If you lead teams in messy, growing companies, you will find refreshing, practical execution wisdom in this interview. We cover the five jobs of leadership, balancing this week vs. the next 90 days, turning field shadowing into product improvements, and keeping your compass true at work and in art.
Frazer argues great operators are “born with an operator brain,” but the muscle is honed by doing five jobs relentlessly: hire great people, set strategy, monitor behaviors, measure results, and model culture. He shows how to split attention between the here and now and a 90-day horizon, why iteration beats ideation once you’ve found a promising arc (from ~25% to ~80% maturity), and how to build a culture of risk-free candor so problems surface fast and get fixed. We also dig into his unexpected right-brain practice: making sculpture and canvas works from creek limestones—how “flow” keeps the work and the person honest.
Timestamps
00:00 – Operator DNA & the 5 jobs of leadership
03:00 – Two horizons: this week vs the next 90 days (and how to allocate time)
04:30 – KPIs, reviews, and the operating cadence
05:30 – Shadowing the field: product fixes you only see on the front line
08:00 – Building risk-free candor so problems surface fast
11:00 – “No plan survives first contact”—why conference rooms lie
13:00 – Shiny objects vs focus; iteration > ideation; the 25% → 80% arc
18:00 – ELT composition, offsites, and a living North Star
20:00 – Change your environment to think better (and schedule deep work)
24:00 – Paper before PowerPoint (story first, slides later)
27:00 – Why growth companies > big-company optimization
28:30 – Aligning clinicians and business around the patient
33:00 – Frazer’s art: limestone sculptures and stone-on-canvas
42:00 – Flow state, imposter feelings, and keeping the work honest
52:00 – The career funnel & becoming the most prepared candidate
55:00 – The three-circle target for a satisfying career
56:30 – What’s next in art; where to see his work
