In this episode of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, Fahd Alhattab sits down with Penny Farinha, former VP of People at Ecobee, to unpack what it really takes to scale a mission-driven startup through every phase of growth—without losing your soul (or your best people).
Penny shares the behind-the-scenes story of how Ecobee went from 75 employees to a billion-dollar acquisition, all while competing head-to-head with Google Nest. She reveals why values-based hiring (not just skill) helped them build a resilient culture, and how she approached team design at every inflection point—from scrappy startup to post-acquisition scale.
They dive into the messy reality of building people systems that evolve with the business, why staying nine years gave her the deepest leadership lessons, and how founders can avoid the trap of outgrowing their own culture.
Whether you’re navigating hypergrowth, rethinking your org design, or wondering how to lead a team that can outlearn the competition—this episode is packed with honest insights on people, purpose, and playing the long game.
Find Penny Farinha here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pennyfarinha/
Penny Farinha
Penny Farinha is the Senior Vice President of People at Cordelio Power, where she leads the company’s people and culture strategy — helping build high-performing, highly engaged teams in the renewable energy space.
She’s known for scaling people operations in fast-growth environments, and spent nearly nine years leading the people function at Ecobee — where she played a key role in one of Canada’s largest tech acquisitions.
In this episode, we talk about stepping away after nearly a decade, leading with the long view, and why not everyone can — or should — be saved.
