People of Dripos: Kiana Talebi
Please introduce yourself!
Hi! I’m Kiana. I’m originally from Minnetonka, Minnesota, and after graduating from UW-Madison in 2022, I moved straight to New York to jump into city life.
Outside of work, I’m usually exploring the city with friends, trying new restaurants, and very seriously rating them on Beli. I also love staying active, especially Pilates and long walks around the city, and I try to take full advantage of everything NYC has to offer!
What is your go-to coffee order?
Iced Vanilla Latte with Almond Milk (basic I know)
What is your go-to coffee shop?
What is your role at Dripos and what is your favorite part of it?
I’ve been at Dripos for three years now and currently serve as the Director of Implementation, where I lead our onboarding team and help shape how we launch and support new coffee shops on the platform.
I really love the mix of strategy and people in my role. I get to build systems and processes for a growing company, while also working directly with shop owners and their teams during some of the most important moments in their business.
My favorite part of my role is the relationships. I genuinely love getting to build real friendships with shop owners and their teams, building trust with them, and then watch them succeed on Dripos after launch. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a shop go live smoothly, hearing that their day-to-day operations feel easier, and knowing that the systems, training, and support my team built directly helped them grow and run their business with greater confidence.
What do you enjoy most and least about working at a tech start up?
What I enjoy most about working at a tech startup is the sense of ownership and impact I feel every day. I get to lead new initiatives, build processes from the ground up, and directly shape how our Implementation team operates as we scale. It is incredibly motivating to spot a problem, design a solution, and see it actually rolled out across the company in a way that meaningfully improves both team efficiency and the customer experience.
What I enjoy least is that with startup life is that your to-do list has a personality of its own and absolutely refuses to get shorter!
Can you describe a specific achievement at Dripos you are most proud of?
The in-person launch for NYAJ, a 10-location brand based in Oklahoma City, will always be one of the highlights of my career at Dripos.
What made this launch especially meaningful was the depth of partnership we built with their team. I worked closely with their owners, managers, and frontline staff across multiple locations to truly understand their mission and the operational reality behind how they have grown into such a successful brand in their market. Rather than running a generic rollout, we tailored training and workflows to match how their teams actually operate day-to-day.
By the end of the onsite, seeing their teams confidently running on Dripos, asking thoughtful questions, and immediately applying what they learned was incredibly rewarding. Hearing real-time feedback about how the system improved their daily operations reinforced why I care so deeply about building high-touch, customer-first implementations, especially for complex, multi-location partners.
What are you most excited to build, solve, or see come to life at Dripos this year?
I am eager for our Accounting product to launch!
