Key takeaways
- Early-stage investing shares similarities with HR processes, focusing on people and systems under uncertainty.
- Sourcing in early-stage investing is akin to recruiting talent, emphasizing the importance of community and networks.
- Intentional company cultures can lead to significant financial returns and business success.
- Designing organizational culture with intentionality fosters excellence and superior outcomes.
- Human capital should be viewed as a strategic asset, not just a cost center.
- Employee-centric systems can translate into tangible business results.
- Trust must be scaled alongside product development to ensure sustainable growth.
- Organizational crises often stem from human systems breaking down, not technical issues.
- Restoring the social contract within a company is crucial before implementing new processes.
- A strong community and culture within a company can enhance employee motivation and productivity.
- Early-stage investing requires a focus on both people and systems to navigate uncertainty effectively.
- The process of sourcing founders in venture capital is similar to talent recruitment in HR.
Guest intro
Katelin Holloway is a Founding Partner at Seven Seven Six, a technology-focused venture firm backing early-stage entrepreneurs that she started with Alexis Ohanian in 2020. She previously worked alongside Steve Jobs at Pixar and led the cultural turnaround as VP of People & Culture at Reddit. Her operational experience informs 776’s highly personal approach to sourcing, underwriting, and adding value to portfolio companies.
Early-stage investing and HR parallels
- Early-stage investing parallels HR processes, focusing on people and systems under uncertainty. – Katelin Holloway
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Early-stage investing is fundamentally about people and systems under conditions of extreme uncertainty and distress.
— Katelin Holloway
- The process of sourcing in early-stage investing is similar to recruiting talent. – Katelin Holloway
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There is sourcing which is how do you find the best founders in the world that is the same as recruiting.
— Katelin Holloway
- Understanding the connection between HR practices and venture capital investing is crucial.
- Early-stage investing requires a focus on both people and systems to navigate uncertainty effectively.
- The importance of community and network is emphasized in both early-stage investing and HR.
- The comparison between sourcing founders and recruiting talent highlights the overlap between HR and venture capital.
The power of intentional company cultures
- Intentional cultures yield outsized returns in business performance. – Katelin Holloway
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That’s where I learned that intentional cultures yield outsized returns time and time again.
— Katelin Holloway
- Pixar’s culture was designed with intentionality to foster excellence. – Katelin Holloway
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This was the first time I saw a company intentionally design culture as infrastructure.
— Katelin Holloway
- Understanding the importance of company culture in driving business success is crucial.
- Deliberate cultural design can lead to superior outcomes in creative industries.
- Intentional company cultures can lead to significant financial returns and business success.
- The direct correlation between intentional cultural practices and financial success is evident.
- Designing organizational culture with intentionality fosters excellence and superior outcomes.
- The role of intentional culture in achieving business success is highlighted through specific examples.
Human capital as a strategic asset
- Human capital should be treated as a strategic asset rather than a cost center. – Katelin Holloway
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I spent a decade of this HR revolution dragging HR out of the backroom into the boardroom.
— Katelin Holloway
- Designing systems with people at the center can yield outsized returns. – Katelin Holloway
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What if we cared about people the systems that supported them and we translated that to business results?
— Katelin Holloway
- Understanding the traditional view of HR as a cost center versus a strategic partner in business is essential.
- This insight reflects a significant shift in HR philosophy that can impact organizational effectiveness.
- Employee-centric systems can translate into tangible business results.
- Viewing human capital as a strategic asset can enhance organizational success.
- The shift in HR philosophy towards treating human capital as a strategic asset is emphasized.
- The strategic approach to organizational success through human-centered design is highlighted.
Scaling trust with product development
- Trust must be scaled alongside product development for sustainable growth. – Katelin Holloway
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Something that we learned early on was that you can’t scale product faster than you scale trust.
— Katelin Holloway
- Understanding the dynamics of organizational culture and product development in tech companies is crucial.
- Scaling trust is a critical principle in organizational management for long-term success.
- The importance of balancing trust and product development is emphasized.
- Sustainable growth requires scaling trust alongside product development.
- The role of trust in achieving sustainable growth is highlighted.
- The need to scale trust in tandem with product development is a key insight.
Human systems and organizational crises
- Most crises within organizations are not technical but stem from human systems breaking down under growth. – Katelin Holloway
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What I learned were most crises within that organization weren’t technical they were human systems breaking down under growth.
— Katelin Holloway
- Understanding the dynamics of organizational growth and the importance of addressing human factors in crisis management is crucial.
- This insight highlights a critical perspective on organizational challenges.
- The need to focus on human elements rather than solely on technical solutions is emphasized.
- Addressing human systems is essential in managing organizational crises.
- The role of human systems in organizational crises is highlighted.
- The importance of focusing on human factors in crisis management is a key insight.
Restoring the social contract in organizations
- Restoring the social contract within a company is essential before implementing processes and systems. – Katelin Holloway
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My job wasn’t to add process it was to restore social contract from there once we healed and once we identified those broken parts.
— Katelin Holloway
- Knowledge of organizational behavior and the role of social dynamics in workplace effectiveness is crucial.
- This opinion underscores the importance of addressing interpersonal relationships and trust within teams.
- Restoring the social contract is a precursor to effective organizational change.
- The role of social dynamics in workplace effectiveness is highlighted.
- The importance of addressing interpersonal relationships in organizational change is emphasized.
- The need to restore the social contract before implementing new processes is a key insight.
Community and culture in business performance
- Establishing a strong community and culture within a company can significantly enhance employee motivation and productivity. – Katelin Holloway
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The thing that drove them was this commitment to community… therefore the quality of work that we’re able to produce following that we finally started to see a turn in the business.
— Katelin Holloway
- Understanding the importance of community in workplace culture and its impact on business performance is crucial.
- This insight highlights the direct correlation between community engagement and improved business outcomes.
- A strong community and culture can enhance employee motivation and productivity.
- The role of community in achieving business success is emphasized.
- The impact of community engagement on business performance is highlighted.
- The strategic approach to organizational culture through community is a key insight.
