Peter Ahn’s Post

3 financial risks that completely changed my life👇 1/ At the age of 24, while others were buying cars and watches, I used my entire commission check to buy and flip my first investment property with a friend. By the time I was 27, the appreciation on that home allowed me to buy two more properties. Three years later, we were able to buy an additional 2 properties... ALL stemming from that one initial investment. 2/ After being the #1 AE on my team at Microsoft and getting offered a $50k raise, I left to join a little-known startup because I wanted to improve my ability as a sales professional. Although I took a massive pay cut, that startup turned into the next tech unicorn. It got me into my first leadership role and took me to NYC to open our office. That career change catapulted me in my career and taught me what it takes to build a great culture. 3/ At the age of 25, I invested $18k into a community focused on personal and professional development. After 3 years of being in that, I upgraded to the higher tier program and paid $75k/year to surround myself with high-caliber leaders and founders. With the support of these communities, 8 months ago I left my high-paying W2 job to "full send" my dream of building a sales community focused on the inner game. We've now had over 150 sales reps, leaders, and founders attend our retreats and have close to 50 people in our yearlong program. None of these steps have been easy, and damn I gotta tell you that I'm still learning every single day. But there's 1 thing I know for certain: Growth happens outside your comfort zone. #sales #leadership #embracethefear

There's one early career move that Satya Nadella, Marissa Mayer, Peter Thiel and Sundar Pichai all have in common... They worked in high talent density organisations. This is an organisation with a high concentration of smart, capable, ambitious people. And the benefits are massive. Especially early in your career. You learn quicker, you are forced to raise your own standards and you gain a network of people who go on to do amazing things. I've been building a list of organisations with super high talent density; - Stripe - OpenAI - MBB Consulting Firms (McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG)) - Netflix - Bridgewater Associates - Airbnb - Top Banks (J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley) But I'm sure there's lots more out there, especially on the smaller side. Who do you think should be added to the list? Where have you worked that you've been super impressed by the standard of the people? Let me know in the comments

Think you know how to get a job? You should question what you know! I have a client who relocated to the US to start from scratch. He was the former CEO of a healthy tech startup, ready for something new. He is currently poised to get an offer from a private equity firm to become their Head of Data... ...even though he has 0% data experience. Anything you think you know...is worth questioning! You DON'T have to have cookie-cutter experience. You DON'T have to check every single box to be qualified for a role. That's what our program is about: positioning your story so that people can see the value you provide BEYOND a list of requirements on a job description. When your story is crystal clear -- doors open. And opportunities you never would have thought applied to you can turn out to be the perfect fit. -- Join our free webinar on January 30th at 7:30pm EST: How to Land Executive Roles - Without Applying Online. Register today! https://loom.ly/56H5Qzg #leadership #personaldevelopment #careerdevelopment #careercoaching #careers #careercoach

I've witnessed two companies drown in my career. The executives made many mistakes, and I made my share of errors as well. Here are some of the most critical ones: ** Bad Decision-Making: One poor choice can lead to failure. Consider these examples: 1. Trusting the wrong person. If you lack the technical expertise to discern trustworthy individuals, you risk losing your way. Stay involved in day-to-day operations to truly understand who has the company's best interests at heart. 2. Being too rigid in your ideology. As a founder or leader, you should have strong opinions and guiding principles. However, always remain open to ideas and opinions from others, especially those on the front lines who often have the most valuable insights. ** Investment & Growth: 1. Making hasty and overly optimistic growth assumptions. Build projections on real data. Utilize your analytics teams effectively and don't let others blind you with unrealistically rosy scenarios. 2. Focusing too much on investors and board members while neglecting the internal team and processes. This imbalance can lead to a disconnect between leadership and the workforce, resulting in demotivated employees and operational inefficiencies. Remember, your team is the engine that drives your company forward. ** Tech Team: 1. Not investing in your talent. Failing to replace key personnel who leave the company and not addressing the underlying issues that caused their departure can lead to a brain drain and loss of institutional knowledge. 2. Neglecting technical debt. Prioritizing short-term gains over long-term sustainability can result in a codebase that's difficult to maintain and scale. This oversight can slow down development, increase bugs, and make it challenging to adapt to market changes. * These experiences have been invaluable learning opportunities, shaping my understanding of what it takes to build and maintain a successful tech company. What about you? Have you encountered similar challenges in your career? How did you overcome them? Let's share our experiences and learn from each other in the comments below. * 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩? 𝐋𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬!

My client just got asked to interview to be the CEO of a new startup - a job she didn't apply for. These guys reached out to her. How? Her strategy was to make connections with investors. She would share her story, share her value prop, and talk about their pain points. All of these investors have a portfolio of companies they work with. And she fit the bill for one of them. My takeaway: The typical moves (online applications) may not get you where you want to go in your career. But a clever strategy sure as hell will! #leadership #careers #careerdevelopment #jobsearch #hiring -- Need a different strategy for your search? We'll be discussing tools for a faster senior-level search in our next webinar TOMORROW, 10/21 at 12pm ET. Register today and be in a new role by the end of the year: https://loom.ly/U3ywOK0

If you're an executive interviewing for a new role, here's my #1 piece of advice: Learn to tell your story with numbers. If you're a GTM leader and you can’t confidently speak to the impact you’ve had in your career and cite specific numbers you will be at a HUGE disadvantage. Get creative to create a narrative that ties together the data in a useful way. Here are 2 examples from my career: Example 1: In 2018, the last time I was looking for a full-time role, I wanted to show that when I was part of a company, those companies tended to grow quickly. So I went back as far as 2003, looked at beginning year revenue and ending year revenue for every company I worked at each year, for 15 years, and then averaged the annual revenue growth rate. That number turned out to be 47%. It held true through recessions, booms, and busts. No, I wasn’t solely responsible for all that growth every time. But 15 years of data is a useful enough data set to understand there was some correlation between my leadership and how fast the company grew. Example 2: Similarly, I went back and totaled all the funding rounds I’d ever been part of. Of course, those rounds were disproportionately influenced by the massive success that GLG had when I was there for 7.5 years, but nevertheless, adding it all up totaled close to $1 Billion in total capital raised, multiple liquidity events, and, across the portfolio of my work, investments from First Round Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Silverlake Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, QED Investors, Index Ventures, Comcast Ventures, and many more. Again, I wasn’t solely responsible for any of it. There were teams of brilliant people that helped achieve that success. But after going through the above process, I could confidently say that, over close to two decades, I’d helped raise nearly $1B in total institutional capital and contributed to an average annual growth rate of 47% across 3 different economic cycles. TAKEAWAY: Look for the patterns in your career that help tell the story of your impact and quantify that impact with numbers. It will put you miles ahead of your competition.

"Internet Shminternet": Carving Your Niche as an Aspiring NED! Jeff Bezos famously remarked, “Internet Shminternet,” in the '90s, underscoring a philosophy that’s more relevant today than ever. (If you haven't seen the interview, I'll add the link in the comments)! As aspiring Non-Executive Directors in the SME sector, this principle rings especially true: Success isn’t about chasing the crowd; it’s about identifying where you can truly make a difference. WAKE UP CALL: 99% won’t make it through the archaic, gate-kept hiring practices of The City’s PLCs. It’s a world where the old guard reigns, and the path is well-trodden by those playing by an ancient rulebook. Oh and then there are the old school recruitment firms to contend with! Pfff.... So.... Why not focus on the SME market? 1. Focus on Impact, Not Hype: Seek opportunities where your unique skills and insights can drive real change, not just where the spotlight shines brightest. 2. Agility Over Echo Chambers: Being adaptable and forward-thinking sets you apart from those stuck in the echo chamber of popular opinion. 3. Build Deep, Not Wide: Forge meaningful, impactful relationships in the SME community. Here, depth trumps breadth every time. 4. Lead with Vision: Show how your unique perspective can translate into actionable strategies that propel growth and innovation. 5. Embrace the Road Less Traveled: The SME landscape offers a fertile ground for those brave enough to challenge the status quo and lead with purpose. The real opportunities lie in spaces where you can leverage your strengths and carve out a meaningful impact. #BeyondTheBuzz #SMELeadership #InnovateToLead #NEDPathfinders #nonexecutivedirector #virtualnonexecs

If you're an executive interviewing at a new company, here's my #1 piece of advice: Learn to tell your story with numbers. If you're a GTM leader and you can’t confidently speak to the impact you’ve had in your career and cite specific numbers you will be at a HUGE disadvantage. Get creative to create a narrative that ties together the data in a useful way. Here are 2 examples from my career: Example 1: In 2018, the last time I was looking for a full-time role, I wanted to show that when I was part of a company, those companies tended to grow quickly. So I went back as far as 2003, looked at beginning year revenue and ending year revenue for every company I worked at each year, for 15 years, and then averaged the annual revenue growth rate. That number turned out to be 47%. It held true through recessions, booms, and busts. No, I wasn’t solely responsible for all that growth every time. But 15 years of data is a useful enough data set to understand there was some correlation between my leadership and how fast the company grew. Example 2: Similarly, I went back and totaled all the funding rounds I’d ever been part of. Of course, those rounds were disproportionately influenced by the massive success that GLG had when I was there for 7.5 years, but nevertheless, adding it all up totaled close to $1 Billion in total capital raised, multiple liquidity events, and, across the portfolio of my work, investments from First Round Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Silverlake Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, QED Investors, Index Ventures, Comcast Ventures, and many more. Again, I wasn’t solely responsible for any of it. There were teams of brilliant people that helped achieve that success. But after going through the above process, I could confidently say that, over close to two decades, I’d helped raise nearly $1B in total institutional capital and contributed to an average annual growth rate of 47% across 3 different economic cycles. TAKEAWAY: Look for the patterns in your career that help tell the story of your impact and quantify that impact with numbers. It will put you miles ahead of your competition.

#44mistakes part 3: Not everyone who starts with you on day one will be there when you reach 1,000 employees. Some people excel in specific stages of a company's growth, performing incredibly well in a startup environment but struggling in a more complex, process-driven, and specialized setting. This can even include co-founders. First, be prepared. You need to identify early signals that indicate whether someone is "stretched" in their role or capable of growing alongside the company. Sometimes these signals are clear, but other times, they only become apparent later in the journey. Let’s assume all efforts to help this person grow—coaching, training, upskilling—haven’t worked. What do we do? Founders usually address this challenge (which is part of the journey, not just a problem) in different ways: - Uncover Hidden Talents: We’re lucky if we discover hidden talents in the person and find a new, perfect role for them. However, this is rare. - Find a Side Role: We might place the person in a side role out of gratitude for their early contributions. But this is often a short-term solution, as people may feel "parked" and disconnected from the company's impact. - Part Ways Ethically: We may let them go after a clear conversation, behaving ethically and being generous with severance. - Having open conversations like, "Where do you see yourself in this company in two years? Are you happy with the new, more complex environment?" can help the person realize on their own that this is no longer the company they loved in the past, leading them to leave voluntarily. (I found this very effective, it worked very well if you do it in good faith) When it comes to founders, the situation is more complex. There’s one mistake to avoid and one opportunity to seize: - Mistake: Avoid giving a C-level role to every founder. It’s likely that you’ll need to hire external C-level executives later, and revoking a C-level title from a founder is difficult. - Opportunity: If a founder isn’t the right fit (and hopefully, hasn’t been given a C-level role 😉), consider a secondary transaction to buy their shares. This can make the separation process smoother. This #mistake is a tough one, there are no easy solutions.

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