Lerner: Growth leaders must vet founding team mindset before joining
Ely Lerner · Ely Lerner: Should Startups Hire Advisors & How much should they be paid? | E1075 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Oct 25, 2023 · at 58:25
Ely Lerner, EIR at Reforge and former product leader at Chime and Yelp, advises growth executives on evaluating prospective startup roles.
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“I'd say the most important things are understand that business. Like, is there opportunity Is there leverage to be had in the business? I think this is something like they're hiring you because they need to help to grow, but you want to figure out if they're actually, if you're actually going to be able to be successful there. And two, does the founding team understand the growth mindset, right? This is a point about is, can we instill growth in everything we're doing? They may not have that yet if they're hiring you, but do they get it at the top level where they're going to be able to make that shift? Because if they're not going to be able to make that shift, you're going to be running uphill the whole time you're there.”
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