Keeping a Startup Ethos
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The document discusses maintaining a startup ethos by focusing on three key elements: innovation, social connection, and teamwork, as exemplified by companies like Venmo and Netflix. It emphasizes the importance of aligning decisions with customer needs, fostering a culture of learning, and hiring thinkers who prioritize customer advocacy. Additionally, it outlines PayPal's journey of reinvention through iterative processes and a customer-centric approach.
Keeping a Startup Ethos
- 1. keeping a startup ethos three simple things to focus on to keep operating like a startup YLD Innovate London October 3, 2017 @billwscott VP, Engineering Venmo & PayPal
- 2. Hi ! This is Venmo.
- 3. For Venmo, connecting the world started with connecting friends to friends Former College Roommates saw the social side of payments that everyone else was missing Social from the get-go They decided, you should be able to share this stuff, because it’s interesting, and added the #p option: “$10 for drinks at Ranstead Room #p” would show up in your friends’ feeds on venmo.com as “kortina paid iqram for drinks at Ranstead Room” (we never showed the amounts, because this was not as interesting as the social context and the story itself).
- 4. Braintree AcquisitionA Round PayPal deal closed PayPal deal announced eBay split announced $PYPL Now
- 6. venmo magic
- 7. but most teams lose the magic
- 8. I have a crib sheet for magic
- 9. I have a crib sheet for magic It is my analysis tool to get teams creating great products again
- 10. I have a crib sheet for magic It restores the startup ethos in teams It is my analysis tool to get teams creating great products again
- 11. it’s pretty simple really
- 12. just three words
- 13. bring the magic back
- 14. who.
- 15. what.
- 16. how.
- 17. who. what. how.
- 18. who. what. how.
- 19. who. what. how. we are social creatures
- 20. who. what. how. we are social creatures we need something bigger than ourselves
- 21. who. what. how. we are social creatures we need something bigger than ourselves we work best together & iteratively
- 22. netflix
- 23. continuous customer feedback (GOOB) customer metrics drive everything think it. build it. ship it. tweak it fail fast. learn fast. lots of experimentation... build/measure/learn the Netflix culture
- 24. 4 unique experiences launched for PS3 same day with 16 variants focus is on learning humbled by data
- 25. 4 unique experiences launched for PS3 same day with 16 variants focus is on learning how is it possible for a company to keep this culture? humbled by data
- 26. who. what. how. netflix’s winning culture
- 27. who. what. how. hire fully formed adults, first principle thinkers, customer advocates netflix’s winning culture
- 28. who. what. how. hire fully formed adults, first principle thinkers, customer advocates clearly know who the customer is, align all decisions and aspirations to solving customer problems netflix’s winning culture
- 29. who. what. how. hire fully formed adults, first principle thinkers, customer advocates clearly know who the customer is, align all decisions and aspirations to solving customer problems celebrate learning, inspire rather than control, avoid too much process, share context netflix’s winning culture
- 30. paypal
- 32. In 2011, even a simple content copy change could take as much as 4-6 weeks to get live to site
- 33. who. what. how. paypal was in need of change
- 34. who. what. how. hired risk averse, process oriented people paypal was in need of change
- 35. who. what. how. hired risk averse, process oriented people mission became incremental, focusing on internal customers, vanity metrics and extracting value from customers rather than providing it paypal was in need of change
- 36. who. what. how. hired risk averse, process oriented people mission became incremental, focusing on internal customers, vanity metrics and extracting value from customers rather than providing it avoid all risk, treat all systems same, dummy proof everything, focus on delivery rather than learning paypal was in need of change
- 37. reinvent checkout started the change
- 38. reinvent checkout started the change from whiteboard to code from code to usability learningsstart again
- 39. who. what. how. paypal reinvention
- 40. who. what. how. changed the story, hired first principle thinkers & customer centric people paypal reinvention
- 41. who. what. how. changed the story, hired first principle thinkers & customer centric people language changed from biz value to customer value, moved from customers come to paypal to paypal goes to customer paypal reinvention
- 42. who. what. how. changed the story, hired first principle thinkers & customer centric people language changed from biz value to customer value, moved from customers come to paypal to paypal goes to customer highly iterative, embrace change, start with discovery, smaller teams aligned to customer rather than org, be open source paypal reinvention
- 51. who. what. how.
- 52. who. what. how. make sure the who is right
- 53. who. what. how. make sure the who is right give the team something bigger than themselves
- 54. who. what. how. make sure the who is right give the team something bigger than themselves work iteratively, listening constantly to the customer