Laura Modi

Asynchronous 'sprints' can be more effective for decision-making than traditional meetings.

"Moving away from meeting culture and being able to be in a position where we can work async, whether it's one-hour sprint over Slack, make decisions and go back and forth, 20 people, and then everyone..."

Sustainable D2C growth requires moving away from a total reliance on paid performance marketing.

"We should not be paying for every customer and we should be very careful that people aren't getting hooked on the drug that is paid marketing or performance marketing... D2C is not dead. How you drive..."

Asking a candidate to teach you something reveals their communication skills and passion.

"Teach me something. Actually, we just talked about that today. Teach me something. Yeah. I love getting someone to, not related to work, not related to their job, something in your life, something you..."

Hiring 'unlikely' candidates with fresh perspectives can lead to more innovation than hiring industry veterans.

"I think sometimes putting the most unlikely people who have an ounce of naivety to what it takes to win and succeed are the ones that are going to drive the biggest impact."

In startups, the ability to maintain momentum is more valuable than the desire for perfection.

"I definitely look for people who have the ability to make decisions and move fast and not get worried about the outcome. That is the biggest learning in a startup. The secret is momentum and just keep..."

Energy is a vital currency in high-growth organizations that must be intentionally maintained.

"The most obvious kind of cliched one is culture. It is bread and butter to everything you do, from the people you hire to how you build the right mindset to just keeping the energy. I mean, energy at..."

Building personal connections is essential for remote teams to maintain a cohesive culture.

"For example, we make sure that we take time to have personal and professional check-ins. And cross-functional people in the org who maybe have no idea someone else as a kid or what they're doing in th..."

Branding internal processes and workflows makes mundane tasks more engaging and memorable.

"I really, really do believe the power of branding the mundane is so successful. I mean, we brand, to be fair, I actually feel like that this was a page out of the Airbnb book... how much better is Air..."

High-level execution requires a support system that acts as a force multiplier for the leader.

"The power of a support system to be able to do what you do, I mean, you are an extension, my leverage, my everything... everyone should not only know the power and leverage of their person, but the le..."

Powerful storytelling connects daily tasks to a larger mission, driving employee motivation.

"I now reflect back on just how powerful our storytelling was at Airbnb to get people pumped up. I mean, even for some of the smallest features that we would build, Lenny, they would kick off with the..."

Investing in educational content and SEO builds long-term authority that converts into commerce.

"We wanted to become the content leaders in that, with the hypothesis... that if we win on content and as a thought leader, that will drive back to Bobbie. And today... if you do a cursory Google searc..."

In supply-driven marketplaces, the supply side is the actual product and requires a dedicated team to manage and empower it.

"Airbnb is nothing without its hosts, nothing. If anything, Airbnb's product was its hosts. So there was a moment... where that narrative was building up more and more and we realized that there was a..."

Leaders must often create arbitrary deadlines to maintain organizational velocity.

"Your job is not just to keep people going on momentum. Your job is to make momentum. And sometimes that momentum has to be manufactured. And that has been one of my biggest lessons on just how, as lea..."