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Ben Horowitz on Executive Firing (and Hiring)

The holy grail of company building is finding product-market fit. But what most people don’t tell you is that once you’ve found it, product-market fit brings its own set of challenges, particularly when it comes to scaling rapidly and hiring the right executives at the right time. Drawing from their extensive experiences, a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Databricks cofounder and CEO Ali Ghodsi sit down to talk about the hardest things about executive hiring and firing, and what is at stake. They dive into the common reasons an exec fails, why sometimes micromanagement is a good idea, and the difference between someone who has written a playbook and someone who has only run one. If you’d like to dive even deeper, the Growth team at a16z has spent the last year compiling insights from dozens of leaders at late-stage startups to literally write the book on hiring executives to scale. You can find that book at: http://a16z.com/executive-hiring-playbook Topics Covered: 00:00 - Post-product market fit 03:07 - When is it time to let someone go? 05:41 - When do you give someone a chance to grow into the role? 07:05- Let go or level? 09:27 - How do you have the tough conversation? 16:39 - Exit packages 18:40 - Setting a new leader up for success 24:27 - The importance of the first quick win 26:24 - The impact a new leader has on culture 32:52 - Common ways new leaders fail 37:35 - Closing thoughts Resources: Read the Executive Hiring: The Key to Scaling in the Growth Stages: http://a16z.com/executive-hiring-playbook Learn more about Databricks: https://www.databricks.com Find Ben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz Find Ali on Twitter: https://twitter.com/alighodsi Stay Updated: Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/ Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures

Steph SmithhostAli GhodsiguestBen Horowitzguest

Jun 14, 202340mWatch on YouTube ↗

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EPISODE INFO

Released: June 14, 2023
Duration: 40m
Channel: a16z
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

The holy grail of company building is finding product-market fit. But what most people don’t tell you is that once you’ve found it, product-market fit brings its own set of challenges, particularly when it comes to scaling rapidly and hiring the right executives at the right time. Drawing from their extensive experiences, a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz and Databricks cofounder and CEO Ali Ghodsi sit down to talk about the hardest things about executive hiring and firing, and what is at stake. They dive into the common reasons an exec fails, why sometimes micromanagement is a good idea, and the difference between someone who has written a playbook and someone who has only run one. If you’d like to dive even deeper, the Growth team at a16z has spent the last year compiling insights from dozens of leaders at late-stage startups to literally write the book on hiring executives to scale. You can find that book at: http://a16z.com/executive-hiring-playbook Topics Covered: 00:00 - Post-product market fit 03:07 - When is it time to let someone go? 05:41 - When do you give someone a chance to grow into the role? 07:05- Let go or level? 09:27 - How do you have the tough conversation? 16:39 - Exit packages 18:40 - Setting a new leader up for success 24:27 - The importance of the first quick win 26:24 - The impact a new leader has on culture 32:52 - Common ways new leaders fail 37:35 - Closing thoughts Resources: Read the Executive Hiring: The Key to Scaling in the Growth Stages: http://a16z.com/executive-hiring-playbook Learn more about Databricks: https://www.databricks.com Find Ben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz Find Ali on Twitter: https://twitter.com/alighodsi Stay Updated: Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/ Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures

SPEAKERS

Steph Smith
host
a16z podcast host and interviewer.
Ali Ghodsi
guest
Co-founder and CEO of Databricks.
Ben Horowitz
guest
Co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz and former CEO of Opsware.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of a16z, featuring Steph Smith and Ali Ghodsi, Ben Horowitz on Executive Firing (and Hiring) explores ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi on Hiring, Onboarding, and Firing Executives Horowitz and Ghodsi describe signs a leader has been outgrown, such as the CEO second-guessing them, the team losing faith in them, or emotional overload, and note that a leader the team no longer follows must go regardless.

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