Big Tech Alumni: Help or Hindrance? with Bryan Power

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Big Tech Alumni: Help or Hindrance? with Bryan Power

HR Heretics

Jan 02, 2025

Transcript

From Square to Nextdoor, Bryan Power reveals why copying Big Tech's playbook might be your biggest mistake.

Find out why Square banned hiring from the payments industry while building a payments company. Discover how conventional wisdom about senior talent can become startup kryptonite and why the safe choice isn't always the smart choice.

Bryan Power is a veteran Silicon Valley People executive who's shaped talent strategy at tech giants like Google and Yahoo, built Square from 150 employees, and now leads People at Nextdoor where he champions innovative approaches to hiring and leadership development.

*Email us your questions or topics for Kelli & Nolan: hrheretics@turpentine.co

For coaching and advising inquire at https://kellidragovich.com/

HR Heretics is a podcast from Turpentine.

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📰 Be notified early when Turpentine's drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess

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KEEP UP WITH BRYAN, NOLAN + KELLI ON LINKEDIN

Bryan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanpower

Nolan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolan-church/

Kelli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellidragovich/

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CHECK OUT:

Nextdoor:

https://nextdoor.com/

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Intro

(00:48) Nextdoor Leadership Transition

(02:10) Founder's Mentality & Return

(04:03) Six Years at Nextdoor - Career Journey

(05:29) Growth vs. Turnaround Experience

(07:59) The False Signal of Company Logos

(10:29) Square's Early Days & Recruiting

(12:25) Leadership Training at Square

(15:07) Sponsor: Metaview

(17:01) Culture and Training Truths

(21:30) Innovation vs. Industry Experience

(25:59) The Pattern Matching Trap

(29:39) Talent Density Discussion

(33:58) Performance Management & Up-leveling

(40:34)) Big Company vs. Startup Dynamics

(43:07) Aligning with Different Leadership Styles

(47:14) Wrap

Discussion about this podcast

“HR Heretics” | How CPOs, CHROs, Founders, and Boards Build High Performing Companies

After a decade+ of “blitz-scaling” companies, HR, talent, and People leaders now face an uncertain economy that has already seen big booms and busts. What will it take to construct the next generation of incredible businesses – and where can people leaders have the most business impact?

Hosts Nolan Church and Kelli Dragovich have been through it all, the highs and the lows – IPOs, layoffs, executive turnover, board meetings, culture changes, and more. With a lineup of industry vets and experts, Nolan and Kelli break down the nitty-gritty details, trade offs, and dynamics of constructing high performing companies. Through unfiltered conversations that can only happen between seasoned practitioners – Kelli and Nolan dive deep into the kind of leadership-level strategy that often happens behind closed doors.

This show is for those who are ready to ditch conventional wisdom and figure out from first principles what works for their culture, business model, and industry, with the goal of building a resilient and enduring company. You’ll come away with real guidance for seeing around corners, building enduring companies, and carving out an impactful career – plus a newly-honed bullshit detector.

Topics frequently touched on in this season include: building high performing cultures, compensation negotiation, performance reviews, company design, equity, M&As, recruiting the best talent, and how to manage your own psychology as a people leader.

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