Executive Function

Conversations with the 0.001% of scaleup executives about what makes them singularly excellent. Move past the PR talking points to explore the delta between good and uniquely great.

Going In Depth with Scaleup Executives

Great executives are force multipliers. So we found it surprising there wasn’t more advice about what it means to operate as an elite exec. First Round has dedicated thousands of hours to sharing tactical knowledge on The Review and In Depth — and now, on Executive Function, we learn how the best execs lead their companies.

Jeanne DeWitt Grosser

COO at Vercel and former CBO at Stripe
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Christopher Payne

Former COO at DoorDash
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Stevie Case

CRO at Vanta
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Chris Degnan

Former CRO at Snowflake
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Jeremy Epling

CPO at Vanta
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Katie Burke

COO at Harvey
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Upcoming Episodes

• David Singleton

  Co-founder and CEO at /dev/agents and former CTO at Stripe

• Lindsey Scrase

  COO at Checkr

• Praveer Melwani

  CFO at Figma

• Jay Parikh

  Executive VP at Microsoft

• Eric Sager

  COO at Plaid

Executive Function

Episode 12 What startups get wrong about enterprise | Lindsey Scrase (COO, Checkr)](https://review.firstround.com/what-startups-get-wrong-about-enterprise-lindsey-scrase-coo-checkr/)

Episode 11 Why Plaid’s COO cold-calls new hires | Eric Sager (COO of Plaid)](https://review.firstround.com/executive-function-eric-sager-coo-plaid/)

Episode 10 How to build a beloved tech brand | Sheila Joglekar Vashee (CMO, Figma)](https://review.firstround.com/how-to-build-a-beloved-tech-brand-sheila-joglekar-vashee-cmo-figma/)

Episode 9 Why old-school sales work still wins in the AI era | Graham Moreno (Head of GTM, Parallel)](https://review.firstround.com/why-old-school-sales-work-still-wins-in-the-ai-era-graham-moreno-head-of-gtm-parallel/)

Episode 8 Why founders should bet on first-time executives | Praveer Melwani (CFO, Figma)](https://review.firstround.com/why-founders-should-bet-on-first-time-executives-praveer-melwani-cfo-figma/)

Episode 7 Why great product leaders should stop obsessing over the roadmap | Diya Jolly (CPO & CTO of Xero)](https://review.firstround.com/why-great-product-leaders-should-stop-obsessing-over-the-roadmap-diya-jolly-cpo-cto-of-xero/)

Episode 6 Scaling DoorDash to market dominance | Christopher Payne (Former COO, DoorDash)](https://review.firstround.com/scaling-doordash-to-market-dominance-christopher-payne-former-coo-doordash/)

Episode 5 The most politically dangerous role in the C-suite | Katie Burke (COO, Harvey)](https://review.firstround.com/the-most-politically-dangerous-role-in-the-c-suite-katie-burke-coo-harvey/)

Episode 4 The product wisdom every CPO should ignore | Jeremy Epling (CPO, Vanta)](https://review.firstround.com/executive-function-jeremy-epling-cpo-vanta/)