#193 Former CEO Nextdoor, Sarah Friar: Four Circles
Jun 3, 2024
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Former CEO of Nextdoor, Sarah Friar, discusses public markets vs. VC, compassion in leadership, being in 'flow,' transitions, personal burn rate, and the essence of gratitude. Topics include life decisions, perfectionism, transitions, and daily routines for success.
Great leadership involves reflecting strength, resilience, and determination.
Investing in public companies requires a shift towards data-oriented decisions.
Transitioning leadership roles involves humility, collaboration, and commitment to organizational goals.
Deep dives
Maintaining Leadership Confidence in Uncertainty
Leaders must portray confidence and certainty without showing doubt, as people depend on their guidance and assurance in challenging times. Great leadership involves reflecting strength back to the team, demonstrating resilience, and instilling a sense of importance and determination to push through obstacles.
Challenges of Data-Driven Investment Decisions in Public Companies
Investing in public companies requires a shift towards more data-oriented decisions, moving away from solely intuitive bets. Venture capitalists, especially in early-stage investments, often rely on intuition rather than data due to the ambiguities and disruptions in emerging technologies.
Transitioning Leadership and Strategic Decision-Making in Companies
Transitioning leadership roles in companies involves strategic decision-making. Handing over responsibilities requires actively supporting the incoming leader, tangibly and emotionally, to ensure a smooth transition and sustained success. Effective leadership transitions involve a blend of humility, collaboration, and commitment to organizational goals.
Balancing Personal Challenges and Professional Success
Leaders juggle personal challenges alongside professional demands. Acknowledging personal moments of difficulty while maintaining professional commitments showcases resilience and compassion. Finding intrinsic motivation and aligning personal values with career choices contribute to sustained success and well-being.
Sarah's Reflection on Loneliness as a CEO
Sarah discusses the loneliness she experienced as a CEO, feeling stuck between board opinions and company execution, citing the absence of a co-founder to share the burden. She reflects on the pressure and compares the necessity of a colleague to confide in for effective decision-making and emotional release.
Sarah's Approach to Work-Life Balance and Success
Sarah describes her daily routine, emphasizing the importance of early morning workouts to manage stress levels. She highlights the significance of hyper-responsiveness and hard work, illustrating a commitment to high achievement. Additionally, she shares her strategy of prioritizing people-oriented tasks and fostering gratitude within her leadership teams for improved collaboration and problem-solving.
Sarah Friar has worked with some of the top leaders in Silicon Valley, including Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, Block CEO Jack Dorsey, and most recently Nextdoor founder Nirav Tolia, who just replaced her as CEO in May. And one of the things that sets top performers apart from the rest, she argues, is their compassion and their responsiveness. When her former EA’s husband was diagnosed with cancer, Sarah texted Benioff — who she had just left behind to work at Square — for help. Within seconds, she recalls, he arranged an appointment at UCSF. “That is an amazing moment of compassion,” she says, “where he did not need to take that time.”
In this episode, Sarah and Joubin discuss public markets vs. VC, George Floyd, working with the board, singular focus, Goldman Sachs, being in “flow,” the freedom of not getting the thing you want, Walmart, Steph Curry, Graham Smith, Charlie Rose and Donald Trump, ugly babies, Elon Musk, Ladies Who Lunch, CNBC, commuting from home, white noise, “frequent Friars,” @TechEmails on Twitter, and the “zone of gratefulness.”
