Breakthrough Builders

(02:24) How the journey started: trips to the library, and an up-and-down primary school experience(08:23) Studying at Cambridge, gravitating to fellowship over scrutinous scholarship(15:23) Some of Sean’s inspirations, featuring a reciting of Robert Graves’ poem, Flying Crooked(17:45) Advice for writers on how to nurture ideas into form(20:40) Describing the mechanics and joy of working with illustrators (22:53) Thoughts on the value of physical books in a screen-obsessed world(24:34) Why independent bookstores and libraries need our support now more than ever(31:19) Sean reads from his latest book, How to Be Cooler than CoolThe builders we interview on this show frequently cite the encouragement they received at an early age to explore their passions and find their purpose. And that’s exactly the kind of human encouragement you’ll find in the charming, award-winning children’s books authored by Sean Taylor– stories that include Hoot Owl: Master of Disguise, the recently published How to Be Cooler than Cool, and over 60 others.In his talk with Jesse, Sean offers advice for aspiring writers, as well as any builder with aspirations to write their own story and forge a unique path in life. You’ll hear why he opted out of the strictly scientific approach to literature that was prevalent during his time at Cambridge; how he found fellowship and honed his storytelling in London as a member of a group called The Basement Writers; and how he found his ultimate calling to write stories for children. Along the way Sean recites poems that have guided him, shares the methods that inspire him, and affirms the virtues of a mantra that you’ll find woven into many of his works: in all things, be yourself. Guest BioAll about Sean, in his own words. Helpful LinksHow to Be Cooler than CoolSean’s websiteIndieBound.org: Find an independent bookseller near you

(02:41) Brennan describes Frontline Ventures’ mission and his role there(04:17) The mistakes companies typically make when moving into Europe(09:18) How Brennan taught himself to code and found his calling as a builder(11:13) Working at Google in the early days, and getting the opportunity to lead efforts in London and Dublin (15:11) Observations from Google Europe, including why the best companies are always reinventing themselves(21:02) Leading social network Yammer through its acquisition by, and learning from the practices of, Microsoft(26:44) Discovering vulnerability as an essential leadership trait(29:13) Technology innovations that excite Brennan and his team In a recent article for TechCrunch, Frontline Ventures partner Brennan O’Donnell described the burgeoning opportunity that European markets offer to U.S companies, particularly in tech, pointing out that EMEA now represents 38% of the world’s GDP and is the world’s second-largest B2B software market. But in order to capitalize on the opportunity, CEOs would be wise to learn from thought leaders like Brennan, who have been through the rigor of scaling high-growth companies in Europe and seen the potential pitfalls. In this episode, Brennan talks to Jesse about the most common mistakes he's seen brands make when expanding into Europe, what it was like to lead growth at Google Europe, reflections on guiding Yammer through its acquisition by Microsoft, how he's learned to embrace vulnerability as an essential leadership trait, and the emerging technologies he's most excited about as an investor.Guest BioBased in Silicon Valley, Brennan O’Donnell has over 20 years of experience building technology businesses and scaling global teams. As a partner with Frontline Ventures, he invests in growth stage startups with a focus on helping them expand into Europe. The fund’s portfolio includes companies such as TripActions, Lattice, Clearbanc and Attentive.Before moving into venture capital, Brennan spent nearly a decade at Google, where he held multiple go-to-market leadership roles in the US and EMEA, building teams across both the Cloud and Ads businesses. After Google, he went on to hold c-level and executive roles in several early stage and high growth SaaS startups, including Yammer (acquired by Microsoft), SurveyMonkey (IPO), Euclid (acquired by WeWork) and most recently Airtable. He is a graduate of Northwestern University.Helpful LinksFrontline Ventures websiteTechCrunch: Proactive CEOs should prioritize European expansionThe Irish Times: Frontline Ventures targets US tech companies with new $80m fund Brennan on LinkedIn and Twitter

[6m41s] Izabel describes the wrongful imprisonment of her father in Brazil, and the impact it had on her and her family[9m13] The legacy of her mother’s warrior spirit, resilience, and love[13m40s] Why Izabel puts storytelling at the heart of Salt & Light Coalition’s curriculum and its efforts to build empathy and trust[17m40s] The importance of non-judgment as a culture value[19m15s] Izabel describes the healing program that thrivers participate in during their first six months at Salt & Light[22m26s] The story of Salt & Light’s founding, including an unexpected insight gained when teaching yoga at Cook County Jail[26m20s] The intentionality of building an all-female Board of Directors, and the necessity of maintaining a diverse staff[27m56s] The coalition’s heralded successes, including 80% workforce placement after graduation [30m04s] How Salt & Light adapted and developed a more flexible format during the pandemic While teaching yoga at Illinois’ Cook County Jail, Dr. Izabel Olson discovered a startling insight: over 70% of female inmates had been victims of trafficking. And when she looked around at the resources available in the Chicago area to trafficking victims, she found that there was a substantial gap in programs that offered rehabilitative services. Shortly afterward, she embarked on founding Salt & Light Coalition to fill the need.In her talk with Jesse, Dr. Olson describes how she came to understand the conditions that enable trafficking in part through the lens of her own lived experience; how she built Salt & Light on the cultural foundations of empathy and non-judgment; the profound effect that Salt & Light has had on the lives of its graduates; and lessons learned from trying to keep the coalition’s critical support network open and available during the pandemic. Izabel’s story is an inspiring journey of love and understanding and a powerful reminder to build toward our life’s purpose with both an open mind and open heart. Guest BioDr. Izabel Olson is the founder and CEO of Salt and Light Coalition, a grassroots organization breaking the cycle of human trafficking through mind-body restoration and workforce development. Dr. Olson is dedicated to the empowerment of women, especially survivors of human trafficking as they reframe their traumatic experiences and find success in the workplace and throughout society. Prior to establishing Salt and Light Coalition, Dr. Olson was a researcher at Northwestern University, where she earned her Ph.D. in the Learning Sciences. Helpful LinksSalt & Light CoalitionInterview: Preying on the Vulnerable: Half of Trafficked Women and Girls Are ImmigrantsQ&A with Voyage ChicagoDr. Izabel Olson on TwitterAlso check out our conversation with Dr. Gheeta Murali, CEO of Room to Read

[3m04s] What sparked Alex’s interest in finance and economics and led him to launch his career at Intuit[6m36s] The origins of Alex’s interest in human-centered product design[12m24s] How the opportunity to work for Asana meshed with Alex’s drive to bring clarity to the product development process [16m42s] Advice on how to apply human-centered design and develop customer empathy as a product builder[20m45s] How Asana is working to solve the pain points associated with hybrid work [27m21s] Why it’s so important to unify brand experience, product experience, and culture [32m53s] Reflections on Asana’s IPO, and how the company used its own platform to pull it off for Asana, by Asana, on Asana[34m32s] The importance of not wasting time on decisions that are easy to reverse [36m20s] Alex’s thoughts on leading with curiosity In today’s fractured world of work, Asana develops products that bring connectedness to teams and business processes using a human-centered design approach that prioritizes observing and understanding. And at the center of that process is their Head of Product, Alex Hood. In his talk with Jesse, Alex illuminates the principles he’s developed over a career that spans tenures at Intuit, TubeMogul, and Asana. While reflecting on leading key initiatives like the development of Quickbooks at Intuit, Alex gives his advice on how to build customer empathy at scale, how to make the right product decisions while in hypergrowth, how to lead with curiosity, and much more.Guest BioAs Head of Product, Alex leads Asana’s product strategy, planning, and the management of the entire product organization, which includes product management, design, and user research. Prior to Asana, Alex was a VP of Product Management at Intuit and led QuickBooks Online. Alex was also the VP of Product at TubeMogul, which is now Adobe’s Advertising Cloud and has held positions at the Nasdaq Stock Market. Alex has an MBA from UC Berkeley.Helpful LinksAlex’s appearance on the CIO Classified PodcastSeven insights for building hypergrowth products (from Asana blog)Forbes article: You spend 60% of your job on ‘work about work”Alex on LinkedIn and Twitter

[2m23s] The parallels and synergies Scott sees between the product development and writing processes[6m45s] Why Scott decided to go "all in" on advancing creative meritocracy in his career[11m03s] The opportunity Scott sees for our world to get to true creative meritocracy [13m26s]  A  framework Scott counsels organizations leaders to use when recognizing and rewarding creatives[16m56s] Scott's perspective on thinking at the "Edge of Reason" as an essential ingredient to innovating product, advancing culture, and improving diversity [25m36s] How Scott helped drive Adobe's business and technology transformation, including his reflection on the amazing journey of bringing Behance into the company whose Photoshop software he tinkered with as a kid  [30m07s] Scott's view on the brand portfolio strategy at Adobe, including the Adobe master brand, the Creative Cloud brand, and the signature application (product) brands [33m53s] Scott's perspective on the product culture at Adobe[35m34s] Scott's view on the most promising broad-based technology innovations coming our way over the next 5-10 years[37m58s] Scott and Jesse discuss the future of work, and the changing psychology, operating models, and use cases of working physically together[40m56s] Scott offers his perspective on the future of NFT technology and the linkages between NFT, digital (art)ifacts, and creative meritocracy[44m02s] How Scott chooses people and organizations to partner with as an investor and advisor===============How can companies sustain product and brand innovation in the face of constant challenges? And how can they nurture creative collaboration in our new world of work while providing employees the space and autonomy to do the best work of their lives?Perhaps no one is better suited to answer these questions than Scott Belsky, bestselling author and Chief Product Officer at Adobe. In his 2018 book The Messy Middle, Scott laid out the methods that enable people to find their way through the most difficult phases of bold projects and new ventures. In his talk with Jesse, Scott describes why it’s critical to make product decisions at “The Edge of Reason,” and discusses how his ability to bring to life a vision for the future of creative collaboration would turn out to make him a key contributor to Adobe’s well-chronicled transition to the Cloud.Along with his reflections on what it was like to ultimately assume the next phase of growth for products he had used and revered since his early years, Scott discusses his motivations for founding Behance; the parallels he discovered between the processes of writing books and of developing software products; his transformative ideas on product culture; and even his beliefs about the future of NFT technology to continue to unlock creative democratization. Time and again, he offers us timeless guidance on how to gain confidence from doubt and nurture our ability to create without limits.Guest BioScott Belsky is an executive, entrepreneur, author, and investor (and all-around product obsessive). He currently serves as Adobe's Chief Product Officer and Executive Vice President, Creative Cloud. Scott's passion is to make the creative world more productive, connected, and adaptive to new technologies. Scott co-founded Behance in 2006, and served as CEO until Adobe acquired Behance in 2012.Alongside his role at Adobe, Scott actively advises and invests in businesses that cross the intersection of technology and design - and help empower people. He works closely with a number of venture capital firms including Benchmark and Homebrew, and is an early advisor and investor in Pinterest, Uber, sweetgreen, Carta, Cheddar, Flexport, Airtable, and Periscope (now part of Twitter) as well as several others in the early stages. Helpful LinksScott’s books: The Messy Middle (2018) and Making Ideas Happen (2010) Inc.: What it Takes to Keep Your Business Ahead of the Pace of InnovationMedium: The Furry Lisa, CryptoArt, & The New Economy Of Digital CreativityScott on LinkedIn and TwitterLoved this talk with Scott? Check out our conversation with Cisco’s Jeetu Patel

Next week, we’re starting in on Season Four of Breakthrough Builders. The Theme of Season Four is Product Builders & Storytellers.You’ll hear Jesse's conversations with people like Alex Hood at Asana and Brennan O’Donnell at Frontline Ventures - who’ve driven wildly cool, deeply impactful, and radically inclusive product-led growth and innovation. You’ll hear fun dialogues with people who write for a living. Renowned children’s author Sean Taylor and trailblazing writer Brad Balukjian, to name a few. And you’ll hear from some Builders who are both Product Leaders AND Authors, like Scott Belsky, founder of Behance and 99U, author of two incredible books about the creative process, and now, Head of Product at Adobe.This 8-episode season will take us from mid-July to mid-September. On Wednesday, July 21, we’ll drop Episode One of the season, with the aforementioned Scott Belsky.

Robert shares how his parents and early childhood experiences influenced his entrepreneurial drive and his desire to be a builder. He recounts the influence of mentors early in his career who helped him explore his skills and values, the decision to move to Silicon Valley to start a venture early in his career, a deeply authentic commitment to philanthropic efforts spurred by tragic circumstances, an intensely personal personal decision to leave eBay, and his perspectives on the future of marketing and brand as the CMO of Atlassian.How can you discover and articulate your purpose? How can you make difficult career decisions? How can you incorporate your values into the professional decisions you make? How can you be a better marketer, mentor, and leader?  Robert shares his perspective and insights on finding a sense of purpose and making purpose the driving influence in career decisions. Guest Bio:Robert is a marketing executive with a passion for building early-stage and large-scale consumer platforms. Deep experience in driving revenue growth through performance marketing and consumer branding.“I believe that technology serves as a force for positive change in society. My passion is building businesses that foster human connections, create hope, and expand opportunity. I lead with empathy, and focus on attracting, retaining, and growing great talent and world-class teams.”LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chatwaniTwitter: @chatwaniBuilding Blocks:Reflect on, and write down, what you love and your “why.” Robert suggested that it’s a worthy exercise to take out a piece of paper and write down your reflections on two things: what you love most, and your reason for being. It won’t be easy, and it might take some time. But, speaking from experience, it’s worth it! It helps provide a ton of clarity on how to think about prioritizing your time, effort, and energy. Plus, it will help simplify your life and will help make you more memorable, distinctive, and compelling to others. Check out the Simon Sinek TED talk on this topic, and Brian Solis’ book Lifescale, to get started.If you’d like to share, get it out there on social with the Hashtag #BreakthroughBuilders. Or, if you’d prefer to not share it publicly, go ahead and email it to me at jesse@breakthrough-builders.com. I’d love hearing from you and learning from what you built.Helpful Links:The seminal Simon Sinek TED talk on Starting with WhyReflections from Robert on his story at the Atlassian Work Life BlogRobert’s Author Page on the Atlassian Work Life Blog2-minute interview with Robert speaking about Atlassian at TieCON 2019Robert quoted on marketing’s role in driving brand-led growth at CMO.comDaniel Pink on Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose here (article) and here (video) Creating a CMO Transformation Agenda: Thought Leadership from Prophet hereFour Priorities for CMOs to Reimagine and Rignite Marketing: Thought Leadership from Prophet hereResearch Reference:Qualtrics' 2021 Labor Shortage Study: https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/labor-shortage-study/

With games like its played-the-world-over League of Legends, Riot Games has a history of developing entertaining, rich worlds for highly devoted and skilled players. Now, Jason Bunge has joined Riot as the company’s first CMO, and he’s focusing on building a brand unlike any yet seen in gaming.In his talk with Jesse, Jason describes his journey from advertising to tech to gaming, with stops along the way at Saatchi & Saatchi, Microsoft, EA, and now, Riot Games. He discusses how he believes Riot uniquely hybridized product and culture, and how he’s helping push the brand into new creative territory— maintaining Disney-like ambition—without abandoning the legendary player centricity Riot Games is known and beloved for. Jason talks about the importance of versatility and adaptability in his career; the role of emotion in B2B marketing; the experience of building Microsoft 365 into a cloud platform; the respective roles of the game brand, studio brand, and publisher brand; his role in building engagement and community at EA; and his advice for incoming CMOs. Guest BioJason Bunge joined Riot Games as its first Chief Marketing Officer in 2020. He oversees the Global Marketing organization, which carries the torch for marketing and publishing excellence across all the company’s games, products, and player experiences and includes overseeing strategy and execution for brand, creative, channels, and community communications globally. Prior to Riot Games, Jason held leadership roles at Electronic Arts, Trulia (Zillow Group), Skype, Microsoft and Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising. Most recently at EA, Jason led the company’s games portfolio, including the record-setting launches of Apex Legends, the SIMs, and that franchise’s first TV series, as well as partnering with Lucasfilm on the successful suite of Star Wars games. Jason graduated with a BS from Boston College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.Helpful LinksRiot GamesForbes Article: In a World Let Loose, Video Game Makers are Doubling Down Jason’s hiring announcement Jason on LinkedIn

Despite her years of experience consulting for venerable brands, and her celebrated successes leading business development at 1871 in her native Chicago, Lakshmi Shenoy describes herself as a “Starter CEO,” with a propensity to come to the table with as much acknowledgement of the things she doesn’t know, as the things she does. And it’s that growth mindset that makes her, and the organization she leads, Embarc Collective, perfect partners for aspiring entrepreneurs in the fast-growing tech hub of Tampa, Florida.In her talk with Jesse, Lakshmi discusses the extraordinarily creative paths she’s taken—from her first scrappy campaigns to save the earth’s rainforests, to turning a sociology degree into a coveted advertising role at Leo Burnett, to finding ways to keep Chicago’s graduating business talent from breezing out of the Windy City. You’ll hear why she left Chicago to come to Tampa Bay at the invitation of Jeff Vinik, and learn the unique approaches she’s taking now as she helps put Tampa on the map as a rising hub for top entrepreneurs in tech.Guest BioLakshmi Shenoy is the CEO of Embarc Collective, where she leads the mission to make Tampa Bay a prime destination for diverse startup talent. Before moving to Tampa, Lakshmi lived in Chicago and served as the Vice President of Strategy & Business Development at 1871, the top university-affiliated business incubator in the world. Prior to 1871, Lakshmi focused on growth strategies for a variety of businesses through previous roles at Prophet Brand Strategy, Time Inc., Procter & Gamble, and Leo Burnett. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from the University of Chicago, and a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. Lakshmi was recognized in 2017 as one of Chicago’s “20 Rising Brand Stars” by Ad Age.Helpful LinksEmbarc Collective websiteLakshmi on St. Pete X podcastArticle: Jeff Vinik’s Embarc Collective innovation hub opens in TampaLakshmi on LinkedIn and Twitter

If you ask Jeetu Patel about the nature of success, he’ll tell you that “no one is entirely self-made.” And he’ll be quick to point out all the times that friends and mentors sustained, encouraged, and inspired him as he grew into positions of leadership at innovative companies like Doculabs, EMC, Box, and now, Cisco—where, as SVP and GM of Security and Collaboration, he’s taking on the mission to transform the company around SaaS offerings that break down geographical barriers and improve access to opportunity for people around the world.But as we often highlight on Breakthrough Builders, opportunity has a strong tendency to gravitate toward grit and curiosity—personal characteristics that are as much a part of Jeetu’s story as his gratitude. In his talk with Jesse, hear how Jeetu pursued a new family legacy in the US after leaving unsafe conditions in his childhood home of Mumbai, India. You’ll hear how he first became a business owner with a loan secured more by passion than means, why he left that role after seventeen years for a position where he was expected to learn as much as lead, and how his unique path prepared him to harmonize the often-competing disciplines of privacy and product development at Cisco. Throughout the episode, Jeetu offers a compelling case for why unheard voices need to be amplified, why titles should stay out of the room when product ideas are being debated, and why empathy is now the ultimate driver of business success.Guest BioJeetu Patel is Cisco’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of Security and Collaboration. He leverages a diverse set of capabilities to lead the strategy and development for these businesses while helping to redefine Cisco's SaaS business and strategy around differentiated products that diverge in the way they’re conceived, built, priced, packaged and sold.Prior to joining Cisco, Jeetu was the Chief Product Officer (CPO) and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) at Box, a role he pioneered. He transformed Box from a single product application to a multi-product platform used by 100K customers representing 69% of the Fortune 500. Before joining Box, Jeetu was General Manager and Chief Executive of EMC’s newly acquired Syncplicity business unit and President of Doculabs, a research and advisory firm co-owned by Forrester Research. Helpful LinksDec 2020: Cisco Announces All-New Webex Features 10 Lessons on How to Scale Your ProductReferenced in episode: Radical Candor by Kim ScottManagement in 10 Words by Terry LeahyJeetu on LinkedIn and Twitter