20VC: Why Hiring in Tech is Broken and Founders Need to be as Good at Firing as they are Hiring, Why Product Differentiation is Unsustainable & Why the Current Generation of Tech Employees are Entitled and What Needs to Change with Jean-Denis Greze @ Plai

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The Twenty Minute VC

Finance, Venturecapital, Tech News, News, Siliconvalley, Technology, Investing, Startups, Business

4.4 • 637 Ratings

🗓️ 21 July 2023

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jean-Denis Greze is Chief Technology Officer at Plaid where oversees global product business units across North America and Europe. Prior to joining Plaid, Jean-Denis was Director of Engineering at Dropbox. Jean-Denis is also a prolific angel investor with a portfolio including the likes of Nex Health, Merge.dev and Rupa Health to name a few.

In Today's Episode with Jean-Denis Greze We Discuss:

1. The Journey to One of the Most Powerful CTOs:

How JD made his way into the world of tech with his first role at Dropbox?
How does JD analyse a Linkedin CV today? What are the signals of outperformers?
What does JD know now that he wishes he had known when he started in tech?

2. Hiring the Best: 101:

What are JD's single biggest lessons on hiring the best talent?
What have been some of JD's biggest hiring mistakes?
Why does JD believe founders need to be as good at firing as they are hiring?
Does JD believe people can scale with the scaling of a company? If they do not scale, do you layer them or do you let them go?
How does JD determine whether to bring in an external candidate vs promote someone from within?

3. Product Differentiation is not Sustainable:

Why does JD believe that product differentiation is not sustainable? Why is UX as a moat BS?
How does this lead JD to suggest Salesforce is a short in the public markets?
Why does JD believe that Snowflake is also a short?
What does Snowflake teach us about the different stages of product market fit?
What are the biggest mistakes founders make when analyzing product market fit?

4. Remote Work, Titles and Entitlement:

Why does JD believe most tech employees treat their employer in the same way French citizens treat the French government?
How does JD analyse the impact of remote work on both productivity and culture?
Why does JD believe titles are BS in the beginning but matter with scale?
Why does JD believe that you should not hire for the long term?

Transcript

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0:00.0	I feel that the relationship of many tech employees or their tech employer is the same as like a French citizen to the French government.
0:06.0	Somewhere between 15 and 30 people, things will break on the management side.
0:10.0	First time founders, they don't realize they have to be great at firing.
0:12.0	I mean, wow, this is one broad-ranging discussion.
0:15.0	Welcome back to 20 VC with me, Harry Stebbings.
0:18.0	And today we're joined by one of the best CTOs in the business, Jean Denny, CTO at Plaid.
0:22.6	Prior to joining Plaid, Jean Denny was Director of Engineering at Dropbox, and he's also a prolific
0:27.5	angel investor, with an incredible portfolio including the likes of Nex Health, Merge, and
0:32.6	Ruper Health, to name a few.
0:34.1	But before we dive into the show's day, when I talk about using Coda, it's not lip service
0:38.5	or because it's in the ad copy.
0:40.2	It's because I'm a believer.
0:41.9	Recently, Coda is the dock that brings it all together by putting data in one centralized
0:45.9	location regardless of format so it eliminates roadblocks that can stop your team in their tracks.
0:51.5	With Coda, your team can operate on the same information and collaborate in one place to get projects across the finish line faster.
0:58.3	With Coda, you'll never ask, where are the latest project updates? Anyone know where the performance stats are?
1:03.9	Coda's here for whatever you need, just like they did for me. Coda has made things so much better for me.
1:09.8	They never disappoint. Sign up today at coda.io
1:12.8	slash 20VC and get a thousand dollars start-up credit on your first statement. That's Coda-C-O-D-A.com.
1:21.2	to sign up and get a startup credit of $1,000. And speaking of amazing tools we cannot live without, travel
1:28.9	and expense are never associated with cost savings, but now you can reduce costs up to 30% and
1:35.0	actually reward your employees. How do you do this? Well, Navan rewards your employees with personal
	...

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