#228 Co-Founder Alinea & Tock: Selling Experience

Guest: Rick Smith, CEO & Founder of Axon (formerly TASER)Being a founder-CEO is a “unique superpower,” says Axon’s Rick Smith: People like him get a longer leash from the board to try things that outside CEOs might not.“My job is to push risk into the organization,” Rick says. “If there's a project with a 50 percent chance of success, a 50 percent chance of failure, but it's going to pay 100 to 1, any finance person will tell you, you should take that bet all day long.”One of those bets was the transition from running a weapons company called TASER into a broader public safety firm called Axon, which makes cloud-supported body cameras fro police, tactical drones, AI records management software and more. “If we never have a product failure, then we're not taking risks anymore and we're going to end up getting disrupted,” Rick says.Chapters:(01:09) - Tasers vs. guns (03:35) - Axon’s growth (07:09) - Biggest surprises (09:33) - How TASER got started (13:11) - Reinventing the taser (17:24) - A humiliating launch (23:33) - Rick’s family (26:14) - The Auto Taser failure (30:21) - The darkest days (34:26) - Hans Marrero (37:25) - Family and burnout (42:49) - Rick’s family (45:49) - Pivoting the business (51:37) - Axon body cameras (53:46) - Axon’s current products (58:08) - Re-educating the cops (01:02:09) - Pushing risk (01:05:44) - Competing with the gun (01:10:16) - Exponential stock plans (01:14:17) - Who Axon is hiring (01:14:46) - What “grit” means to Rick Mentioned in this episode: UnitedHealthcare and Brian Thompson, Harvard University, human-machine interfaces, Star Wars, Timecop, Star Trek, Jack Cover, Project Apollo, Ed Owen; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; Tom Smith, Rodney King, the Sharper Image, Steve Filmer, Phil Smith, Silicon Valley Bank, Emil Michael, Bob Kagle, Benchmark, Norwest Ventures, Molly Wuthrich, Josh Isner, The Terminator, Ferrari, Richard Branson, Burning Man, Steve Jobs, Brenda Smith, Hadi Partovi, Amazon AWS, Microsoft, DraftOne, Ambience Health, OpenAI, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Brown, Computer Aided Dispatch, Elon Musk and SpaceX, and Luke Larson.Links:Connect with RickTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

27 Jan 1h 15min

Guest: Emilie Choi, president & COO of CoinbaseAfter the collapse of FTX in 2022, “the whole industry was tarnished,” recalls Coinbase COO Emilie Choi. “Politicians came out criticizing crypto, saying it was a fraud.”But unlike FTX, Coinbase was a public company in the U.S. So when the SEC served it a Wells notice, announcing its intent to charge the company with violating securities laws, the executive team took an unusual step: They went on the offensive, publicly calling BS on the agency.“Well-regarded CEOs from TradFi, they were like, ‘You don’t do that,’” Emilie says. “’You don’t antagonize your regulator.’ ... It was a combination of chutzpah and maybe desperation that we were like, ‘We have to go tell our story, because if we don’t, nobody else will.’”Chapters: (01:14) - Working with founder CEOs (04:12) - Mission first (07:16) - Reviewing candidates (09:48) - Unusual hiring (11:22) - Crypto after FTX (16:29) - Operation Choke Point 2.0 (19:19) - Grin and bear it (21:24) - Channeling negativity (24:21) - Going to war with the SEC (26:20) - Donald Trump and Gary Gensler (28:38) - Was it worth it? (31:19) - Shipping challenges (34:03) - OKRs and personal goals (36:41) - Brian Armstrong and structure (40:56) - The COO guidebook (43:30) - Removing bureaucracy (46:50) - Investing in crypto (49:41) - After Coinbase (53:03) - Constantly on (54:53) - Favorite interview questions (56:28) - Who Coinbase is hiring (58:28) - Standing for something Mentioned in this episode: Google Chat, executive coaches, Mark Zuckerberg, LinkedIn, Jeff Weiner, speed reading, Warner Bros., Elizabeth Warren, Sam Bankman-Fried, Wells notices, Paul Grewal, Chris Lehane, Airbnb, OpenAI, FOIA requests, Balaji Srinivasan, Dan Romero, Kevin Scott, Microsoft, Patrick McHenry, Ritchie Torres, Fairshake PAC, A16z, Ripple, Stand With Crypto, Dogecoin, Robinhood, Charles Schwab, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Paul Ryan, Faryar Shirzad, Kara Calvert, Elon Musk, Earn.com, Ben Horowitz, Bain Capital Ventures, Claire Hughes Johnson and Scaling People, Directly Responsible Individuals, Fidelity, BlackRock, Yahoo!, Stewart Butterfield, Brad Garlinghouse, Alibaba, Flickr, cognitive tests, and Loom.Links:Connect with EmilieTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

20 Jan 1h

Guest: Sarah Franklin, CEO of LatticeAs the CEO of a growing company, Lattice’s Sarah Franklin has learned that one of her most important contributions is taking a leap of faith. “You have to have the courage to be the first one to do it,” she says,” and to show that it can be done, and to pave the way so that then your team feels trust.”Sarah cautions, though, that sometimes courage is deciding to stop and go a different direction. As agentic AI becomes more common, the people building companies like Lattice should look to the “cautionary tales” of how social media and mobile phones have changed society, she says.“We can have the courage to say, what are the outcomes that we want to prevent? Or what are the outcomes that we want to make sure happen? This all takes, courage, because it’s all unknown.”Chapters:(01:14) - Schooling in Mexico (04:09) - Raising brave children (10:28) - Sarah’s upbringing (13:29) - The pursuit of money (16:23) - Measuring success (19:28) - Learnings, not regrets (22:55) - Make an impact (26:44) - Pitching Trailhead (32:56) - Elevating a B2B company (35:27) - How to colonize Mars (38:39) - Marketing, the Salesforce way (44:21) - Dolphining and truth-tellers (50:56) - Renewed purpose (56:30) - The challenges of being CEO (01:00:18) - Pave the way (01:03:25) - “Humanizing AI” (01:06:57) - Handling controversy (01:11:04) - Who Lattice is hiring and what “grit” means to Sarah Mentioned in this episode: FaceTime, Salesforce, Marc Benioff, Mahatma Gandhi, Instagram, the Fortune 500, Java, Jerry Maguire, National Parks, Nike, Michael Jordan, Apple and “Think Different,” Sara Varni, Scott Holden, Andy Kofoid, Databricks, Datadog, Behind the Cloud, Oracle, Microsoft, Elon Musk, Amazon AWS, George Hu, Mike Rosenbaum, Cheryl Feldman, Zac Otero, Guidewire Software, AI agents, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and LinkedIn.Links:Connect with SarahLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

13 Jan 1h 12min

Guest: David Heinemeier Hansson, CTO & co-owner of 37signals and creator of Ruby on Rails 37signals CTO David Heinemeier Hansson has organized his life around his passions: Writing, racing sports cars, and coding. “ Why aren't we all doing that?” he wonders. “Why aren't we all trying to optimize our life in such a way that much of it is enjoyable?”Part of the problem, David argues, is that it’s impossible to find a creative or productive flow inside of mainstream work culture. Open offices, managerial over-hiring, and sloppy scheduling prevents people from reaching a flow state.“40 hours a week is plenty than most people,” he says. “... So many people today are focused on just adding more and more hours. They're not thinking about how those hours are spent.” Chapters:(01:19) - 24 Hours of Le Mans (06:48) - Amateurs in sports car racing (10:54) - Flow and meditation (15:25) - Mundane bulls**t (18:14) - Optimizing for flow (21:09) - Calendars and open offices (24:30) - Full-time managers (29:06) - Small companies (32:20) - Selfishness and work (40:21) - Taking other people’s money (45:43) - Temptation (49:49) - Moderately rich (55:19) - “The day I became a millionaire” (58:56) - The hassle (01:03:58) - Achieving the dream (01:08:34) - Shopify and Tobias Lütke (01:14:50) - Trade-offs and downsides (01:18:43) - The impact of Ruby on Rails (01:22:02) - “I love being wrong” (01:25:37) - DEI and illegal drugs (01:29:49) - Not hiring (01:30:35) - What “grit” means to David Mentioned in this episode: TikTok, Minecraft, Mario Kart, Formula One, NASCAR, Lewis Hamilton, the NBA, Tesla Model S, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Steve McQueen, Jason Fried, Tetris, Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber, Elon Musk and Twitter, the Dunbar number, Zappos, Google, Adam Smith, Stripe, Meta, Jeff Bezos, Basecamp, Zapier, 1Password, GitHub, SpaceX, private jets, Aesop, the Pagani Zonda, the Porsche Boxster, Lamborghini, Coco Chanel, LeBron James, Hey, Steve Jobs, Michael Arrington and TechCrunch, Y Combinator, Dr. Thomas Sowell,Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn, Grit by Angela Duckworth, and LEGO. Links:Connect with DavidTwitterLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

6 Jan 1h 34min

On this special episode of Grit, we look back at some of the coolest stories and best advice our guests have shared in 2024. Chapters:(00:49) - David Risher on his Amazon easter egg & moving on (07:02) - Jason Kilar on bouncing between relevance & irrelevance (15:13) - Eoghan McCabe on "re-founding" the company he started (22:59) - Mark Fields on battling with Trump & running to the fire (29:41) - John Hanke on intensity and balance (38:00) - Rony Abovitz on whether losing he's bitter about losing Magic Leap to COVID (47:42) - Mark McLaughlin on sacrificing personal time (57:39) - Taylor Francis on building culture Listen to all of these episodes:#201 CEO Lyft, David Risher: The Ride#214 Former CEO Hulu & WarnerMedia Jason Kilar: No Labels#191 CEO & Co-Founder Intercom, Eoghan McCabe: Second Beginning#209 Former President & CEO Ford, Mark Fields: All Cylinders#203 CEO Niantic, John Hanke: Buried Ships#212 Founder Magic Leap & SynthBee Rony Abovitz: Underdog#202 Chairman of Qualcomm, Mark McLaughlin: The Right Pitch#189 Co-Founder Watershed, Taylor Francis: Worthy MissionsConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

30 Dec 20241h 5min

Guest: Larry Baer, CEO of the San Francisco GiantsIn 1992, Larry Baer was part of the ownership group that bought the San Francisco Giants and successfully prevented the team from being moved to Tampa, Florida. Back then, they had a big problem to solve: An old, uncomfortable ballpark that voters wanted to see replaced, but didn’t want to pay for.20 years after the construction and financial success of Candlestick Park’s replacement, Oracle Park, Baer — now the CEO of the Giants — embarked on an even bigger project, developing an entire neighborhood near Oracle called Mission Rock. “We’re in the baseball business, but really, we're in the media, entertainment, sports, real estate business,” he says. Chapters:(01:05) - Growing up a fan (04:37) - Larry’s dad (07:28) - Stopping the move (13:28) - The Giants in 1992 (15:18) - “What am I doing here?” (19:31) - Hiring with urgency (23:34) - Last out to first pitch (27:45) - Buster Posey (30:13) - The Candlestick problem (36:36) - Making a new stadium (43:00) - Always hungry (45:01) - Becoming CEO (49:52) - Homegrown talent (52:55) - The Mission Rock neighborhood (57:27) - Revitalizing San Francisco (01:03:20) - “It all starts here” (01:07:20) - What Oracle Park means (01:09:52) - What “grit” means to Larry Mentioned in this episode: Barry Bonds, Candlestick Park, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, Josh Harris, Larry and Bob Tisch, CBS, Peter Magowan and Safeway, Charles Schwab, Don Fisher, Bill Hewlett, Arthur Rock, Charles Johnson, Harmon Burns, Bank of America, Walter Shorenstein, Dianne Feinstein, Bob Lurie, Bobby Bonds, Dennis Gilbert, Roger Craig, Al Rosen, Dusty Baker, Bob Quinn, Brian Sabean, George Steinbrenner, Bob Lillis, Matt Williams, Greg Johnson, the 1994 baseball strike, Chase Manhattan Bank, Warren Hellman, Jimmy Lee, Pacific Bell, Coca-Cola Company, J.T. Snow, Jeff Kent, Bill Neukom, Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Sergio Romo, Hunter Pence, Marco Scutaro, Joseph Lacob and the Golden State Warriors, Tishman Speyer, Al Kelly, Ryan McInerney, Visa, Che Fico, Arsicault, Trick Dog and Josh Harris, the Chase Center, Sam Altman and Open AI, Anthropic, Daniel Lurie, Salesforce and Dreamforce, Imagine Dragons, Pink, the Moscone Center, and Billy Crystal. Links:Connect with LarryLinkedInConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

23 Dec 20241h 11min

Guest: Tony Vinciquerra, outgoing CEO of Sony PicturesTony Vinciquerra never planned to get into the entertainment business, let alone to become one of the most powerful people in Hollywood. After seven years, he’s about to leave the CEO role at Sony Pictures (although he will stay on as chairman for one more year) and attributes much of his success to luck: “I’ve been in the right place at the right time a lot of times.” That said, he also encourages his children to proactively be curious, something that has served Tony well across his whole career. “I don’t have as deep an education as many of the people that [I] compete with,” he says. “So I try to make up for that by knowing what’s going on and being more curious ... working harder at it and being more — I don’t know what the right word is, but sucking more information in, all the time.”Chapters:(00:54) - The perks of being a studio boss (03:38) - Hulu and Peter Chernin (06:41) - Fox Television (10:03) - Building relationships (13:37) - Not retiring (15:34) - Fixing Sony (23:29) - Intellectual property (26:58) - Juggling and baseball (29:30) - Setbacks and cable networks (34:58) - The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes (37:22) - AI and replacing writers (39:46) - Adapting to new tech (44:38) - Changing consumer behavior (49:25) - Sports media and live TV (55:31) - Bad days (58:57) - Tony’s family (01:02:47) - Looking back (01:05:04) - Proactive curiosity (01:07:33) - What “grit” means to Tony Mentioned in this episode: Jason Kilar and Warner Bros., Jeff Zucker, John Waldron and Goldman Sachs, FX, Drayton McLane, Netflix, Variety, PlayStation, Spider-Man, Tom Rothman, CBS and Paramount, Comcast and NBC, Disney, Mike Hopkins, Amazon Prime, Funimation, Crunchyroll, Breaking Bad, The Last of Us, HBO, Uncharted, WBZ-TV, the Game Show Network, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Joker: Folie à Deux, Miramax, Here, Tom Hanks, Venom: The Last Dance, Michael Ovitz, Sam Altman and OpenAI, Pixomondo, Neal Mohan and YouTube, Susan Wojcicki, DirecTV and AT&T, NFL Sunday Ticket, Qualcomm, the New York Knicks, the Golden State Warriors, Larry Baer and the San Francisco Giants, Major League Baseball, Walmart and Vizio, Madame Web, Capital Cities, Mark McLaughlin, and Mark Fields and Ford.Links:Connect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

16 Dec 20241h 8min

Guest: Jeff Wilke, former CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer and chairman of Re:Build ManufacturingJeff Wilke worked more than 20 years at Amazon, overseeing the million-person team that speedily gets packages from warehouses to doorsteps. In hindsight, he observes that Amazon Prime’s exponential growth was actually an incremental daily process.“I used to say things like, ‘If God was running this plant, whoever is your God ... they can’t violate physical laws. How well would they do?’ And then we know where we are,” Jeff says.“If we’re perfect in it, compounding over all this time, we’re going to get there. But when you’re in the middle of it, it can feel almost impossible.” Chapters:(01:37) - Grit and longevity (02:24) - Flow state (07:29) - Refining mental models (12:29) - The ivory tower and the shop floor (16:49) - Gnarly holidays (20:41) - Identifying grit (24:28) - Reflecting and learning (27:36) - Christmas 2000 (31:06) - The duplicate bug (34:01) - Incremental progress (38:36) - Prime Video (43:05) - Organizing the day (46:42) - Amazon’s leaders (49:55) - The Whole Foods acquisition (53:33) - Amazon Fashion (59:54) - The great Kindle battle (01:02:40) - How to work with Jeff Bezos (01:05:11) - Leaving Amazon (01:09:48) - Re:Build Manufacturing (01:14:35) - What “grit” means to Jeff Mentioned in this episode: Peloton, Andy Jassy, Daniel Kahneman, Zoom, Allied Signal, Toyota and the Gemba Walk, MacKenzie Scott, Bob Thomas and Crucibles of Leadership, David Risher, Toys “R” Us, Amazon Prime, Jeff Blackburn, Louis Pasteur, Netflix, Bill Carr, Steve Kessel, Larry Bossidy, Rick Dalzell, West Point, John Mackey, Liesl Wilke, Tony Hsieh, the Met Gala, Anna Wintour, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tim Tebow, the New York Jets, Shopbob, Gucci, Zara, Cathy Beaudoin, Walmart, Dave Clark, John Doerr, Bill Baumol, and Bing Gordon.Links:Connect with JeffTwitterConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

9 Dec 20241h 15min