Between Two COO's with Michael Koenig

On this week’s episode, Michael’s joined by Felicity “Flick” Fisher, Partner and de facto COO of the law firm, Fieldfisher. Flick breaks down all things privacy and data related, including the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, where privacy and data laws may be headed, and the impact privacy advocates have had on the space. Now amongst the top InfoSec legal experts, Flick’s journey in the space began when she moved to the Bay Area in 2015. Initially joining her firm, Osborne Clark’s, Palo Alto office to focus on transactions in the tech industry, her move coincided with the emerging push for increased data privacy regulations. In January 2016, Flick moved to Fieldfisher as an Associate and the fourth employee of its newly formed Privacy, Security, and Information Group, immersing herself in all data privacy matters, with a particular interest in EU compliance as the GDPR was implemented. Since then, Flick has become a Partner, stepping into a de facto COO role, and overseeing the firm's day-to-day operations. Where to find Flick: LinkedInAs mentioned on the episode:Mark Webber, Fieldfisher’s US Managing Partner, Technology & DataMax Schrems - Austrian lawyer & digital privacy activistFieldfisher’s Privacy BlogEuropean Data Protection Board

Holger Seim, co-founder, and CEO of Blinkist, speaks with Michael about how Blinkist emerged out of shifting consumption patterns, where the company may be headed in the future, and how to stay true to your long-term strategic vision while also incorporating the thoughts and ideas of other stakeholders. With an entrepreneurial spirit that emerged during his childhood in Germany, Holger’s journey has been guided by his unsatiated love of building things from the ground up. Leaning further into this spirit in college, Holger founded a successful student consultancy with several friends. Upon graduating in 2010, Holger joined T-Mobile, working in the Division of the CEO. While he valued his experience and time working close to leadership, the hunger to build his own company drew him to join his college friends in Berlin. Recognizing that they lacked the time they once had as college students to quickly read books in full, Holger and his team founded Blinkist in 2012. Founded to make knowledge quick and accessible through short summaries of books, Blinkist was quickly able to capitalize on emerging consumer preference for shorter and mobile-accessible content to become the preeminent company in the space. Taking full advantage of being the first mover, Blinkist has expanded beyond written book summaries to audio and podcast summaries and has grown its user base to over 21 million across the globe while securing $40 million in venture funding. Where to find Holger: LinkedinTwitterMentioned on the episode:Paul Graham, venture capitalistMarkus Witte, Founder & CEO of BabbelElliot Darvick, Head of Regional Marketplace at WorkriseNathaniel Manning, Co-founder & COO of KettlePatrick Lencioni, business authorThe Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in BusinessThe Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership FableThe Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate the Three Essential Virtues

Diego Camberos, COO of Vodafone Qatar and former CEO of Tigo Millicom Senegal and Rwanda, joins Michael to share insight into navigating cultural differences in different markets, how “radical simplification” has served as the bedrock of Vodafone’s success, and how to build a corporate culture that acknowledges and respects different cultures.  A citizen of the globe, having spent time living in several countries outside his home country of Bolivia, Diego has expertise across various departments, ranging from operations to marketing to commercial strategy. Starting his career in the quick service restaurant (QSR) industry upon returning to South America after college in the US, Diego served as the Operations Manager for McDonald’s Columbia. He led day-to-day operations for the company’s McOpCo chain from 2003 to 2005. After a brief stint as Burger King’s Director of Operations for the Dominican Republic, Diego shifted his attention to the telecommunications industry, starting his journey in the space as the Vice President of Sales for Trilogy/Viva Dominicana in 2007. In 2009, Diego joined Swedish telco giant Millicom as the Head of Sales & Marketing for its Tigo brand, rising to the role of CEO of its Rwanda market in 2011. Following a successful tenure as the CEO of Tigo/Millicom’s Senegal business, Diego headed further east in March 2017, signing on as Vodafone Qatar’s Consumer Business Unit Director before taking the reins as its COO in March 2018. Where to find Diego: LinkedInTwitter

Cameron Herold, Founder of the COO Alliance and former COO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, talks to Michael about building a successful company culture, effective process implementation, and what a strong relationship between a COO and CEO should look like. They also touch on how to attract “A” players to your team,  how to approach each initiative with a Plan, Brief, Execute, and Debrief mentality, reverse engineering processes, and of course, penguins.Cameron is a growth expert and an acclaimed “CEO Whisperer”, who has led several companies, focusing on people and process improvement. In 2000, Cameron was brought aboard as the COO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, leading operations, P&L, franchise development, and sales amongst other responsibilities. He helped grow 1-800-GOT-JUNK? from 12 franchises and $2 million in revenue to 300 franchises across 4 countries and $150 million in revenue when he departed in 2007. Since then, he’s written 5 books and serves as an independent consultant for several major companies. Upon realizing there was no group for COOs to learn and share their knowledge, Cameron founded the COO Alliance in 2016 as a network for COOs to exchange ideas and best practices. Where to find Cameron: CameronHerold.comCOO AllianceSecond in Command PodcastInstagramFacebookLinkedInYouTube

Cathy Hawley, former Chief People Officer of Return Path and Co-Founder of Bolster, sits down with Michael to discuss the importance of intentionality and an agile mindset in building a remote company culture, how people operations grew out of traditional human resources, and why employers should focus on a co-creating mentality when approaching its workforce.   Cathy is a strategic people leader, with an exceptional track record of laying the foundation for strong company cultures. After several years in the UK as a social services counselor, Cathy returned to the US as a human resources director. With her experience in the UK informing her people-centric approach to human resources, Cathy served as the Sr. Director of Human Resources at Epsilon for several years before joining Return Path as its Sr. People Director in 2008. Rising through the ranks to become the company’s Chief People Officer, Cathy fostered a strong partnership with Matt Blumberg, Return Path’s CEO, which was instrumental in helping the company build a development-focused culture. After departing Return Path in June 2019, Cathy teamed back up with Matt in 2020 to found Bolster, an executive talent marketplace, and to co-author Startup CXO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Company's Critical Functions and Teams. In addition to her role at Bolster, Cathy serves as a Founding Board Member of Path Forward, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people to return to the workforce after taking time off to care for a loved one.Where to find Cathy: LinkedInBolsterMentioned on the episode: Matt Blumberg, former CEO of Return Path, co-founder of Bolster, & author of Startup CxO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your BusinessFred Wilson, co-founder of Union Square VenturesThe First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter by Michael D. Hawkins

Dale Pfeifer, CEO of Goodworld, chats on scaling social impact through tech, the evolution of CSR (corporate social responsibility) from consumer targeted to greater corporate involvement, Mastercard, Citi, and BlackRock's leadership in CSR, the impact of the pandemic on accelerating CSR, the challenges of raising VC capital as a woman and as a social impact co., and what it's like to pitch President Obama & being on the front page of the NYTimes.Goodworld helps companies grow by making it easy to embed Social Impact into commerce, workplace culture and sustainability initiatives. Through our Social Impact experiences, sales teams close more deals at higher prices, HR teams increase employee engagement and attract talent, ESG teams drive ROI from their activities, and marketing teams create irresistible brands that boost product prices.Dale Pfeifer is passionate about Social Impact, CSR and ESG. Dale is the founder and CEO of fintech Goodworld - named one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies and a World Changing Idea by Fast Company magazine. Their Social Impact Platform empowers employees, customers and communities to drive positive cultural change together through giving, volunteering and rewards.Goodworld - https://goodworldnow.comDale Pfeifer's Ted Talk - Creating a good world one # at a time Dale Pfeifer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dale-pfeiferEpisode Webpage - https://betweentwocoos.com/goodworld-ceo-dale-pfeiferBetween Two COO's - https://betweentwocoos.com Lean Startup - http://theleanstartup.comMichael Koenig on LinkedIn - https://linkedin.com/in/mkoenig514

Jenny Lawton is the EVP at Bolster,  an on-demand executive talent marketplace that helps accelerate companies’ growth by connecting them with experienced, highly vetted executives for interim, fractional, advisory, project-based, or board roles. Prior to Bolster, Jenny served in a variety of C-Suite roles which include her time as the Chief Strategy Officer and then CEO of MakerBot, the leader in desktop 3D printing technology that was acquired by Stratasys for over $400M. Jenny also served as the COO of LittleBits, the STEM learning division of Sphero (the company behind the adorable droid BB8 that captured our hearts in the latest Star Wars films), and then as COO and CIO, Chief Innovation Officer at Techstars, the global startup accelerator which is near and dear to my heart. It’s also worth noting that Jenny was inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame in 2014 for her work in business and labor.And in case you haven’t picked up on it, Jenny has dedicated herself to empowering others to invent and innovate, whether through creating products for makers, empowering startup entrepreneurs, or connecting companies and executives with great opportunities.Jenny Lawton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-lawton-09278410Bolster: https://bolster.com/Michael Koenig on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mkoenig514 Episode webpage: https://betweentwocoos.com/jenny-lawtonBetween Two COO's: https://betweentwocoos.com 

Handshake COO, Jonathan Stull, joins to talk about the journey of building a three-sided marketplace to $100M ARR at a $3.5B valuation with over 500 employees. We touch on the role of COO at Handshake; Jonathan's path from waiting tables to Capital Hill to PE to tech; compromising on tactics but not on vision or mission; adding independent board members; deploying $100MMs in funding; the move from hiring generalists to specialists; global expansion; timing and more.Handshake’s mission is to democratize access to opportunity: to help every student find the right job, no matter where they’re from or who they know.Today, Handshake is the number one site for college students to find jobs. Handshake powers career offices at 1,300+ higher ed institutions—including 100+ community and technical colleges. With 550,000+ employers recruiting on Handshake—from every Fortune 500 company to nonprofits, startups, and more—schools that join Handshake see on average a 3x increase in the size and diversity of their employer network.Jonathan Stull on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonstull/Handshake: https://joinhandshake.com/Michael Koenig on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mkoenig514/Between Two COO's: https://betweentwocoos.com/Episode Site: https://betweentwocoos.com/handshake-coo-jonathan-stull/

GoGuardian COO, Cyrus Mistry, spent 14 years at Google as the Director of Product Management for Chromebooks bringing computers to schools, before joining GoGuardian as COO right when they raised $200M in new funding from Tiger Global Management. Cyrus has a wealth of knowledge not only stemming from his four advanced degrees but also from his operating experience at Disney prior to Google. Have a listen to hear about his story and what it's like to move from Google to a startup.Cyrus Mistry on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmistryGoGuardian: https://www.goguardian.comEpisode Website: htps://betweentwocoos.com/gogaurdian-coo-cyrus-mistryMichael Koenig on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mkoenig514

Art Harding is the COO at People.ai, and joins to share how People.ai has supported their Ukrainian team members, how coaching is inspiring for the right to inspect performance and provide timely and meaningful feedback, the operational mandate of E2T: driving efficiency, effectiveness, and transformation, how COO is the most interesting job in the world, launching new products, what healthy friction looks like, how great operations leaders think like project managers, and product and sales lead grow.  Art Harding on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/arhardingPeople.ai: https://people.aiEpisode Website: https://betweentwocoos.com/peopleai-coo-art-hardingMichael Koenig on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mkoenig514