In this interview, we speak with Mandy, who is VP and Head of Legal at Armorblox.
Welcome to Blox Life! This interview series shines a spotlight on Armorblox team members - chronicling their daily work, highlighting their achievements, and sharing their advice for people who wish to pursue similar careers.
In this interview, we’re delighted to speak with Mandy, who is VP and Head of Legal at Armorblox. Mandy is a trusted business advisor to every Armorblox team, setting processes and providing advice on everything from security and privacy to contracts and equity. Take it away, Mandy!
Q. Can you tell us something about yourself?
My name is Mandy. I've been at Armorblox for almost half a year now and time has flown! Most recently, I was the lead lawyer for the commercial function at Duo Security where I built out a team and process around everything contracts-related through the high growth stage and acquisition by Cisco. I then focused my team on Product Counsel work at Cisco for the Security business unit. I'm excited to have joined another high growth company where I can build out a legal function.
Q. What is your current role at Armorblox? What does a typical day (or a typical week, if you can’t fit everything in one day!) look like for you?
I'm the in house lawyer at Armorblox. My day and week are anything but typical. As General Counsel, I spend my days on a variety of matters related to contracts, HR, privacy and security (of our product and our internal processes), equity, and more. I really like the variety and opportunity to expand my knowledge and experiences in such a wide array of areas.
Q. Why did you decide to join Armorblox?
My meetings with DJ and the rest of the team convinced me that this is a special place. I was looking for an opportunity to grow with an awesome team and product, and Armorblox checked all the boxes!
Mandy says hello!
Q. What is an accomplishment at Armorblox you’re proud of?
There are two things I'm proud of having accomplished so far. The first is implementing a vendor intake process. I have learned that the word ‘process’ is actually a much-needed one at fast-growing startups, and I’m happy to see this vendor intake structure reduce busywork for other teams and make communication lines clearer.
The second accomplishment I’m proud of is creating and giving equity training to our employees. Armorblox has a diverse team that are in different stages of their career and have differing levels of prior knowledge of startup equity. Helping the team to understand the benefits of employee equity is something I’m very happy to have contributed to.
My meetings with DJ and the rest of the team convinced me that this is a special place. I was looking for an opportunity to grow with an awesome team and product, and Armorblox checked all the boxes!
Q. What’s one thing you wished you knew when you started your career in this role (at Armorblox or in general)?
I wish I'd known about the evolution of the legal department and GC roles into a trusted business advisor role more than just a legal machine. I am so glad I stuck with my career in the first few years, when I didn't know about opportunities at small growing tech companies. I would have missed out on what has become a very fulfilling career, enabling me to partner with teams to grow tech businesses and not just spend my day reading case law and writing memos.
Q. Do you have any advice for people who aim to pursue a career similar to yours?
Be open to new opportunities and learn as much as you can from every experience. Also, don't be afraid to ask for help. No single lawyer could possibly know how to perfectly handle every issue that comes through the door in a given day at any company. Surround yourself with colleagues and friends who you can ask for advice and bounce ideas off of and do the same for others every chance you get to pay it forward!
We hope you enjoyed getting to know Mandy a little bit better! Armorblox is hiring across all teams, so if you’d like to work with Mandy, check out our open roles below.
