Grit

#227: CEO & Founder Axon, Rick Smith: Push Risk

Jan 27, 2025

Rick Smith, the Founder and CEO of Axon, is known for his innovative approach to non-lethal weaponry. He discusses his unique perspective as a founder-CEO, emphasizing the importance of pushing risk within organizations. Rick recounts the evolution of Axon from a Taser-centric company to a broad tech solution for law enforcement, including body cameras and AI tools. He shares his experiences with product failures, the significance of risk-taking, and balancing family life amidst entrepreneurial challenges.

01:15:41

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Rick Smith

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Quick takeaways

Rick Smith emphasizes the importance of calculated risk-taking in leadership, enabling innovation and pushing boundaries within the organization.

Axon's transition from Taser to a broader technology firm highlights the necessity of evolving to meet changing public safety needs and expectations.

The integration of AI into Axon's offerings revolutionizes law enforcement processes, enhancing accountability and efficiency through advanced technological solutions.

Deep dives

The Importance of Work-Life Balance

A culture that values work-life balance can enhance productivity and employee satisfaction. Employees are encouraged to work hard and then detach from work to recharge. This philosophy fosters an environment where individuals can return to work refreshed and motivated to contribute more effectively. Success isn’t solely defined by relentless work; it’s about achieving greatness both inside and outside the workplace.

Intro

2min

The Efficacy of Tasers in Close-Quarter Defense

2min

Scaling Success: From Startup to Enterprise

6min

Innovating Safety: The Taser Journey

25min

From Struggles to Success: The Early Days of Taser Marketing

3min

Balancing Work and Family: A Reflection

9min

Transforming Axon: From Tasers to Technology

24min

Transforming Compensation: Aligning Goals Through Risk and Reward

5min

Guest: Rick Smith, CEO & Founder of Axon (formerly TASER)

Being a founder-CEO is a “unique superpower,” says Axon’s Rick Smith: People like him get a longer leash from the board to try things that outside CEOs might not.

“My job is to push risk into the organization,” Rick says. “If there's a project with a 50 percent chance of success, a 50 percent chance of failure, but it's going to pay 100 to 1, any finance person will tell you, you should take that bet all day long.”

One of those bets was the transition from running a weapons company called TASER into a broader public safety firm called Axon, which makes cloud-supported body cameras fro police, tactical drones, AI records management software and more. “If we never have a product failure, then we're not taking risks anymore and we're going to end up getting disrupted,” Rick says.

Chapters:

(01:09) - Tasers vs. guns
(03:35) - Axon’s growth
(07:09) - Biggest surprises
(09:33) - How TASER got started
(13:11) - Reinventing the taser
(17:24) - A humiliating launch
(23:33) - Rick’s family
(26:14) - The Auto Taser failure
(30:21) - The darkest days
(34:26) - Hans Marrero
(37:25) - Family and burnout
(42:49) - Rick’s family
(45:49) - Pivoting the business
(51:37) - Axon body cameras
(53:46) - Axon’s current products
(58:08) - Re-educating the cops
(01:02:09) - Pushing risk
(01:05:44) - Competing with the gun
(01:10:16) - Exponential stock plans
(01:14:17) - Who Axon is hiring
(01:14:46) - What “grit” means to Rick

Mentioned in this episode: UnitedHealthcare and Brian Thompson, Harvard University, human-machine interfaces, Star Wars, Timecop, Star Trek, Jack Cover, Project Apollo, Ed Owen; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; Tom Smith, Rodney King, the Sharper Image, Steve Filmer, Phil Smith, Silicon Valley Bank, Emil Michael, Bob Kagle, Benchmark, Norwest Ventures, Molly Wuthrich, Josh Isner, The Terminator, Ferrari, Richard Branson, Burning Man, Steve Jobs, Brenda Smith, Hadi Partovi, Amazon AWS, Microsoft, DraftOne, Ambience Health, OpenAI, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Brown, Computer Aided Dispatch, Elon Musk and SpaceX, and Luke Larson.

Links:

Connect with Rick

Connect with Joubin

Learn more about Kleiner Perkins

This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

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