Reid Hoffman: Hearsay Systems’ Clara Shih

Some products are vitamins and some are painkillers – the best, though, are both. This is what Clara Shih, founder and CEO of Hearsay Systems, learned when she launched her software startup. To survive, she needed to shift her platform from a nice-to-have into a can’t-live-without.

In doing so, she learned a key secret to scale: Solve your customers’ urgent needs now… while looking ahead to their future wants.

• In business, focus on products that solve urgent needs and offer prevention or delight. Anticipate future needs of customers to scale up faster. Internet access is a necessity, so prioritize meeting urgent needs while planning for future desires.
• Growing your skills and experience through opportunities like fellowships can set you up for success in your career. Continuously building your credentials can open up new opportunities in your field.

Before making a big decision, ask yourself about the worst possible outcome and whether you can live with it. This strategy can help you gain more freedom to take risks and achieve success in your own way. Examples from successful executives demonstrate the benefits of asking the right questions.

Prioritizing compliance can make a business a “painkiller” instead of just a “vitamin,” making it a must-have in highly regulated industries like finance.

Incorporating humor into adult learning can improve retention and success in traffic safety education. To scale and grow effectively, it’s important to pivot and stay true to your company’s mission, even if it means leaving some customers behind.

CEOs should prioritize acknowledging and addressing feelings within their organization and creating a culture that values honest feedback. Defining success in terms of measurable outcomes for the customer and taking care of internal issues are equally important.

Regularly realigning with clients is key to creating a personalized and seamless experience that cuts across various departments. Being proactive in these conversations and addressing changes prior to any dissatisfaction can lead to becoming a ‘pair of glasses’ to clients.

A vitamin, it’s a nice-to-have. When you remember to take it, you take it. If you don’t take it, you usually don’t even notice. A painkiller, you have a major issue, you have a burning platform and you have to take care of it right away. Every moment that you don’t take care of it, you’re at risk.