Perspectives on Vision and Leadership at the Founder’s Wisdom Roundtable

by Jackie Peters, Founding Partner at Heavybag Media

I had the pleasure of attending Monday’s roundtable panel discussion “Founder’s Wisdom: I Wish Someone Had Told Me That” – part of Dealmaker Media’s Strategy Series. The event was hosted by Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, with Mike Jones, CEO of Userplane & SVP at AOL moderating. The panel consisted of three seasoned entrepreneurs:

Frank Addante – CEO of Rubicon Project
Kamran Purzanjani – Former CEO & Founder, PriceGrabber & Angel Investor
Dana Settle – Partner at Greycroft Partners

Many topics were discussed during the panel, but the answer to almost every question was the same: lead with your gut, trust your instincts and be true to your vision.

On Corporate Culture – Creating an Environment for Success

The insights that Frank Addante had on corporate culture and leadership really hit home for me. Frank shared his experience as CEO of StrongMail, an enterprise product for email marketing. The world of enterprise software was one that Frank had little experience in. He questioned his ability to lead from his gut and instead instituted a corporate culture based on what he thought it should be: a stodgy environment of kaki pants and blue button downs. The result of this sort of corporate culture was a cover your ass environment in which people were afraid to take risks. In his new company, Rubicon Project, Frank has instilled a lively corporate culture in which creativity can thrive. He has invested in his people, creating an environment where his employees feel valued and are comfortable with taking risks.

Dana offered this advice – “Don’t fall into the trap of doing what you’re supposed to do. Be true to yourself and who you are; it extends through the organization.” CEOs are CEOs for one reason: they have a vision and the motivation to carry it out. It’s when we loose track of our vision, and start making decisions based on protocol that we can get into trouble.

Is Luck a Factor?

But how much does luck play a role in the success or failure of a startup? As one member of the audience pointed out, for every startup that succeeds there are hundreds that fail, and sometimes the reason for the success of one company over another isn’t always clear. Moderator Mike Jones reminded us that all of the panelists, including himself, had experienced failures as well. Is luck a factor? Of course it is. Frank pointed out that he considers himself to be extremely lucky to be so successful at such a young age. Frank believes firmly that if you try enough things and fail enough times, eventually you will find luck. He says the key is to make mistakes fast, and learn from them fast.

Funding – When and How Much?

On the subject of funding, Dana says this: “The problem with venture capital is it’s like crack. You get the money and get going so fast that you can miss the point of building a product for a market. Take the minimum that you need.”

Dana also points out that it’s important to choose the right investor for yourself. Conflicts can arise easily if you have the wrong person who’s not on your team, who doesn’t fully believe in what you’re doing. She believes it’s important to align everyone in the organization from hires to board members to investors, with a culture that breeds success.

The Importance of Product

Often times in the process of starting and leading a company, CEOs can loose sight of the most important thing: the product. It becomes more about the company than the product the company creates. In most cases, it takes listening to the market and continual iteration to succeed. Mike shared his insights in shifting from an agency mentality, which has a defined beginning and end, to a product mentality, in which the product is constantly improved based on it’s value to the user.

According to Kamran “The day you stop working on your product is the day your business starts dying.” Kamran also stressed the importance of building a product for a market, and not building it for the company. He mentioned that early on, his company turned down a huge revenue source – popup ads. They were thinking more about the user experience than about their own pockets. This decision lead to a product that better served it’s market and was ultimately more profitable as a result.

The Takeaway

To truly lead, and not just manage, it’s vital to stay true to your vision and guide everyone involved in your organization down the path to achieving it.