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Costolo: Veterans understand team alignment better than 95% of Valley managers

Dick Costolo · a16z Podcast | Teams, Trust, and Object Lessons · Jan 2, 2019 · at 22:52

Dick Costolo, former Twitter CEO, compares management and communication effectiveness between military veterans and typical Silicon Valley tech executives.

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“If I had to summarize Ben's management course, it's make sure everybody understands what you understand, and people coming in from the military have that perspective much more deeply ingrained in them than 95% of people who are in management roles in Silicon Valley.”

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