E4: What Start-Ups Miss When It Comes to Management, with Stripe’s Former COO

This week Erik and Jack are joined by Claire Hughes Johnson, former COO of Stripe—we go deep into the nuances of management that most start-ups don’t learn fast enough. If you’re looking for SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR or HIPAA compliance, head to Vanta: https://www.vanta.com/1000  --- SPONSORS: Are you building a business? If you’re looking for SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR or HIPAA compliance, head to Vanta. Achieving compliance can actually unlock major growth for your company and build customer loyalty. Vanta automates up to 90% of Compliance work, getting you audit-ready in weeks instead of months and saving 85% of associated costs. 1 to 1000 listeners get $1000 off at: https://www.vanta.com/1000 Metaview is the AI assistant for interviewing. Metaview completely removes the need for recruiters and hiring managers to take notes during interviews—because their AI is designed to take world-class interview notes for you. Team builders at companies like Brex, Robinhood, Quora, and Replit say Metaview has changed the game—see the magic for yourself for free on your first 5 interviews: https://www.metaview.ai/1000 Pesto Tech is a hiring marketplace that makes finding great remote developers fast and easy. They use large language models to evaluate developers along dozens of parameters, including code quality, performance, and security. If you need to start hiring developers fast, all you have to do is answer 5 simple questions on their website: https://pesto.tech --- RECOMMENDED PODCAST: TURPENTINE VC Investor Erik Torenberg interviews partners at the top VCs in the world to learn their approach to the art and science of building a successful venture firm. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1701006772 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Yb8ErLRnyoAqn4Y6NegTx --- X / TWITTER: @chughesjohnson (Claire) @jaltma (Jack) @eriktorenberg (Erik Torenberg) @TurpentineMedia --- LINKS: Check our Claire's book, Scaling People, for more essential management know-hows: https://www.amazon.com/Scaling-People-Tactics-Management-Building/dp/1953953212 --- TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Episode Preview (01:23) How to fire well, quickly (07:02) How do you systematize the keeper test (10:55) Sponsor: Vanta (11:53) How to promote and reward great people (14:07) Building a malleable system for people at scale (15:30) Promoting vs. hiring exec talent (20:05) Communication architecture (25:31) How to set up teams for communication success (29:19) Sponsors: Metaview | Pesto Tech (31:00) On the fallacy of transparency (35:41) How to give direction well (39:17) What's critical to get right on performance management (43:02) How to set expectations (46:43) On reorgs and how to do them right This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at erik@turpentine.co.