Make the C-Suite Think Like a Startup (Without Getting Fired) | West Stringfellow, VP Product (ex-Target, Blackhawk)

Today, we’re joined by West Stringfellow, currently VP of Product at Blackhawk Network and former VP of Innovation at Target.

In this episode, West shares:

• How he went from stealth startups to leading innovation at a company with over $77 billion in annual sales
• The methods he uses to manage up and influence leadership in order to achieve the outcomes necessary to create successful organizations time and time again
• The bold move that accelerated his Target career, which included hand-delivering over 300 copies of his innovation proposal to every executive at their Minneapolis HQ, even catching the attention of Target’s CEO
• An inside look at how Blackhawk is thinking about AI and digital transformation by cultivating “culture carriers” to champion AI

Links

West’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weststringfellow/
Blackhawk Network: https://blackhawknetwork.com/
HowDo: https://howdo.com/about/

Chapters

00:00: Introduction
01:17: West's career journey
02:08: Project Goldfish and West's startup background
05:43: Making product and strategy decisions at Target
06:25: West building a Techstars Startup Accelerator
08:39: How West's work at Target inspired his startup, HowDo
09:44: How did West "manage up" at Target?
17:05: An introduction to Blackhawk
21:02: Digital transformation with gift cards
23:44: How Blackhawk is using AI
30:29: Big AI wins
33:09: Conclusion

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Special Guest: West Stringfellow.