Jean-Denis Greze: CTO of Plaid, the $18B Fintech Startup; How to Hire, Fire & Build Great UX | E1038

Jean-Denis Greze is Chief Technology Officer at Plaid where oversees global product business units across North America and Europe. Prior to joining Plaid, Jean-Denis was Director of Engineering at Dropbox. Jean-Denis is also a prolific angel investor with a portfolio including the likes of Nex Health, Merge.dev and Rupa Health to name a few. ----------------------------------------------- Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 00:39 Resume and What to Look for When Hiring 08:30 How to Scale Your Company 10:59 How to Fire Someone 20:00 Remote vs In-Office Work 26:20 Work-Life Balance 33:53 Startup UX (User Experience) Deep Dive 39:47 North Star Metric 44:55 How to Think about Competition 47:24 Jean-Denis on Venture Capital 54:32 Jean-Denis on Artificial Intelligence 57:15 Quick-Fire Round ----------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode with Jean-Denis Greze We Discuss: 1. The Journey to One of the Most Powerful CTOs: How JD made his way into the world of tech with his first role at Dropbox? How does JD analyse a Linkedin CV today? What are the signals of outperformers? What does JD know now that he wishes he had known when he started in tech? 2. Hiring the Best: 101: What are JD’s single biggest lessons on hiring the best talent? What have been some of JD’s biggest hiring mistakes? Why does JD believe founders need to be as good at firing as they are hiring? Does JD believe people can scale with the scaling of a company? If they do not scale, do you layer them or do you let them go? How does JD determine whether to bring in an external candidate vs promote someone from within? 3. Product Differentiation is not Sustainable: Why does JD believe that product differentiation is not sustainable? Why is UX as a moat BS? How does this lead JD to suggest Salesforce is a short in the public markets? Why does JD believe that Snowflake is also a short? What does Snowflake teach us about the different stages of product market fit? What are the biggest mistakes founders make when analyzing product market fit? 4. Remote Work, Titles and Entitlement: Why does JD believe most tech employees treat their employer in the same way French citizens treat the French government? How does JD analyse the impact of remote work on both productivity and culture? Why does JD believe titles are BS in the beginning but matter with scale? Why does JD believe that you should not hire for the long term? ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Jean-Denis Greze on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jgreze Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vc_reels Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact ----------------------------------------------- #JeanDenisGreze #Plaid #HarryStebbings

Jean-Denis GrezeguestHarry Stebbingshost

Jul 21, 20231h 0mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: July 21, 2023
Duration: 1h 0m
Channel: The Twenty Minute VC
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Jean-Denis Greze is Chief Technology Officer at Plaid where oversees global product business units across North America and Europe. Prior to joining Plaid, Jean-Denis was Director of Engineering at Dropbox. Jean-Denis is also a prolific angel investor with a portfolio including the likes of Nex Health, Merge.dev and Rupa Health to name a few. ----------------------------------------------- Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 00:39 Resume and What to Look for When Hiring 08:30 How to Scale Your Company 10:59 How to Fire Someone 20:00 Remote vs In-Office Work 26:20 Work-Life Balance 33:53 Startup UX (User Experience) Deep Dive 39:47 North Star Metric 44:55 How to Think about Competition 47:24 Jean-Denis on Venture Capital 54:32 Jean-Denis on Artificial Intelligence 57:15 Quick-Fire Round ----------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode with Jean-Denis Greze We Discuss:
1. The Journey to One of the Most Powerful CTOs: How JD made his way into the world of tech with his first role at Dropbox? How does JD analyse a Linkedin CV today? What are the signals of outperformers? What does JD know now that he wishes he had known when he started in tech?
1. Hiring the Best: 101: What are JD’s single biggest lessons on hiring the best talent? What have been some of JD’s biggest hiring mistakes? Why does JD believe founders need to be as good at firing as they are hiring? Does JD believe people can scale with the scaling of a company? If they do not scale, do you layer them or do you let them go? How does JD determine whether to bring in an external candidate vs promote someone from within?
1. Product Differentiation is not Sustainable: Why does JD believe that product differentiation is not sustainable? Why is UX as a moat BS? How does this lead JD to suggest Salesforce is a short in the public markets? Why does JD believe that Snowflake is also a short? What does Snowflake teach us about the different stages of product market fit? What are the biggest mistakes founders make when analyzing product market fit?
1. Remote Work, Titles and Entitlement: Why does JD believe most tech employees treat their employer in the same way French citizens treat the French government? How does JD analyse the impact of remote work on both productivity and culture? Why does JD believe titles are BS in the beginning but matter with scale? Why does JD believe that you should not hire for the long term? ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Jean-Denis Greze on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jgreze Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vc_reels Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact ----------------------------------------------- #JeanDenisGreze #Plaid #HarryStebbings

SPEAKERS

Jean-Denis Greze
guest
Harry Stebbings
host

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of The Twenty Minute VC, featuring Jean-Denis Greze and Harry Stebbings, Jean-Denis Greze: CTO of Plaid, the $18B Fintech Startup; How to Hire, Fire & Build Great UX | E1038 explores plaid CTO on hiring, firing, and building durable product advantage Jean-Denis Greze, CTO of Plaid, discusses how his unconventional path through law and Dropbox shaped his views on hiring, firing, and leadership at fast-growing startups.

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