Adam Bryant, Corner Office, New York Times; Interview with Aaron Levie, co-founder and C.E.O. of Box.net, an online file storage company: Always Keep a Few Tricks Up Your Sleeve:
"Q. Talk about the culture of your company.
A. Everyone has a start-up mentality still, and we’re small enough where you get the right kind of energy and dedication, so everyone feels really a part of what we’re doing. People are able to question each other about strategies, whether they’re in marketing, engineering or product.
We try to keep it fairly low on hierarchy. Everyone is encouraged to be entrepreneurial and people tend to be extremely passionate, but it’s not about taking credit or being arrogant about what we’re doing.
We’ve been able to do away with just a lot of the corporate kind of things that I think slow down organizations and don’t result in productive behavior, and instead we’ve been able to get a lot of people focused on really having a good time, which helps us stay fast and innovative. And I think that ultimately is the only reason that people even want to go to work or want to stay in business — to have a good time while collaborating to accomplish a big vision.
Q. So what are some specifics?
A. We had our first ever “hackathon” at Box a few months ago. The engineering team pulled an all-nighter, from 8 p.m. until noon the next day, on projects outside their daily job description.
We then had a judging panel at lunch, and the entire company got to watch the engineers present some amazing new features. It was fun and people goofed off but it was also really inspiring, and I think it brought the whole group together.
Q. What were some important leadership lessons for you?
A. In middle school, I did magic shows. It actually applies to what I’m doing now because it’s all about getting in front of people and telling a story, something that people buy into that is hopefully entertaining. It’s all about capturing people’s imaginations and getting them excited about what’s possible.
Q. What about as a C.E.O.?
A. I think a big jump was to managing or helping the managers of the people doing most of the hands-on work on projects — being one degree away from the action and figuring out and understanding what that means in terms of leadership.
Q. And what does that mean?
A. As much as I would love to be involved in every single decision that gets made in the organization, not only is that not scalable, it’s also not leveraging or capitalizing on the amazing experience of the people that we have on the team. It’s really hard to let the details go. Every sort of decision is really interesting. So you come up with a big goal, and hopefully everyone comes together to figure out how to accomplish it.
Q. Talk more about that process.
A. I’ve made some mistakes in terms of getting involved at the wrong level of the problem or the wrong time. I’ll think I’m speeding things up by saying, “Oh, let’s just solve it that way,” but then it turns out I’m slowing things down because I’m breaking a healthy system that’s emerging.
Q. Let’s talk about hiring.
A. One thing that’s really important is understanding what they’ve done in their career. Just walk me through how you got to where you are today. What are the factors that led to specific decisions — that can give you a level of insight into behavior and how they make decisions. One thing that I’m asking now is to talk about a project or job — “What could you have done differently to do that bigger or get more revenue or execute better?” You see if they can look back on their decisions and find out where they could have improved.
Energy and persistence are the two most important factors, in addition to just having a clean résumé where there’s nothing crazy going on. In a business like ours, we have to be super, super competitive, and we have to be able to get people who are going to be persistent and relentless and have a level of energy that gets them through challenging things.
Curiosity is another big thing and a way to identify who’s going to be energetic and have the right attitude. Sometimes the best people are the ones who are very curious about our business model, how we’re going to grow. They actually care a lot about us as a company; that’s actually been a pretty good way to find people who are going to be really dedicated to the business.
And ultimately, we’re looking to hire people who can adapt to what a role might become, not just what it is today. When you’re at a start-up, things move and scale very quickly, and you want to hire people who can grow with the company and into roles that expand beyond the job description they were hired for.
Q. If you could ask a job candidate just a few questions, what would they be?
A. “What questions do you have for me?” That will help you see how they’re thinking about the challenges. A lot of times I’ll say, “When you’re thinking about Box as an opportunity, how do you compare it to other organizations? What do we have that you want to be a part of?” Getting them to articulate the values back to you about what kind of organization they want to be a part of can actually be very useful.
Q. What advice would you give to somebody who’s about to become a C.E.O.?
A. I think people are always able to achieve more than they think they can. While that’s cliché, I don’t know if managers think about that enough. You have to set your sights extremely high.
We often go through a process of thinking about the best way to execute on something, whether it’s a product launch or a sales strategy, then come back again after a day or two and figure out how can we do this even bigger or better. It often leads to better decisions and ideas.
It’s also important to know where your gaps are and what resources you need. So, one thing that I often do with my co-founder is to look at the organization and figure out what we’re missing, where our gaps are, where our weaknesses are, and then how do we solve for those things. We know our strengths, and sometimes it’s important to look at your strengths. That way, you sort of continue to push on those and invest in those areas. But it’s really important that you constantly know why you wouldn’t succeed, and what you need to do to change that.
Feedback is really critical, too. The day you notice there are challenges or issues, you get involved — don’t let things boil up.
I think bad politics are incredibly dangerous, so it’s important to make sure that people are communicating well. Culture and morale are super important. It’s best to not force it, but let it happen organically and genuinely. It certainly helps if you know a couple magic tricks, but if you don’t, then there are other things you can do.
Q. Given your experience with magic, I take it you’re comfortable in front of a crowd. What was the biggest crowd you played to?
A. Probably about 400 people. It was a corporate event. I did corporate parties and stuff when I was 11 or 12 years old.
Q. How much did you charge?
A. About $300. We’re making more money now, so I’m very happy about that."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/business/25corner.html?pagewanted=2
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