Princeton Tech Meetup: Geoff Cook

Thursday, November 16, 2017
6:30 PM 8:15 PM 18:30 20:15

Princeton Public Library 65 Witherspoon Street Princeton, NJ, 08542 United States (map)

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Topic: Building a Consumer-Facing Mobile Product and Build a Culture While building a Company

Geoffrey is a serial entrepreneur. He is the CEO and co-founder of The Meet Group (NASDAQ: MEET). The Meet Group started out as a single brand, which Geoff grew to over $30 million in revenue before merging with a public company in a $100 million deal. Since then, Geoff has led the company to acquire three additional social apps -- Andreessen Horowitz backed Skout for $55 million in Q4 2016 and if(we) for $60 million in Q1 2017 – to become The Meet Group. Recently, Cook announced it had executed a definitive agreement to acquire LOVOO, the #1 social dating app in German-speaking countries (Germany, Switzerland, and Austria), for $70 million in cash. The Meet Group earned $76.1 million in 2016, representing 34% year over year growth. The company has guided to over $120 million in revenue in 2017.

Source:: https://www.meetup.com/Princeton-Tech/events/241881871/

Growth Strategies, Leadership

If Everyone Is Playing Defense with their Goals, Nobody Is Trying to Win

Ask a room of leaders why they set goals and most will say accountability. That answer creates the problem. Goals exist for alignment. The company needs to reach a number, so this group does this, that group does that, and together the math works. Everyone is pointed in the same direction. Focus comes second. A good goal tells you what to say no to.

Leadership, Organizational Dev

If Ten People on Your Team Agree, Nine of Them Are Unnecessary

The instinct to build a team that moved in the same direction, at the same pace, with the same set of perspectives is limiting. Consistency is created at the expense of range. The goal isn't alignment of strengths. It's coverage. The most dangerous teams I've seen weren't the ones with conflict. hey were the ones with none. Where every conversation ends in agreement. Where nothing gets surfaced. Where the people who see things differently may have learned to stop saying so.

Leadership

Shiny Object Syndrome Will Break Your Company. It's Also What Built It.

The same restlessness that makes it hard to stay on plan is what made them start the company in the first place. The wandering mind, the refusal to be satisfied with what already exists, the ability to see something before it exists: that's not a disorder. That's the source.

The Bridge to the Moon

If you're building a company, knowing your role isn't optional. The visionary needs someone who will build what they see without getting in the way of the seeing. The integrator needs someone who will point at the moon and mean it and keep pointing at the same moon long enough for the bridge to get built. The mistake I see most often: trying to be both or hiring someone who mirrors you when you need someone who complements you.

The Problems You Haven't Earned Yet

The fear of success doesn't usually announce itself as fear. It sounds like planning. It sounds like due diligence. It sounds like being responsible.

What it actually is: A limiting belief. It’s spending today's energy on problems you'll only face if you win

Organizational Dev

Right Person. Promoted to the Wrong Seat.

Right people, right seats doesn't mean everyone eventually moves into a leadership role. It means finding the seat where each person does their best work and building a structure that makes those seats worth staying in. Create a path for people who want to grow as individual contributors. Create a separate path for people who want to lead. Reward both. Respect both. Pay both.

Scraped Knees and Bus Crashes

Don't prevent scraped knees; prevent bus crashes. A scraped knee hurts. You might carry the scar for years. That's the point. The pain is proportional to the lesson. A bus crash can lead to catastrophic loss. The project. The company. The relationship. Something that can't be recovered. The leader's job isn't to eliminate mistakes. It's to know the difference between those two things.

Organizational Dev, Leadership

What Leadership Teams Learn When the Helicopter Goes Down

The leader's job isn't to have the answer. It's to create conditions where the best answer can emerge. That means encouraging disagreement without punishment. Creating opportunities for information to move across functions. Making it safe for people to challenge assumptions, including your own. The highest-performing teams in these simulations don't succeed because they have the smartest leader. They succeed because nobody in the room is waiting for one person to have all the answers.

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Princeton Tech Meetup: Geoff Cook

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