The High Flyers Podcast with Vidit Agarwal
01:13:40 · Vidit Agarwal, Grace Brown
[01:13:40] S0: At some points, just to rank at this point because it's super interesting, some points directness... I'll give you an example. The recent guest that came on my podcast was Justin from Base Power, is a company down in Austin, Texas, and they're like reimagining the electricity grid and doing really cool And everyone says he's very direct. And then when I spoke to a lot of people around him, they said, yes, but when he says something's good, we know he means it, right? That's how he operates, where some people will just be flaky and they'll say that is great, but then he also says, I don't know. Like I spoke to a lot and of his they said he will literally, and they have raised billions of dollars, their valuation is worth billions of dollars, VC said he'll say I don't know. And that builds a lot of credibility because when he does provide answers, go, he must know what he's talking about because if he doesn't know, he will very explicitly say I don't know. Now I'm not saying that approach works with everybody, but it just reminded me of, like, your comment about some level of candor and directness sometimes can cut through. [01:14:41] S1: Yeah. No. Definitely. Definitely. So, yeah, that's the thing that I'm focusing on. At least, that's the quality that I'm focusing on for this next chapter for myself. [01:14:50] S0: Yeah. This is meant to be a rapid fire, so let's get back into rapid Is there one interview question you love asking prospective candidates in a hiring process?
01:14:50 · Vidit Agarwal, Grace Brown
[01:14:50] S0: Yeah. This is meant to be a rapid fire, so let's get back into rapid Is there one interview question you love asking prospective candidates in a hiring process? [01:15:00] S1: My favorite question... And this was even before I started Andromeda. My favorite question has been cliche. Why do you wanna join? Like, truly, why... What is their motivation for joining beyond wanting a job? Or maybe if that is the reason, then great. We know that. Like, I think... And I think that's why we have such a mission oriented team is because I really wanna understand what does this other person want to get out of being in our journey. Is it to improve their craft? Is it the mission? Is it to have a front row seat at what we're building? Like, whatever it is, I just wanna know. So, yeah, definitely understanding their motivation and why are you joining truly is my favorite question. [01:15:38] S0: Last two. One pet peeve. [01:15:43] S1: Hypocritical of me to say, but who who use too many words to describe something. Information density is really important to me. It goes back to time. It's not a disrespectful thing. There's just not a lot of time in my day to have someone tell me something that could be said shorter. And I say hypocritical of me because I know I ramble at times as well. So I don't judge people for it, but I wanna get as much of my time back as possible because I don't have enough of it, as every founder would feel.
01:15:43 · Grace Brown, Vidit Agarwal
[01:15:43] S1: Hypocritical of me to say, but who who use too many words to describe something. Information density is really important to me. It goes back to time. It's not a disrespectful thing. There's just not a lot of time in my day to have someone tell me something that could be said shorter. And I say hypocritical of me because I know I ramble at times as well. So I don't judge people for it, but I wanna get as much of my time back as possible because I don't have enough of it, as every founder would feel. [01:16:10] S0: Mhmm. And last one, I ask every guest if you could recommend a question I should ask the next guest. Of course, don't know the next guest. Anything I should include in my prep? [01:16:20] S1: Oh, the next quest... A question that you should ask your next guest. I don't know. Just what have they changed their mind on recently? What's something that they've changed their mind on? Maybe in the last twelve months. Recent is too recent, but what's something they believed in or changed their mind on in the last twelve months?
01:16:20 · Grace Brown, Vidit Agarwal
[01:16:20] S1: Oh, the next quest... A question that you should ask your next guest. I don't know. Just what have they changed their mind on recently? What's something that they've changed their mind on? Maybe in the last twelve months. Recent is too recent, but what's something they believed in or changed their mind on in the last twelve months? [01:16:35] S0: This has actually come up quite a bit. I think the last few guests said a version of this question. Really? I think it's something about tech, right? People in tech seem to have this desire to be open to different views and different opinions. So maybe it's people in tech because I find the guests that come from outside tech don't quite frame that question in that way. They're more curious about other parts. So that speaks to I think maybe the industry. But that brings us to the finish line. Grace, thank you so much for doing this. And yeah, I've just enjoyed following your journey. And I'm glad we made this happen. And like you said, there's so much ahead. This is only the start. Excited for you. [01:17:10] S1: Thanks, Vidit. I really appreciate this. This has been so much fun. [01:17:14] S0: That's a wrap. So if something in this episode sparked a thought, send it to a friend or colleague. And if you're curious, get partnering with us and the Curiosity Centre, whether it's this podcast, to our reports, events and more. And join the ranks of existing commercial partners including Google, KPMG, Vanta and others. My details are in the show notes. Until next time, I'm Vidit Agarwal, and this is the High Flyers Podcast.