Gendelin: Micromanaging smart hires is the worst mistake a founder can make
Vladimir Gendelman · He Lost 76% of His Traffic and Refused to Let a Single Person Go · May 28, 2024 · at 21:17
Vladimir Gendelin, founder of Company Folders, discusses his leadership philosophy regarding autonomous delegation with Sean Weisbrot.
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“I believe that you hire people because you believe that they're smart. Based on, you know, what you see and you believe they can make a difference in your company. And the worst thing you can do is hire those people and not let them make decisions and tell them what to do.”
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Gendelin argues companies should never lay off staff merely to save money
“Letting people go is just really one thing I don't like to do. I cannot do right. Unless it's unmerit of poor performance. I just don't think it's right to let the people go just because you don't have the money.”
Gendelin: Well-defined brand and values prevent drastic strategy pivots
“Because our brand is very well defined. Our values are very well defined. What we're doing is very well defined. So you don't have your strategy cannot change like drastically. Right? So it's a constant ongoing of improvements.”
Gendelin paused hiring to intentionally avoid potential layoffs during an economic downturn
“So we are actually very understaffed right now. And we do need to fill a lot of positions and I am specifically not doing that because the last thing I want to do is hire someone who I would have to let go just because the economy downturn.”
Gendelin advises testing initiatives halfway before heavily investing in them
“My belief in the beginning is do something halfway and run with it. And you'll quickly learn whether it works or not. And if it works, then you can improve and make it amazing. If it doesn't work, there is no reason to spend that much time into it.”
Gendelman: Hair loss from chemotherapy psychologically amplifies feeling sick
“If I lose my hair, I'm going to look sick. If I look sick, I'm going to feel sick. Plus you lose your privacy of people constantly looking at you like, oh, do you have cancer?”
Gendelman: Sharing experiences instead of giving advice creates psychological safety
“To communicate during forum where everything comes from the experience share as opposed to advice. This creates incredibly safe environment to share what's bothering you and most importantly, get to the bottom of the core issue, right?”