Grit6 Nov 2023

#163 CEO Bill, René Lacerte: Hourglass Leadership

Guest: René Lacerte, CEO of Bill

René Lacerte co-founded the online payroll firm PayCycle in 1999, and led it for six years until he was asked by the board to step down. Today, with 17 years as the CEO of Bill under his belt, he’s able to look back on that time with clearer eyes. “The title on my card is ‘CEO and Founder,’” he says. “At Paycycle, it was ‘Co-Founder and CEO.’” The order matters, because once you’ve become a founder or co-founder, you are one no matter what — and in hindsight, René believes he failed to keep up with how PayCycle was changing. “My job as a CEO, it changes every freaking day,” he says of Bill. “We’ve 10x’d in four years. My job today has far more responsibilities and requirements than it had four years ago. So how do you get ready for that?”

In this episode, René and Joubin discuss Silicon Valley OGs, the office environment, taking care of yourself, memorizing acronyms, Christmas presents, 11-finger jazz, intentionality and spontaneity, ordering your job titles, problem-solving at night, understanding insecurities, and measuring success.

In this episode, we cover:

Why René did not want a corner office (02:22)
The weight of being CEO (04:40)
Dinner with the kids (08:50)
Prioritizing, energy, and fitness (11:05)
Music and René’s parents (17:31)
His father and pride (23:13)
Empathy for small businesses (28:00)
Family values (32:46)
“Legacy, I don’t care about that” (36:15)
Stepping down from PayCycle (41:16)
Starting Bill (46:58)
Leading in hyper-growth (50:10)
The early years (53:07)
Conventional wisdom (56:08)
Who Bill is hiring and what “grit” means to René (01:01:02)

Links:

Connect with René
- 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

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