Sean Brown

While moving up the ladder from individual contributor to CEO I learned a lot about how the leadership role has to evolve. My latest blog examines this. Please subscribe or, better yet, sign up for a piad subscription. #Leadership #Management #Vistage

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🚀 Exciting update from my recent sessions on Intro: I've had the privilege of mentoring some incredible minds, including a diverse group of founders and executives in the intersection of tech and talent-led brands. From fine-tuning fundraising approaches to navigating industry nuances, our conversations have been nothing short of inspiring. Here are my key takeaways from these enriching sessions: 1. Visionary Leadership: The clarity and vision showcased by these leaders have been truly impressive, setting a high bar for industry innovation. 2. Authentic Dialogue: What sets these sessions apart is the transparent and authentic conversations we've had. I believe in sharing hard truths and industry nuances, and it's heartening to see that resonate with those I mentor. 3. Value-Driven Collaboration: Every interaction has been a two-way street of learning and growth. I've been able to offer tailored strategies and insights, and the feedback has been immensely positive. Looking ahead, I've opened up my schedule for next week. Let's connect and explore how I can support your journey: intro.co/baminuzzi Drop a comment below with "interested," and I'll pick one person for a complimentary 15-minute call. Let's unlock new possibilities together! 💡

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Fast Company's 10th annual Innovation Festival has flown by! I especially enjoyed talking on Wednesday morning with Carrot Fertility cofounder Asima Ahmad, MD, MPH, FACOG, BCG economist Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak, and Blue Haven Initiative investor Ian Simmons. We stepped back from the frenzied news cycle and discussed what's really at stake this election year. 🤰 Maternal mortality rates: Asima reminded us that, even before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the U.S. had one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world. Now, the crisis is even more dire. "A lot of [doctors] feel that they're in a situation where they can't do best by their patients," she said. As a result, they're leaving abortion-restricted states or leaving medicine entirely, with profound implications for maternal care. 📈 📉 Consumer sentiment: Philipp noted that inflation continues to shape consumer sentiment. "Price affordability isn't seen as strong," he said, despite the fact that "the economy as a whole is strong, consumption is still strong." For example, we hear a lot about prices being up 20-21% since 2019, but wages are up 25% over that same period. An incoming president will have to navigate consumers' negative perceptions. 🗳 Political stability: Ian highlighted the role of political stability. "The more we lean into actually practicing democracy, the better the economy is for the long-term," he said. He also warned against sitting on the sidelines. "Business leaders should not shy away from getting engaged and advocating what's going to be good for the economy," like fair and competitive markets.

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We’ve come to the end of our Fall 2024 CHRO Xcelerator Fellowship Leadership Retreat. Of course, this is just the beginning of a 12-month long journey of discovery, learning and sharing for our CHRO fellows. It’s been an exciting and active couple of days in Aspen, Colorado, and we’re so thankful to our partner, Aspen Institute Executive Leadership Seminars, who helped bring it all together and reflect on our purpose, values and individual leadership. Thank you to everyone who helped make this week possible. Here are some insights from this week: • It’s often more important to have great questions than great judgment. • Great HR teams know how to articulate and show their value to the business. • Driving and carrying corporate culture is an exercise in engaging hearts, minds and hands. • Squint to see better in the darkness; you may find the answers in the darker corners. • As a CHRO, you often need to jump into urgent situations; but “sometimes you just need to let them decant.” Learn more about our CHRO Xcelerator: https://lnkd.in/eQMy4Etd

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Have a story to tell... Use Narratize AI Co-Authoring platform to tell your stories in an impactful manner. Katie Trauth Taylor, PhD and the entire team is committed to helping you in becoming amazing storytellers. Check out their impressive work at https://lnkd.in/gnNYHSSX Start telling your stories with Narratize AI as your co-author. #generativeai #storytelling #innovation #aicoauthoring #innovators #researchers #impactstories #startups #problemsolvers #AI #AIStartup

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Grit Ventures is pleased to announce that Honda Innovations has joined the Grit Labs Industry Membership Program. Through the program, Grit Ventures provides technology insights and curated access to a broad network of Deep Tech relationships including early-stage founders emerging from the nation’s top labs. We are excited to partner with Honda Innovations Silicon Valley on developing opportunities in potential investments and partnerships in mobility, robotics, manufacturing, and carbon neutrality. “We are thrilled to collaborate with the dynamic and energetic team at Grit Ventures to pursue strategic opportunities that align with Honda’s 2050 vision: Zero Traffic Collision Fatalities and Net Zero CO2 Emissions. We understand that the challenges are numerous, which is why we are eager to engage with innovative founders and startups from national labs and universities, leveraging their unique technologies and talent to overcome these obstacles,” said Raymond Zheng, Senior Managing Director at Honda Innovations Silicon Valley. About Grit Labs Industry Membership Program Grit Ventures is investing at the root of innovation bringing game changing technology out of the labs at schools like Stanford, University of Texas at Austin, Carnegie Mellon University, MIT and other schools. Grit Ventures built Grit Labs to bring innovators in the university and government labs together with industry partners, entrepreneurial talent and investors to build impactful solutions to the world’s biggest challenges and to explore market opportunities and commercialization. We connect early-stage technologists and startups to these important strategic partners through Grit Labs strategic initiatives. About Honda Innovations Located in Japan, Silicon Valley and operating globally, Honda Innovations drives corporate transformation within all areas of Honda. Its strategic investment and open innovation program, Honda Xcelerator Ventures, is a catalyst to accelerate new businesses by backing innovative startups. From direct investments and co-development to strategic partnerships, Honda Innovations is focused on building a better world by supporting the Honda goal to realize carbon neutrality and zero fatalities involving Honda vehicles by 2050.

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Some midweek wisdom from Y Combinator founder, Paul Graham, on why startups shouldn't stress over competitors. According to Graham, based on Y Combinator's extensive data set, few of their startups are actually killed by competitors. He compares the protection a startup has against competitors to the vastness of space, emphasising that the market is large enough for multiple players to thrive. Graham's analogy likens encountering a competitor to suddenly finding another runner in your race lane - the best course of action? “It’s sort of like if you’re running the hundred meters and suddenly a lane appears with another runner in it. What should you do? Run as fast as you can, just like you presumably were.” #Startups #Competition #Entrepreneurship #wearehiring

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An interview process, by definition, can only cover so much content in a given time period. But decision-making is a topic that, when prioritized, can increase executive job satisfaction down the line. When we compare survey respondents who did have an interview conversation about decision making versus those who did not, we find that those who did are 1.4x more satisfied with their jobs overall. Kingsley Gate sheds light on this often-overlooked skill for HBR.

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Excellent work. Excellent insight.

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I just wrapped up a panel with the Marketing Leadership affinity group within the How Women Invest community with my hero Auntie Nancy Hayes, aka the Yoda of board membership, angel investing, and general badassery. We talked about different ways to serve on boards, a role in which experienced Marketers seem to be often underrepresented. Why? If I had to guess, I'd say: 1 - Most heads of marketing are women 2 - marketing is undervalued, especially under sales/revenue experience 3—Compound the first two with the messages you tell yourself about your own worthiness, and suddenly, you're a great marketer for everyone else but yourself. ___________ For those who are interested in getting closer or into the board room, there are so many ways to start/get experience: 1—Board Observer (one of my current board roles)—you represent the investor but have no votes. It is unpaid, but/and hugely essential to act as a bridge of visibility and communication between the fund you've invested with and the company in which the fund has invested. My role brings value to both sides with much less bias than the other VC board seats. 2—Corporate board director—There is much governance but not much influence on the product, as the company usually has big enough teams for that. There is a lot of hiring/firing CEOs (read: drama), which can still be fun, especially for those fresh-popcorn-in-my-bag swag kinda folks (both grossly generalizing and way understating this role's fiduciary importance, but you get the idea). 3—Independent board director—this is another of my favorite places to sit. It is much like the Board observer role but with voting rights and equity (although not always, as these terms are negotiated and influenced by the shareholding board seats). You are NOT representing a VC fund (typically), but you might have subject matter expertise in the product or are a generalist boss gal like myself and bring a sense of neutrality and balance to the board. 4—Advisor. Advisors are similar to IBD in terms of influence and type of advice but are not part of the board or its meetings. This role is usually paid in some combination of equity and cash. It's another of my faves. (Are you seeing the trend here?) We have not even touched non-profit boards (where I got my start and am currently sitting on my sixth), but we will save it for next time as it's a whole 'nother Oprah. If you want to learn more, How Women Lead is hosting its 5th annual #getonboard week, starting October 21. Hybrid virtual and in-person. Check it out: https://lnkd.in/diizwv8j #womeninleadership #boardofdirectors #howwomenlead #governance #boarddiversity #corporategovernance #boardservice #businessleadership #leadership Julie Candelon Susan Greenwood Schroeder Mikayla Ludwig

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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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I’m excited to have an upcoming opportunity to discuss innovative mental health and wellbeing solutions with two dozen CIOs — from publicly traded companies, multi-billion dollar foundations, and large government agencies. Why are CIOs interested in employee mental wellbeing? 👉 Individual and organizational wellbeing are intertwined, and CIOs want to help create a healthy organization 👉 Technology leaders are witnessing increasing stress and anxiety within their own teams due to threats of AI and job displacement 👉 As high-level leaders, they are influential within the C-Suite and collaborate closely with CHROs 👉 They recognize the potential of new and innovative technology solutions and want to be part of the solution I'm compiling a shortlist of the best startup solutions for these leaders to review, evaluate, and engage with as they collaborate with their CHROs and actively seek new and emerging technologies to support employee mental health. If you have an innovative mental health solution that we should consider, send me a 3-5 sentence pitch! (demos are a plus!) We’re looking for: 💡 Solutions that reduce burnout, stress, and anxiety while improving employees' mental health and wellbeing 💡 Solutions that can replace traditional EAPs 💡 Solutions that take new and innovative approaches 💡 Solutions with demonstrated results in improving employee wellbeing, engagement, and retention

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A circular startup idea for you: Transform your industry with a Product-as-a-Service model, like Rent the Runway or Mud Jeans. Let customers rent or lease your products instead of owning them, reducing waste and promoting sustainability. Link to example: Rent The Runway https://lnkd.in/e4nGKNiW. Download the full report with more ideas. The link is in the comments section below. https://lnkd.in/e4nGKNiW

I always hear "culture starts at the top." That's why I am headed to Justworks this morning to meet with fellow Founders for #FoundersCircle. A men's group for early-stage founders in NYC to form relationships IRL and work on strengthening the very self they found with. I have 20+ reasons for starting Founder Circle. Today I will share one: a thesis. We all know you need PMF, a GTM motion, talent, and maybe funding. To get these things, Founders need and, importantly, form (on the fly often) certain values and personality traits (i.e., the desire to make money with impact, grit). In my experience, often without reflection on what led to success, successes reinforce certain traits as "effective". Again, these traits drive the culture that drives the business. It's weird that currently, founders build the cultural backbone of the organization on the fly. Worse yet, this self-work often happens in isolation creating the feeling I call "lonely founder syndrome". My vision: Founders work on their values in a community that gets them. My bet: Founders who intentionally form their personal operating model for founding will succeed when otherwise they would not. If you're a Founder seeking a space to vent safely, refresh your passion and grit, and learn from others who face similar challenges (here focused on personal challenges, not sales advice), you are welcome to join us in 2 weeks on 6/14. URL to RSVP is in the comments.

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Every time Generative AI creates a new image or video of a person, it gets better at replicating real movements and voices. It has advanced to the point where manual oversight no longer works. If tech companies want to have less draconian regulation, they must take more responsibility and commit to a system of identification now. Either way, we need it, because hours or days to show that an imagine is "probably fake" just isn't going to cut it. AI has such promise and potential, but that's just as true of its nefarious uses as its positive ones, and good regulation and responsible business is how we benefit from the upside and limit the downside. #DeepFakes #GenerativeAI #AI

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🏆 Excited to share that Atomic has been named one of Fast Company's 100 BEST WORKPLACES FOR INNOVATORS 2024 🚀 As a leader on the 0-to-1 team at Atomic, my job is all about uncovering new venture opportunities that disrupt markets and create value. We're constantly on the lookout for spaces where we can solve real pain points—turning "nice-to-haves" into "need-to-haves." From addressing untapped consumer needs to leveraging new technologies, we're driven to build billion-dollar businesses by finding that sweet spot where opportunity meets innovation. At the heart of our innovation is a relentless focus on understanding market dynamics, consumer pain points, and finding ways to create and capture value. Whether it's diving deep into market data, engaging with subject matter experts, or getting creative with new business models, my team is always pushing boundaries to discover what's next - and doing so *FAST* ⚡️🏎️💨 Feeling inspired to work where innovation isn’t just a buzzword, but a daily practice? Let's connect! #Innovation #Startups #VentureBuilding #InnovativeCompanies #GrowthMindset

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Are you an early-stage business service provider or startup founder? (Yes? Read on.) I'll be at the Venture Atlanta Conference this week and looking for new guests for the BIP Ventures Extraordinary Pursuits Podcast. If the following criteria look relevant, let's meet up. The deets: 🎙️ Each episode is 'commute length' – around 30 minutes 🎙️ Two formats: Masterclasses and founder stories 🎙️ Topics: Anything that impacts startup teams (recent topics have included taxes, sales teams, hiring, GTM, and KPIs) If you'd like to join me for a conversation, please say hi if you see me! You're also welcome to DM me here or on the Venture Atlanta app. Get a sense of the podcast here: https://lnkd.in/egcy7kEh If you know of someone I should meet, please tag them below or forward this to them!

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Learning from a true long term thinking VC. Original Operator & VC from 2000s. Also good discussion on global macro and micro.

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