Emphasizing Company Values and Ownership Mentality

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The chapter explores the core values of the company such as service mindset, debate and commit mindset, and ownership mentality. It discusses the importance of aligning these values throughout the organization, from recruitment to performance reviews. The conversation also delves into the balance between competitiveness and kindness, the concept of heroism not scaling in business, and the significance of hiring individuals aligned with company values for long-term success.

Josh Reeves has built Gusto into a nearly $10B company with over $500M in ARR, serving small businesses. In our conversation, Josh delves into Gusto’s 13-year journey, sharing insights on how they achieved product-market fit by initially targeting a very narrow niche. He also highlights the tactics they’ve used to build an intentional culture of humility and helpfulness, along with lessons he’s learned in hiring executives. We also explore the future of Gusto and the opportunities that lie ahead for the business.

(00:00) Intro

(00:36) Early Days and Product Market Fit

(01:02) Building a Scalable Business

(01:41) Gusto's Core Offerings and Customer Focus

(02:51) Challenges and Strategies in Payroll

(05:40) Expanding Gusto's Reach

(10:11) Customer Feedback and Product Development

(23:03) Hiring and Company Culture

(29:23) Values and Leadership at Gusto

(37:14) Sustaining Passion and Long-Term Vision

(43:27) Balancing Growth and Sustainability

(46:29) Balancing Competition and Kindness in Startups

(46:38) The Importance of Team Collaboration

(47:47) Navigating Feedback: Kindness vs. Niceness

(48:25) Hiring for Ambition and Humility

(49:57) Aligning Company Values with Success

(53:11) Work-Life Integration at Gusto

(56:11) Building a Long-Term Oriented Business

(57:15) Mentorship and Learning from Other Founders

(01:00:09) Structuring and Scaling Product Teams

(01:06:16) Organizational Design and Leadership

(01:08:31) Hiring Executives and Internal Growth

(01:13:13) The Journey of Rebranding to Gusto

(01:21:05) The Role of a CEO in a Growing Company

(01:28:39) Fundraising and Investor Relations

(01:33:14) Future Goals and Impact of Gusto

(01:35:48) Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Executive Producer: Rashad Assir

Producer: Leah Clapper

Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky

Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA

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Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode, Logan goes behind the scenes with world-class entrepreneurs and investors. If you're interested in the real inside baseball of tech, entrepreneurship, and start-up investing, tune in every Friday for new episodes.