The 3 evaluation criteria that matter the most when assessing any potential career opportunity: ARE Leadership, Growth, & Culture

Winning companies have strong leadership, strong growth, and a strong culture.

It is the foundation for any assessment I run on a company for my people and serves as the north star trifecta. The companies I believe are the best have amazing founders, a strong CEO, and a super strong exec team. They are high growth, and when they’ve had setbacks they’ve been able to not only survive but thrive. Their culture is defined, empowering, and true. They walk the talk when it comes to their values, and everything… everything aligns with their purpose and mission.

Here are the questions we talk through to see if there’s a great fit between Operator and company: (1) Leadership, (2) Growth, and (3) Culture.

1. Leadership

   • How strong is/are the CEO and founders? Are they repeat founders? Do they have high growth experience? Prior exits? If so, how large ($ and employee base)? Industry experience in the problem they are tackling? Leadership strengths/weaknesses? —> Best source of truth: existing employees and other founders. Founders know each other’s styles and reputations.

   • How strong is the exec team? High growth prior experience? Exits? Demonstrated ability to build killer teams and be magnets for talent? Aptitude? Expansive or limited domain expertise? Are there holes in the team, and if so, where? —> Best source of truth: previous coworkers of the execs at previous companies.

   • Who are their investors? Tier 1? Tier 2? Are they passive or active? Network strong or network weak? Pains in the ass or not? —> In Boston, it is well known which VCs in town actively help with their investments, and which ones do not. Those who are helping are winning the war. Those who are not will be replaced soon by the people (ex: new syndicates who are leaning in). Ask around.

   • Who is on their board? Are they experienced operators? Visionaries? Is there a compelling story there that resonates with future growth levers? Or are they just campers… place holders not adding value? —> In Boston, this takes five minutes to figure out with a few phone calls. Happy to help. I want Boston boards to be stacked with winners who add value, not campers. I love camping, but I hate campers.

2. Growth

   • What does their current growth look like? This is obviously different by stage (a Seed stage company growing at 200% YOY is different than a Series D company growing at 200% YOY). Ex: Is it in the Series B 100%+ YOY growth? Or is growth flat? Growth declining? Why? What’s going on? Etc. —> Best source of truth: existing employees and VCs not in their deal.

   • What does its past growth look like? Did they just start to recently hit on all cylinders, or is there a pattern of excellence that is emerging? How did they handle periods of slower growth? —> Best source of truth: past employees.

   • How big is the market (TAM and other factors) and how much of an impact can you (candidate) drive in that market? —> Google this. You can usually pretty quickly start to narrow things down.

   • What are the levers that have fueled growth? The momentum of market forces (ex: eCommerce in the pandemic)? Flywheel model / product-led growth? Killer team additions (ex: Marc Lore joining Walmart accelerating team/process/execution)? —> Make some assumptions to start, and then go and ask existing employees. If you’re interviewing, this is obviously something you’ll be spending massive amounts of time figuring out… and whether there’s truthful merit to the drivers.

3. Culture

   • What are their stated values? Do employees in the company know what they are? Are they real, or lipstick on a pig? —> Look online first. 80% of the time a company has its values on its website. 20% of the time they don’t (foolish). Then take those values and ask existing employees to have a conversation and see if they feel like people are walking the talk.

   • Do they have core competencies in addition to values that are used to assess “good work” and promotions/acknowledgment/raises? Korn Ferry (a horribly named company, but the leader in the competency space) has nailed this. —> Ask employees if they know what the competencies are of the next level up above them. AKA… what does it take to get promoted? If they don’t know, it’s unlikely the company is operating in step. If they do, that’s a good sign.

   • Beyond values, an operator/client/candidate should always be thinking not just what the company’s values are, but what their own are as well. They should be thinking: “Now that I know the company’s values and competencies…. do my values and the way I work jive with them? Is there a potential match?” —> This is on you. Talk it through with yourself. Talk it through with a family member, your agent, your coach, your manager, etc. A company’s leadership, growth, and culture may be amazing… but given that… it may not be amazing for you. Take the time to reflect.

Next time you’re trying to figure out your next career move, remember these three words: Leadership. Growth. Culture.

Happy Wednesday.