In our new episode of the Founder’s Corner podcast, I spoke with my longtime friend and former colleague Reid Hoffman––the renowned entrepreneur and investor who co-founded LinkedIn and today serves as partner at Greylock, advising a plethora of tech giants on everything from product strategy to hiring to trends in emerging technology. Hoffman offers a brief master class for startup leaders on management and strategy.
Hoffman shares his insights on:
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Product-market fit, including how to find and maintain it
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Identifying KPIs during the early stage of a startup
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How to orient to your company’s North Star
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How he judges talent and nurtures and manages employees
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Lessons from leveraging go-to-market strategy alongside product development
An accomplished entrepreneur and executive, Hoffman has played an integral role in building many of today’s leading consumer technology businesses, including LinkedIn and PayPal.
Hoffman co-founded LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional networking service, in 2003 and led it to profitability while serving as chief executive officer during the company’s first four years. Prior to LinkedIn, he was executive vice president at PayPal, where he was also a founding board member.
Hoffman currently serves on the boards of Airbnb, Convoy, Edmodo, Gixo, Microsoft, Xapo, as well as the boards for a number of not-for-profits, including Kiva, Endeavor, and Do Something. Prior to joining Greylock, he angel-invested in many influential companies, including Facebook, Flickr, Last.fm, and Zynga.
Founder’s Corner delivers bite-size lessons and relatable tales from today’s premier founders and CEOs so you can get ahead of tomorrow’s roadblocks and build a great company faster than ever before. Listen above and subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Overcast for new episodes.