Michele Van Ruiten from CAPSULE: How an Intern Program 5x’d Users at CAPSULE

👉🏼 Description:

Tune in as Michele talks about scaling her startup with an intern program, teaching absolute beginners about AI, finding your target market, and more!

👉🏼 About the Guest:

Michele Van Ruiten has built AI and personalization systems from 0→1 and scaled them through YC, IPOs, and acquisitions over the last decade. She's led product across some of the most innovative consumer platforms — Stitch Fix (IPO), The Yes (acquired by Pinterest), and Capsule (YC S22, acquired) — always focusing on turning complex AI into simple, engaging user experiences.

👉🏼 About the Host:

Shriya Nevatia (50K+ followers on LI and X) has been building community for 12+ years for founders, investors, and builders around the world. She launched the On Deck Catalyst community for elite global young leaders, helped hundreds of women start angel investing at The Council Capital, and founded The Violet Society, a pre-accelerator for female & non-binary startup founders.

 

👉🏼 Timestamps:

• 00:00: Episode Highlight
• 00:44: Intro to Taste & Tactics
• 01:00: Intro to Michele van Ruiten, founder and CEO of CAPSULE, which was Shazam for shopping
• 02:58: How CAPSULE was acquired
• 04:54: How Michele built an intern program that actually improved the company's bottom line
• 06:43: Hiring the best interns in a crowded market
• 09:39: How to create an excellent internship program
• 15:33: Teaching beginners about AI
• 18:24: How to be a manager without being overwhelmed
• 20:00: Making sure your internship program is moving with the times
• 22:53: Building community for CAPSULE via the intern network
• 25:11: How interns change the game
• 29:30: How an internship program actually contributed to company growth
• 31:30: What Michele would change about the program
• 33:30: How personal taste can (and sometimes should!) take over data 
• 38:35: Learnings and takeaways from the episode
• 40:08: Outro
  
  

👉🏼 Resources:

• Stitch Fix: https://www.stitchfix.com
• Co-Founder of CAPSULE, Kelsey Pedersen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelseypedersen

👉🏼 Where to find Michele:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelevanruiten/
• X: https://x.com/micheleraevr  
• CAPSULE - YC Page: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/capsule
• CAPSULE Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopcapsule.ai/ 

👉🏼 Where to find Shriya:

• Twitter: https://x.com/shriyanevatia
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shriyanevatia/
• Taste & Tactics Twitter: https://x.com/tasteandtactics
• Taste & Tactics Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tasteandtactics/
• Taste & Tactics TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tasteandtactics
• Taste & Tactics LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/taste-and-tactics
• Taste & Tactics YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tasteandtactics 
  
  

Taste & Tactics Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72Xgo0svsNOKkCdWQnaggM

What is Taste & Tactics?

Taste & Tactics breaks down the real playbooks behind iconic products, told by the people who built them.

Each episode goes deep on one bold launch: what sparked the idea, how it reached the right audience, and the moves that made it stick.

Hosted by Shriya Nevatia, the show is made for founders, marketers, and brand builders who are sick of vague advice and want practical frameworks.