Tech Entrepreneur & CEO John Hanger on How to Lead a Successful Startup
Atlanta-based tech entrepreneur and investor, John Hanger sits down with Aaron Hassen to share his personal philosophy on business, investing, leadership and life. John was the co-founder of automotive chat juggernaut, Contact At Once! (acquired by LivePerson in 2014), CEO of Car360 (purchased by Carvana in 2018), and is currently invested in 15 startups.
Like John Wooden, John Hanger is known for building high-performing teams, living by a code, and inspiring those that work for him to reach greater heights.
Topics covered in our interview include:
01:36 - What makes someone successful in business.
02:41 - How to assess whether a company is right for investment.
04:28 - John's attraction to B2B SaaS companies.
05:03 - How to determine whether to step in as CEO.
05:37 - John's attraction to automotive retail.
07:10 - Lessons learned from being acquired by LivePerson and Carvana.
09:42 - The path from Electrical Engineer to CMO and CEO.
13:31 - The role of marketing at early-stage startups.
14:36 - Staying disciplined under the pressure of instant success and immediate returns.
17:21 - Reaching the tipping point that makes an acquisition possible.
18:31 - EAI and the story of Mercator's IPO.
19:31 - What makes a good organizational leader.
21:40 - The key ingredient to effective communication.
22:56 - Hiring well: What to look for and what to avoid.
25:18 - John's four tenets for team success.
26:41 - What it means that former employees speak so well of John's leadership.
28:14 - John shares his greatest and most personal challenge yet.
Video mentions include: LivePerson, Carvana, Accenture, Boyd Bailey, Mercator, Enterprise Application Integration, Gartner, and Jerry O'Connell
