The Exchanges

Q Oh, I just love that segment from Chris. It's one of my favorite 20 VC segments. Now I'm so excited to hand over to Anne Wojcicki, co-founder and CEO at How did having children and becoming a mother change how you operate and how you think about how you operate on a daily basis?

A I mean, it really did change everything. Like, I think about that transition whenever someone's pregnant with their first child. Like, I think back on sort of, like, the pre and post world. Like, I was a very different person before I had kids. Like, for me, the world was this amazing, like, world of opportunity. I didn't really think about risk and danger in the same way. Like, I remember... Reading one of the, the travel books that was like the 50 most dangerous places in the world you can go and like how to manage being kidnapped. And it's like, I just love the idea of like traveling. And then once I had a child, like everything's like, I remember so clearly those first 24 hours where I suddenly was like, oh my God, I just like ruined my life, like in the best way possible. But the world is no longer this world full of opportunity. The world is full of danger and I must protect my child. And I remember very well, there was somebody named Yossi Vardy. It was a good friend who is actually the one who started AOL instant messaging. I remember him telling me this is before I had kids. He said, you really never know what it's like to worry until you have a child. And it's true. Like for the rest of your life, every single day, you are tied to this other person and you're only as happy as your most unhappy child. So it's a totally different world because you suddenly have a huge a…

AI assessment note: “from a work perspective, it made me much more efficient because I had to be”

Q Oh, I just love that segment from Chris. It's one of my favorite 20 VC segments. Now I'm so excited to hand over to Anne Wojcicki, co-founder and CEO at How did having children and becoming a mother change how you operate and how you think about how you operate on a daily basis?

A I mean, it really did change everything. Like, I think about that transition whenever someone's pregnant with their first child. Like, I think back on sort of, like, the pre and post world. Like, I was a very different person before I had kids. Like, for me, the world was this amazing, like, world of opportunity. I didn't really think about risk and danger in the same way. Like, I remember... Reading one of the, the travel books that was like the 50 most dangerous places in the world you can go and like how to manage being kidnapped. And it's like, I just love the idea of like traveling. And then once I had a child, like everything's like, I remember so clearly those first 24 hours where I suddenly was like, oh my God, I just like ruined my life, like in the best way possible. But the world is no longer this world full of opportunity. The world is full of danger and I must protect my child. And I remember very well, there was somebody named Yossi Vardy. It was a good friend who is actually the one who started AOL instant messaging. I remember him telling me this is before I had kids. He said, you really never know what it's like to worry until you have a child. And it's true. Like for the rest of your life, every single day, you are tied to this other person and you're only as happy as your most unhappy child. So it's a totally different world because you suddenly have a huge a…

AI assessment note: “from a work perspective, it made me much more efficient because I had to be”

Q Did you find it challenging to let go? I'm a bit of a control freak. I find it very challenging to delegate anything. How was that for you in terms of the letting go and determining what to delegate and what not to?

A Yeah. I like to think that I can delegate pretty well. I think there's a couple of things like decision-making process is always something that we're focused on in the company is how can you more and more empower people to make a decision? I try to separate it a bit into sort of the decisions that are reversible and the decisions that are not reversible. You know, like there's some decisions that have happened in the company where it was the wrong decision and it takes a year or years to clean up. And so I try to make sure that like, I'm consciously trying to think about like, do I need to be stepping in or can I actually just enable people to run with this area? But for instance, on therapeutics, like they run and they update me and they come to me with the like really Meaningful, important decisions, but it's largely delegated. And part of the thoughts we have now of putting Paul, the CEO of lemonade now in charge of our consumer businesses, like to have somebody that I do trust that will be able to make decisions. It's hard. It's always hard. And it's one thing I always tell people, I was like, I don't have the luxury of quitting. Like you all have the luxury of quitting and doing something else, but like, I don't. So like, there's parts of the back of my mind is like, I want to make sure that I'm always there to chaperone and make sure the company is going in the right dire…

AI assessment note: “I try to separate it a bit into sort of the decisions that are reversible”

Q problem solving in that idea generation. I spoke to Patrick before the show and I asked what's Anne's weakness? And he said, well, her weakness is her strength, actually. It's the fact that she has so many ideas and so many of them are actually very good. My question on the back of that was, how do you think about applying focus in the wake of having so many ideas?

A Ooh, that's a great question. I totally recognize like my strength is also my weakness. I totally agree with that statement. Like I do have a lot of ideas. It's something can be super clear in my mind and even about how to execute with it, but I'm not necessarily as detail oriented as you need to be to really execute. So I have surrounded myself by people who are really good at process. And really good at thinking through execution. Like I genuinely like having the balance where I can come up with an idea and my team shoots it down. Like, I think that's a really good balance. And so like my, my head of research, like I come up to ideas with her all the time and she's very kind. She's never too harsh. And she'll like kind of entertain me for a while on and then be like, no, like, here's all the reasons why I could fail. And so then it's again, part of it for me, what I try to think I'm Like, I accept, like, I genuinely listen. I'm looking for that feedback, and sometimes I disagree, and sometimes I agree, but, like, oftentimes they do convince me why an idea is not necessarily ready for prime time, or the right time, or, you know, that we shouldn't execute it on them right now.

AI assessment note: “I have surrounded myself by people who are really good at process.”

Q Did you find it challenging to let go? I'm a bit of a control freak. I find it very challenging to delegate anything. How was that for you in terms of the letting go and determining what to delegate and what not to?

A Yeah. I like to think that I can delegate pretty well. I think there's a couple of things like decision-making process is always something that we're focused on in the company is how can you more and more empower people to make a decision? I try to separate it a bit into sort of the decisions that are reversible and the decisions that are not reversible. You know, like there's some decisions that have happened in the company where it was the wrong decision and it takes a year or years to clean up. And so I try to make sure that like, I'm consciously trying to think about like, do I need to be stepping in or can I actually just enable people to run with this area? But for instance, on therapeutics, like they run and they update me and they come to me with the like really Meaningful, important decisions, but it's largely delegated. And part of the thoughts we have now of putting Paul, the CEO of lemonade now in charge of our consumer businesses, like to have somebody that I do trust that will be able to make decisions. It's hard. It's always hard. And it's one thing I always tell people, I was like, I don't have the luxury of quitting. Like you all have the luxury of quitting and doing something else, but like, I don't. So like, there's parts of the back of my mind is like, I want to make sure that I'm always there to chaperone and make sure the company is going in the right dire…

AI assessment note: “I try to separate it a bit into sort of the decisions that are reversible”

Q That was going to be my question to you, which is like, you know, from sitting on alternative boards like Kazoo, which is amazing that you joined and super excited for that. Like, when you look at sitting on these alternative boards, how has sitting on those boards impacted how you think about your own style of board membership?

A I mean, like I said, I joined Kazoo because I'm just amazed at what he has built. Like, holy, like, I mean, it went from like zero to like amazing so fast. It's just a machine at executing, and so part of what I just love is like seeing how he executes. You know, like, he's very efficient. Like, I came away from his board meeting, and I, I went to my CFO, and I was like, we are going to change things up. Like, we can do this now in a couple hours. Like, we had probably a little bit too much of the dog and pony show, and probably not enough of, like, here's the three questions I want from you, and that's it. Let's just focus on those areas. And I think, you know, because it was amazing with efficiency.

AI assessment note: “I came away from his board meeting, and I went to my CFO”

Q Do we get up early in the morning? Do we gym? What does that look like?

A So, I mean, I used to have, like, a very regular routine. It's like, I would bike to work every day, and then I would work out at the gym there. During COVID, it's all become a little bit more up in the air. So I would say, like, I get the kids to school, and then I get into meetings, and I try to schedule an hour a day so I can work out. And I'm trying to schedule specific times so that, like, with my two-year-old, while she's still small and cute, that I can do things like take her to a park. Otherwise, I can never do anything like that. Then I work until five or six, and it's kind of, like, nonstop sets of meetings. I do have some in-person meetings, but, you know, I get the kids. So I'd say my life really revolves around kids, kids' activities, and work. I mean, it's, like, relatively, my teen, niece, and nephew probably think it's relatively boring because it's, like, Pretty consistent with, like, basketball games and Zoom meetings.

AI assessment note: “I get the kids to school, and then I get into meetings, and I try”

Q What type of question would that be? Just to help me understand.

A I mean, so for example, I mean, they were very helpful thinking through like the SPAC process, IPO versus a SPAC. Roloff can get very specific with us thinking about, for instance, our, what was it? The director's insurance. One of our insurance, which was like so expensive. He was really thoughtful and like super helpful. Like it's just like totally, I mean, again, he's an actuary by background. Like he loves this. Patrick is unbelievably helpful, like, when we're looking at acquisition opportunities or trying to get feedback on individuals or, like, ideas early stage, because he does so much early stage work. He's so helpful. Neil Mohan has been, I mean, especially right now, like, with Lemonade, because Neil Mohan is somebody who was acquired by Google, and then he was put in a position of power. He has real thoughts about how integrations should go. So I've kind of looked at all of my board members. People have to remember that, like, Your board is really busy, and they don't necessarily want a dog and pony show of, like, every single thing. Like, this is not, like, your kid's school report where, like, people are looking for, like, hey, here's all the great things that we did this quarter. Like, they want to use their time efficiently, and it's kind of like, what do you want? Like, what do you want? What do you need? What can we help you with? And that's where I said, like…

AI assessment note: “they were very helpful thinking through like the SPAC process, IPO versus a SPAC.”

Q You mentioned the leadership team there. Aaron Levy recently said about management become a team churn and how you need a new leadership team with every stage of the company. Do you agree with that? And what's been your experiences on up-leveling leadership teams with the stages of company growth?

A Look, I think actually, I clearly am running the company in such a way that I have people who've been with me for, you know, I joke K through 12. Like, so they've been with me for over 12 years, and they're still in leadership positions. I am a real believer that with the right environment, you can grow people. At the same time, fresh talent and, you know, fresh eyes, you know, it's always really helpful. Bringing in very senior people, depending on the type of role, it can be really hard culturally because like they come and they want to make a mark for themselves and they want to guide it in a slightly different way. And, and 23 weeks, it's complicated company. We have research, we have science, we have regulatory. So it's been hard, like in some ways, almost unlike Aaron there in that I'm a real believer, the more I can grow people within the better, you know, and every so often we get incredibly lucky, like Steve Shook, our CFO. Who really is a unicorn who came from the, like eToys world, the dot com world. Then he was at Amgen. He was also in film. Like you couldn't ask for somebody who had like a more perfect background for us. Plus he's like a wonderful person, like just nice. And I think that's like, it's actually one of the things that we also really solve for is finding culturally people who are really kind, like they can be aggressive and, you know, ambitious. But, l…

AI assessment note: “almost unlike Aaron there in that I'm a real believer, the more I can grow people within”

Q I do have to ask, you mentioned, you know, your children there. How did, it's such a wonderful life event. How did having children and becoming a mother change how you operate and how you think about how you operate on a daily basis?

A I mean, it really did change everything. Like, I think about that transition whenever someone's pregnant with their first child. Like, I think back on sort of like the pre and post- Like, I was a very different person before I had kids. Like, for me, the world was this amazing, like, world of opportunity. I love traveling. Like, I love doing, I didn't really think about risk and danger in the same way. Like, I remember reading one of the travel books that was, like, the 50 most dangerous places in the world you can go, and, like, how to manage being kidnapped. And, like, I just love the idea of, like, traveling. And then once I had a child, like, everything, like, I remember so clearly those first 24 hours where I suddenly was, like, oh my god, I just, like, ruined my life. Like in the best way possible, but the world is no longer this world full of opportunity. The world is full of danger and I must protect my child. And I remember very well, there was somebody named Yossi Vardy, who's a good friend who is actually the one who started AOL instant messaging. I remember him telling me this is before I had kids. He said, you really never know what it's like to worry until you have a child. And it's true. Like for the rest of your life, every single day, you are tied to this other person and you're only as happy as your most unhappy child. So it's a totally different world because…

AI assessment note: “it made me much more efficient because I had to be more efficient.”

Q You mentioned the leadership team there. Aaron Levy recently said about management become a team churn and how you need a new leadership team with every stage of the company. Do you agree with that? And what's been your experiences on up-leveling leadership teams with the stages of company growth?

A Look, I think actually, I clearly am running the company in such a way that I have people who've been with me for, you know, I joke K through 12. Like, so they've been with me for over 12 years, and they're still in leadership positions. I am a real believer that with the right environment, you can grow people. At the same time, fresh talent and, you know, fresh eyes, you know, it's always really helpful. Bringing in very senior people, depending on the type of role, it can be really hard culturally because like they come and they want to make a mark for themselves and they want to guide it in a slightly different way. And, and 23 weeks, it's complicated company. We have research, we have science, we have regulatory. So it's been hard, like in some ways, almost unlike Aaron there in that I'm a real believer, the more I can grow people within the better, you know, and every so often we get incredibly lucky, like Steve Shook, our CFO. Who really is a unicorn who came from the, like eToys world, the dot com world. Then he was at Amgen. He was also in film. Like you couldn't ask for somebody who had like a more perfect background for us. Plus he's like a wonderful person, like just nice. And I think that's like, it's actually one of the things that we also really solve for is finding culturally people who are really kind, like they can be aggressive and, you know, ambitious. But, l…

AI assessment note: “unlike Aaron there in that I'm a real believer, the more I can grow people within”

Q What type of question would that be? Just to help me understand.

A I mean, so for example, I mean, they were very helpful thinking through like the SPAC process, IPO versus a SPAC. Roloff can get very specific with us thinking about, for instance, our, what was it? The director's insurance. One of our insurance, which was like so expensive. He was really thoughtful and like super helpful. Like it's just like totally, I mean, again, he's an actuary by background. Like he loves this. Patrick is unbelievably helpful, like, when we're looking at acquisition opportunities or trying to get feedback on individuals or, like, ideas early stage, because he does so much early stage work. He's so helpful. Neil Mohan has been, I mean, especially right now, like, with Lemonade, because Neil Mohan is somebody who was acquired by Google, and then he was put in a position of power. He has real thoughts about how integrations should go. So I've kind of looked at all of my board members. People have to remember that, like, Your board is really busy, and they don't necessarily want a dog and pony show of, like, every single thing. Like, this is not, like, your kid's school report where, like, people are looking for, like, hey, here's all the great things that we did this quarter. Like, they want to use their time efficiently, and it's kind of like, what do you want? Like, what do you want? What do you need? What can we help you with? And that's where I said, like…

AI assessment note: “Roloff can get very specific with us thinking about, for instance, our, what was it? The director's insurance.”

Q problem solving in that idea generation. I spoke to Patrick before the show and I asked what's Anne's weakness? And he said, well, her weakness is her strength, actually. It's the fact that she has so many ideas and so many of them are actually very good. My question on the back of that was, how do you think about applying focus in the wake of having so many ideas?

A Ooh, that's a great question. I totally recognize like my strength is also my weakness. I totally agree with that statement. Like I do have a lot of ideas. It's something can be super clear in my mind and even about how to execute with it, but I'm not necessarily as detail oriented as you need to be to really execute. So I have surrounded myself by people who are really good at process. And really good at thinking through execution. Like I genuinely like having the balance where I can come up with an idea and my team shoots it down. Like, I think that's a really good balance. And so like my, my head of research, like I come up to ideas with her all the time and she's very kind. She's never too harsh. And she'll like kind of entertain me for a while on and then be like, no, like, here's all the reasons why I could fail. And so then it's again, part of it for me, what I try to think I'm Like, I accept, like, I genuinely listen. I'm looking for that feedback, and sometimes I disagree, and sometimes I agree, but, like, oftentimes they do convince me why an idea is not necessarily ready for prime time, or the right time, or, you know, that we shouldn't execute it on them right now.

AI assessment note: “I have surrounded myself by people who are really good at process.”

Q How do you think about breaking through? I always kind of think vulnerability breeds vulnerability. I always talk about eating disorders that I've had, MS that my mother has, and hope that it engenders the same, like, warmth and ability for someone else to open up. How do you find that you break through and see the real person?

A Yeah, I mean, I think that it's kind of what I just said about veneers. Like, I've always tried to be really real and honest. Like, I'm super honest about my kids and, like, when I was getting divorced and that that was hard. And I'm pretty transparent. With my life. And I think it's good because then in some ways people could be more surprised, but I tend to always err on the idea of like, you want to be real. The commonality of experience is overwhelming. So like the more you can have people just relate that these things are very normal. So I said, like we hire amazing people, but amazing people are not amazing every day. People have bouts of depression, have parents that are sick, you know, have bad relationships. Like it's just, You know, you try to be transparent and clear and recognizing that everyone has ups and downs and, and that's okay.

AI assessment note: “I've always tried to be really real and honest.”

Q How do you think about breaking through? I always kind of think vulnerability breeds vulnerability. I always talk about eating disorders that I've had, MS that my mother has, and hope that it engenders the same, like, warmth and ability for someone else to open up. How do you find that you break through and see the real person?

A Yeah, I mean, I think that it's kind of what I just said about veneers. Like, I've always tried to be really real and honest. Like, I'm super honest about my kids and, like, when I was getting divorced and that that was hard. And I'm pretty transparent. With my life. And I think it's good because then in some ways people could be more surprised, but I tend to always err on the idea of like, you want to be real. The commonality of experience is overwhelming. So like the more you can have people just relate that these things are very normal. So I said, like we hire amazing people, but amazing people are not amazing every day. People have bouts of depression, have parents that are sick, you know, have bad relationships. Like it's just, You know, you try to be transparent and clear and recognizing that everyone has ups and downs and, and that's okay.

AI assessment note: “I've always tried to be really real and honest. Like, I'm super honest”

Q Cass, when you have this delegated decision-making in particular, how do you create an environment where people feel they can take risk and be as ambitious as you'd like them to be, but also not make them fearful of the repercussions and, you know, fearful of losing their jobs if they get it wrong? How do you strike that balance?

A Yeah, I mean, I do think that for a really big initiative, I mean, it's like one of the rules I have, like I never like to be surprised, you know? So if there's a really big initiative that someone's taking on, it's not that it has to be consensus building, but you have to get feedback from everybody. So for instance, like I knew that I wanted to go and get into primary care. So it's important for me to go and get feedback from everyone on my team, but I don't necessarily have to always follow their feedback. So I do think like when somebody is making an important decision, And like, if they're truly empowered with it, it's important for them to get my feedback, to get everyone's feedback, and then have a conclusion that says like, this is the decision I'm making. I heard the feedback. This is why I'm listening to this feedback. And I'm not listening to these areas. And this is how I want, I propose that we're going forward. And so I find that the controversial decisions fail if people feel surprised and they don't feel like they were at least heard. So if that makes sense, like, and again, I come from a family where we fight nonstop, like in the best possible way, like we fight over like Everything. Like, what time is dinner? Everything. Like, but it's like a healthy debate. Like, we just love debating, and so I think it's, like, really important that people have to feel at le…

AI assessment note: “important for them to get my feedback, to get everyone's feedback, and then have a conclusion”

Q Is internal migration hard? Like, do you do, kind of, you know, monthly, where they can rotate around the company in different functions to find where they're best? How do you think about, kind of, successful internal migration in the way that, They find what they're truly graced at.

A Yeah. I mean, we don't have any kind of defined programs, but I think it says something about the company that you can criticize the company. Like we do have a lot of cross-functional teams. We try to have a single point of leadership to make decisions, but we have a lot of consensus. Like a lot of teams have to buy in for that reason. People know each other across teams. Like my poor customer care team, everyone picks off his team because he hires great people. They are really talented. They learn the product. They know the science. They're just super capable. And then people see like these people are capable in all kinds of different ways. And then people, everyone in the company always wants to poach. So we have more of an issue that there's like a lot of poaching that goes on. But I think by definition, the company, you know, like research team can't stay on its own. We do research, but it has to get into the product or it gets into therapeutic. So we have a lot of cross-functional collaboration.

AI assessment note: “we don't have any kind of defined programs”

Q recruitment business. By the sounds of it. I do want to ask, you know, we mentioned kind of big strategic decisions. Sometimes, you know, strategic decisions are made at the board, and you have this fascinating purview, because you obviously manage and run the board with 23 and me, but also sit on other boards. What does great board management mean and look like to you, having seen both sides?

A Look, I think it's kind of interesting, because people ask me, it's amazing how many small private companies ask me to join their board, and I was like, you don't want me on your board. Like, boards at that stage are not Useful and helpful. They get lots of advisors. Like it's not like people sometimes have this misperception of like how valuable a board can be and like how much influence they can have. And in my capacity, like the most valuable thing the board can do is really kind of help establish guardrails, be a thought partner when you tee it up for them to be that thought partner. I try to manage the board in a way like where we come to them with very specific types of questions. And we want them to help us solve a type of question.

AI assessment note: “most valuable thing the board can do is really kind of help establish guardrails”

Q you let projects run when things are not working? And you can say the same for And it's like, you know, I think the biggest mistake is often people know that a hire is bad, make a decision on it for too long. How do you think about when to stop a project or let go of someone when things aren't working out, which is a tough decision to make?

A When I think back on, if you have a position in, a person in a position of leadership, and you have it in the back of their mind, your mind, that like they're not the right person, and they're not going to fit, you usually don't end up moving them out fast enough. So it's hard to in some ways gain that confidence. It's like, it's hard. And I, again, when I think back on the controversial elements that we shut down, for instance, like, you know, we started building a lab twice and shut it down twice. You know, in both cases, we probably didn't do it soon enough or like the decision process. Both of them are great case studies and sort of like, what do we need to change within the company? So I think it's important for every company is going to make mistakes and they're going to have like big issues where they say like, wow, that was like a total disaster. The most important thing is to keep learning from it. So I can look back at those examples and say, like, okay, like, was there a single person in charge? And that's, like, usually one of the biggest reasons why something failed is, like, the person who was theoretically running it didn't necessarily feel totally empowered, and they didn't have, they didn't win over all the teams to be able to, like, really execute in the right way. That's usually good.

AI assessment note: “we started building a lab twice and shut it down twice. You know, in both cases, we probably didn't do it soon enough”

Q you let projects run when things are not working? And you can say the same for And it's like, you know, I think the biggest mistake is often people know that a hire is bad, make a decision on it for too long. How do you think about when to stop a project or let go of someone when things aren't working out, which is a tough decision to make?

A When I think back on, if you have a position in, a person in a position of leadership, and you have it in the back of their mind, your mind, that like they're not the right person, and they're not going to fit, you usually don't end up moving them out fast enough. So it's hard to in some ways gain that confidence. It's like, it's hard. And I, again, when I think back on the controversial elements that we shut down, for instance, like, you know, we started building a lab twice and shut it down twice. You know, in both cases, we probably didn't do it soon enough or like the decision process. Both of them are great case studies and sort of like, what do we need to change within the company? So I think it's important for every company is going to make mistakes and they're going to have like big issues where they say like, wow, that was like a total disaster. The most important thing is to keep learning from it. So I can look back at those examples and say, like, okay, like, was there a single person in charge? And that's, like, usually one of the biggest reasons why something failed is, like, the person who was theoretically running it didn't necessarily feel totally empowered, and they didn't have, they didn't win over all the teams to be able to, like, really execute in the right way. That's usually good.

AI assessment note: “we started building a lab twice and shut it down twice”

Q No, I totally get that. Is it tough bringing up kids in more fortunate circumstances? And, you know, you were brought up in maybe, and having them have the same rigor, love for compounding interest, buying ice skates, is it tough to instill that same financial discipline when it's not as needed?

A Definitely. I mean, look, my kids had things, like, I never even dreamed of. Like, my son has fancy shoes. Like, for me, I was, I was like, like, I still have the same shoes I had in high school. Like, I just, anyways, it's like, so, but he was really excited. He's like, I really want a pair of these Air Jordans. And I was like, it's like, like, kind of bewildering to me. I mean, again, I think it's It's about your leadership. Like everything stems from your own leadership. Like people are influenced based on how you carry yourself. So I have my areas where I can definitely be more egregious where I can spend, like for instance, like I want to build a new house and my kids are like outraged. They're like, that is so wasteful. We already have a house. It has four TVs. You do not need anything else. So I have lots of ways where I'm like super, super cheap. And then I have my other areas, but like I said, it's It stems from them having their own values, like being super mindful, like what does something cost? You know, but there's moments also where my, it's always a balance, but again, you have to lead. You have to lead by example.

AI assessment note: “Definitely. I mean, look, my kids had things, like, I never even dreamed of.”

Q Tell me, which leader do you most look up to and admire?

A You know, I tend to gravitate to people who are not polished, real, like great leaders who are very, I'm good friends with Mark Benioff. I really appreciate his leadership. And I also specifically appreciate his philanthropy and how he just gets things done. And he's a good person. You know, like I said, I always struggle with a lot of leadership that has too many veneers around it. It's hard for me to find people. I think who I look at and they say like, oh yes, they are very real. But anyways, there's a smatter, like everyone's great at something. So it's hard for me to ever say there's one person. I learned something from every single person, and there's always something to learn.

AI assessment note: “I'm good friends with Mark Benioff. I really appreciate his leadership.”

Q question before we move into a quick fire. It's, um, a little birdie told me that Punctuality and being on time is not a strong suit of yours. I totally understand that given the hectic schedule, but I was just intrigued. What does a day in the life of Anne look like, and how do you structure it? Is there any normal routines, habits? How do you think about that?

A Yeah, no, punctuality is not my strength, and it's probably always been that way, and it's gotten slightly worse. I mean, it's interesting, because for certain events, like I think for our SPAC roadshow, I think I was on time for everything, but in part it, it comes Because I just, I'm overscheduled. And it also goes back to one of your first questions. Like, I do find everything interesting. I'm just like, there's so many things that are interesting to me, and I get so much. The number of spam or, like, random requests that suddenly come in, like, I'm just, like, I find it interesting. I love talking to people. So I'm overscheduled, and then I have my family, I have the kids. I was the worst in the, when there was an office, and I'd walk up to the water cooler, and then I'd see someone, and I just, like, have to keep chatting with them. So there's like the downside, like I'm definitely tend to be late, but even like somebody just left the company and he put in his exit review, he was like, it was so nice because I used to see you at, at the coffee station and you used to talk to me all the time. And I'm like, well, I am late, but I at least get bonus points for, I just like, I love hearing from everybody. Like I genuinely love people. So a day in the life for me, I mean, like I said, there's like some of the things that are very much my normal. Like I, I have my kids like real…

AI assessment note: “I've had this smoothie for the last 25 years. I have the same thing”

Q I would love to start with a little bit on you and some context. You know, we see this incredible brand and company of 23 and me today, but what was the start and what was that aha founding moment for you?

A You know, I didn't, people sometimes ask like, oh, did you always want to be an entrepreneur? It was never about necessarily saying, oh, I want to be a specific entrepreneur. It was about, I always loved solving problems. I randomly got these jobs. I always loved healthcare, and I randomly got these, this job as an investor on Wall Street, and it was amazing. Like, I worked for, like, truly great people. I love being surrounded by, you know, the science, the health information, learning about all the areas, and I always thought, like, maybe I'd be a doctor. So it was kind of in that exploratory phase. Like, I do feel like, like, again, my parents always encouraged me to just always be curious. And so I was just like, I loved it. I used to tell my boss every day. I'm like, I would do this for free. This is amazing, which is never good when you're negotiating your bonus.

AI assessment note: “I randomly got these, this job as an investor on Wall Street”

Q No, I love it. Can I ask one, which is like, what board are you not on the board of that would be amazing to be on the board of? Like, I would love to be on the board of like, I don't know what it is, the people that make James Bond movies. How great would it be to like be in?

A I mean, look, it's not really a board, but I would love to be in government at some point because Because again, I think about from impact, like I think about, I live near Todd Park, who was the CTO for the U S you know, the influence that you can make is huge. So it's like, it's not a board. I'd never want like, it was like, I wouldn't want such a senior position, but I think that there's, you know, I think always think about opportunities. You can really drive change. I mean, the other board that I've always, I joke, I've always been fascinated with Walmart because they influence such a huge part of this country. So I think about impact, like what are the things that you can do that like really have Huge impact. The other area that I'm really passionate about is financial literacy, and again, that kind of goes with, you know, your venture background, like, and you realize, like, the importance of knowing how to manage your money, and it's amazing to me, like, when I was a child, my mom gave me a compound interest chart. I don't, like, when I was in fourth grade, I had pneumonia, and it was during the 1984 Olympics, and I had pneumonia. My mom gave me the S&P 500 book, all this information about compound interest, and I remember, like, being obsessed, like, All I have to do to be a millionaire is save a thousand dollars a year between now and the time I'm 21. And then I just l…

AI assessment note: “I've always been fascinated with Walmart because they influence such a huge part”

Q Is internal migration hard? Like, do you do, kind of, you know, monthly, where they can rotate around the company in different functions to find where they're best? How do you think about, kind of, successful internal migration in the way that, They find what they're truly graced at.

A Yeah. I mean, we don't have any kind of defined programs, but I think it says something about the company that you can criticize the company. Like we do have a lot of cross-functional teams. We try to have a single point of leadership to make decisions, but we have a lot of consensus. Like a lot of teams have to buy in for that reason. People know each other across teams. Like my poor customer care team, everyone picks off his team because he hires great people. They are really talented. They learn the product. They know the science. They're just super capable. And then people see like these people are capable in all kinds of different ways. And then people, everyone in the company always wants to poach. So we have more of an issue that there's like a lot of poaching that goes on. But I think by definition, the company, you know, like research team can't stay on its own. We do research, but it has to get into the product or it gets into therapeutic. So we have a lot of cross-functional collaboration.

AI assessment note: “we don't have any kind of defined programs”

Q Sacker on the show recently. He said the most important thing in a relationship is that you grow together. I always say the most important thing is two things, trust and laughter. When you think about relationships, it could be with teammates, it could be with whoever it is, friends, family, husband. What do you think is the core of the successful relationship, which is a tough one to ask?

A Yeah, I mean, look, I think there's something, too, that, like, I have, I think about, like, my best friend I met in kindergarten. Like, what I love about Her and what I love about my friends, like I have, I'm very close with my whole kindergarten class and it's unusual in that way. Like one of the things I love about that, everyone's really different in that appreciation that everyone's quite unique. And I think back on my college friends as well, like we're just all very, very different from each other, but there was such a fun appreciation for the uniqueness of each person. I do think that, you know, when you try to like change someone, I mean, the most detrimental aspect of a relationship is like trying to change someone. Like my philosophy in the company is always everyone's great at something. So you have to just figure out what it is. And oftentimes we find someone can be hired into a role and they're okay at that role, but they might be great at another area. And I love when people come in as like an entry level in one area, and then they're like taking over another. It makes me so happy to see people, like I said, joining on the customer care team or as an executive assistant. And then they like Move into another area, and they're, like, crushing it. Like I said, my mindset with people is always, again, everyone's amazing at something, and you focus on that, and you do…

AI assessment note: “my philosophy in the company is always everyone's great at something”

Q I would love to start with a little bit on you and some context. You know, we see this incredible brand and company of 23 and me today, but what was the start and what was that aha founding moment for you?

A You know, I didn't, people sometimes ask like, oh, did you always want to be an entrepreneur? It was never about necessarily saying, oh, I want to be a specific entrepreneur. It was about, I always loved solving problems. I randomly got these jobs. I always loved healthcare, and I randomly got these, this job as an investor on Wall Street, and it was amazing. Like, I worked for, like, truly great people. I love being surrounded by, you know, the science, the health information, learning about all the areas, and I always thought, like, maybe I'd be a doctor. So it was kind of in that exploratory phase. Like, I do feel like, like, again, my parents always encouraged me to just always be curious. And so I was just like, I loved it. I used to tell my boss every day. I'm like, I would do this for free. This is amazing, which is never good when you're negotiating your bonus.

AI assessment note: “It was never about necessarily saying, oh, I want to be a specific entrepreneur.”