Siemiatkowski was relieved when Klarna co-founder Niklas Adalberth left
Sebastian Siemiatkowski · 20VC: Klarna Founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski on Scaling Europe's Most Valuable Private Tech Company, How To Motivate and Challenge Your Team Most Effectively & The Biggest Lessons From Working with Mike Moritz · Mar 1, 2021 · at 15:55
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, co-founder and CEO of Klarna, discusses co-founder dynamics and transitioning to sole CEO after co-founder Niklas Adalberth departed.
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“With Niklas and me, it was slightly different because at the end, me and Niklas became a little bit like an old couple. An old couple to me is one where you kind of stop listening to each other, so you don't anymore actually hear what the other person is saying. You're making assumptions about what that person means, or you're even second guessing is, oh, now you're saying that because, and you're going to say this because, and you're going to do that. And so we weren't in a great place in our relationship. And the problem with that is that in an organization, if you have that situation, what ends up happening, it's not about whether I was right on a specific topic or he is totally irrelevant, actually. And many times, two ways of doing something are Can be as successful. Like, there are many paths to success, so it's not that. But the ambiguity it created within the organization, the lack of clarity, and the ability for people, unfortunately, because that's what happens to some degrees, that not everyone, but some people will see the division in the relationship and play that to their advantage, people within the organization, to avoid accountability or to get something that they wanted or, you know, whatever, and they will play that against each other. So that was just not a great Place that we were in, and at the end, when Niklas decided to leave, I think it was good, just because we just couldn't get across that part of our relationship at that point in time, and so it was a good thing, so I think I was fairly relieved when he told me that he was going to leave, and for the organization also, it created more clarity. Ok, now it's Sebastian, and in the end, it's his decision, and he's the CEO, and that's it, so it made it better.”
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