of working, and even led a critical function while we searched for an expert to lead it. Today, I’m heavily involved in recruiting, evaluating candidates for my team and many others.
That dual perspective is important. I’m not going to talk through generic frameworks because conversational structure isn’t what makes or breaks success in these roles. A lot of my teaching is grounded in pattern recognition from lived experience across biz ops, venture capital, strategy, and consulting. The firms I’ve worked at or interviewed at have wildly different processes and conventional prep simply doesn’t exist. Candidates have to thoroughly prepare but be ready to address curveballs on the fly. Rehearsed answers rarely hold up.
A bit more on my background, since this space isn’t regulated (like banking is) and you should be thoughtful about who you spend your time with:
- I spent nearly four years in venture capital, where I advised dozens of aspiring and current associates on how to break in and excel in the analyst/associate role
- Before that, I worked on special projects at a quantitative hedge fund, where I experienced firsthand how unstandardized and idiosyncratic these interview processes can be
- I started my career as a consultant at McKinsey, where I was trained as an interviewer and led recruiting efforts at Cornell and other target schools
- I’ve mentored 10+ professionals into roles at McKinsey, Bain, Red Bull, Precursor, Google, Figma, and others through tailored preparation and deliberate practice…
- I’m a highly trained public speaker, having been nationally ranked for extemporaneous speaking and having taught classes for & coached high school students in the past
For more context, my good friend Sarah Du interviewed me for her podcast about why I went into operating and you can listen to it here.
Char Expeditions 