Tom Willerer is the Chief Operating Officer at Reforge. Prior to that he was the Chief Product Officer at Opendoor, Coursera and a VP of Product at Netflix. Tom is a husband, father of two teenagers and a fellow Michigander.
In this episode we discuss:
* Tom's early years as a college baseball player
* How Tom got into tech
* The decision to start a family
* A hilarious story about burritos in the delivery room
* Having a limited support network
* How parenting is a team sport and how that team changes over time
* What it's like raising teenagers
* How to let kids make their own decisions (safely)
* Mistakes made leaning in too much to help
* Parenting frameworks
* How to put your partners needs above your own
* Managing kids and career
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Where to find Tom Willerer
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/twillerer/
Where to find Adam Fishman
- Newsletter: www.startupdadpod.substack.com
- Newsletter: www.FishmanAFNewsletter.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/
- Twitter (aka X): https://twitter.com/fishmanaf
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startupdadpod/
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In this episode:
(1:51) Tom's introduction
(2:13) Learning more about Tom's background
(5:57) How Tom got into tech
(8:40) His decision to start a family with his wife
(9:50) Lacking a strong support network
(12:05) Tom's earliest memory of becoming a dad
(15:58) Why parenting is a team sport
(18:40) How the team changes as your kids get older
(22:22) What it's like raising teenagers
(27:26) How to let your kids make their own decisions
(31:30) Mistakes made leaning in too much
(35:23) Parenting frameworks
(38:19) When he and his wife don’t agree
(42:50) Putting your partner’s needs above own
(46:56) Managing kids & career
(48:47) Sacrifices made as a dad
(51:37) Rapid fire round
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Show references
Springfree Trampoline - https://www.springfreetrampoline.com/collections/trampolines
Inside Out the movie - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2096673/
Jeep Wrangler - https://www.jeep.com/wrangler.html
Sleep Coach - https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/what-is-sleep-coach
Reforge - www.reforge.com
Opendoor - www.opendoor.com
Coursera - https://www.coursera.org/
Netflix - https://www.netflix.com/
Indiana University - https://www.iu.edu/index.html
Mario Kart 8 - https://mariokart8.nintendo.com/
Sun Microsystems - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Microsystems
BlackBerry - https://www.blackberry.com/us/en
Dad Joke Cards - https://www.amazon.com/WORD-TEASERS-Worst-Jokes-Conversation/dp/B09BX39MBN/r
City Ballet of San Diego - https://cityballet.org/
X (Twitter) - https://twitter.com/
Colic - https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/colic
ChatGPT - https://chat.openai.com
Super73 - https://super73.com/
Luke Bryan - https://www.lukebryan.com/tour
Shoreline Amphitheatre - https://www.mountainviewamphitheater.com/
Bridesmaids - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1478338/
Elon Musk - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk
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Production support for Startup Dad is provided by Tommy Harron at
http://www.armaziproductions.com/
Episode art designed by Matt Sutherland at https://www.mspnw.com/
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
startupdadpod.substack.com
