Intro

Reminder: If you're building something hard, outgrowing people is part of the process.

@namyakhann @NickShackelford A short conversation could save months of (both time and money) moving in the wrong direction. So glad your chat with Nick was impactful 🙌 Thanks for sharing your Intro experience! - Sydney

booked a 15 min call with @NickShackelford on @intro a few months ago wanted clarity on how to structure roles, profit, and comp as we scale in 15min he gave me more tactical advice in that call than most people charge 10x for. some of the stuff that stuck with me: > your job as CEO is "up and out." vision, growth, high-leverage work. your operator's job is "down and in." systems, team, retention > a COO's real job is simple: keep clients longer and make them spend more. how they do it doesn't matter > for every $100k in revenue, keep a fixed % inside the business. revisit that number as you grow > don't build structures you'll have to walk back at $500k/mo > stay lean. hire slow. one well-paid person beats three cheap ones juggling everything > SOPs before scaling. if your operator can't delegate it, you can't grow > vesting should be time + performance goals. revisit yearly > plan like you'll disagree someday, even if you trust each other completely right now if you're scaling a business, book a call with someone who's done it. 15 min saved me months of figuring it out wrong.

@GrovesPK Sorry to hear that, and thank you for reaching out! Please DM us your name and the email that you booked through, and we'll get you rescheduled. - Sydney

@intro what should I do if my expert never joined the session I booked? I don’t want my money back, I just really want to talk to them.

If you want traction: ✔️ fewer priorities ✔️ tighter feedback loops ✔️ more reps

The founders who win aren't always the smartest. They're the ones who kept going.

@sickdotdev We've have a fix for that 🙂 Check it out: Intro.co - Sydney

People say “network is everything” but you have nothing valuable to offer your network so you avoid reaching out

@Nithya_Shrii So true. Everyone wants the outcome, but few are willing to be put in the boring work. - Sydney

Everybody wants to be great. Not everybody is willing to be uncomfortable.

@Jashanx_gill One time @alexisohanian told me that "the most important personality trait in a founder that’s going to build a generational company is a relentless obsession for excellence." I think about that often. - Sydney

Obsession will make you more money than passion

@girdley This is good advice. Managers read this one before your next 1 on 1! - Sydney

tl;dr: * Use “Ask like you're 5” * Start with emotions * Actively listen * Use silence * Keep it simple * Read the room * Direct the conversation * Avoid throwaway questions * Practice, practice, practice

8. Avoid throwaway questions You ask at the end of a meeting, "Any questions?" And get polite no's in response. You used a "throwaway" question! Instead, ask something like: "What could go wrong here?" You'll get actual feedback.

@alexisohanian Let's go 🚀

Founder mode is a life-long setting

@chef_lizette @ajv He's a legend!

@intro @ajv Great insight AJ!!

Confidence is an asset, but delusion is a liability. 🚩 @ajv breaks down the fine line between believing in yourself and losing touch with reality. Know the market. Respect the competition. Stay hungry.

“How do you know when you've found Product Market Fit? PMF is like being in love — you know it when you feel it.” — @eshear I love this sentiment, but it's not a strategy. In the AI era, you can build everything. So many teams are: - 9-9-6 - chasing every idea and calling it “iteration” - Running out of runway before they learn anything It’s largely wasteful of precious engineering time From working with @markpinc at Zynga (300M MAU) to supporting founders @ycombinator, @GoogleLaunchpad, and now @speedrun I have seen what works and what doesn't and have some advice to share: The teams that find and keep PMF on a live product do not usually get lucky. They: - pick a metric they want to move before committing to a feature - prioritize ruthlessly - measure everything PMF isn’t just something you feel. It’s something you earn. More tips on how to find PMF can be found here: speedrun.substack.com/p/how-to-build…

@marcussegal @eshear You nailed it!

@readswithravi The ones who succeed master both. - Sydney

Your attitude and discipline are your most important asset.

@TTrimoreau Couldn't agree more. One conversation could change your life. - Sydney

Hot take Most founders don’t need a better idea. They need to talk to strangers.

“Storytelling is everything. Even in B2B, behind every B is a C — a human buyer.” - @mhiggins

@lalitpanda Welcome to Intro! 🎉

Exciting news! After serving as CIO, COO, and MD across companies ranging from $1B to $26B in revenue, including Altria, HARMAN, Denon/Marantz and Tronox, I'm opening up 1:1 advisory sessions on @Intro. I've spent my career turning technology and operations into measurable growth

Need guidance navigating the transition from founder to CEO? Book a 1:1 with operators who’ve done it before. → Intro.co

Scaling a company requires a different kind of leadership. ✔️ Recognize when you’re the bottleneck ✔️ Hire leaders who outperform you in key roles ✔️ Build systems that enable execution ✔️ Protect the company’s mission ✔️ Lead with clarity and emotional stability The founder builds the company in the beginning. Over time, the CEO builds the organization that sustains it.

In the early days, founders build the product, close customers, and solve problems directly. As the company grows, that approach stops working. More people, more decisions, and more complexity demand a different kind of leadership. The founders who scale successfully learn how to shift from doing the work to designing the system that does the work. Here’s how experienced founders on @intro think about making that transition. ⬇️