Sarah Jones Simmer, CEO of Found and former Bumble COO, shares invaluable career insights and personal anecdotes. She discusses the impact of her cancer journey on redefining priorities and boundaries. Simmer emphasizes the importance of trust in scaling startups, the unique challenges women face in fundraising, and the power of effective leadership. The conversation also touches on creating psychological safety within teams and the role of coaching in personal growth, ultimately redefining success through joy and authentic connections.
We should consider the limited time we have and make impactful changes in our lives.
Maintaining the heart and clarity of purpose in a business while setting up infrastructure for scale is crucial.
Establishing and maintaining trust in a remote work environment requires intentional communication, vulnerability, and a culture of kindness and authenticity.
Deep dives
Value of Time: Embracing the Five-Year Mindset
The speaker reflects on a doctor's statement about having five years to live and emphasizes the importance of considering the limited time we have and making impactful changes in our lives.
Scaling a Business: Building Infrastructure Without Crushing Magic
The speaker shares her experience at Bumble and explains the importance of maintaining the heart and clarity of purpose in a business while setting up the necessary infrastructure for scale.
Creating Psychological Safety and Trust in Remote Work
The speaker discusses the challenges of establishing and maintaining trust in a remote work environment, emphasizing the need for intentional communication, vulnerability, and fostering a culture of kindness and authenticity.
Technology as a Driver for Positive Behavior Change
Technology can be a powerful tool for promoting positive behavior change. While it often distracts us, there are also ways in which it can help us improve our habits. For instance, streaks on apps like Snapchat can motivate us to maintain daily routines like taking medication or exercising. Additionally, finding a cohort or support group can hold us accountable and make behavior change more successful. By understanding how technology can be harnessed in a beneficial way, we can create new habits that lead to healthier outcomes.
Addressing the Complexity of Weight Care and Empowering Self-Acceptance
Finding effective solutions for weight care requires acknowledging the multifactorial nature of weight management. Simply focusing on calories in and out oversimplifies the issue and undermines the importance of factors like biology, hormones, and social determinants of health. Found, a company aiming to improve weight care, takes a platform approach by combining coaching, community support, and medication options. By centering their approach around self-acceptance and empowerment, Found is committed to shifting the narrative around weight and helping individuals achieve better quality of life. With the urgency to address the rising obesity rates, Found's comprehensive toolkit and focus on diverse perspectives position the company to make a significant impact in the public health realm.
Sarah Jones Simmer calls on her years of experience as an advisor, investor, and top-level executive to offer a series of crucial career tips, and discuss how work helped rehabilitate her following a frightening cancer diagnosis. Simmer goes deep on scaling a business, making the right hire for your company, female-led companies, fundraising, setting boundaries, and how she learned to re-focus on the big deals in life.
Simmer is the CEO of Found, a company focused on making evidence-based, sustainable weight care for all. She joined the company in September 2021 after serving as the Chief Strategy Officer at Bumble, Inc., the parent company of the wildly popular relationship app. During her time with Bumble she was responsible for core strategy, international growth, marketing initiatives, business operations, and expanding Bumble’s rapidly growing team. She also led the investment strategy for the Bumble Fund, the company’s early-stage investing vehicle.
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