Insight certainty 3/5 debate potential 2/5

Tristan Handy: Luck gets you in the game, but skill drives success

Tristan Handy · Tristan Handy: Why The CEO Should Make As Few Decisions As Possible | 20VC #937 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Oct 14, 2022 · at 2:37

Tristan Handy is the founder and CEO of dbt Labs. On 20VC with Harry Stebbings, he shares his perspective on the interplay between luck and personal capability in professional achievement.

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“I think that you need some amount of luck to kind of be in the game. Whatever it is, like, You need some like minimum bar of luck. And then above that, it's probably skill.”

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More from Tristan Handy

Opinion
Tristan Handy: Most startup and executive roles, including CEO, are not hard
“Honestly, I don't think that a lot of our jobs, including my job are like that hard.”
Tristan Handy Oct 14, 2022 ▶ 6:04 Tristan Handy: Why The CEO Should Make As Few Decisions As Possible | 20VC #937 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Tristan Handy: Hitting $1M ARR puts startups on an inescapable growth clock
“The minute that you have a million dollars in software ARR, you're on a clock. Like that people can take kind of infinitely long to get to a million dollars. It doesn't really matter. That's, Perceived to be like wandering around in the wilderness and that's f…”
Tristan Handy Oct 14, 2022 ▶ 12:40 Tristan Handy: Why The CEO Should Make As Few Decisions As Possible | 20VC #937 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Tristan Handy: dbt Labs has lost only around a dozen employees total
“We have an unbelievably high retention rate. Both voluntary and involuntary. So, so we, there really just aren't that many people who we've hired over the years that are no longer with the company. I mean, it's like maybe a dozen, maybe some, somewhere around …”
Tristan Handy Oct 14, 2022 ▶ 19:50 Tristan Handy: Why The CEO Should Make As Few Decisions As Possible | 20VC #937 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Tristan Handy: Remote work from home is lonely and dehumanizing
“Like just because it's lonely and dehumanizing and because we're built to interact with other Humans. And for many of us, especially for you know, early career folks who are, you know, I mean, I lived in an apartment with four roommates right out of college. L…”
Tristan Handy Oct 14, 2022 ▶ 27:55 Tristan Handy: Why The CEO Should Make As Few Decisions As Possible | 20VC #937 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Prediction Not publicly verifiable
dbt Labs to revoke $250 stipend for staff near satellite offices
“And then step two is in places where we have high concentration of employees. Open up satellites, satellite offices. We're calling this our many satellites strategy. And then the people who live in, I, we haven't finalized the like driving distance or anything…”
Tristan Handy Oct 14, 2022 ▶ 29:34 Tristan Handy: Why The CEO Should Make As Few Decisions As Possible | 20VC #937 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Tristan Handy: CEOs should aim to make as few decisions as possible
“I explicitly, I have a doc that says, like, working with me, and what, how do I see my job? And in it says, I try to make as few decisions as possible.”
Tristan Handy Oct 14, 2022 ▶ 58:55 Tristan Handy: Why The CEO Should Make As Few Decisions As Possible | 20VC #937 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
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