Latest news with #OKR
Business Insider
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
An angel investor in 350 startups, including Airtable and Rippling, says founders shouldn't copy Silicon Valley playbooks
Startups are told to run like Airbnb, go full " founder mode," and follow OKRs — Objective and Key Results. But Immad Akhund, an angel investor since 2016, said copying Silicon Valley playbooks can backfire. It's "very easy" to try to copy and paste a Brian Chesky axiom to your situation, Akhund said on an episode of the "In Depth" podcast published Wednesday. "That never works," he added. "The lessons work in their particular way for that particular situation, and you have to adapt them to your situation," he said. Akhund said the key is to understand the framework and context that made it successful and then "try to blend it" into your own company. For instance, Akhund, who is the founder and CEO of banking startup Mercury, said people told him to adopt an OKR framework once the company reached a "certain size." "When we were small, I was like, 'OK, this is just silly,'" he said. "We don't need a structure for objectives, like there are just five people in the room. Let's just do this." He also cautioned against letting metrics dictate every decision. "Doing like, an extra bit that creates like a magical experience for customers, that's very hard to measure a metric against," he said. It's dangerous to have everything be driven by metrics, he added. Akhund has backed more than 350 startups at their earliest stages, including Rappi, Airtable, Rippling, Decagon, and Etched. Akhund angel invests in "things that will seem inevitable 10 years from now and can be $10 billion companies," he told Business Insider in a May story about the most successful seed-stage investors. Mercury, the fintech startup he founded, announced in March that it had raised a $300 million Series C round led by Sequoia at a $3.5 billion valuation. Akhund did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Silicon Valley playbooks Tech leaders have debated about the right way to run their companies. Airbnb's Chesky said on an episode of The Verge's "Decoder" podcast published last month that embracing "founder mode," a term that he helped popularize, is key to acting like a nimble startup. "In the age of AI, my argument is you need to be founder oriented/founder mode, because you're going to need to be able to move like a startup to be able to adapt," he said. "I think these big, professionally managed companies aren't organized to be able to do that, so they don't bode well for this new world." Chesky talked about founder mode on the same podcast last year, saying people misunderstand the term. It's not about "swagger," he said, but instead about being focused on the details. The whole ethos is "that great leadership is presence, not absence," Chesky said last year. But others see the risk in sticking to a single operating mode. Hussein Kanji, a partner at VB firm Hoxton Ventures, said in a September story by Business Insider that it's easy to end up down the wrong track "if you live just in one mode." "People love making things black and white when the world runs in a lot of different shades of truth," he said. "People have lost their ability to engage with seemingly contradictory ideas at the same time." Some of the most successful tech companies right now are also overseen by leaders who weren't their founders. Satya Nadella at Microsoft is one such leader, as is Dara Khosrowshahi at Uber.
Business Insider
16-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Ex-Microsoft software engineer shares why tech workers should update their résumés every 6 to 9 months
Akshay Phadké knows what it takes to move up in the tech industry. The Seattle-based 31-year-old's résumé includes positions at startups and behemoths alike, including Ericsson, Microsoft, Vareto, and his current company, Webflow, where he is a senior software engineer. He's also secured final-round interviews at Meta, Amazon, Dropbox, and Yelp and job offers from 23andMe and Wayfair. Some people might think that once you've secured a job, you don't have to update your résumé — but that's not true, Phadké told Business Insider. Updates as a self-check-in He believes that current and aspiring tech industry employees, including software engineers like himself, should prioritize updating their résumés every six to nine months. "Engineers tend to be forward-looking and forget their accomplishments that are further in the past," he said. "Looking back regularly on your accomplishments helps you commit them to paper and retain all the context." Giving himself six to nine months between updates affords him enough time to accrue meaningful medium- to long-term accomplishments, Phadké said. He added that documenting these meaningful accomplishments can also serve as a regular "self-check-in." "If they exceed your expectations, then that should embolden you to talk to your manager about recognition, merit-based compensation increases, and promotions," Phadké explained. "If they fall short of what you were hoping, it's also a good forcing function to take action." Performance reviews can be fodder for résumé updates Formal performance reviews can serve as a gold mine for résumé data. "You're already tracking your achievements through the official company performance review process," Phadké said. "Once you've taken out any sensitive or proprietary information, it makes a lot of sense to utilize that information to update your résumé." Many of the key points of a performance review, such as how your work connects to an OKR or other performance metric, can become résumé updates to show your continuing contributions. He added that other factors to consider include reviews from collaborators, your manager's assessment, your performance relative to your peers, and how your work helped the company's overall performance. Keeping your résumé updated could help during a layoff "Even if your performance and your ratings are solid, there's a possibility of head count reduction if the company doesn't meet investor or shareholder expectations," Phadké said. "You may choose to look for another role, or you may not have a choice." Waiting until you need your résumé revamped, such as after a layoff, can create a stressful, panicked situation as you hunt through documentation under the gun of job-search deadline pressures. By making it routine to update your résumé after every performance review, you'll be ahead of the game. "Having a regularly updated résumé means one less thing you have to worry about," Phadké said. You're signaling your network An updated résumé — and in conjunction, LinkedIn profile — lets your professional network know what you've been up to and keeps you in the loop for opportunities. Phadké said keeping his LinkedIn profile in sync with his résumé has helped him stay on the radar of recruiters and hiring managers. In 2025, he's received an average of five messages a month from recruiters asking about his interest in roles they're looking to fill — and in April alone, he received nine recruiter messages. Even if you're not seriously looking for a job, Phadké says his approach to maintaining his résumé can help find interesting work and compensation.
India.com
10-06-2025
- Business
- India.com
5 Best business coaches in India empowering entrepreneurs in 2025
Today's business environment is constantly changing. Having a mentor can be the game-changer that entrepreneurs need in a business. Some outstanding business coaches from India are who are influencing the upcoming generation of entrepreneurs and leaders with their decades of experienced guiding. Here is a list of top 5 business coaches having a significant national impact. These business coaches play a pivotal role with their expertise in guiding individuals and organizations towards success. Among the best business coaches in India, one name that constantly stands out is Mr. Suresh Mansharamani. With over 45 years of entrepreneurial and coaching experience, Mr. Suresh has guided more than 80,000 business owners towards profitability, growth and sustainable success. He is the CEO of Tajurba, India's fastest-growing MSME community. With his expertise in Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), Suresh Mansharamani is revolutionising business coaching in India. He is a certified Gallup Strength Coach, India's first International OKR coach, 4-times TEDx speaker and a serial entrepreneur whose straightforward, pragmatic approach is assisting thousands of SMEs in changing their strategy, culture, and financial results. He stands out as a leader in India's coaching ecosystem because, in contrast to traditional coaches, he prioritises quantifiable growth, accountability, and goal clarity. He has been honored with the Presidential Award and also best sales coach of the year. Rahul Jain is a pioneer in structured business coaching and the founder of Business Coaching India. He has a solid corporate background and helps mid-sized businesses grow sustainably by providing strategic 18 years of coaching experience he has empowered thousands of business owners. Rajiv, who is well-known for his best-selling book 'Lead or Bleed,' focuses on assisting small businesses in creating effective systems and teams. Young business owners looking for operational discipline and clarity are drawn to his training programmes. He has impacted many business owners through his coaching and engagements. Dr. Vivek Bindra, the founder of Bada Business. He is an internet sensation and has amassed a sizable fan base due to his insightful business knowledge and inspirational posts. Learning business is made both impactful and entertaining by his captivating delivery. Dr. Parekh approaches coaching with a focus on results. His programmes help business owners transition from chaos to control by emphasising systemization and profitability. He is the author of 'Your mind is your enemy' and 'Secret of Wealthpreneurs'. Disclaimer: This article is from the Brand Desk. User discretion is advised.
Business Wire
27-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
WorkBoard Announces General Availability of Its Digital Chief of Staff and Leadership Coach Agents, and Expanded Capabilities for Microsoft 365 Copilot Agent
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WorkBoard Inc., provider of the leading enterprise strategy execution and OKR platform, WorkBoardAI, today announced general availability of its Chief of Staff and Leadership Coach agents, expanded functionality in its Microsoft 365 Copilot agent, and broader integration with next-generation agentic ecosystems from Microsoft and Workday. 'The digital Chief of Staff and Leadership Coach agents are a force multiplier that helps managers operate at a more strategic level and marshal company resources more effectively,' said Erik Huddleston, CEO, Aprimo. WorkBoardAI's Digital Chief of Staff and Leadership Coach Agents Now Generally Available WorkBoardAI's Digital Chief of Staff and Leadership Coach agents are now generally available to enterprise customers, marking a paradigm shift in driving predictable and profitable strategy execution. Effective managers are the lynchpin in strategy execution and how organizations align efforts on the most important outcomes, sustain focus, and create performance accountability. While the top 2% of leaders often have a chief of staff and executive coach to elevate their effectiveness, the other 98% of managers have less skill, capacity, and resources for peak performance. With these agents, enterprises can afford to extend these resources to all managers, tripling their competency and productivity. Built to help managers perform at their best, the digital Chief of Staff proactively drives strategic alignment, creates team operating rigor, and reinforces accountability on behalf of the manager they serve. The Leadership Coach agent helps managers navigate difficult conversations, be better coaches themselves, and lead more skillfully. Unlike ChatGPT, WorkBoardAI agents have deep context on company strategy, ever-changing strategic priorities, the org structure, team member responsibilities, current objectives and historical performance. With this continuous context, agent insights and actions are grounded in company and manager reality as they: Orchestrate OKR alignment and accountability for managers and teams, reinforcing habits many managers have not yet built Manage the operating, meeting and reporting cadence for managers, freeing them to do more meaningful, nuanced work that requires their judgment Suggest crucial follow through and take follow up actions at the manager's direction to improve execution quality and speed Identify where feedback is needed, suggest messages, and guide managers through difficult conversations so team friction is quickly addressed Prepare managers with the facts, issues and talking points ahead of every 1on1 and operational meeting to maximize time and progress Thought partner on OKRs, operational issues, and team dynamics with the context of team members and responsibilities 'The digital Chief of Staff and Leadership Coach agents are a force multiplier that helps managers operate at a more strategic level and marshal company resources more effectively,' said Erik Huddleston, CEO, Aprimo. 'Unlike chatbots, WorkBoardAI agents behave proactively and, because they are embedded in our strategy execution system, they know the ever-changing strategic priorities which makes them a powerful way to scale the workforce.' New Features in Microsoft 365 Copilot Agent WorkBoardAI also released two new capabilities in its Microsoft 365 Copilot agent, bringing strategy execution into daily workflows with even more intelligence and actionability: OKR Suggestions: Based on the teams you manage or co-manage, the agent now proposes relevant OKRs to kickstart the goal-setting process. This makes it easier for managers to draft aligned and impactful objectives. Update Key Results: The agent highlights overdue key results and provides one-click access to update them directly in WorkBoard. This helps managers stay on track and reduce slippage without switching context. These additions make it even easier to align and drive OKRs directly from Copilot in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, reducing friction and accelerating execution across the organization. Modern Architecture in the Agent Ecosystem: A2A, Workday, and Microsoft Ecosystem WorkBoardAI continues to lead in open, interoperable AI by adopting the Agent-to-Agent (A2A) protocol and supporting the Multi-Agent Communication (MCP) protocol – both vendor-neutral standards embraced by Microsoft and Google that enables agents to discover, communicate, and collaborate securely across platforms. While A2A facilitates secure cross-platform communication, MCP adds orchestration capabilities, allowing agents to coordinate complex, multi-step workflows across distributed systems. With these protocols, WorkBoardAI agents can participate in multi-agent workflows. This enables actions to be chained across HCM, CRM, ERP, ITSM, and more; the WorkBoardAI Chief of Staff and Leadership Coach agents will incorporate information from Microsoft Teams and Slack channels, Jira, and Salesforce in their actions, suggestions, and responses. By combining conversational AI, agentic orchestration, and deep integration across enterprise platforms, WorkBoardAI makes it easier for organizations to align on strategy, drive progress, and adapt faster in a rapidly evolving world. 'Our agents learn from their managers and become more helpful over time, just like a human team member would,' said Daryoush Paknad, WorkBoard's CTO and Co-founder. 'Combined, the WorkBoardAI architecture and agent capabilities bridge skill gaps, save time, and connect disparate enterprise systems to profoundly improve how organizations operate.' WorkBoard is an inaugural design partner with Workday on its Agent System of Record. With unique digital Chiefs of Staff and Leadership Coaches for each manager in the enterprise, customers will be able to see and manage the thousands of WorkBoardAI agents as part of their digital workforce via Workday's Agent System of Record. WorkBoardAI is available for purchase via the Azure Marketplace and its Copilot agent is rapidly increasing its skills to bring strategic priorities into day-to-day work across M365 applications people use daily. The Copilot agent was included in Satya Nadella's keynote at Microsoft Build 2025 and is available in the new Microsoft Agent Store. Availability and More Information The digital Chief of Staff and Leadership Coach agents are available to WorkBoard customers who have purchased or upgraded to the WorkBoardAI platform. Pricing is based on usage. See a demo of the Chief of Staff agent and Leadership Coach agent and learn more about WorkBoardAI's capabilities, architecture and impact at Get the M365 Copilot agent in the new Copilot Agent Store, the full WorkBoardAI solution in the Azure Marketplace and in the Workday AI Marketplace. About WorkBoard WorkBoard is the leading provider of enterprise strategy execution and OKR software. The platform enables high alignment, accountability, and transparency across global organizations. Enterprises have trusted WorkBoard with their strategic ambitions and the actions to achieve them for a decade. WorkBoard counts 3M, AstraZeneca, Boeing, Cisco, Elevance, Ford, Humana, Renault, State Street, UBS, Unilever, UnitedHealth, and their peers as customers. Its investors include M12 Microsoft's Venture Fund, Workday Ventures, SoftBank, Andreessen Horowitz, Notable Capital, and others.
India Today
01-05-2025
- Business
- India Today
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan announces major restructure, confirms job cuts and new work from office mandate
Intel is preparing for a major internal shake-up as its newly appointed CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, sets out to transform the tech giant's operations. In a candid letter to employees following the company's Q1 2025 results, Tan confirmed that Intel will reduce its workforce and overhaul its organisational structure. The company, which has been facing growing challenges in recent years, will now shift focus back to its engineering roots, cut down on bureaucracy, and increase productivity across the board. This marks the first major restructuring effort since Tan took over as CEO last the detailed memo, Tan expressed satisfaction with Intel's Q1 performance, but stressed that much more work needs to be done. 'We need to confront our challenges head-on and take swift actions to get back on track,' he said. Highlighting internal feedback from employees and customers, Tan admitted that Intel is currently seen as 'too slow, too complex and too set in our ways.'To address these issues, the CEO has laid out several key changes, starting with a return to an engineering-first mindset. 'We need to get back to our roots and empower our engineers,' Tan said, confirming that core engineering roles have been elevated to the executive level. He also revealed plans to reduce operating expenses and capital spending in order to invest more in innovation. One of the most significant steps is Intel's plan to flatten its organisation. With some teams reportedly eight or more layers deep, Tan said the company needs to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and empower top performers. 'I've been surprised to learn that, in recent years, the most important KPI for many managers at Intel has been the size of their teams,' he stated. 'Going forward, this will not be the case.'advertisementThese structural changes will unfortunately lead to job losses. 'There is no way around the fact that these critical changes will reduce the size of our workforce,' Tan confirmed. The job cuts are expected to begin in Q2 and continue over the coming restructuring, Intel will also reduce administrative burden by eliminating non-essential meetings and streamlining internal processes. OKR requirements and Insights reporting will be made optional, and the company aims to simplify time-consuming corporate tasks such as training and major change is coming to Intel's hybrid work policy. From September 1, employees will be required to work from the office at least four days a week. 'When we spend time together in person, it fosters more engaging and productive discussion and debate,' Tan CEO ended his message on an optimistic note, stating, 'We have opportunities ahead that most people don't get in their careers. I'm talking about the opportunity to fundamentally reinvent an industry icon.'
