I think kindness is actually under-rated. Especially with Silicon Valley - and probably in business in general - it's seen as being a pushover or ineffective as a leader.
— Christine Tsai
When it comes to creativity and to leadership, we need introverts doing what they do best.
There's a good amount of research out there that shows generous parental leave policies have a significant positive impact on employee retention and morale.
At 500, our policy is 12 weeks of fully paid leave for all parents in the U.S. Parents can choose to take this leave consecutively or spread it out through the first 12 months after birth.
Values are the foundation of a company. Culture is the manifestation of values - the day to day actions and behavior. Adapt tactical cultural behavior that helps you execute on your values.
I mostly read online - tech/VC blogs. I also enjoy the 'NY Times', 'Atlantic', 'New Yorker'.
Many of the problems that families face can be solved with great technology, design, and distribution.
What many single male 23-year-old entrepreneurs don't realize is that family tech is a 'big freaking business'. As in, trillions of dollars.
Entrepreneurs don't have a regular 9-5 work day. They don't take vacations. They live and breathe their business 24/7 and wear many different hats.
I took on the role of CEO, which involves directing the Management Team and overall day-to-day operations of 500.
I love the fact that Facebook offers equal leave for moms and dads. Consider that for your company.
You don't need to visit a prison to know that racial inequality exists. There's enough talk about it, especially in Silicon Valley, to know that there's a diversity problem.
If you invest the time earlier to create structure and process around communication, planning, and goal-setting, you can prevent missteps before they occur.
The change I want to see is a start-up environment where everyone, regardless of gender and background, feels welcome and safe; where sexual harassment or discrimination will not impede great talent from producing great impact.
Breaking down barriers is tough. Many companies make the mistake of dismissing diversity early on, only to realize later how foundational it is to their success or failure.
Many people are allergic to process and structure because it causes traumatic flashbacks of working at BigCo and suffering through bureaucracy for bureaucracy's sake.
Your role as a founder changes dramatically once your team hits 10, 20, 50, 100, and so on. Sometimes you forget how big you've grown and continue to act as if you're still 10 people.
In life, you don't get what you deserve. You get what you negotiate. So don't be afraid to ask - the worst you can hear is 'no.'
There are huge pain points experienced by parents. It's hard to find good child care options in one place. It's hard figure out things to do with your kids on the weekends or after school. It's hard to find iPad apps for your kids that you are confident are helping them learn vs. just being entertained.
I can say without a doubt that being a mom is the ultimate test of my multi-tasking skills. I spend my day meeting startup after startup, helping our portfolio companies, bringing in speakers, and soon gearing up for Demo Day for our accelerator program.
The best thing women in tech can do is to invest in other women.
Unfortunately, a lot of Silicon Valley venture capitalists are disconnected from African Americans, Latinos, and other people of color.
While your intentions may be good, this is something every expectant working mom fears - being phased out. I'll put myself out there and admit this has been/is a fear of mine. Let her be the one to decide whether something's too much for her to handle or not.
When you grow up in poverty, suffer from abuse, live in a violent neighborhood, come from a broken home, lack positive role models, are told you'll never amount to anything, etc, the challenges are enormous.
It's really important for your team to be not just feel empowered but actually be empowered.
I was always really interested in startups and fascinated by what they were working on.
In order to have a meaningful impact, companies should value diversity and inclusion from Day One.
Once your company grows past a certain point, upholding values becomes more and more difficult. This is where companies get into trouble. Thus, it's absolutely critical to take your company values seriously and practice it every day.
Be the person you want others to perceive you as. So if you want others to see you as a leader, then act like one. Don't expect things to be handed to you. You have to work for it.
Throughout the day, I'm always thinking about 500, the team, and how we can do things harder/better/faster/stronger.
People will never stop having kids, and people will never stop spending money on them to make sure they're safe, healthy, and educated.
Moms get their fair share of conflicting advice, with a heaping of unsolicited advice. Parents debate the pros/cons of different types of disposable diapers, whether the supposed carcinogens in Johnson & Johnson baby products hurt their kids who used it, which method of sleep training to use.
Be transparent about why the termination is happening. If you did things right, it shouldn't be a surprise to the person.
Offering unequal leaves just reinforces the longstanding notion that parenting responsibilities aren't equal, and that doesn't help anyone.
As a society, we're failing. In so many ways. Such high incarceration rates of underrepresented minorities ultimately means we're missing out on great potential from black and Latino communities. Yes, there's immense talent brewing even within the most impoverished neighborhoods. Talent is universal, but opportunity is not.
It was my first time in prison. I was there to volunteer with Defy Ventures, along with 500 teammates Tara Graham, Brian Wang, and Aerin Lim. While I didn't feel particularly scared about going to prison, I had no idea what to expect.
