The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20VC: Why The CEO Should Make As Few Decisions As Possible, The Trade-Off Between Freedom and Raising Big From VCs & Why Our Jobs Are Not As Hard As We Think and How To Assess Talent and Potential As a Result with Tristan Handy, Founder & CEO @ dbt Labs

Oct 14, 2022

Tristan Handy, the Founder and CEO of dbt Labs, shares insights from his journey in the startup world. He reflects on his early experiences at Squarespace and how they shaped his approach to building dbt, now valued at $4.2 billion. Tristan argues that our jobs aren't as hard as we think and emphasizes hiring for potential over experience. He discusses the challenges of remote work dynamics, including the necessity of physical interaction, and critiques the notion of the 'A-team,' advocating for communication and shared values instead.

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ANECDOTE

Entry into Startups

Tristan Handy's startup journey began with a "lucky break" working with Anthony Casalena at Squarespace.
This experience showed him the positive aspects of startup culture and motivated him to transition from consulting.

INSIGHT

Talent Detection

Investors consistently praise Tristan Handy's skill in team building and talent detection.
He prioritizes individuals who communicate effectively and demonstrate clear thinking, even without extensive prior experience.

ANECDOTE

Hiring Erin

Tristan Handy hired Erin, DBT's first employee, after observing her decisive communication in a single meeting.
Erin, despite lacking prior leadership experience, successfully led customer success at DBT for five years.

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Blitzscaling

Reid Hoffman

Chris Yeh

Blitzscaling is a high-risk, high-reward strategy that prioritizes speed over efficiency in the face of uncertainty. It involves designing an innovative business model that can grow rapidly, implementing a strategy that builds growth factors through network effects and aggressive spending, and using an innovative approach to management to handle the human resources challenges of rapid growth. The book, written by Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh, draws on their experiences scaling startups into billion-dollar businesses and provides a framework that can be applied in any region or industry. It emphasizes the importance of positive feedback loops, competitive advantage, and the ability to adapt and manage through different stages of scaling[1][3][4].

No Rules Rules

Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention

Erin Meyer

Reed Hastings

In this book, Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer explore the counterintuitive management culture that has driven Netflix's success. The authors discuss how Netflix's approach, which includes no vacation or expense policies, generous severance for underperforming employees, and a focus on candid feedback, has led to unparalleled innovation and speed. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with current and past Netflix employees, the book provides actionable lessons for leaders on how to build and maintain a highly innovative and adaptable organizational culture.

The Pathless Path

Imagining a New Story for Work and Life

Paul Millerd

The Pathless Path by Paul Millerd chronicles his journey from being a high-achieving consultant to embarking on a path of self-discovery and creating a life based on personal values and freedom. The book explores the history of work, the concept of the 'default path' versus the 'pathless path,' and offers practical advice on how to navigate uncertainty, redefine success, and find meaning in one's life. Millerd shares his experiences of living in different countries, facing existential crises, and developing principles that guide him towards a more fulfilling life. The book is an invitation to readers to question their current path and consider a more unconventional, yet meaningful, way of living.

Tristan Handy is the Founder and CEO @ dbt, a data transformation tool that enables data analysts and engineers to transform, test and document data in the cloud data warehouse. To date, Tristan has raised over $400M from the likes of Sequoia, Altimeter, Coatue, ICONIQ and GV with the latest funding round valuing the company at $4.2BN. Prior to founding dbt, Tristan was the VP Marketing @ RJ Metrics and got his break in the world of startups through former 20VC guest, Anthony Casalena with a Director of Operations role at Squarespace.

In Today's Episode with Tristan Handy:

1.) Entry into Startups:

How did Tristan make his way into the world of startups with his first role at Squarespace?
How did Tristan's time with Squarespace impact how he builds dbt today?
What does Tristan know now that he wishes he had known when he founded dbt?

2.) Our Jobs Are Not That Hard:

Why does Tristan believe that our jobs are not that hard?
If going down this line, how does Tristan hire? What does he look for? How does he test for it?
When does experience matter? When does it not matter?

3.) dbt: The Company

Why does Tristan believe that remote work does not work?
What financial packages have dbt put in place to allow their employees this physical interaction?
What does Tristan believe is the hardest element of building a hybrid company? When does everything start to break?
What are the biggest lessons Tristan and dbt have taken from Gitlab?

4.) Tristan: The Leader

How does Tristan conduct and execute on the best performance reviews?
How does Tristan create an environment of safety where people feel they can be honest and transparent?
What are the elements that you cannot be transparent on? Where does transparency break down?

5.) Trading Freedom for Scale:

dbt could have been a small and super profitable company, why did Tristan decide to trade off the freedom and raise big from VCs?
How did Tristan raise over $414M without ever talking about an efficiency metric?
Is Tristan concerned about living into the $4.2BN valuation in what is a very different time?
With the benefit of hindsight, is Tristan pleased he went big and raised venture?