Day 1: Tapping into decades of Silicon Valley history and experience
Itâs a humbling fact to realize that the combined value created by our line-up of guest speakers over the next few days is in the region of $200bn. Hereâs a condensed look at the truths, learnings and anecdotes our team of 16 CEOs were exposed to today:
Larry Sonsini
When Larry mentions âSteveâ (Jobs), âSergeyâ (Brin) and âElonâ (Musk) heâs speaking from first hand experience. His credentials span far back into Silicon Valleyâs past as well as US legal and governance history. With poise and natural authority, he described his personal overview of the state of the Valley and its place in the world:
On governance
The main issue here, Larry suggested, is whether a corporation should voice something beyond its commercial purpose, specifically in the areas of environment, social impact and governance (ESG).
Private as well as public companies are now responding to these ESG, particularly in areas in areas of diversity and transparencyâââand that makes good business sense. Thanks in part to social media, thereâs no longer any hiding place for companies who ignore their broader responsibilities.
On Silicon Valley
The Valley is not slowing down, Larry assured us. But is it replicable? From Southern California to Europe and beyond, Larry is being asked whatâs needed to re-create the Valleyâs historic success elsewhere. He cited a list of vital supportive ingredients, including financial and legal infrastructure, tech-centric universities and access to capital, that must be in place first. The Valley still holds the sweet spot in all these areas, but other regions may catch up in the future.
On Entrepreneurs
Itâs a great time to be building a tech company, with a lot of patient capital ready to go to work in the sector. Larry described todayâs successful entrepreneur as being of a broader base with a broader vision.
Later in the day Philip Lay outlined the importance of playing for power over performance, outlining the role of thought leadership in creating disproportionate impact and the magic of the âmissing metricâ.
Bob Wright of Firebrick firmly moved the CEOsâ focus from product-centric (how your product works) to buyer-centric (why you matter) and John Hamm wove the vital theme of hiring through the dayâs content.
Hiring the right âA playersâ was a strong theme of David DeWaltâs barn-storming appearance. Under one tenure (Fire Eye) he hired 4,000 people in two years. He also passed on his own personal view of candidatesâ âhierarchy of needsââââfun, learning and moneyâââas well as his simple way to gather the motivation profile of a candidate, by reading their resume in reverse order.
âI got straight on to my Head of Sales with Dave DeWaltâs message about the power of the right go-to-market strategy. As Dave said, itâs a game of miles not inches.â
Lucy StonehillâââCEO BridgeU
This just scratches the surface of the insight, wisdom and anecdotal evidence from todayâs cohort of guest speakers. Fuller descriptions will be released here over the coming weeks. What leadership questions would you want to hear about?