Welcome to In Depth, a new podcast from First Round Review that’s dedicated to surfacing the tactical advice founders and startup leaders need to grow their teams, their companies and themselves. Hosted by Brett Berson, a partner at First Round, In Depth will cover a lot of ground and a wide range of topics, from hiring executives and becoming a better manager, to the importance of storytelling inside of your organization. But every interview will hit the level of tactical depth where the very best advice is found. We hope you’ll join us. Subscribe to “In Depth” now and learn more at firstround.com
All content for In Depth is the property of First Round and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Welcome to In Depth, a new podcast from First Round Review that’s dedicated to surfacing the tactical advice founders and startup leaders need to grow their teams, their companies and themselves. Hosted by Brett Berson, a partner at First Round, In Depth will cover a lot of ground and a wide range of topics, from hiring executives and becoming a better manager, to the importance of storytelling inside of your organization. But every interview will hit the level of tactical depth where the very best advice is found. We hope you’ll join us. Subscribe to “In Depth” now and learn more at firstround.com
How Wes Kao coaches founders to influence, lead, and get what they want | Wes Kao (Executive coach, co-founder of Maven)
In Depth
1 hour 19 minutes
5 months ago
How Wes Kao coaches founders to influence, lead, and get what they want | Wes Kao (Executive coach, co-founder of Maven)
Wes Kao is an executive coach, advisor, and instructor, best known for her newsletter on high-impact communication, and for co-founding course platform Maven and the AltMBA with Seth Godin. Across her career, Wes has helped leaders communicate with clarity and conviction, whether it’s rallying a team, pitching investors, or influencing stakeholders.
In this episode, Wes and Brett unpack how founders can be more persuasive, why playing to your strengths is critical, and how everyone can raise their own standards.
---
In today’s episode, we discuss:
Wes’ “personality-message fit” framework
Why charisma is misunderstood
How anyone can improve their communication
What being told you need to “be more strategic” actually means
and much more…
---
Referenced:
AltMBA: https://altmba.com/
Maven: https://maven.com/
Seth Godin: https://www.sethgodin.com/
Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/
---
Where to find Wes:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weskao
---
Where to find Brett:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-berson-9986094/
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/brettberson
---
Where to find First Round Capital:
Website: https://firstround.com/
First Round Review: https://review.firstround.com/
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/firstround
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FirstRoundCapital
This podcast on all platforms: https://review.firstround.com/podcast
---
Timestamps:
(1:54) Charisma is misunderstood
(4:44) What underpins authenticity?
(13:53) Clarity in communication
(16:02) Start with your ideal outcome
(22:05) The role of power dynamics
(26:39) Should you work on weaknesses?
(29:02) Effective self-reflection
(32:13) Role-strength fit
(37:39) What do you resent?
(39:17) “Be more strategic”
(45:20) Stack ranking
(51:45) How AltMBA started
(60:04) Defining your craft
In Depth
Welcome to In Depth, a new podcast from First Round Review that’s dedicated to surfacing the tactical advice founders and startup leaders need to grow their teams, their companies and themselves. Hosted by Brett Berson, a partner at First Round, In Depth will cover a lot of ground and a wide range of topics, from hiring executives and becoming a better manager, to the importance of storytelling inside of your organization. But every interview will hit the level of tactical depth where the very best advice is found. We hope you’ll join us. Subscribe to “In Depth” now and learn more at firstround.com
