34. How do you build an organisation to compete with Google?

In this episode we discuss: How do you build an organisation to compete with Google? We are joined by Omid Ashtari, ex-COO of Streebees and President of Citymapper.

We chat about the following with Omid:

• How do you think about organisational structure?
• How proactive should you be in anticipating organisational challenges?
• What is the highest impact communication challenge you helped resolve?
• How do you prevent drift from the customer as the company scales?

References:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtari

http://www.startuppragmatism.com

Biography:

I have two decades of experience in tech and worked in sales, business development and strategy roles for Google across the Dublin, London and San Francisco office during his 7 years there. As the first international employee, I set up Foursquare in Europe as Managing Director. I subsequently joined Citymapper for 6 years as President running the non-engineering side of the business. I then joined Streetbees as COO running operations, international expansion, finance and legal. Throughout my career I have raised north of 100 million dollars of funding for businesses I have worked for.

I am an angel investor in more than 45 businesses and advise many of them in all manner of things including strategy, operations, business development, fundraises etc. I am also part of the Mayor of London's Business Advisory Board, and a Mentor at Seedcamp and Entrepreneur First.

I am also an aspiring writer for my blogs startuppragmatism.blog and thefullspectrum.blog.

Summary:

• Personal growth and evolution over 13 years. 0:05
• Brandon reflects on his past solo travels and how they relate to his current life.
• Brandon M reflects on his past self-absorption and lack of empathy, now prioritizing supporting others' success and empathy in personal and professional life.
• Brandon M recounts a 2011 incident where he carried a biscuit tin full of Canadian coins and sat next to a homeless person, now recognizing the importance of empathy and caring for others.
• Organizational structure and skills for a business. 4:09
• Bethany: People often create an org structure that prioritizes making their existing team happy, rather than starting fresh and building a structure that works for the business.
• Brandon M: Bethany suggests starting with a blank slate and building an org structure that works for the business, rather than trying to fit existing team members into a pre-existing structure.
• Bethany and Brandon M discuss the importance of defining the skills needed for a business to succeed, rather than simply morphing structures around people.
• They agree that it's better to have a flexible approach to organizational structure, recognizing that roles may evolve as the business grows and changes.
• Organizational design and hiring for a scaling startup. 9:57
• Brandon M. faced pushback on hiring 2 product marketing managers, but believes it was necessary for success in both self-serve subscribers and enterprise sales.
• Brandon M. emphasizes the importance of clear go-to-market strategy and collaboration between product marketing manager and go-to-market manager.
• Bethany identifies the need for a "thinker" in early-stage businesses to analyze and gather information, which is perceived as a luxury role but essential for product market fit and growth.
• Bethany highlights the importance of having a thinker and a strategic salesperson in a scaling organization, as they provide valuable insights and help navigate challenges.
• Bethany identifies signs of organizational design issues, including unhappiness, confusion, and a lack of managers or promotional opportunities, which can lead to restructuring.
• Organizational structure and scaling. 16:27
• Omid Ashtari discusses the importance of adapting organizational structure to the scale of the problem being solved, as the number of employees grows.
• Ashtari highlights the challenges that arise when an organization expands, such as natural breaking points and lines of communication, and the need to adjust operational systems accordingly.
• Communication and decision-making challenges in scaling startups. 18:37
• Omid Ashtari explains how companies can proactively address problems by embracing chaos and redesigning systems after hiring new employees.
• Omid Ashtari highlights the importance of clear communication and decision-making processes in startups, particularly in scaling businesses.
• He shares an example of a company experiencing success bias, where they lose humility and become less secure, leading to bottlenecks in decision-making and communication.
• Product-market fit and organizational structure for startups. 22:39
• Omid Ashtari highlights the importance of addressing user complaints and recalibrating employees' understanding of the product's performance in different cities.
• Citymapper encourages engineers and employees to travel to different cities for exploratory trips to better understand user needs and improve the product.
• Omid Ashtari discusses the importance of understanding customer needs and maintaining product-market fit in scaling startups.
• Hiring for various roles in a business, focusing on cognitive ability and adaptability. 26:49
• Omid Ashtari discusses the importance of hiring the right person for the job, particularly in scaling problems, where high roller related knowledge is crucial.
• Ashtari highlights the challenge of figuring out the business model for a problem like city mapper, where role related knowledge is less important than adaptability to the organization's synchronous ease.
• Omid Ashtari emphasizes the importance of hiring people with high cognitive flexibility and entrepreneurial mindset for a specific business unit within a company.
• He describes a cross-functional team structure where team members sit in different rooms and communicate ad hoc to solve problems quickly, with a central table for impromptu meetings.
• Scaling a transportation app company. 32:26
• Omid Ashtari emphasizes the importance of adapting to changing business needs by creating separate units with different operating systems to address specific problems.
• In Citymapper's case, the main focus was on retaining organic growth in London, with a myopic focus on product innovation and weekly updates to address user feedback.
• Omid Ashtari describes the challenges of scaling a transport app, including competing with Google Maps and Apple Maps, and the need for a sustainable business model.
• Ashtari highlights the importance of resilience and entrepreneurial spirit in overcoming these challenges, and the need for tooling to enable non-engineers to launch cities.
• Entrepreneurship, product market fit, and organizational design. 37:48
• Omid Ashtari emphasizes the importance of asking questions and reorganizing as needed in the face of uncertainty.
• Citymapper's team has adapted to changing needs by reassigning personnel and launching new initiatives like smart ride, a cab-based ride-sharing service.
• Omid Ashtari emphasizes the importance of being "confidently insecure" as an entrepreneur, constantly reassessing and adapting to changing circumstances.
• Bethany agrees, highlighting the need to be emotionally intelligent, flexible, and humble in the face of uncertainty and criticism.

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