Former Slack and Twitter executive Kris Cordle discusses executive decision-making practices used during her time at Slack.
Insight
Founders must beware investor candidate referrals who optimize for broader networks
“And there can be this danger though, and that you have this investor and you know that they're just interested in your success, right? That's Success for you, success for them. However, they also have this other network and this other group of people that they…”
Insight
Founders should not believe the fabricated origin stories their PR firms invent
“When you found a company, you hire a PR firm, they sit down with you and like, all right, like let's make an origin story. Where were you when you thought of this? Was there a napkin? Did you go to a garage? Whose garage was it? You know, and they weave this b…”
Insight
Hesitation to delegate primarily stems from a leader's anxiety over quality
“I think the real fear that a lot of us have that we don't want to admit is based in anxiety, and that's no one can do it as good as I can.”
Insight
Six months with the wrong hire sets a startup back two years
“Six months of the, of a person in the wrong position will set you back. Two years, because you're building these foundational blocks.”
Insight
Startups crossing major headcount thresholds must pause to digest new hires
“When you go from one stage to another, so let's say, you know, 50 to one 51 50 to 303 to five, we would refer to it as a snake eating a horse, I think, or a snake eating a goat, I believe, and you're taking this big thing on, and you just have to sit for a bit…”
Insight
Startups should recruit overqualified executives for their future stages of growth
“I think you should hire for where you want to be, you know, and all you need to do in that case is work on your narrative and on your story, and how do you convince that guy who's in some ways too big for this job to come work for you? You know, you convince t…”