Think Like an Owner

Auren Hoffman - Growing Great Data Organizations - Ep.234

Jul 23, 2024

CEO of SafeGraph and partner at Flex Capital, Auren Hoffman, discusses the slow growth in data buyer’s market, challenges in scaling data companies, team management, and applying B2B SaaS playbook. Topics also include sales process at SafeGraph, reinventing as a CEO, auditing time, and traits for recruiting executives.

01:01:19

Episode guests

Auren Hoffman

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Importance of investing in exceptional founders over high-performing businesses.

Value of maintaining a humble approach when working with people.

Significance of not overhiring and having fewer people with higher capacity for increased productivity.

Deep dives

Humbling Mistakes and Lessons Learned

Making repeated mistakes in dealing with personnel and other matters is acknowledged as part of life and humbling. The importance of maintaining a humble approach when working with people is emphasized.

Intro

4min

Challenges and Evolution in the Data Market

18min

Navigating the Role of a CEO

23min

Challenges and Mistakes in Team Management

8min

Navigating Complex Human Interactions and Relationships

3min

Exploring Venture Capital Investment in Great People and Exceptional Founders

2min

Tips for Reaching Out and Thank You Message

3min

Ep.234: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Auren Hoffman (@auren).

In this episode, I sit down with Auren Hoffman, CEO of SafeGraph and partner at Flex Capital. The conversation centers around Auren’s experiences in running data companies and his insights into the data as a service market. We discuss the slower-than-expected growth in the buyer's market for data, and what it takes for data companies to achieve significant scale, using ZoomInfo as a prominent example. The discussion also covers team management, including hiring and letting go of employees. I highly recommend Hoffman’s podcast 'World of DaaS’ for those interested in data businesses.

Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn.

Learn more about Alex and Think Like an Owner at https://tlaopodcast.com/

Links:

Auren on X

World of DaaS Podcast

SafeGraph

Flex Capital

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:04:27) - What trend are you trying to learn more about in the Data market today?

(00:09:58) - Factors in why companies may not be buying data

(00:14:13) - Are there cracks in the “data is the new oil” thesis?