For You Leaders - Business And Leadership Podcast Featuring Kirk Dando

What the Heck Does A Product Person Do? Christopher O’Donnell, Chief Product Officer at Hubspot and Ash Devata, Head of Product at Duo Security share their incredible insights as product leaders. Before you brush off this podcast as something only for high-tech startups or product-centric companies, think again. This episode is full of important perspectives and tips for ANY company, even if you don’t have a "product person" in your business.

There are approximately 55 million meetings in the US every single day. Yes, you read that right. On top of that, executives said 72% of their meetings were unproductive. What side does your team fall on? Today, we are talking all about meetings. We provide you with several tips that do not cost you a dime and you can implement immediately.

Today, we are continuing our conversation with the award-winning CEO of Four Hands, Matt Briggs. In this episode, we cover a wide range of topics from goal-setting to acquisitions to reducing stress. If you missed the previous episode, don’t miss the chance to hear the way Four Hands operationalizes their core values. One topic to pay extra close attention to in this episode is how Matt and Four Hands set their company goals. In working with businesses around the world, it’s incredible how many companies struggle with goal setting that get (and keep) people focused. Do they set them so they are achievable or so they are more aspirational and very difficult to achieve? Matt does a great job sharing the unique perspective Four Hands has used to set goals to scale. Tune your ear to their approach and how it will help you and your business set goals and grow.

You might have heard CEOs talk about their core values and wondered: how do they practically live out the core values in the business? Furthermore, how do they use them to drive performance?Today, you’re going to hear from award-winning CEO, Matt Briggs of Four Hands, Four Hands is a home furnishing company based in Austin, TX. In this episode, Matt shares how they actually live out one of their most unique core values: Fun. You’ll be surprised by the many ways they live up to this core value, how it drives their culture, performance, customer empathy and more. It’s not just window dressing.Matt shares his unlikely journey from a self-proclaimed ski bum to the CEO of Four Hands, which will surpass $200m in revenue this year. 

We continue our conversation with John James, the CEO of Engine. John dives into many of the how-to’s and “wish I would have knowns” from his deep experience.He candidly shares about the health scare that led to his resignation at Country Outfitter, how he thinks about his legacy and the principles he’s taken with him to his newest venture, Engine. He also provides the powerful and simple advice Alex Dillard, the President of Dillard’s Department Stores, gave him that totally changed the way he viewed being a leader - both at home and the office. Don’t miss this episode. 

As a serial entrepreneur, John created several online companies that ultimately led to the creation of Country Outfitter, a giant in western wear eCommerce. Today, John shares the lessons he’s learned from being a medical doctor to scaling an eCommerce company. He candidly shares the story of how Country Outfitter ultimately failed and how he had to step down as CEO. However, that is not the end of the story, John is wildly successful again, both in business and life.

This is the final episode in our series of interviews with Duo Security co-founder, Dug Song. In this episode, we cover a variety of topics from managing the board to work-life balance. We also dive into how Duo Security actively operationalizes their values to ensure they come to life within the business. There are no cheesy inspirational posters in this episode, just real and raw tactics and advice you can start implementing today. Listen now:

As you scale a business, there’s no shortage of tactics and advice. But how do you decide what to do, when to do it and in what order? Today’s guest, Dug Song, will tell you: “Don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be. The list of all the things you could be doing are probably the right things to do….at some point in the company.” He warns that doing things “too early will literally kill you...you just can’t afford it when you’re small.”

You often hear the headlines like Cisco to Aquire Duo Security for $2.35b, and wonder - what’s the story behind the story? Today you’re going to hear part one of our interview with Dug Song, co-founder and General Manager of Duo Security at Cisco. Dug is a self-proclaimed hacker who humbly describes himself as a one-trick security pony. As you’ll learn today, Dug is an incredible leader that knew, in order to put a unique company together, like Duo, he needed to build it differently.Dug shares, candidly, the thought processes that drove him to build a business that was ultimately sold to Cisco for $2.35b. However, as Dug highlights, he can’t call the acquisition “an exit” - he’s still in the business. Listen now to learn from Dug’s humble beginnings at his father’s liquor store to how he built “the most loved company in security,” Duo Security.

Dirk Elmendorf, a co-founder of Rackspace, learned the hard way: interviewing is hard. It’s even more difficult when hiring for highly technical positions like engineers, that may not excel in a traditional interview. In this episode, Dirk explains his unique approach to hiring and provides tips you can use in your next interview. He discusses gut instinct vs. raw data, how to ask great questions and what you should be listening for in your next interview. Dirk also tells the deeply personal life event that changed the way he views work-life balance. Listen now!

Today we are talking to Dirk Elmendorf, Co-Founder of Rackspace. You’re going to hear the exceptional story behind how he started Rackspace in 1998 with two co-founders and how Rackspace got to be known for its fanatical customer support. Dirk provides simple solutions to make sure customers remain (or become) the center of your business. If you have a business that provides support for your product or service, you do not want to miss this episode.

How do busy executives handle the different demands of work and family life? What tips can you start implementing to be a more effective leader and husband/wife/father/mother? In this special episode of For You Leaders podcast, we take a compilation of advice, perspectives and guidance we have gathered over the years and combine it into one episode.

We all know that people are the most important asset within the business. But how, exactly, do you empower your employees and hold them accountable at the same time?

Today’s guest is Gregg Kaplan, founder of RedBox. Gregg is an incredible leader with a great story. In today’s episode, Gregg shares the unique story of RedBox (for example, did you know that RedBox started as an idea within McDonalds?) and the lessons he learned on the path to scaling RedBox to over $2b in revenue.

For this special Halloween-themed episode of the For You Leaders Podcast, we’ll explore three huge fears of, even the best, CEOs. Obviously, most CEOs are concerned that their businesses will succeed, but today’s episode goes deeper to uncover why CEOs share these three very common, fears. You will also learn how to overcome these fears in your own life.

Today’s guest is Cody Friesen, CEO of Zero Mass Water. Their mission is lofty by any standard: Perfecting water for every person, every place.Today’s podcast is about a lot more than the incredible product Cody and Zero Mass Water are building. You will learn Cody’s innovative ideas bleed into Zero Mass Water’s culture and hiring.

Have you ever wondered how others would describe your leadership style? It does not matter what kind of leader you want to be, aspire to be or even believe you are. What matters is your real leadership style. Today’s For You leaders podcast is all about you and your leadership style.

We all have the same 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Why do some CEOs seem to get more accomplished than others? As you’ll learn today from a ground-breaking 12-year study from the Harvard Business Review, it all comes down to one word: intentionality.

Culture, Leverage and Getting Stuff Done: these might be the three most important topics for anyone starting a business. In today’s episode, Blake Garrett, CEO and Founder of Aceable and AceableAgent, tackles all three hot topics – challenging your perception with his unique views.

“Action expresses priorities." - Mahatma GandhiIf you are trying to manufacture your own luck, it might be time for you to start reflecting on a quote that greatly influenced today’s guest, Blake Garrett. Blake is the CEO and Founder of Aceable and AceableAgent, a hyper-growth startup based in Austin, TX. As you’ll hear today, the Aceable that exists now was not Blake’s original idea. In this episode, Blake tells the story of how he left Ernst and Young to follow his dreams of creating a company, the important reason why he wanted to start a company, and the major roadblocks along the way.You’ll learn the two-step process he used to hold himself accountable and get around roadblocks. You’ll also learn how you, too, can manufacture your own luck.Don’t miss the next episode with Blake we’ll dive into Culture, Leverage and Getting $#IT Done. Blake provides even more great advice and tactics on how to build the right culture and get the right stuff done.