My job as a growth
company CEO
Jeff Maggioncalda
CEO of Coursera

My job as a growth company CEO
culture
an engaged, agile organization
team
a high-performing exec team
strategy
where to play & how to win
performance
success that delivers on the mission

Strategy

customer
opportunity
advantage
Strategy = focus
Choose a clear problem ...
• Who is your customer?
• What is their unmet need?
• How do you meet it?
... in a big, growing market ...
• How big is the market?
• How fast is it growing?
• What are the economics?
... where you have a long-term, unfair advantage.
• Who are your competitors?
• How are you different (in a way that matters to customers)?
• What is your sustainable advantage?

Find product-market fit
“Lean Product Playbook” by Dan Olsen

See your business as a system
“Business Model Generation,” Osterwalder

Will your business model scale?
Will customers be the bottleneck to 10x growth?
competition

Will your business model scale?
Will your product be the bottleneck to 10x growth?
competition

Will your business model scale?
Will acquisition channels be the bottleneck to 10x growth?
competition

Will your business model scale?
Will the organizational issues bottleneck 10x growth?

Will your business model scale?
Will operating leverage improve with 10x growth?

Learning requires feedback
4. competition
5. investors
2. employees
3. partners
1. customers

Team

Recruit a team with potential to grow
values… shared beliefs, shared behavior
talent… past success, smart, growth mindset
performance... tirelessly driven to produce results
teamwork… self-aware, open, honest, diverse

ResultsInattention to...
AccountabilityAvoidance of...
“5 Dysfunctions of a Team” by Lencioni
Leadership must model teamwork
TrustAbsence of...
ConflictFear of...
CommitmentLack of...
Be vulnerable
Focus on team results
Confront difficult issues
Force clarity & closure
Demand debate

Create development feedback loops
Performance... set high goals and beat them
Teamwork... inspire and support others
Growth... learn, change, and grow

Culture

What is culture?
The beliefs and behaviors
that transmit and reinforce
group identity and longevity

The twin pillars of culture
Key beliefs
● Purpose - “why?”
● Vision - “what?”
● Values - “how?”
● Language & symbols
● Perceived vs. stated
Key behaviors
● How people treat each other
● Who is rewarded and for what
● Deciding priorities & resources
● Learning from “failure”
● Who gets recruited

Love without limits
Respect and embrace the diversity and
dignity of every single one of us
Increase leverage
Focus and align people on the things that
produce bigger results with less effort
Learn, change, and grow
We can always be better -- ask for feedback, give
feedback, and change what’s needed to improve
Own it
Take responsibility for fixing mistakes
and finding solutions
Inspire teams to be their best
Inspire, listen, empower and
appreciate the people around you
Serve the cause
In what you say and do, show that we’re
all here to serve Coursera’s mission
Agree on what leadership looks like

Planning turns strategy into action
90-day
quarterly OKRs
annual
Financial
Plan
3-year
Strategic
Vision

Results
Deliverables
Activities

Leverage =
Results
Deliverables
Activities
+

Learn
Test
Hypothesize
Design Minimum
Viable
Prototype
What result?
Where’s the leverage?
Learn fast to find leverage
“Lean Product Playbook” by Dan Olsen
What’s the fastest,
cheapest way to test?
Not just “what”
but “why”?

“Plan”
What level of results did
we commit to achieve?
Measure and report on key metrics over time
ResultmetricLearn from your results
“Actual”
What level of results have we
actually achieved? Why?
“Forecast”
What level of results do we
believe we are going to
achieve? Why?
• Learning is the key to driving long-term results
• Learning can be more valuable than near-term results
• Learning is the key to predictability

• Purpose: “We’re making a difference in the world”
• People: “I trust and enjoy the people I work with”
Engaged employees drive growth
• Results: “We are succeeding and so am I”
• Deliverables: “I am proud of what we create”
• Workflow: “I feel productive and supported”