CRO Box, Mark Wayland: Forging Positive Sales Cultures

Guest: Giancarlo “GC” Lionetti, CRO of Zapier“I live in a constant state of paranoia,” says Zapier CRO Giancarlo “GC” Lionetti, “which I guess is healthy and unhealthy.” A lifelong hard worker who shows up early and stays late, GC could have kept his job at team collaboration company Atlassian, which he joined before the company even offered stock options to employees. But his hunger for new experiences — and desire to learn things about new disciplines, like sales — took him away to unexpected new roles at Dropbox, Confluent and now Zapier. “If you asked me in every single experience what my next experience was gonna be ... I wouldn’t have guessed the one that I ended up doing,” he says.In this episode, GC and Joubin discuss in-person retreats, the problem with “hybrid” cultures, in-office perks, dyslexia and ChatGPT, Atlassian as a “mini-MBA,” re-directing energy to find happiness, self-service businesses, “fitting the mold,” the space for meetings, and dinner at home with the kids.In this episode, we cover:The Grit tip jar and being an “anti-remote” person at a fully remote company (00:47)How GC compensates for not being able to walk & talk around the office (06:13)The dying art of being early, and GC’s brand of hard work (09:03)His father’s exhausting work life, and his first summer job (16:18)Is GC a “pusher” or a “puller,” and some crucial advice from Atlassian CEO Scott Farquhar (21:15)What he thought in the early days of Atlassian’s ride to the top (27:48)What Zapier does and how it has helped GC and his wife as parents (31:29)“It was hard to take advice, because nobody understood this world” (34:25)Why did GC leave Atlassian for Dropbox? (38:04)Passing on paranoia, and is balance required for happiness? (41:16)Marketing vs. sales, and the danger of re-running the same playbook in different companies (48:46)Fitting into a box, and learning from people with different backgrounds (56:28)Why GC doesn’t like traveling very much, and  the place of meetings in Zapier’s GTM organization (01:01:09)Separating the “church and state” of work and personal life (01:07:38)Links:Connect with GCTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

13 Mars 20231h 11min

Guest: Claire Hughes Johnson, author of Scaling People and Corporate Officer at StripeFormer Stripe COO Claire Hughes Johnson’s new book, Scaling People, is not your typical business book: Informed by her experience scaling one of the most valuable private companies in the world, it’s a tactical reference manual, “almost like a textbook,” aimed at helping managers wrestling with a variety of problems. And one of the big uniting themes is that, to solve anything, they’re going to have to look inwards. “Leadership does not start with the other people in the room,” she says. “It starts with you ... if you don’t know yourself, you are not gonna be very successful, because you have to understand your work style preferences, your habits, your blind spots.”In this episode, Claire and Joubin discuss in-demand books, Google pre-IPO, headcount as a proxy for success, paranoid mentality, self-driving cars, honoring commitments, the illusion of time, customer insights, “act like a founder,” asking for feedback, prioritizing and saying no, “steady Eddies,” imposter syndrome, fruit on the counter, layering titles, and making time for family.In this episode, we cover:Who should read Claire’s new book, Scaling People, and how she expects them to read it (00:57)The challenges of building Stripe in its early days: “It was just consumed by it” (04:51)Why she left Google to become Stripe’s COO, and what she did for them as the business was starting to take off (12:34)How Stripe hired the best people — including Claire — and how they could have done it even better (17:25)Leadership starts with self-awareness (26:05)Honest criticism that rocks your world, and taking feedback well (29:43)The “unauthorized guide” to working with Claire (36:18)Getting hired at Google by Sheryl Sandberg, and why Claire didn’t follow her to Facebook (40:26)“Pushers and pullers,” a framework for working with top talent (46:43)What entrepreneurs can learn from Condoleezza Rice about impact, passion, and ability (58:33)Putting your (imperfect) expertise out into the world (01:02:03)Implementing Stripe’s first performance feedback process, and why it still doesn’t “do” titles (01:07:06)Having a life outside of work, and the “clarifying moment” of a surprise birthday party (01:15:26)Links:Buy Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company BuildingConnect with ClaireTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

6 Mars 20231h 27min

Guest: Rania Succar, CEO of Intuit MailchimpTen years out of college, and with two advanced degrees under her belt, Rania Succar knew she wanted to be an operator. Taking a job at Google taught her a lot, but she chafed under the limitations imposed on her control and personal impact. At Intuit, she finally found what she had been searching for: “We really do have a structure that's set up to give you massive amounts of accountability and responsibility.” For seven years, Rania worked across the Quickbooks team before becoming the CEO of Mailchimp in August 2022. And along the way, she also discovered the “beauty” in jointly owning some functions with her teammates: “It can actually be brilliant.”In this episode, Rania and Joubin discuss immigrant culture, boundless energy, the search for meaning, the illusion of control, getting back to equilibrium, registering your ambition, “Mailkimp,” prioritizing family, sleep experiments, passing the baton, finding problem-solvers, and meetings that give you energy.In this episode, we cover:The importance of family to Syrians, Persians, and immigrants (00:43)Navigating two cultures at the dinner table, and Rania’s entrepreneurial father (04:48)The arc of her career, and figuring out where she wanted to put her energy (08:59)What motivates & energizes her, and what takes energy away (14:28)The need to own things end to end, and the beauty of sharing the controls (18:32)What Rania has learned over seven years at Intuit, and how she pushes to do more (24:32)Mailchimp’s “genius” sponsorship of Serial, and preserving its scrappy culture (30:46)How Rania allocates her time every week, and finding “30% more efficiency” (34:13)Learning about the importance of sleep “the hard way” (38:45)Getting through the early months of COVID and being authentic with her team (43:30)Learning from leaders like Intuit’s Bill Campbell and Scott Cook, and defining the “next chapter of exceptional” (46:51)How a visual impairment became a source of strength (52:54)Setting priorities and being a prisoner of one’s calendar (57:16)Links:Connect with RaniaTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

27 Feb 20231h 3min

Guest: Lesley Young, CRO of GemLesley Young’s favorite book is “The Obstacle Is The Way,” in which Ryan Holiday argues that the process of working hard to achieve something is more important than the achievement itself. When you find yourself in a position of leadership, the Gem CRO says, “you realize there’s a lot of wisdom that you’ve gained in those experiences that you’ve had.” One of her passions is helping other people develop in the careers, which includes convincing them that “that hard yards are going to be the ones that are gonna grow them the most.”In this episode, Lesley and Joubin discuss speaking vs. observing, meeting your heroes, the Great Depression mindset, developing people, Workplace by Facebook, the power of discontent, choosing to show up, controlling the controllable, repeatable success, being “open for business,” getting fired up, remote work, “only the paranoid survive,” and hard feedback.In this episode, we cover:Prepping for public presentations (00:59)Meeting Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and working with Snowflake CRO Chris Degnan (04:44)Fear of everything evaporating, and becoming resourceful (09:28)The “purpose statement” Lesley wrote for her career, and why she loves to learn (14:16)Choosing to not be *the* leader all the time, and taking a risk on Facebook (20:35)Her relationship with her parents and being motivated by unfinished work (25:45)Ryan Holiday’s “The Obstacle Is The Way” and the journey to the achievement (29:32)How to work with founders such as Box CEO Aaron Levie (35:58)Former Segment CEO Peter Reinhardt and asking the right question (41:03)Why Lesley joined Gem on the eve of a hiring downturn: The long-term play (47:26)Why Gem CEO Steve Bartel is an “amazing recruiter,” and the return of in-person collaboration (52:14)The toughest feedback Lesley has ever gotten about herself (59:42)Why delivering tough feedback is harder than receiving it (01:03:49)Links:Connect with LesleyLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

20 Feb 20231h 10min

Guest: Javier Molina, CRO of StarburstStarburst CRO Javier Molina’s peers, former colleagues, and even his wife often tell him the same thing: He’s difficult to read.  That doesn’t mean he’s not listening, though. In fact, he’s focusing on many different things such as speech patterns, the words being used, and the priority of those words while simultaneously keeping a pulse on social cues as well. This uncontrolled habit he describes as both a superpower and his achilles heel. “It allows me to interview really well and assess talent,” says Javier, who describes himself as a social introvert. “It allows me to read situations … understand room dynamics… It helps me understand my customers [but] I think a lot of people like extroverts because of how they’re so expressive and flashy ... and that’s not me.”In this episode, Javier and Joubin discuss Austin culture, making eye contact, social introverts, living in the future, self-awareness, betting on yourself, workhorse culture, reverse job interviews, short-term wins, in-car WiFi, great partners, and world-class interviewing.In this episode, we cover:San Francisco vs. Austin and the flood of techies moving to Texas (01:08)The “movie that you can’t turn off” and assessing people quickly (05:49)Patience, focus, and being present (14:10)“What is a common misconception of you?” (19:53)Self-awareness as a proxy for potential, and feeling different from the crowd (25:04)Buying houses, and betting on yourself (32:00)Being hired as an executive, and the culture of teams at bootstrapped companies (39:00)What Starburst does and turning the tables on CEO Justin Borgman (45:44)Being intentional, celebrating wins, and “enjoying the climb” (50:31)Getting away from work, and the strength of entrepreneurs’ relationships (57:22)The little things in interviews, and why “a problem well stated is half solved” (01:02:50)How to screen for grit (01:07:41)Links:Connect with JavierTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

13 Feb 20231h 11min

All of Dennis Lyandres’ mentors — and even his parents — thought he was making a mistake when he joined Procore in 2014. At the time, he was working at the “it” company in Silicon Valley, Cloudera, and the startup was more than 10 years old without any major wins under its belt. But he knew someone “was gonna build a massive company” in construction software, and he found out that Procore’s team was uniquely obsessive about making its customers successful: “It felt like a culture that wouldn’t lose,” he says. In this episode, Dennis and Joubin discuss the power of food, being a “prep maniac,” finding satisfaction, the potential for greatness, the tickle of urgency, imposter syndrome, construction software, magical CEOs, internal pep talks, learning from failure, the wisdom of others, strong relationships, the Procore IPO, and life partners.In this episode, we cover:The Procore campus and employee experience (01:03) How Dennis prepped for this podcast and lifelong learning (05:00)“Have I plateaued? Is this it?” (11:31)Channeling energy into your work, and knowing what you can change (17:42)Dennis’ parents and how he thought about work for most of his career (22:30)His first jobs and why he left Cloudera for Procore (27:11)The first “oh shit” moment and the 10-year success story (34:25)The winning culture and what Dennis would do with a second chance (39:47)Scaling to nine-figure revenue and personal growth through failure (43:20)Great vs. terrible leadership and finding the right mentors (48:21)Procore CEO Tooey Courtemanche and relationships built on trust (55:08)Fixing the technology in construction (58:19)Powerful advice about ethics and interpersonal relationships (01:02:49)Thoughtful gifts and making space for another person in your life (01:08:58)Links:Connect with DennisTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

6 Feb 20231h 21min

In the middle of the Great Recession, Thomas Dohmke quit a stable job at a good company because “I wanted to build stuff again.” Specifically, he was inspired by the release of the first software development kit for iOS, and wanted to be part of the mobile revolution. Two companies later and halfway around the world, he is the CEO of software development powerhouse Github and on the precipice of another revolution — that of AI tools such as Github Copilot. Up to 40 percent of Copilot users’ code is already being autocompleted by AI, and Thomas predicts that number could get to 80 percent in the next five years. “We are heading into a world where developers are much more architecture and system designers,” he says.In this episode, Thomas and Joubin discuss staying excited, A/B tests for life, triggering emails, “the toys you can’t have,” self-driving car sensors, the first iPhone SDK, app testing, US work visas, life-changing money, Xamarin, is Github a social network?, being ultra-transparent, ghost text, ChatGPT and Midjourney, generating passion, rehearsing forever, Mittelstand companies, and the zen of LEGO.In this episode, we cover:Titles at Microsoft and working with CEO Satya Nadella (00:58)Being “85% happy” and the temptation to leave big companies for a startup (05:33)How Thomas went from early user to CEO of GitHub (09:22)Growing up in East Germany and the fall of the Berlin Wall (13:19)Why Thomas quit his job at the height of the financial crisis: “I wanna build stuff again” (22:28)Being acquired by Microsoft and coming to America (27:26)The startup mindset and “open-source” values (34:09)How Github’s “AI programmer,” Copilot, will change everything for developers (40:32)When will generative AI have its “iPhone moment?” (45:44)Exponential change and preparing your kids for the unknown future (50:57)Communicating in English, and whether Thomas’ family would ever go back to Germany (57:21)Tech culture in Europe vs. Silicon Valley and the pressure of “more” (01:01:19) The “LEGO room” in Thomas’ house (01:07:18)Links:Connect with ThomasTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

30 Jan 20231h 11min

Freshworks president Dennis Woodside copes with stress by running as often as he can, a habit that began when he was CEO of Motorola Mobility. So far, he has run “16 to 17” Ironman triathlons. He’s also continually challenging himself in his professional life, leaving Motorola in 2014 to advise the founder-CEOs: Dropbox’s Drew Houston, Impossible Foods’ Pat Brown, and now Freshworks’ Girish Mathrubootham. Dennis’ advice for anyone working with founders is to “have empathy” for what they’re going through, and to understand what motivates them. Without that understanding, he says, you won’t be able to arrive at a shared vision for the company.In this episode, Dennis and Joubin discuss mega-acquisitions, the smartphone paradigm shift, triathlons and competitiveness, winning every category, “softening up,” global cities, Google interview questions, spreading Silicon Valley culture, the “chrome panda moment,” hiring the right people, “Where do you want to be in five years?”, evaluating new opportunities, and building trust with founders.In this episode, we cover:Google’s acquisition of Motorola and how Dennis went from ad exec to first-time CEO (02:00)Did Dennis like being the CEO of Motorola? (08:04)The stress of the new job and dealing with it through exercise (13:02)Dennis’ impressive résumé and what dinner conversation was like growing up (18:37)Going to Korea and choosing the harder path (23:00)Joining Google in 2003 as a general problem-solver (26:23)Hiring “scouts” all around the world to better understand the internet (30:41)Leaving Motorola to mentor Dropbox CEO Drew Houston (39:12)Checking your ego and the listening tour that wasn’t (42:20)Dropbox’s IPO and why the stock has been relatively flat (48:38)Changing jobs without breaks, and spotting new opportunities like Freshworks (52:19)Tips for working with founders and interrogating the status quo (58:02)Dennis’ most unique OKR at Dropbox (01:02:39)Links:Connect with DennisLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

23 Jan 20231h 5min