GTM 1: Creating a Winning Culture with Mark Cranney
Oct 18, 2022
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Mark Cranney, an expert in developing winning playbooks and culture, discusses how to create a winning culture, keep competition at bay, and recruit talent that fits your organization. He shares insights on using playbooks, getting granular in competitive strategy, and the value of commitment and continuous improvement.
A winning culture is built on understanding your competition and optimizing your recruiting, strategy, and operations playbooks.
To gain an advantage over competitors, it is crucial to have a well-defined competitive strategy, customizing a playbook, and implementing a granular process.
Deep dives
Importance of Being Competitive
Being competitive is essential for success in any industry. As the speaker explains, those who are willing to take risks, have the right playbooks, and build strong teams are the ones who will rise to the top. While some may view a competitive culture as toxic, it is important for individuals to assess whether they thrive in such an environment. Ultimately, being a student of the game, putting in the necessary practice, and continuously improving are crucial for achieving success.
Executing a Competitive Strategy
To gain an advantage over competitors, it is crucial to have a well-defined competitive strategy. This involves understanding who your competitors are, identifying their weaknesses, and leveraging your strengths. By customizing a playbook and implementing a granular process, teams can effectively execute their competitive strategy. An important aspect of this strategy is the ability to pre-position your product or service and shape the customer's buying criteria. By focusing on technical validation events, ROI diagnostics, and building champions within the organization, you can increase your chances of success.
Building a Culture of Winning
Creating a culture of winning requires a balance between competitiveness and maintaining a positive work environment. Leaders must establish clear expectations and provide the necessary tools and training for their teams to succeed. This includes implementing a playbook, conducting a new hire boot camp, and continuously refining processes. However, it is also important for individuals to align with the team's culture and be willing to put in the effort required to achieve success. Ultimately, a winning culture is built on accountability, performance management, and the right fit in terms of both skills and mindset.
The Value of Preparation and Practice
Being prepared and putting in the necessary practice are crucial ingredients for success. Like a professional athlete, individuals need to be dedicated students of the game and constantly strive for improvement. This involves investing time and effort behind closed doors, practicing and drilling to sharpen their skills. By prioritizing preparation, individuals can develop a level of unconscious competency and build the confidence needed to excel in competitive environments. Taking shortcuts is not an option, as true success comes from the thousands of hours of practice and preparation that happen before the performance.
Mark Cranney is an enterprise go-to-market operator and three-time unicorn creator. Most recently, he was the COO at Skydio. He's also a founding operating partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and has been involved in the acquisitions of Opsware and Aster Data Systems by HP and Teradata, respectively.
What You Will Learn:
How to create a winning culture.
How to keep your competition at bay.
How to hire talent that culturally fits your organization.
Highlights: (02:25) Introducing Mark Cranney.
(03:48) Two books that shaped Mark's winning culture.
(10:39) How to keep your competition at bay.
(14:10) Three questions to ask when scouting for culture-fit talent.
(15:46) How to keep recruited talent motivated.
(16:16) "Process triumphs heroics." How Mark created and used playbooks to create winning cultures.
(23:00) Why you need to get more granular in your competitive strategy.
(35:17) How to create a winning culture without turning your team's culture toxic.
(37:18) "If it's not a competitive environment, for me, that's toxic."
The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Scott Barker, GTMfund Partner, featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth.
Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.
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