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CMO Square, Lauren Weinberg: Self-made boss

May 9, 2022

01:00:57

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ANECDOTE

Always Carry Sneakers Post-9/11

Lauren Weinberg never leaves home without sneakers since 9/11 for emergencies.
During 9/11, she walked home from downtown Manhattan due to transit shutdowns.

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ANECDOTE

Lauren's Survival Year 2012

In 2012, Lauren faced her worst year with her husband's treatment, son's broken leg, and dog's paralysis.
She entered survival mode managing family crises amid professional pressures.

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ANECDOTE

Square's Change to Block Structure

Square rebranded under parent company Block to allow product autonomy.
Separation helps Square run its brand independently and make faster decisions.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

What the Hell Is Gamon Ya?

01:49 • 2min

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You Don't Leave Home Without Sneakers

03:59 • 2min

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Is San Francisco a Good Place to Start a Business?

05:54 • 2min

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How Did You Make the Leap From Recercan Strategies to Marketing Execution?

07:25 • 2min

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Adud, What Was the Dinner Conversation Like for Laren?

09:36 • 2min

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What's Your Favorit Restaurant in New York City Right Now?

11:20 • 2min

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I've Had the One in Ella. O, Ye. But Sugar Fish?

13:24 • 2min

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Do You Overload Yourself?

15:13 • 2min

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Yoga During the Pandemic

17:09 • 2min

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Do You Think Your Priorities Have Changed?

18:48 • 3min

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How Hard Was the Summer of Two Thousand and 12?

21:51 • 2min

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The Day Your Husband Leaves, Then Your Son Breaks His Leg

23:44 • 2min

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Yah, at Five New Ceos in a Year?

25:23 • 2min

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How Do You Take Two Kids to Six Basketball Games?

26:55 • 2min

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Is It True That Square Does This Thing When You're Leaving?

28:26 • 2min

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Is the Square Business Unit Different From Block?

30:17 • 3min

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What's the Lowest Point of Your Career?

33:04 • 2min

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Small Business Stories That Galvanize Us So Much

35:14 • 2min

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The American Dream - Self Made Boss

37:10 • 2min

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The Great Resignation

39:17 • 2min

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The Last Ten Percent Is Extraordinaryly Hard

41:15 • 4min

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I've Been Through a Lot of Shit All the Time

45:21 • 2min

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Do You Know About This Theries?

47:23 • 2min

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How Square Made It Easy for Small Businesses to Take Credit Card Payments

49:27 • 3min

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Isn't It Nice to Have Competition?

52:16 • 2min

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The Planning Process at Square

54:09 • 2min

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You Have Strength in Your Conviction and Move the Business Forward

56:20 • 2min

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Suproca, Self Made Boss, Coming Out in a Few Weeks

57:59 • 3min

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As the CMO for Square, Lauren Weinberg spends a lot of her time talking to new and inexperienced small business owners — and she knows that each of them has wisdom that the others could benefit from. So, Lauren and her former colleague Jackie Reses wrote a book pooling all that wisdom into one place, Self-Made Boss: Advice, Hacks, and Lessons From Small Business Owners

In this episode, Lauren and Joubin discuss why Lauren never leaves home without sneakers post-9/11; how she maintains discipline in her schedule, and how her priorities have changed over the years; how Lauren overcame three back-to-back challenges in her personal life; why she took a job at Square — after initially turning them down; and the importance of competition for any business.

In this episode, we cover:

Weekend date nights and the best restaurants in New York City (10:04)
How Lauren creates her own time and recharges (15:15)
Moving to California to work at Yahoo, and finding a new community (19:32)
“The worst year of my life” and going into “survival mode” (22:52)
The difference between Square and its newly re-christened parent company, Block (30:22)
Why our culture is galvanized by small business stories (36:05)
What inspired Lauren and Jackie to write “Self-Made Boss,” and the surprising parts of publishing a book (39:52)
Why Lauren includes sad or funny personal stories in every marketing email (42:26)
Square’s secret superpower in the company’s early days (49:27)
The planning “manifesto” Lauren sent to Square’s executive team shortly after joining (53:31)
How Square “earns the right” to show up for social causes (56:50)

Links:

Connect with Lauren
- Twitter
- LinkedIn
Connect with Joubin
- Twitter
- LinkedIn
- Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

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