From Start-Up to Grown-Up

Matthew is the Cofounder and CEO of Matillion. He cofounded his first startup at age 18. Before starting Matillion in 2011, Matthew worked in commercial IT and software development for 15 years at a number of British and European systems integrators. A native of Altrincham, England, near Manchester, Matthew now spends half his time in the United States – primarily in Denver (Matillion’s U.S. headquarters), Seattle, New York, and in the Bay Area, at the beating heart of the enterprise software industry.

I am a big advocate for developing healthier company culture, and we dive right into this conversation with a framework on just that from Matthew! We also talk about how there’s no one right answer about which culture to create that leads to building a company with staying power, how to determine when your company pivot is working, micro confidence vs. macro confidence, the personal growth you make as a leader, and the biggest obstacle people have in building their companies.

Learn more about Matthew and Mattillion | Website

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Robert Glazer is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of global partner marketing agency, Acceleration Partners. He is also the co-founder and Chairman of BrandCycle. A serial entrepreneur, Bob has a passion for helping individuals and organizations build their capacity to elevate.

Key highlights:

• His company, Acceleration Partners (02:53)
• How Robert ended up building an email list, writing blogs, writing books, podcasting, and how he fits it all together (06:14) 
• Why clarifying values and purpose is important to you and your company (13:53) 
• Activities and exercises to help you clarify your core values (18:27) 
• What prompted Robert to clarify his company’s culture to take into account the importance of values? (21:38)
• A scenario where he had to make a hard decision in a situation that didn’t align with his values and the company’s values (27:15)
• Why he decided to step down as CEO to become an Executive Chairman and what the transitioning process looked like (29:00)
• His book; Elevate Your Team: Empower Your Team To Reach Their Full Potential and Build A Business That Builds Leaders (36:00) 
• What is capacity? (36:20)
• The capacity building road map (37:18)
• Robert’s framework for building team capacity and the different categories of capacity (40:17)
• How Robert has evolved as a leader (47:47)
• His experience with the impostor syndrome and how he deals with it (49:06)
• What Robert wishes he had known earlier on his journey (52:10)
• His advice for other founders as they embark on their journey to grow into leaders (53:37)

 Notable Quotes

• “I have started a ton of things that have failed, but I have never been successful in anything I didn’t start.” (10:44)
• ” If you are accountable, you can have flexibility.” (22:06)

Resources Mentioned

• Elevate Your Team: Empower Your Team To Reach Their Full Potential and Build A Business That Builds Leaders: https://bit.ly/40IzbmJ
• Friday Forward: Inspiration & Motivation to End Your Week Stronger Than It Started (Ignite Reads): https://bit.ly/3JUU732
• How to Make Virtual Teams Work: Manage and Empower a Virtual Team That Thrives While Working from Home: http://bit.ly/3zfp5hw

Connect with Robert!

Follow Robert Glazer on:

• Website (Company): https://www.accelerationpartners.com/
• Website (Personal): https://robertglazer.com/
• Podcast: https://robertglazer.com/elevate-podcasts/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glazer/

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Hubert is the founder and CEO of Productboard.com, a platform for strategic product design and management headquartered in San Francisco, California. Prior to Productboard, Hubert was the Vice President of Product Management at GoodData, where he managed GoodData’s disruptive platform business, built the whole front-end product management and UX team from the ground up, and established and embodied modern principles of user experience design. Hubert also once worked in management consulting as well as trained 20 national park managers in Vietnam on marketing and strategy.

In our conversation, filmed live at Web Summit in Portugal, Hubert dives into the challenges of scaling leadership, which include the conversations you need to have when an executive is unable to scale, the tactics he uses for fundraising, which helped Productboard become a unicorn, and how he finds a work/life balance.

• Hubert’s company; Productboard (02:15)
• Definition of empathy (04:08) 
• How empathy helps leaders scale a company (05:23)
• How Hubert developed the skill of giving negative feedback (07:08) 
• The biggest challenge faced by Founders & CEOs of fast-growing companies (12:35)
• Markers that show that an executive will not be able to scale and the kind of conversations you should have with executives to identify their ability to scale (15:58) 
• The strategies Hubert uses to fundraise successfully (22:37)
• Why is it necessary to perform due diligence on investors? (29:00) 
• How he conducts due diligence on investors (30:00)
• Hubert’s mood meter; why he built it and how he uses it (32:33)
• How he maintains a work-life balance (39:08) 
• His greatest strength and the weakness he is working on (43:26)
• What Hubert wishes he had known earlier on his journey (45:11)
• His advice for other founders as they embark on their journey to grow into leaders (47:38)

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Let’s Connect!

Follow Hubert Palan on:

• Website: https://www.productboard.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/hpalan
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Productboard/ 
• LinkedIn(Personal): https://www.linkedin.com/in/hubertpalan/
• LinkedIn(Company): https://www.linkedin.com/company/productboard/

Connect with Alisa!

Follow Alisa Cohn on 

• Instagram: @alisacohn
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• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/
• Website: http://www.alisacohn.com

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Padmasree Warrior is the Founder, President and CEO of Fable, a mobile-first company that brings stories to everyone, anywhere. Previously, Padma was the Chief Executive Officer of NIO U.S., Chief Development Officer and Board Member of NIO Inc., a manufacturer of smart, electric, and autonomous vehicles. In this role, she scaled the company from start-up to a successful IPO NYSE:NIO in 3 years.

Our conversation was truly fascinating! We discuss her reverse journey from grown-up to start-up, what she had to unlearn from a large corporation to become a start-up founder, how you can get your initial hires onboard, and the rituals that build a strong company culture.

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• What inspired Padma to become an entrepreneur?(03:36)
• What she had to learn and unlearn when she went from being in a large company to becoming a start-up founder (06:14)
• Tips to help you when hiring team members for your start-up (09:28)
• What Fable does (14:45)
• Why Padma started Fable (15:45)
• The definition of company culture (22:48)
• Why investing in company culture is important for your start-up (23:36)
• The difference between hiring for experience and hiring for expertise (28:37)
• The ‘Fika’ ritual and why it is a powerful ritual for developing the company culture (33:12)
• Why she bans talk about work inside the Fika ritual (36:03)
• What it actually means to bring your whole self to work (40:40)
• How Padma made a mindset shift from a problem solver to someone who helps other people solve problems (44:35)
• The decision-making framework she uses in her staff meetings at Fable (49:20)
• The difference between being on a board and being on a management team (52:30)
• 3 Things you should consider before you become a board member (54:36)
• What Padma has learned from her board roles at Microsoft and Spotify (56:31)
• Her experience with the impostor syndrome (59:38)
• What Padma wishes she had known earlier on her journey (1:02:58)
• Her advice for other founders as they embark on their journey to grow into leaders (1:04:05)

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Connect with Padma!

Follow Padma Warrior on:

• Website: https://fable.co/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/padmasree-warrior-9917a26b/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Padmasree

Connect with Alisa!

Follow Alisa Cohn on 

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• Website: http://www.alisacohn.com

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Nick Sonnenberg is the Founder and CEO of Leverage, a business efficiency consultant, Inc. columnist, and author of the book, Come Up For Air: How Teams Can Leverage Systems and Tools to Stop Drowning in Work. As a serial entrepreneur with a passion for productivity and a background in data science, Nick’s mission is to create companies that disrupt the way people work by leveraging the power of remote teams, digital tools, and automation.

His primary focus is to help teams operate more efficiently through his CPR® Business Efficiency Framework, a proven system for leaders, managers, and teams to maximize their performance and reduce overwhelm by using the right tools in the right way, at the right time. This framework consistently results in greater output, less stress, happier employees, and the potential to gain an extra full day per week in productivity per person. Nick has worked with individuals and companies of all sizes including Tony Robbins, Jay Abraham, Facebook, ConsenSys, and more.

Nick and I had a rich conversation about the benefits of bootstrapping your business, his thoughts on risk and how to build confidence, and the many ways you can make your business more efficient!

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• Introducing today’s guest; Nick Sonnenberg (00:22)
• How Nick co-founded Leverage after a successful career in high-frequency trading (03:00)
• Nick’s dramatic breakup with his cofounder and the lessons he learned from that (06:24)
• Why he never gave up on the company and how he managed stress in that period (10:55)
• The benefits of bootstrapping your business (13:00)
• Why hiring is the worst way to get more bandwidth (16:04)
• How to determine when it’s time to hire someone new (17:54)
• How to get feedback from your team (21:50)
• Effective strategies for ensuring you get feedback when you are the boss (25:04)
• Why he authored - Come Up for Air: How Teams Can Leverage Systems and Tools to Stop Drowning in Work. (32:20)
• Why people are drowning in work and what they can do about it (33:42)
• The scavenger hunt problem  (35:09)
• Quick win tips & tactics in his book to help you make your business more efficient (38:37)
• How to build confidence as an entrepreneur (44:30)
• Nick’s advice for people getting into cofounder relationships (45:00)
• Nick’s leadership style and how it has evolved (49:59)
• What Nick wishes he had known earlier on his entrepreneurship journey (51:06)
• His advice for other founders as they embark on their journey to grow into leaders (55:30) 

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Resources Mentioned

• Come Up for Air: How Teams Can Leverage Systems and Tools to Stop Drowning in Work: https://www.amazon.com/Come-Up-Air-Leverage-Drowning/dp/140023672X
• Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside:https://bit.ly/3DhKwkr
• From Start-Up to Grown-Up: Grow Your Leadership to Grow Your Business:https://bit.ly/3XDvlds
• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity: https://bit.ly/3HbbsmX

Connect with Nick!

Follow Nick Sonnenberg on:

• Website: https://comeupforair.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicksonnenberg/

Connect with Alisa!

Follow Alisa Cohn on 

• Instagram: @alisacohn
• Twitter: @alisacohn
• Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/
• Website: http://www.alisacohn.com

Download her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better) 

Grab a copy of From Start-Up to Grown-Up by Alisa Cohn from Amazon

Chip is the founder of the Modern Elder Academy (MEA), where a new roadmap for midlife is offered at a beautiful oceanfront campus in Baja California Sur, Mexico, and forthcoming campuses in Santa Fe, NM. His five books have made him a leading authority at the intersection of psychology and business. 

Chip had tons of wisdom to share in this talk, including how to use regret as fuel for the future, what founders can learn when they shift their identities, how to manage people older than you, what Chip learned from the people that he mentored, and his favorite interview question. 

Key highlights in the episode

Know our guest; Chip Conley (00:30)

The identity cleanse and why it is important (03:19)

Chip’s near-death experience and how it made him shift his identity when he sold his company (07:30)

The Anatomy of a transition; Three stages of transition (14:48)

How Chip became a mentor and an intern to Airbnb Co-Founder&CEO Brian Chesky (18:46)

Using regret as raw material for the future (19:45)

How insights from Airbnb led him to start the Modern Elder Academy (21:55)

Ways of scaling your company’s culture & soul as the company grows (26:46)

Culture fit vs. Culture add approach to hiring (28:48)

His favorite interview questions (31:20)

Why Chip has developed a strong personal brand and how it has served him (37:55)

His advice to new founders about having a personal brand (41:06)

What Chip teaches his mentees (46:37)

What he has learned from his mentees (51:10) 

How to manage people older than you. And how to operate in an environment where your boss is younger than you (56:18)

Ways through which founders can find the truth in their companies (1:01:30)

The adjustments Chip has made in his leadership style and the feedback he  received (1:04:13)

What Chip wishes he had known earlier on his entrepreneurship journey (1:08:11)

His advice for other founders as they embark on their journey to grow into leaders (1:09:41)

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 Resources Mentioned

• Finish Big: How Great Entrepreneurs Exit Their Companies on Top: https://bit.ly/3jtlA2N
• Life Is in the Transitions: Mastering Change at Any Age: https://amzn.to/3HFPjOa
• Wisdom at Work: The Making of a Modern Elder: https://bit.ly/3YjOxwQ

Let’s Connect!

Follow Chip Conley on:

• Website: https://chipconley.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChipConley
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chipconleysf/
• Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/chipconleyauthor

 Subscribe to MEA Wisdom well: https://wisdomwell.modernelderacademy.com/

Connect with Alisa!

Follow Alisa Cohn on 

• Instagram: @alisacohn
• Twitter: @alisacohn
• Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/
• Website: http://www.alisacohn.com

Download her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better) 

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Julia Boorstin is CNBC’s Senior Media & Tech correspondent based at the network’s Los Angeles bureau, where she reports and conducts CEO interviews across CNBC programming, and plays a key role on CNBC’s bicoastal tech-focused program TechCheck, delivering reporting, analysis, and interviews around streaming, social, and the convergence of media and technology. She is also the author of When Women Lead. In 2013, she created and launched the CNBC Disruptor 50, an annual list she oversees, highlighting the private companies transforming the economy and challenging companies in established industries. Additionally, she reported a documentary on the future of television for the network, “Stay Tuned...The Future of TV” and helped launch CNBC’s “Closing the Gap” initiative, covering the people and companies closing gender gaps, and leads CNBC’s coverage of studies on this topic. Before joining CNBC, Boorstin was a writer and reporter at Fortune magazine, as well as a contributor to “Street Life,” a live market wrap-up segment on CNN Headline News.

This conversation is packed with SO many great topics, including a concept Julia calls the confidence dial, having empathy as a strategic skill, and why people who played sports make for much better leaders.

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Learn more about Julia | Website

For more stories and advice on founders and CEOs, head to alisacohn.com

Connect with Alisa!

Follow Alisa Cohn on 

• Instagram: @alisacohn
• Twitter: @alisacohn
• Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/
• Website: http://www.alisacohn.com

Download her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better) 

Grab a copy of From Start-Up to Grown-Up by Alisa Cohn from Amazon

Lezlie Karls, Co-founder, and CEO started MID-DAY SQUARES with her husband Nick Saltarelli, and brother Jake Karls. After being rejected by every major grocery store buyer, she persuaded her husband to leave his tech startup and help her sell online direct to consumers. Together, they wanted to bring delicious tasting, clean, high-protein afternoon snacks to people on the daily life grind.

Join in on our conversation as we discuss how they want to create fans instead of customers, how they've leveraged the power of social media, and built a strong startup together as a family of co-founders.

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Learn more about Mid-Day Squares | LinkedIn

For more stories and advice on founders and CEOs, head to alisacohn.com

Connect with Alisa!

Follow Alisa Cohn on 

• Instagram: @alisacohn
• Twitter: @alisacohn
• Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/
• Website: http://www.alisacohn.com

Download her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better) 

Grab a copy of From Start-Up to Grown-Up by Alisa Cohn from Amazon

Rob Co-Founded PurposeLab with Andrew Skinner back in 2009 from a simple idea: build technology and invest in companies driven by impact and purpose. They partner with like-minded founders with domain expertise who love to create impact, and who need a tech partner that can ideate, design, and build beautiful consumer and enterprise software products. PurposeLab has evolved into a product development and venture studio that invests in brilliant entrepreneurs striving to disrupt the status quo. 

Rob is also the Co-host of the Hell & Wellness Podcast with Matt Ruby.

We discuss how to bounce back from incredibly challenging circumstances, the process of experimenting vs. sticking it out, and Rob's working with the Kardashian family.

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Learn more about Rob Kramer | LinkedIn

For more stories and advice on founders and CEOs, head to alisacohn.com

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• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/
• Website: http://www.alisacohn.com

Download her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better) 

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Dan Zavorotny is a healthcare technology entrepreneur whose latest venture, NutriSense, involves CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring) technology as a tool for preventative health, weight management, and increased physical performance. His team has helped tens of thousands of individuals, ranging from type II diabetics to world record-setting athletes by optimizing their health and wellness with a data-driven approach.

Prior to his entrepreneurial career, Dan worked as a global healthcare consultant at KPMG and has had the privilege of traveling to over 100 countries.

We discuss establishing trust as co-founders, the culture shift going from a large corporation to a startup, and his process of teaching himself marketing. 

I feel that his approach applies globally to any skill you are trying to teach yourself - this is gold!!

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If you like what you hear, please subscribe to the podcast!

Learn more about Dan Zavorotny | LinkedIn

For more stories and advice on founders and CEOs, head to alisacohn.com

Connect with Alisa!

Follow Alisa Cohn on 

• Instagram: @alisacohn
• Twitter: @alisacohn
• Facebook: facebook.com/alisa.cohn
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisacohn/
• Website: http://www.alisacohn.com

Download her 5 scripts for delicate conversations (and 1 to make your life better) 

Grab a copy of From Start-Up to Grown-Up by Alisa Cohn from Amazon