Who is Andrew Frame?
Andrew Frame, founder of Ooma, discusses the importance of building an efficient team in a startup. He talks about the differences in the process of recruiting executives and staff members. Frame also touches upon his unique method of emotionally charging up potential employees about his firm before hiring them. He also cautions entrepreneurs of offering employment too soon as it might trigger auctioning for an employee.
What does Mark Frame believe?
Frame believes it is very rarely that startups build a vision. He insists that the vision is a combination of shared inputs among the leadership team. Frame describes how the company can achieve their vision by breaking it into strategic imperatives and objectives. A vision statement is essential to keep the goals of the company aligned as it scales up.
Who is Warren Packard?
Warren Packard, Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Andrew Frame, CEO of Ooma, present 10 lessons for building a successful start-up. They highlight the importance of dislocating large markets, active recruiting, organizational design, board construction, alignment of vision, managing mis-hires, building for scalability, product development, intellectual capital, and mentorship in establishing a lasting enterprise that adds value in the marketplace.
Where did the idea for Citizen come from?
In building my next company, it was really important for me to do something that was mission-oriented, consumer, could get to global scale, and would hopefully improve the world in many ways.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
Before the pandemic, Citizen was headquartered in New York City. The company has since transitioned to being remote-first – but kept core working hours in EST – and I’ve spent much of the past year and a half in Los Angeles.
How do you bring ideas to life?
First, by surrounding myself with a mission-oriented, brilliant team. Team is everything – always hire people who are smarter than you. My team at Citizen is made up of some of the most skilled and thoughtful people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
I believe that my passions outside of work make me a more productive entrepreneur. Much of my inspiration comes not from reading technology or business books, but from studying poetry, literature, and film.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Embrace and discover new hobbies. Read literature, philosophy, poetry, continue educating yourself. I haven’t read a technology or business book in years. I get more inspiration out of literature and plays than I do from anything modern.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
Taking user feedback seriously. As a company, we’re extremely focused on understanding how our users engage with Citizen, what their favorite features are, and what they’d like to see more of. We often invite app users to join team meetings so we can better understand how they use the app and how we can make Citizen even better.
