Claire Stapleton spent 12 years at Google from 2007 - 2019. She joined as a fresh grad at a time of peak optimism and idealism in Silicon Valley, and soon became somewhat of a 'Bard' - responsible for shaping the story and sharing the folklore around Google with employees and later the outside world.

In 2018, feeling increasingly disillusioned with what Google had become, Claire was one of the organizers of a 20k employee walkout in protest against the company's handling of sexual harassment allegations against certain senior executives - one of whom, Andy Rubin, had allegations against him deemed credible by an internal investigation - yet walked away with a warm handshake and $90m exit package.

Claire and the other women who organised faced a backlash from Google with their roles and responsibilities being diminished in the aftermath.

Claire eventually left in 2019, and her memoir, 'Don't Be Evil' has recently been released and is available at any good bookshop near you: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/books/review/dont-be-evil-claire-stapleton.html

Claire's own journey maps to a time in which internal and public sentiment towards big tech in general has shifted so we sat down to talk not just about her own experience at Google, but also the wider vibe shift in the industry as a whole.

Key topics

• The early idealistic days of Google
• Claire's role as 'The Bard' - telling the internal folklore of Google to its employees and the outside world
• Google's Me Too moment - her role as organizer of 20k employee walkout
• The backlash that she and other women at Google faced as a consequence
• The vibe shift from idealism to corporate ruthlessness
• When she stopped believing the story she was telling
• Her experiences of parenting and grief and how that shaped how she felt about her work

Where you can watch/listen

Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@HumansintheLoopPod

Apple podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/humans-in-the-loop/id1831285114⁠

Spotify⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/4BbslJR0KA5bfqrcYRhJER?si=b5a46211098b4f3e⁠Or wherever you get your podcasts!

Get in touch

Instagram⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠https://www.instagram.com/humansinthelooppod/⁠

Email: ⁠seb@theuncommonfounder.com⁠

Website: ⁠https://www.theuncommonfounder.com

Where to find Claire

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-stapleton-868a935/

Substack: ⁠https://techsupport.substack.com/

X: https://x.com/clairewaves?s=20

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clairewaves