#140 CRO Walmart, Seth Dallaire: How You Show Up

Guest: Seth Dallaire, CRO at Walmart

When Seth Dallaire was approached by Walmart about joining their team as CRO, he had one question: Are they serious? Seth knew that Walmart wanted him for his digital experience, having worked at Instacart and Amazon, but he also knew that building alternative revenue streams at a traditional retailer could be an uphill battle. “I knew I was gonna have to [fight the fight], it was just whether I’d have the air cover from up top to say, ‘This is strategic,’” Seth recalls. “And they obviously convinced me of that and we’re making really good progress.”

In this episode, Seth and Joubin discuss startup success, advertising attribution, “maintenance mode,” online grocery shopping, “the ultimate tailwind,” over-buying, digital vs. traditional retail, founder-led businesses, John Furner and Doug McMillon, sentiment vs. data, getting told “no,” the theory of constraints, and why you should visit Bentonville.

In this episode, we cover:

• Seth’s unique career path (00:59)
• Amazon’s elite team in 2000 (05:24)
• Growing up & dinner table conversations (08:25)
• Work-life balance (10:53)
• Ambition and achievement (12:08)
• Investing in yourself (16:04)
• Recommitting to a role (17:38)
• Leaving Amazon for Instacart (20:14)
• Grocery stores are underrated (23:56)
• Transitioning to a much smaller company (25:33)
• How COVID accelerated Instacart’s business (27:54)
• Advertising is a full-contact industry (32:03)
• Getting recruited by Walmart (34:06)
• Visiting Walmart stores with other execs (40:08)
• A leadership lesson from Doug McMillon (43:10)
• Product orientation (45:40)
• Compounding knowledge capital (47:57)
• Tough feedback (50:19)
• Leaving a team behind (54:34)
• Hand-written notes (56:04)
• The Goal and On the Shortness of Life (57:35)
• Relocating and refueling (01:00:40)
• Who Seth is hiring and what “grit” means to him (01:02:25)

Links:

• Connect with Seth
  • LinkedIn
• Connect with Joubin
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
• Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
• This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm