Slush podcast

#2 Quentin Clark, ex-Dropbox CTO & MD at General Catalyst | World-class product & engineering leadership

23.3.2022
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26:41
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When it comes to building legendary engineering and product organizations, there really aren’t many people more experienced than Quentin Clark. Having spent 20 years moving up the ranks at Microsoft, Quentin went on to become CTO at two legendary software companies in SAP and Dropbox.

These days, Quentin looks for next-generation products at General Catalyst, and sits on the boards of some exceptional startups like Coda, Commure, Hopin, Minio, and Aviatrix.

In this episode, we unpack what Quentin has learn about leading and scaling technical organisations for world-class outcomes.

Note: Any mention of or reference to any specific company is for discussion and illustrative purposes only and is not a recommendation or an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities. The views and opinions expressed by the speaker are their own as of the date of the recording and not of General Catalyst. These views should not be relied on as investment or financial advice of any kind.

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0:50 What has made Microsoft such an exceptionally enduring company?

2:49 How does Microsoft circumvent the Innovator’s dilemma?

4:29 What characteristics are non-negotiable in good CEOs?

6:16 When have you been most surprised by a trait of an individual CEO?

7:05 What separates truly exceptional CTOs from good CTOs?

9:08 How do you balance input from your sales team with long-term vision in your product roadmap?

11:13 What are the signs that you should replace your technical co-founder with an experienced hire?

12:43 What have you learned about finding and evaluating great technical talent?

14:19 What do great technical co-founders look like?

16:15 How should you think about the structure of your technical organization?

18:33 For a CTO, what really changes when the company scales from 5 to 50, and 50 to 500 people?

21:12 What are the 3 most common root causes of company failure?

22:46 What do founders think matters in the early stages that doesn’t?

23:45 What are the most insightful questions you ask when being pitched by founders?

24:43 What is one important truth about company-building that very few people would agree with?

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