Laura Jones

What 3 books/resources does every hyper-scale CEO need? I'll go first 👇 🔹 Andy Grove's "High Output Management" for running 1-1's and team meetings 🔹 Emilie Choi's video on RAPIDs for team decision-making 🔹 Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi's podcast on Executive Hiring and Firing I am compiling the best books and resources that offer frameworks and in-depth tactics on org design, meeting structure, and leading at scale. I am thinking about it through the lens of hyper-scale CEOs going through growing pains. Let me know what I need to put on the list.

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A stroll through San Diego led me to Geppetto's, where a life-sized puppet and friendly staff turned me into an unexpected customer. 🌟This IS the magic of independent retail. 🌟 With consumer spending down, small businesses need innovative strategies beyond discounting to thrive without sacrificing profitability. Curious about how #indieretailers are navigating these challenges? Check out my latest article in Total Retail. #Retail #SmallBusiness #CustomerExperience #Innovation #IndependentRetail #SMB #boutiqueowner #retailer #fashion

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Over 20 years ago, a Silicon Valley guru advised me to avoid business books (‘a sugar rush without real nutrition’) and stick to history and science. And I’ve done that. But there are exceptions! My colleagues Martin Gonzalez and Joshua Yellin just authored this brilliant guide for startup companies on how to handle the No. 1 thing that destroys them - people dynamics. As a workshop facilitator, mentor and coach, I’ve spent time with hundreds of startups around the world over the past decade, and I know first-hand that these tools work. If you are a founder, or work at a startup (or plan to do either) do check it out.

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Being a founder means being 100% in it, all the time, especially through the lows. It was fun to run down memory lane with Sequoia and discuss how DoorDash navigated moments of uncertainty to empower local commerce on a global scale. Check out the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/gxmx2nhy

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Consider that Starbucks is a market leader in consumer technology and loyalty and is armed with data and insights to make strategic decisions that can mitigate the macro-economic impacts driving customer frequency down and they still can't hold the line. Restaurants that don't have those resources are absolutely suffering far worse, unable to understand why, and making guesses about what they can do to turn it around. Restaurant loyalty and top-notch apps in 2024 are a must-have to navigate such treacherous waters.

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We recently kicked off a search for a Program Director to join our Founder Success Team First Round Capital. Given I assume the right person for this role will already be in the startup ecosystem, I'd really love help getting the word out. Here is a bit of context: At First Round, we aspire to invest in founders who possess not just strengths, but areas of true genius, whether it’s technical skill, product intuition and/or domain expertise. But on the other side of every spike in talent are a few areas that are still underdeveloped, parts of the business where a founder doesn't have the skills and expertise — yet. The role of the Program Director on the Founder Success team is leading the ideation, curation, planning and execution of programs and events that fill in those gaps and help founders develop new, crucial competencies. More on the role and where to apply can be found here: https://lnkd.in/gPhhJD4U

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Sharing some insights/trends we are seeing in the first half of 2024: - The majority of startups HQ’d in NYC & SF founded in the last two years are hiring most if not all of their employees in the office (at least 3 days a week) - Less than 5% of those are mandating 5 days a week in office. - Most top candidates are optimizing for hybrid with remote up to 3 days a week - Compensation across the board for early-stage startups has remained relatively flat since 2023 - For startups located outside of core major tech hubs, there is more openness and even preference for remote to tap into broader markets and compete for top talent The overview is that local talent and teams are making a comeback and salaries are not rising as drastically as they have in the past 5 years. Make sure to choose your next move based on fit, impact, passion, upside, growth, and not purely on comp. #startups #venture #VC #seed #Engineering #Hiring

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Awesome to get some of the Thanx team together IRL. How we made this in-person "offsite" more than just a fun boondoggle (and still had tons of fun): • We aligned our 48 hours around our 12-month strategic plan — teams were tasked with brainstorming and implementing the highest-value initiatives that could move the needle before we left Seattle. • This hackathon-like approach allowed focus (ignore distractions) but the goal was not actually the work output of just two days. The goal was to reset our own bar for what could be accomplished as a team when we row in the same direction — a measure we can hold ourselves accountable to even when everyone is back at their home office. • Some of the biggest insights: 1) we can do more to minimize our "critical" distractions, 2) Slack is an asset but real-time virtual comms are often part of the problem so... 3) writing down our goals and how we will measure success is a powerful way to stay aligned without talking in real-time (go slow to go fast). • What gets measured gets managed. Every team should know how their work would quantifiably change a core business outcome... for Thanx and/or for customers. • Clearly it wasn't all work — seen here at Flatstick Pub — but the drinking and games were secondary to the business goals.

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🌏 📊 Erica Kangas is an engineering leader, voracious learner, and feminist builder who seeks out the biggest levers to move the world. 📊🌏 It's W6 / Q2 / 2024 and this week in our MGMT Boston up & coming operator series we’ve got Annie Erica, part of a small but mighty team as the Head of Engineering at hyper curated investment connection & fundraising guidance platform Scroobious. Erica joined Scroobious as their Head of Engineering to help lead the technical efforts of this very early stage team shaping up capital markets culture for underrepresented founders. Erica is responsible for the entirety of their technical infrastructure. She is working every day to build out their marketplace product, making sure Scroobious Founders are having a smooth experience so they can effectively onboard their pitches onto the marketplace and connect with investors. Erica continues to spend time answering tough questions about the business and communicating effectively to equip founders with the resources they need to be successful. Scroobious’ founder community grew 75% in 2023 and is made up of 63% female founders. ✍ Cataloging Skills & Connecting the Dots 🔄 From nonprofits to startups, Erica has always cataloged her experiences. She keeps references & resources on hand from prior experiences to keep memorable frameworks from the earliest days of her career. Every time she embarks on a meaty project, the first question she asks is “what are our goals”? Then, what are we looking to accomplish? By having something to ground herself in, she can begin to move forward. That work has paid off in building a portfolio of experiences and an archive of resources. At Scroobious, she wants to understand the different attributes of founders and successful pitches to effectively connect founders with angels. For example, investors look for coachability as an attribute & trait, so she has thought back to her nonprofit days when they measured grit and growth in students and volunteers. It’s obviously a bit different but there are always overlapping threads to pull on. Problems Not Yet Solved Erica offered up three unsolved problems that drive her work as an invitation to think about and join in tackling these issues. Because learning never ends and we have a lot more to do in these areas! 🤖 How do we build AI that won’t just repeat the mistakes and mirror the worst facets of our past? 🤝 How do we continue to develop the field of software engineering such that it is sustainable, equitable, and accessible? 🤲 How do we effectively combat exclusionary systems when many of our institutions no longer have the appetite or have their hands tied from doing so? If you’d like to learn more about Erica’s career, the full post is linked in the comments. Go ahead and sign up for the newsletter to see the operator learnings we bring you in the weeks ahead too, will ya? #bostontech #operators #engineering

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🚀 As one of Kajabi's Founders, I’m proud to have been part of this incredible journey since day one. Today, Kajabi is doubling down on its commitment to creators, unveiling a bold redesign that puts *creators first* more than ever before. 🙌 Kajabi isn’t just a platform—it’s a mission. A mission to power a creator economy where *YOU* own your audience, business, content, and revenue. No more relying on social media platforms to control your future. Kajabi gives writers, coaches, speakers, and teachers the tools to build and run their entire business in one place. I’ve seen how Kajabi empowers ambitious creators to become successful entrepreneurs, and I can honestly say that *this* is the platform for creators who want to build something sustainable and scalable on their own terms. 💼✨ The best part? Kajabi’s recent redesign makes that process even smoother, providing everything you need to turn your ideas into impact and income. If you're a creator ready to own your future, Kajabi is where it happens. 💡 Here’s to creating, owning, and thriving! 👏 #KajabiFounder #CreatorsFirst #Entrepreneurship

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If you are a CPG founder interested in learning more about community rounds, this is a good 101 overview. Thanks to Daniel Scharff and the team at Startup CPG for hosting, and James Reina for sharing his personal experience of running a Wefunder community round for Jibby Coffee. Without question, the best slide of the deck screenshotted below. https://lnkd.in/gHyxFuDa

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💡 What’s the best tech stack for my consumer brand? I get this question a lot, especially as we head into BFCM prep and code freezes. 📅 Whether you’re getting organized or just curious about the tech behind your favorite DTC brands, we’ve got you covered. At HSR, we’ve done the heavy lifting and identified the must-have components for an early-stage tech stack that every founder should know before the most critical quarter of the year. 📈 Ready to power up your business for Q4 and unlock the secret tools? 🚀 👇 Dive in here: https://lnkd.in/ga6BQQXS #DTC #TechStack #BFCM #BusinessGrowth #Scalability #Entrepreneurship #ConsumerBrand

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It’s no surprise to see leading VC firms investing in AI and parenting. As a parent of a 3- and 4-year-old, having tools that support our family’s needs is critical. Leveraging LLMs to reduce the time spent on tasks that might otherwise consume hours—like sorting through social media for advice—has been a game changer. On average, families have two kids that are close in age and are also often balancing caregiving responsibilities for other family members. It’s a lot to manage, especially for parents of teens and within the healthcare landscape.

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Do you know any companies that are stuck or going through a rough time? At Palm Venture Studios, we believe some companies close that don't deserve to. Our mission is to identify these hidden gems and provide the support they need to thrive. We specialize in investing in and scaling companies, leveraging our expertise to turn challenges into opportunities. If you know a company in need of a lifeline or a fresh new chapter, let's connect and explore how we can help. #BusinessGrowth #Investing #CompanyTurnaround #Founders

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🎨 📺 Sharon Roth is a Product & Design leader who’s built her career in the lab, across different modalities, to bring more creative product experiences to life 📺 🎨 It's W3 / Q3 / 2024 and this week in our MGMT Boston up & coming operator series we’ve got Sharon who serves as the Senior Director of Product Management at Quantified.ai, the AI-driven flight simulator for sellers. The app feels as real as your next video call, scales across teams, programs, and companies, and ramps reps 42% faster. Sharon is leading Quantified AI’s Product & Design team after previous roles in Product leadership at Tamr & Honor Education. She’s excited to be back working in an Enterprise focused company, leading Design alongside Product, focused on strategic & execution based discipline. ❓Questions Are Your Roadmap ❓ It’s popular to encourage new hires to ask a lot of questions. But it’s always a good time to ask questions! When a member of your team comes to you and says “we really need to build X feature”, they’re coming to you for good reason. Dig into the why to understand how often the issue comes up, when it happens in a customer conversation, and why they’re asking for it in the first place. Is there an even better way to build a solution? Also, people are always excited about getting to a solution. By delaying the solution discussion to first get everyone to agree on the problem, you can coordinate a better response. Sharon has been in rooms where stakeholders can’t agree on the problem they’re trying to solve, which can sometimes be even more painful! By asking better questions and articulating the underlying issues thoroughly, they can work together as an organization to chart a better path forward. 3 Career Insights / Learnings 🙋‍♀️ Seek New Challenges - “Trying new things is how you learn and grow. At a startup, there are so many opportunities to try new things. As startups evolve, you need to embrace all that’s going to happen and make it a positive thing. Otherwise don’t go to a startup!” 🤝 Act with Integrity - “Do your best, show your work. But also treat others with respect and kindness while doing it. How you treat people and how you show up every day will impact your work environment. You’re responsible for the energy you bring to the room, so be authentic and try to inject some positivity. It will help you build the type of network you want to have too” 🗣 Invest in Communication Skills - “It helps you ask questions well, advocate for yourself, have your ideas be heard. It also helps others understand your impact. It takes continuous practice to do well.” If you’d like to learn more about Sharon’s career, the full post is linked in the comments. Go ahead and sign up for the newsletter to see the operator learnings we bring you in the weeks ahead too, will ya? #bostontech #operators

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Annual Planning Sucks as Jiaona Zhang (JZ) and squad of CXOs captured in the article from First Round Capital. That's why CandorIQ to help make it suck less: 🙏 Drive collab between #CHRO #COO #CFOs 🔠 Bake in your company strategy & pay philosophies 📊 See operational, financial & people metrics in one place

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The countdown to Cyber Monday is on! ⏳ As retailers brace for the Cyber 5 shopping spree, we’re spotlighting Scott Silverman, my CommerceNext Co-Founder and the co-inventor of this iconic shopping day. Scott’s expertise is rooted in decades of retail innovation, and his tip is perfect for helping your brand stand out this season. 📢 Pro Tip from Scott: "Stay determinedly open minded. If you tried a marketing tactic a year ago that you were optimistic about and it didn't work, maybe the execution was wrong and it's worth trying again. If you 'heard' that something doesn't work, but you think it's an interesting idea, find out for yourself and let your own data judge if it works or not." — Scott Silverman, Co-Founder, CommerceNext Success during Cyber Monday doesn’t come from playing it safe. Let your data be your guide and dare to revisit ideas with fresh execution. 💡📊 🌟 Looking for more inspiration? Join us at the 2025 CommerceNext Growth Show and tap into the collective brilliance of 2700+ retail leaders. Register today: https://lnkd.in/epfbMj_d #CN2025 #Cyber5 #MarketingTipMonday

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MCKINSEY’S FINEST WORK YET: A $4M STUDY TO DETERMINE IF TRASH BINS ARE BETTER THAN LEAVING GARBAGE ON NYC STREETS (SPOILER ALERT: YES) To be fair, the deck is actually interesting (link in first comment) but the thought of freshly minted grads getting billed at obscene hourly rates to tell the city of New York that “put garbage in bins so that rats don’t congregate around it and people can walk” is another example that McKinsey & Company’s real asset is its brand. You hire McKinsey for them to say what you want them to say, and you give them money to have a fancy study with the McKinsey logo on it. #nyc #consulting #mckinsey #government #presentation #casestudy

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Haul: is the new and nice Temu from our famous Amazon, shared by Tech Crunch. This means Temu has a noticeable impact. This also means there was a market segment right there at the heart of Amazon's customer base. We may have all the data in the world, and all the analytics in the world and yet you may still get some super cool surprises. Looking forward to "haul". https://lnkd.in/djCiqQVZ #marketfit #haul #temu

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