Everything This Veteran CEO Would Tell Founders After Building To $11B
EP 95 of The Logan Bartlett Show: Untold stories from tech's inner circle
Tooey Courtemanche has been the CEO of Procore for over 2 decades, bringing the company from $0 to over $11B today. In my latest episode, we explore how Tooey built the #1 Construction Management Software company, including his strategies for maintaining a talented team, his mindsets for tough times, lessons from mentors like Satya Nadella, and more.
Click here to view the episode transcript | Watch on Youtube | Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
✉️ Episode Memo
Tooey’s favorite hiring framework
Tooey looks for people who have the three critical traits: smart, hungry, and humble. Generally, “smart” is easy to identify. Hungry is vital, but if you combine “smart and hungry” without “humble,” you’ll end up with an asshole. You need all three, so don’t compromise. Interestingly, Tooey applies the same criteria when choosing his friends, valuing this blend of characteristics in both professional and personal circles.
Lessons from having Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO) as a mentor
Assessing the performance of your executive team can be challenging when you interact closely with them. Satya’s advice: every quarter, make it a point to have conversations with external department heads at other companies you respect and admire. This practice offers a clear contrast between your team and the broader market, allowing you to more accurately evaluate talent you have on hand. Reflecting on this practice, Tooey’s only regret was not starting sooner.
The best mindset for navigating dark times
Between the 2008 financial crisis and the global pandemic, Procore has seen its share of tough times while trying to scale rapidly. Yet, Tooey reflects that the biggest inflection points in Procore came during seemingly dark hours. If you can adjust to a new world quickly during times of rapid change, you will accelerate your vision.
At one point, Procore made some drastic changes to correct prior hiring mistakes. By removing players who slow you down, you may emerge from challenges running faster than ever before with a more engaged team. With hindsight, seemingly tough times often are crucial inflection points.
More key lessons from building Procore and Tooey’s advice for founders in the full episode.
⭐ Trailer
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