Emilie Choi, President & COO of Coinbase, describes her decision-making process when interviewing to join Coinbase as Head of Corporate Development.
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“I pressure tested this with Brian. Cause I really wanted to make sure if I was going to come over to head up corp dev at Coinbase that Brian genuinely wanted to do M&A.”
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More from Emilie Choi
Insight
Choi: Tech giants copy startup features to avoid acquisition hassles and regulation
“One is that the tech giants have in many cases gotten really good at copying emerging startup products, so they don't need to deal with the hassle of acquiring, not to mention the hassle of potential regulatory scrutiny for M&A.”
Emilie ChoiJan 15, 2018▶ 5:2820VC: LinkedIn's Head of Corp Dev on Why and When Startups Should Start Relationship Building With Corp Dev, What The Structure of M&A Traditionally Looks Like & How To Mitigate The Biggest Risk of M&A, Integration Risk
Insight
Choi: Startups should build ongoing corp dev relationships, not transactional contacts
“I'm a big fan of Mark Souster's line about, it's about lines, not dots. In other words, it's about long-term relationship and a series of dots, not just one transactional conversation. So don't just come to us when there's a transaction going on. Knowing the c…”
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Insight
Choi: In Tech M&A, Acquiring the Right Company Matters More Than Price
“I truly believe that the most important thing is buying the right company and not getting the right deal, and I think that there's a lot of different examples of companies that have said that they're going to go after the potentially weaker asset for a lower p…”
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Insight
Choi: Acquirers Should Focus on Target Quality Over Deal Price
“Mike Volpe, who was famously that head of Corp Dev at Cisco during the heyday of Cisco M&A, he once said something to me, which I never forget. He said, never get the right deal, get the right company. And I think that that really holds true today.”
Emilie ChoiAug 23, 2021▶ 17:5620VC: Coinbase President & COO Emilie Choi on Building Coinbase Ventures into One of the Best Performing Funds with 0 Employees, How Coinbase Thinks Through Internal Resource Allocation and Prioritisation & Why, When and How To Hire Your COO and Head of C
AssertionNot checkable as stated
Coinbase Expects New Hires to Deliver Within 30 Days or Leave
“We're going to want to see real action, and that means that if you really don't do something amazing in the first 30 days, you're probably not going to be a fit here, and it's actually the most compassionate thing to say, you know what? Bad on us, because we p…”
Emilie ChoiAug 23, 2021▶ 38:3520VC: Coinbase President & COO Emilie Choi on Building Coinbase Ventures into One of the Best Performing Funds with 0 Employees, How Coinbase Thinks Through Internal Resource Allocation and Prioritisation & Why, When and How To Hire Your COO and Head of C
Insight
Choi: PE cost-cutting in tech buyouts degrades R&D and product quality
“My concern is that the focus on cost cutting can eat into R&D investment, which can translate into subpar products over time.”
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