Grit

As a veteran of several high-powered organizations — including McKinsey, Google, Dropbox — Notion advisor Olivia Nottebohm has learned the importance of respecting her teams’ personal journeys. She believes none of the 10 most important milestones in any person’s life will be career-related, and it’s important for leaders like her to strike a balance between accountability and empathy. “Before I need to have a tough conversation,” she says, “I try to put myself in their situation and think, ‘OK, how would I best receive something? ... [And] how is this person different from me?’”In this episode, Olivia and Joubin discuss immigrant assimilation, the joy of learning, college vs. startups, stepping away from work, growth vs. profits vs. product, steep learning curves, working through a restructuring, collaborative creativity, what CEOs care about, community-led growth, screening for Grit, finding focus, and the only things people will remember about us when we’re gone.In this episode, we cover:Olivia’s parents and how she became a grammar stickler (01:00)Small-town ice hockey and playing with the boys (03:54)Why her parents didn’t want Olivia to go to Harvard, and what she wants for her own kids (08:49)Choosing to go into business instead of science (15:32)What changed for Olivia when her brother passed away unexpectedly (18:42)“Grow Fast or Die Slow” (24:29)Who doesn’t believe in growth in 2022? (31:37)Leaving McKinsey after making partner (35:32)Six years at Google and one year at Dropbox — starting right before COVID (39:34)How Olivia got to Notion, the crowded “all-in-one” space, and its enormous addressable market (42:36)The evolution of go-to-market strategies (49:43)Accountability, empathy, and the biggest milestones in everyone’s life (58:36)Links:Connect with OliviaTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

31 Okt 20221h 6min

“I literally thought to myself, I probably made the biggest mistake of my life taking this job.” That’s what Ali Ghodsi recalls about his decision step up the CEO role at Databricks, which would mean leaving a desirable post at UC Berkeley. He wasn’t sure if the company would make it, and some of Databricks’ board agreed that as an academic, he wasn’t right for the job. But they all wound up being wrong: Ali has led the company from $3 million ARR to $800 million, and the data-analytics company was valued at $38 billion after raising $2.5 billion last year.In this episode, Ali and Joubin discuss fleeing Iran in the 1980s, immigrating to Sweden,  coding as an escape, order out of chaos, learning how to value work, right place right time, Ben Horowitz, whole genome sequencing, Turing Tests, academics as CEOs, leveling up executives, what great leaders look like, the communication needed to raise, and the problem with “data-driven” cultures. In this episode, we cover:What Ali remembers from before his family left Iran (01:00)Moving to Sweden and Ali’s first jobs (04:00)What if your wealth and privilege suddenly disappeared? (10:01)Finding time for family and oneself while working insane hours (14:04)Over-working, panic attacks, and PTSD (18:08)Researching cloud computing at UC Berkeley, and the start of Databricks (26:06)What Databricks does for companies with lots of data (31:22)The anxiety of competing against an incumbent as a 10-person team (36:03)The concerns of the Databricks board — and Ali himself — about him becoming the CEO (42:42)Learning from more experienced CEOs and other executives (48:27)Approving new hires and what Ali looks for when grilling job candidates (52:02)Deposits, withdrawals and how much time he spends on hiring (56:08)What it means to have a culture of “truth-seeking” (01:00:03)Links:Connect with AliTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

24 Okt 20221h 4min

Before Zscaler’s Dali Rajic arrived at his current company, he helped grow AppDynamics from $7 million in annual recurring revenue to nearly $1 billion — and for his next move, he knew he had to do something even bigger. That’s why he was excited to transition to Zscaler’s COO in February after more than two years as its CRO: “It was a job worth taking because it stretched me and it made me uncomfortable.”In this episode, Dali and Joubin discuss the state of tech M&A, the meaning of wealth and comfort, the value of hard work, being perceived as intense, going into business instead of science, inspiring your kids, bucketing how your spend your time, integrity and self-awareness, how to recognize your teammates’ contributions, injecting tension, cutting through the noise, demanding excellence of yourself, celebrating the moment, and allowing yourself to unwind.In this episode, we cover:Adobe’s $20 billion acquisition of Figma, compared to Cisco’s 2017 acquisition of AppDynamics (01:18)What AppDynamics could have become if it hadn’t sold (08:17)Remembering your roots when you get a life-changing amount of money (12:26)Growing up in Germany, and why Dali came to the US when he was 16 (18:56) Living to work and finding fulfillment (23:16)The old-school sales style vs. the new generation’s (26:10) The unusual way Dali got hired at AppDynamics, and how he thinks about the arc of his career (30:15)Asking for the things you want and prioritizing your responsibilities (35:59)Hiring mistakes and what traits Dali looks for in candidates (45:36)How to turn big wins into learning moments (50:28)The benefits of making people “uncomfortable” in their jobs (55:23)Maximizing yield for individuals vs. organizations (01:01:39)Why Dali schedules his time off as strictly as his time on (01:08:35)Links:Connect with DaliLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

17 Okt 20221h 16min

“Everyone excellent at their craft starts from a place of deep insecurity,” says Flexport’s founding CRO Ben Braverman. People are “slow-burning fireworks,” he explains, and we need time to learn how to do anything well. If you lie to yourself, you won’t ever improve; but if you admit the truth and approach people who know more with genuine curiosity and enthusiasm, Ben says,  you’ll be able to level up faster and do things you never could before.In this episode, Ben and Joubin discuss giving speeches without prep, soliciting negative feedback, genuine curiosity, dropping out of college, valuing your experience, embracing Buddhism, outside dogs vs. inside dogs, hiring with enthusiasm, “Goldilocks companies,” the secondary sales paradox, the value of exercise, building an outbound sales machine, “natural” sellers vs. fast learners, and the warning signs that 2021 venture funding was “off.”In this episode, we cover:Being yourself and the pressure to be someone else in business (08:23)What Flexport does and how it cracked a low-tech industry (15:36)The advice Ben would give to his younger self: Enjoy the ride (21:09)How he became the founding CRO of Flexport (26:43)Turning on sales and hiring Justin Schafer (31:25)Growing from thousands in revenue to $3.3 billion (36:59)The trade-offs of always being on the road (40:41)Personal growth in the face of exponential product growth (45:30)Product-led growth and the magic of list construction (50:36)The unique way Flexport sales managers earn equity (53:29)How to spot the next Ben Braverman (57:26)The connection between excellence and insecurity (01:03:00)Going from operating to investing and the long window of venture (01:05:43)How and why both Ben and Flexport’s founding CEO Ryan Petersen stepped aside and passed the baton (01:12:08)Links:Connect with BenTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

10 Okt 20221h 18min

When Sweetgreen CEO Jonathan Neman and his co-founders opened their second-ever store, it was a “complete mess.” Located in Washington D.C.’s Dupont Circle and opening in the middle of the Great Recession, it was clearing less than $1000 per day at first. But Neman & co turned that crisis into opportunity the only way three 23-year-olds knew how: They bought a big speaker, started blasting music in the park, and turned their sleepy storefront into a party. That desperate play underscored one of Sweetgreen’s core values that they still work towards today: Healthy living can be fun.In this episode, Jonathan and Joubin discuss Sweetgreen’s new office, its new tofu, avocado volatility, frozen yogurt, Persian families, the power of capitalism, the “House of Equilibrium,” the problem with franchising, healthy music festivals, scalable brands, people-driven companies, giving workers equity, “Behind the Greens,” overachievers, building a better McDonalds, and “conscious achievers.”In this episode, we cover:Where the name Sweetgreen came from (05:42)Online ordering and the “second line” (08:34)Jonathan’s family and post-COVID attitudes about work (11:30)Returning to the office (17:20)Jonathan’s brief detour to Bain & Company, and the difference between entrepreneurs and consultants (20:58)The unusual way Sweetgreen raised its first several rounds, and scaling sustainably (27:00)Turning crisis into opportunity, and the Sweetlife Festival (33:10)Winning your category vs. becoming a lifestyle brand (37:40)Why Sweetgreen calls the general managers of its stores “head coaches,” and gives them equity (44:20)The health journeys of Sweetgreen’s staff, and the importance of the fundamentals (47:24)Shifting Sweetgreen’s strategic focus to build the restaurant company of the future (53:09)COVID-19 and “getting your ass kicked” (55:05)Letting go as a founder (59:51)Links:Connect with JonathanLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

3 Okt 20221h 6min

For more than 10 years, AOL co-founder and Revolution Chairman Steve Case has been investing in startups in all corners of the US — and urging others to do the same. His new book about this movement, The Rise of the Rest, explains why: The next wave of the tech industry, he argues, is not going to be anchored to physical offices in Silicon Valley alone. “The pandemic has created more attention on that,” he says. “That dispersion that started a decade ago accelerated over the last couple years ... people will be intrigued by the level of innovation happening in these cities.”In this episode, Steve and Joubin discuss changing attitudes toward young CEOs, the future of entrepreneurship across the US, the benefits of not being headquartered in Silicon Valley, investing in startups around the world, integrating technology into other systems, revolutions as evolutions, delegating paranoia, shifting one’s mindset as CEO, the missing killer app for blockchain, the commercialization of the internet, the 50th anniversary of communism in China, “the worst merger of all time,” and how AOL almost bought eBay.In this episode, we cover:Why Steve got demoted as CEO of AOL before it went public (04:55)His new book, The Rise of the Rest, and his previous book, The Third Wave (11:08)Democratizing capital for startups across America — and flying on Air Force One (18:43)America’s entrepreneurial success “didn’t happen by accident” (22:36)AOL’s early market motions and the resurgence of the “business person” in tech (25:16)The earliest days of online computer services pre-AOL (29:13)Steve’s entrepreneurial origins and believing in the potential of the internet (35:20)A short-lived Apple partnership in the 1980s, and the invention of “America Online” (39:49)Being a shock absorber for the rest of the company (44:28)The difficulty of scaling AOL and betting big on community over content (48:54)AOL and Time Warner’s notorious merger, and Steve’s tactical decision to step down as CEO (56:08)The aftermath of his resignation: “It was frustrating to go from leading to watching” (01:03:25)Managing a family in tandem with a fast-scaling startup (01:07:54)Links:Connect with SteveTwitterLinkedInBuy The Rise of the RestConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

26 Sep 20221h 12min

Intuit co-founder Scott Cook still remembers the first line of an email he received in 1994 from billg@microsoft.com: “This really is Bill Gates.” Intuit’s personal finance product Quicken had survived being crushed by Microsoft Money, and its new accounting software Quickbooks was thriving as well; instead of competing, Gates wanted to buy Intuit for $1.5 billion and take it worldwide. A deal was struck, hands were shook, but there was just one problem: The U.S. Department of Justice.In this episode, Scott and Joubin discuss finding happiness in your career, who Scott aspired to emulate when he was a young CEO, recruiting for excellence, the radical decision to make Quicken easy to use, the power of paradigms, pulling out of the death spiral, the “oncoming train” of Microsoft, United States v. Microsoft Corp., stepping back from a leadership role, what Scott learned from his successor Bill Campbell, and investing in Snapchat.In this episode, we cover:Allocating your time for both family and work (07:05)Working with Meg Whitman, Steve Ballmer, and other future stars (11:11)How Scott recruited his co-founder Tom Proulx, and other key figures at Intuit (15:32)Why more than two dozen venture capital firms refused to invest in Intuit (24:03)How Wells Fargo kept Intuit alive at its most desperate hour (33:00)The impact of Intuit’s struggle on Scott’s personal life, and going direct to consumers (37:45)Scott’s history with Kleiner Perkins chairman John Doerr (42:34)Quicken vs. Microsoft Money in an era when Microsoft crushed every competitor (45:31)Microsoft’s attempt to buy Intuit, and the antitrust lawsuit that sunk it all (54:32)Stepping down as CEO of Intuit and recruiting the “trillion-dollar coach,” Bill Campbell (01:02:00)How Scott met Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel and became one of his first investors (01:12:30)Links:Connect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

19 Sep 20221h 18min

Productboard founder and CEO Hubert Palan has made a point of studying the communication style of other leaders, from Martin Luther King Jr. to Elon Musk. But as the boss of a hot and growing tech startup, he’s realizing just how exceptional those people are. “You’re interviewing some of the top execs from companies are the Silicon Valley darling brands,” he says. “You leave the interview like, ‘This person has no idea what they’re doing. They just happen to be in the right spot at the right time.’” But that’s the necessary price, he explains, of doing something innovative instead of iterating on old ideas.In this episode, Hubert and Joubin are joined by Kleiner Perkins partner and Productboard investor Ilya Fushman to discuss Christmas carp, entrepreneurial soft skills, extreme frugality, VCs-as-bosses, the unique reason Hubert went vegetarian, studying famous speeches, being self-critical, the truth about “killing it” in tech, mis-hiring, selling outside your target customer segment, and why Hubert schedules everything.In this episode, we cover:How Hubert and Ilya conducted due diligence on each other (08:49)How Productboard drives revenue generation for modern companies (14:12)The wild fluctuations of the “founder mood meter” (20:00)The value of knowing how hard being a founder will be (28:25)Tough quarters and being transparent with your board (34:35)Holding oneself accountable vs. “showing what’s possible” (38:30)The risk of losing the mission as companies scale (43:15)Going upmarket is like running a new business (51:08)Hubert’s economic survey of Productboard’s board (57:39)Making time for your personal life (59:29)Links:Connect with HubertTwitterLinkedInConnect with IlyaTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

12 Sep 20221h 6min