OpenView

Hypergrowth is hard. Sustaining hypergrowth is even harder. Leaders need to constantly bring new talent into the organization to avoid plateaus. The tricky part? New talent almost always entails changing roles for existing team members. Peter says the answer is to embrace the pain of difficult conversations to maintain speed. Key Takeaways:[2:54] What makes hypergrowth hard for a startup leader?[5:48] Anticipating plateaus to guide company success, and answering "What could go wrong?"[9:42] The time to anticipate plateaus is when things are going really well.[13:56] Early indicators of problems, and staying ahead to scale talent with the organization] [17:07] Adding specialized talent rather than replacing people[20:02] How to approach tough conversations[24:51] Choosing the pain of difficult conversation, and the context of delivering bad news[27:32] Understand what you're good at and be proactive in finding talent who can do the things you don't like to do Mentioned in this episode:<a href="https://openviewpartners.com/newsletter/#.YfRAM-rMIuU" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sign up for OpenView's weekly newsletter</a><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/pemckay/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Peter McKay, CEO of Snyk</a><a href="https://snyk.io/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Snyk</a>Follow&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/blakebartlett" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Blake Bartlett on Linkedin</a>.&nbsp;Podcast produced by&nbsp;<a href="https://openviewpartners.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">OpenView</a>.View our&nbsp;<a href="https://openviewpartners.com/blog" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">blog&nbsp;</a>for more context/inspiration.<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/openview-/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">OpenView on Linkedin</a><a href="https://twitter.com/openviewventure" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">OpenView on Twitter</a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/openviewventure/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">OpenView on Instagram</a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/OpenViewVenture/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">OpenView on Facebook</a>

As CEO of Snyk, I have the pleasure of leading a worldwide organization that is disrupting the security industry. I love what I do. This may not be something you often hear a CEO say, but it captures my feelings. I get to work with great people all around the world who bring their own skills and passion to their roles. I've been able to learn from them, work with them, and share in our mutual success. 

There are three basic principles I follow as a leader: 
1. Lead by example. It is important for me to know that others can look to me with confidence that I will do my best across all endeavors. I expect others in my organization to lead by example as well. “Do as I say not as I do” does not cut it.
2. Always be learning and pushing myself. I try never to become complacent or too comfortable. I challenge all our employees to continually learn and seek to improve. 
 3. Take risks and push beyond your comfort levels. If you find yourself too comfortable in your role, and there is no longer any challenge, it’s time to move on. Raise your hand and ask for something new. 

Peter McKay

CEO of Snyk

Hypergrowth is hard. Sustaining hypergrowth is even harder. Leaders need to constantly bring new talent into the organization to avoid plateaus. The tricky part? New talent almost always entails changing roles for existing team members. Peter says the answer is to embrace the pain of difficult conversations to maintain speed.


Peter McKay (Snyk): Leading Through Hypergrowth

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It takes 3 ingredients to build a software startup in today’s wild market: people, product and growth. Easier said than done. BUILD is here to help by featuring conversations between venture capitalist Blake Bartlett and the smartest folks in software. OpenView is a VC firm that invests in amazing companies like Datadog, Expensify and Calendly. Visit ov.vc for more details.

Alex MacCaw is the founder of Clearbit and Reflect, and his journey with each company has been wildly different. Clearbit took more of a “classic” startup approach and now he’s building his new company Reflect in with a totally different way—building a fully remote &amp; asynchronous “lifestyle” company that decidedly eschews VC money and the other common hallmarks of a tech startup.&nbsp;Alex shares everything he’s learned as a founder and why he believes building startups should not be one-size-fits-all.