Digital Value Stream’s Post

Airbnb CEO: “I know the product better than anyone in my team” his team: In a recent interview Brian Chesky took the distances from the "founder mode" buzzword, finally understanding it's something that really doesn't exist. That's great news! Sadly though, while trying to dig himself out of the hole he created, he drops a handful of leadership anti-patterns, showing once again his true colours. "Does the CEO understand deeply, more than anybody else in the company, the product they sell?" "If I was running an ice cream company, then I as the CEO better understand ice cream better than anyone that works for me." Wait, it gets even better: “I think that the CEO of the company should always be the chief product officer” “Now, if I say I’m in all the details, it sounds like micromanagement. Who wants to work for a micromanager?" I am tempted to comment on each of these points, but no answer would beat the words of the Airbnb leaders and team members I am reporting below. Finally the Skift reports: "Chesky believes the term founder mode is part of the divisiveness behind the conversation". The guy is really blind to see it's not the label that sucks, it's his leadership! --- My analysis of Chesky's leadership style is linked in the comments, in case you missed that from previous days. #productmanagement #foundermode #leadership

The language in business is not the numbers, the numbers are units of measure by which you read the result. The language in business is the people you raise. I have seen CEOs in the shadow of unlimited budgets, CEOs in the shadow of the product, CEOs in the shadow of employees, executive trainers who start from point "a" and stay in "a". After, you look at Brian and see what you should learn in 20-25 years of education + 20 years of practical experience. I have seen rockets built by Elon and it is spectacular. Brian is a different kind of rocket. He is a CEO!

Some weeks ago, TheDots Agency asked me to share about Make culture for their Culture Code, their research about the company cultures of startups and scale ups: Deciphering the fundamentals of a strong, high-performance culture 💪 Beyond the values, we discussed how we built and we maintain our culture on a daily basis at Make. Here are the key insights I shared : ✔ Involve the founders at an early stage to align company culture with its mission. ✔ When communicating, begin by emphasising the significance of articulating culture and how it benefits the company. ✔ Encourage everyone to actively contribute to sharing values, to create a sense of community. To find out more about how we activate culture and the case studies of 15 other great companies from the tech ecosystem (Malt, 360Learning, Spendesk & more), check this out: https://lnkd.in/dQuP6QPp Thank you Jennifer Moukouma and N'Geur SARR for the opportunity 🙏

🌟 Explore Fuel50's Visionary Roadmap! 🛣️✨ They provide a roadmap for aspiring CEOs, offering coaching, mentoring, projects, gigs, and jobs to support your journey. Their opportunity marketplace is similar to Airbnb or Uber, allowing you to choose where you want to go and how you can participate. This is especially beneficial for large organizations with talent visibility challenges. Eventually, they help connect employees in these organizations to their future through self-driven, self-learning methods. 🚀💡 Watch the full video here: https://buff.ly/3VtWMVV #CareerOpportunities #CoachingAndMentoring 🌐🛣️ #OpportunityMarketplace #InnovationInCareers #FutureLeadership 💼🔗 #TalentConnect

Founders Mode vs. Manager Mode—it’s a balance I’ve been reflecting on recently. After listening to #BrianChesky at #Stanford and catching an episode of #TheDiaryofaCEO, one idea really resonated: founders often feel like they’re being pulled in two directions. You’re expected to run your company like a manager, but still keep that hands-on, founder-driven approach alive. And that’s where the challenge lies—founder mode isn’t something you can switch off just because your company scales. In my humble opinion, founder mode is not just about managing; it’s about #building. It’s about maintaining the vision, shaping the culture, and paying attention to the details that brought the company to life in the first place. In my experience, “You’re not just managing it, you’re building it, and the problem is professional managers typically don’t.” It’s this mindset that sets founders apart from traditional managers. Take #SteveJobs, for example—he ran annual retreats with the 100 most important people at Apple, not based on their titles but on their impact. Imagine the force of will it takes to do that in a typical company. Jobs knew that keeping the culture alive meant staying engaged at every level. Similarly, #ElonMusk, #JensenHuang, and Brian Chesky all maintain that direct connection to their companies, rather than relying solely on middle managers to carry the vision forward. That’s a huge part of what makes founder mode unique—it’s deeply personal. I believe who we are at our core, and how we continuously evolve as lifelong learners, is shaped by our earliest experiences. And this, in turn, shapes the culture of the company. As founders, we embed our curiosity, grit, and resilience into every aspect of our business. This is why I believe the most important lessons are often learned founder-to-founder—because no university or corporate environment can truly teach this mentality. For example, running a startup in different regions comes with different pressures. In my opinion, being a founder in the U.S or Europe for two years could take the same mental toll as being a founder in Turkiye for one year, where you’re often operating in “survivor mode.” You’re constantly navigating legal and economic uncertainty, which pushes you to fight harder every day, almost like swimming in turbulent waters without a lifeline. As we scale, it’s essential to design a culture that keeps the founder mentality alive. Even when a startup grows, I believe we still need to act like we’re running “a largest startup,” with direct engagement, “skip-level” meetings, and a relentless focus on the core values that made us successful in the first place. Because at the end of the day, this founder-driven mindset shapes everything—who we are, how we work, and ultimately, how our company grows. I highly recommend checking out Brian Chesky’s episode on my favorite YouTube podcast channel, The Diary of a CEO. It’s a must-watch for any founder! 👇

Earlier this week I was in Palo Alto and grabbed coffee with Mike Vernal Mike shared some of his lessons from being an early employee at Meta to a Partner at Sequoia Capital Here are the Top 3 takeaways for me: ⭐️ Find a Rocketship and get on ⭐️ Be Customer Obsessed ⭐️ The best founders move fast

If you missed our Building Billion Dollar Products event last week featuring Matt Kaplan, it is published on VentureFizz today: https://lnkd.in/eus3YAn9 Matt is one of the top product leaders in the tech industry having been the SVP Product / CPO at companies like Toast, Acquia, LogMeIn, and startups. Needless to say, he had a lot to share! We covered: 0:00 - Intro 3:30 - Matt’s background 4:46 - Working with Founders 7:30 - Role of a Product Leader when working with founders 9:24 - Advice for having a successful relationship with founders 13:29 - Navigating uncertainty 16:31 - Working with leaders from cross functional teams 22:57 - How to push back 24:33 - Strategy for building a Multi-Product Strategy 29:45 - Core elements of an effective product strategy 33:09 - Importance of being the Chief Storyteller 36:56 - Opportunity in vertical SaaS 41:38 - Advice on building your career to an executive product leadership role 49:30 - Figuring out chemistry with founders while interviewing 56:21 - Hiring for domain versus

A Few Months In: My Revelation as a Fractional CTO Just a few months into my role as a Fractional CTO, it started to sink in why companies need someone like me. I could see the bigger picture and got better at sharing it with the team. 🌐🔍 Here's what I worked on: ➼ Wireframing and future roadmaps 📊 ➼ Cutting down old tech problems 🛠️ ➼ Matching our tech efforts with what the business needs 🎯 It all clicked when: 😮 I realized how much money and time I was saving the company. 🕒 I adapted to their schedules, making everyone's life easier. 🗣️ Turns out, my advice was pretty spot on! The big moment? 🌟 Seeing the cost savings really add up. 🔄 The team, once struggling, now back on track with much less tech debt and risk. This job wasn’t just about software - it was about changing things and building trust. 📈 Results? Faster work, better systems, and a united team. 🎓 What I figured out? Stick with it, keep learning, and the impact will follow. Do you ever wonder if what you’re doing is really making a difference? Sometimes, it takes a while to see results. 🤔 Ever doubted your impact? How did it turn out? #Leadership #TechInnovation #FractionalCTO

🌱 Every great business starts with a small idea. Airbnb? It was once just three guys renting out air mattresses in their apartment. However, scaling a small idea into a global brand didn’t happen overnight. 🚀 They faced massive challenges. Growing too fast, they risked losing control. Leadership had to pivot quickly, making decisions that would define the company's future. 🧭 That's where guidance made the difference. Imagine navigating that kind of growth alone. Business transformation services help refine decision-making, build stronger leadership skills, and empower teams to thrive through challenges. Business transformation isn’t just about solving problems—it’s about unlocking potential. It helps businesses scale, adapt, and break through the complexities that come with rapid growth. Ready to turn your challenges into opportunities? DM me "Transformation", and I'll send you information.

When it comes to innovation, there’s a pattern of qualities that successful companies follow. 🚀 Do you know what they are? Come find out the insights we have gathered from our conversation with Stefania Colombo, Product Manager at Uber. We explored topics like how embracing agility, adapting to change, and fostering diversity can drive innovation and ultimately make a company thrive. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/dzCvR3Jw