Startup executives are completely exposed with nowhere to hide
Jeff Stump · a16z Podcast | Finding and Hiring for (Expectations) Fit on Both Sides · Jan 2, 2019 · at 21:49
Jeff Stump, head of Executive Talent at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), explains the intense personal accountability and visibility that executive hires experience at early-stage companies.
0:00 / 0:13exact quote · 13.0s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“The unique thing about a startup, there is nowhere to hide, right? I mean, there's nowhere to hide. You know, you can't crawl under a desk, like, you're completely exposed as an executive in a young company, because everything's your fault.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Jeff Stump
An executive left a $6M-$7M compensation package for an a16z startup
“We have an executive joining one of our companies, and she's leaving a six to seven million dollar annual package on the table to go do this thing, and, like, what better example do you need, like, and it wasn't a difficult decision for her, like, she just bel…”
Executive hire performance typically becomes clear in months three and four
“There's a honeymoon period, as we call it, and then, you know, the rubber, rubber usually meets the road, I would say, in month three, month four where, like, is, is this person usually, and usually, are they doing a good job?”
Company traditions reveal true culture better than stated values
“I think traditions of companies are kind of more demonstrate what the company's about than what they perceive their cultural values to be.”
Brian Chesky prioritizes candidates' belief in Airbnb's mission during hiring
“There's definitely companies in our portfolio like Brian Chesky at Airbnb that that care deeply about the interest of people that are joining Airbnb. Do they believe in the movement? Do they believe in the cause?”
100-day plan presentations consistently break ties between executive candidates
“Very rarely do we have our portfolios company CEOs come out of that and saying, this is still a close race.”
Lyft founders praised Brian Roberts as transformational within weeks of hiring
“One of the amazing examples was really at Lyft with the hire of Brian Roberts and had an immediate impact with Logan and John early on, like within weeks, they called up and said, this guy has been transformational to our business.”