YouSaid · the spoken record

Tristan Walker

lines on the record: 98
first: 2016-08-22
most recent: 2016-08-22
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Yes, I have a couple like the president is one of them Sure, for sure. That pride and inspiring that pride through a brand, if we can be the first company that inspires that pride for this generation and future ones, how much is that worth? I'm proud that we're like on that path in a very big way.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Which, but this is like it's sad, right? When I look at my generation, there are a lot of companies with products that I love. But I can't say there's any companies that I'm proud to support. It's like a weird”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“One thing that I'm very excited about and honored by is that we've built something that folks can fundamentally be proud to support. And here's what I mean by that. And I speak to a few kind of journalists about this. And this goes to an earlier point that you'd made. When my mom was growing up, she had all these brands that she could be proud of, right? Like Soul Train and stuff, right? Like just they just love the culture and just appreciated it.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I don't necessarily need to slow down. My approach just needs to be different. So if I get 1.2 or 3, I forget the number, 1.2 or 3% better every single week, by the end of the year I'll be two times better than I was previous year. And that level of gradual kind of management and growth has helped me quite a bit. So if there's anything, it's like stop always being step function leader. You can do it for your business. But you still got to manage people. You got to manage the business. And that's where all the breaks can happen.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And I have two executive coaches who have helped me quite a bit, folks like Ben, the support, et cetera. I learned something about my leadership style over the past six months. We do a lot of feedback here and a lot of folks give me kind of that 360 feedback to help me be a better leader. And what started to come out in my own realization is I'm a very step function kind of person, right? It's like I want to better my life and other people's lives by orders of magnitude immediately and often. But if you're managing folks, not everyone's like that. And it starts to get very difficult if folks are more gradual in their learnings and their thinkings when you're very step function. And so it forced me to think.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“The Reagan administration Reagan came in. It was a similar thing, but It's just weird. The other day I was like, and I used to protest, right? I said fucking horror show”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I remember the Reagan came in. It was a similar thing, but now I'm like, bring back Reagan. It's just weird. I can't believe I said it. The other day I was like, and I used to protest. It's a fucking horror show.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And that just really gets me mad Because I fundamentally believe in the promise of the country, the hope of it, people who are seizing what ought to be, et cetera. And whenever anyone gets in front of that. Gets me upset. And I think about the Code 2040 fellows, right? I think about my story. I wouldn't be here if someone like him were involved. And what's even more concerning? It's not just him. Folks who believe in them. So that gives me great cause for concern. That said,”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Shall we know him, but we really don't know them, right? Like, we've worked too hard to create a set of values for this country and optimism, like a path forward, among other things. And here's this person with vanity, all this foppery coming it up for people.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, so this election is actually one that has got me incredibly motivated to get into politics one day. I fundamentally believe that. True. I always kind of give this quote because it's so important to me and it resonates and speaks exactly to what we're going through today. So I read all these biographies and all the chats. And I'm just reading Thomas Jefferson's actually. In it, there's a letter from John Adams to Thomas Jefferson. And I hope I don't butcher it, but he says something like this he says, My dear friend, we've been indefatigable laborers for a cause, which should be thrown away in a generation. Upon the foppery and vanity of persons of whom we do not know the name, right? Think about that, and it's like you think about what's happening with Donald Trump”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“No, I think so too. And excuse me. I fundamentally believe exactly what you believe. What I'm saying is over the long term, it doesn't matter. Let's finish up on a couple.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Standards are higher than Interesting. I think you're more positive about the change. I think they're willfully ignorant. I think they actually spend time not acting. No, I think so too. And excusing it and excusing it. Oh, it's unconscious. I fundamentally believe.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, I mean, let's talk about standards right now for Code 2040. Our standards are higher than theirs because our full time operates are higher. Interesting.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And I was like, why is that only applied to women and people of color or standards? Why does it suddenly get discussed when I know, for example, on the Twitter board there's at least seven incompetent people? You know what I mean? Like, they wouldn't have passed a standards test.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That is a significant part of the problem. Significant. If you think about even our fellows, like we're finding kids from University Maryland, Baltimore County, For OGPA, they exist. Just do the work”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Dick and three Peters Yourself or someone else? I think what's more frustrating is, I mean, this happens not only for board stuff, but then also, you know, investment in not-for-profits. Once folks start to get blamed and ridiculed, they'll do one of two things they'll either start working with BET. Or they'll start funding HBC.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We found them at like six months They're the ones who are Defined values, among other things. It's just going to change. We will. I'm just waiting for them all to die, really. You know, it's a really interesting question because it does happen. I had a huge argument. It's a well-known argument with the head of Twitter about their board. And they had 10 white men of the same name. Again, it was three dicks, one dick and three Peters, which was all men, all white men. And he kept saying it was just that happened that way. And I'm like, that's impossible. You're lying, like yourself or someone else.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We just graduated a class of 90 fellows. We have a 90 plus percent full-time off rate. A lot of these folks are saying that they don't exist. That is complete bullshit because we found them at kind of like six months, right? But the inevitability in this, like they're the ones who are going to go and start the companies. They're the ones who are going to hire. They're the ones who are actually going to create these lists of defined values, among other things. So that's when I say inevitability, I fundamentally believe that it's true. And if folks are complacent, it's like, great. Like, don't hire those folks. We will. I'm just waiting for them all to die.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And when you think about, so I have a not-for-profit code 2040. And a code 2040, we're known for our fellows program where we get the highest performing black Latino engineering undergraduates out here and give them all the tools they need to be incredibly successful.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I think it is very possible. I think it's inevitable, actually. And I say that for a couple reasons. Number one, I think a lot of folks will start to understand this values thing a lot more, right? You know, the world is getting more diverse. The world's getting more liberal. The world, it just happens. And then there's just an inevitability in terms of math, right? 20, 30 years, where the majority of this country, right? The world is majority. Oh, they can hang on. But it might not be. So I think when a lot of folks talk about diversity, It should be talked about and kind of screamed. But people want to solve it too quickly.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And they believe they're a meritocracy. Yeah, yeah, totally Totally right. So I'm ever the optimist. I'm always glass half. You are.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, but it's bullshit Because if you're not judging folks during their reviews, how are you going to check against that behavior? It's impossible.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You can't really fix someone's judgment. It's just a fundamental character issue. And if we can't kind of share the same view on judgment, then we just can't rock, right? And if you look at our team, yes, we're incredibly diverse. That's not only race, gender, age, all that stuff. It's personality, among other things, but we all share the same core six values. That also has a function of the products that we make, right? Like, are we actually being courageous in our thinking? We don't want to make shampoo to make shampoo. Like, how do we go above and beyond? How are we inspiring our customers? Are we respecting their needs? Are we being loyal to those needs? Are we taking care of ourselves so that we can come in fresh tomorrow morning to help them?”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It irks. It gets really mad, specifically because no one ever defines it, right? And I was like, if we're going to do this the right way, let's define it. Let's find folks that share our values and let's be consistent across the board. So any questions that we ask during interviews are leading questions to get at one's inspiration and courage and judgment and respect when we do semi-annual annual reviews. Yes, you're rated against your attainment of your goals, but also your adherence to the values that we've set at this company. Now here's why that's important. For folks who talk about like culture fit, it's like, oh, it makes me laugh, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, right? But for the values thing, what's interesting is you can still theoretically hire a jerk, but if that jerk has the same values that you have, then it's just like a management issue that you can help fix.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, Foursquare worked, and we got to like 150 employees, and no one left because we knew who we were, right? I think the thing this time around that I've realized that I wanted to do from day one is define that and define it for folks that we were recruiting, among other things. So how do we define it? We define it through our values, right? Of which we have six. And I wrote these values two weeks before you raised any money. It's courage, inspiration, respect, judgment, wellness, and loyalty. And this is important because a lot of our employees, we get a lot of new employees, we have to do interviews. Whenever I hear the word culture fit.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, look, I mean, that's why I think we're here, not San Francisco, right? Like, we don't want to have that kind of distraction echo chamber. That's why I'm thankful we're starting a health and beauty product company and not something else, right? Like folks don't want to talk about it.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I'm not, I think that's the whole technology eco chamber. I mean, we had millions and millions and millions and millions of people who love that product and use it every day, right?”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Not often. But Peter Till would say, look, I mean, find your kind of small niche tribe, et cetera. Build a monopoly and then scale into the next other things.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I can't believe I never said you put those words in my mouth, but I think when he said about what I'm going to say is right. So this has no kind of bearing on my feeling about him. That's another podcast.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Then we grew and grew and grew and grew. It was the right thing to think, right? Like we had to. We were global. We couldn't do the same things that we did when we were a Series A startup. And I think that's one thing I learned, and this goes to some of your earlier questions sometimes being Too big is unnecessary If you just find your lane, this is like the whole Peter Teal thing, we build your monopoly. I'm sorry. I know.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Hot, right? So anything I say about Foursquare that comes out, like, I don't know. So I don't really want to speak on behalf of the company because I have no idea. No, I don't want you to speak. I want you a small person. Yeah, I mean, look, I mean, here's why we succeeded. I'll tell you that. We were always authentic. Folks like our users bled like Foursquare Blue. We stayed, we had this unique lane.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So I felt I was there for about three years. I felt I had done everything I could do for the company, right? I saw Esco from zero merchants on the platform to over a million, zero brands on the platform to tens of thousands, two people on the team to 150. And I felt there are other ambitious things that needed building. And I wanted to fundamentally help people. So that's when I joined Andreessen Harowowitz. I just kept it in a family. And I just needed time to think about what I wanted to do so ambitiously.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It was the fun times, man. It changed my career for the better A couple things. Number one, I still fundamentally believe when Foursquare was at its kind of apex. From a brand perspective, I think few technology brands have achieved that level of super stardom. So, you know, my ability, especially being out in the West Coast to go to these conferences and speak, if folks got to see who I was and how much I loved Foursquare and the brand, et cetera, Dennis just gave me all the kind of opportunity, which I still thankful for every day to this day for that. And then we succeeded, right? And we did well. And I helped them with a few deals and all that jazz. And that kind of got my name out there and really set me up quite nicely.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, of course what happened. And I still had my second business So over the summer of 2009, so they haven't even raised money yet. I reached out to Dennis Nevine, sent them 80 mails. Eighth time, Dennis said, hey, you're sure. And it was a bit nicer, but that's what he meant. And then he asked me if I was ever going to be in New York. So that night I booked my flight, flew out the following morning, just walked through the door. I don't think he thought I was going to show up. I sat down right next to him. And then a month later, I was around in business development for the company. Wow. Yeah, it's crazy.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, I help them kind of think about how to monetize business accounts and corporate accounts and that sort of thing, kind of leading to some of the kind of promoted stuff that they're working on right now as an intern, I didn't get paid or get stock or anything, but that's still kind of urgent. Why didn't you stay? Foursquare habit.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, that first year in business school, I was a bit stubborn. We weren't supposed to do this, but also work full time at Twitter. We knew about 20 people at the company.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I had no idea. So funny enough, until 2008 when I landed down at Stanford, I thought Silicon Valley was a place where just semiconductors got made. They got better over time. Digital experience. None. Zero. Zilch, right? And I got out here and I realized I was 24 at the time. And I was like, damn, there are other 24-year-olds out here not only making millions of dollars, but fundamentally changing the world. That's pretty cool. And if they could do it, I could do it.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I had to give her the news, and it was like so terrifying. And we had just bought an apartment and renovated it and no money. And a week later, I got into Stanford. JP Morgan gave me a bonus and gave me nine months of severance and the rest is history. Right. So you came out here. Came out here and had you been interested in the...”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So for university, I went to Stonybrook University in New York, and there I graduated three years, valedicted. I was still on my Git Rich kick. And I knew I wanted to work on Wall Street. So I had a few internships on Wall Street, busted my ass there. I got a full time job at Lehman Brothers. I was an oil trader on Wall Street for a little over a year and a half. Then I got laid off. And this was January of 2008. So talk about good timing. I still hadn't gotten into Stanford yet for business school because I applied to business school. So I got fired and I'll never forget like I was so dejected. I had to walk from 47th Street as at JP Morgan at the time to 20th Street where my wife worked. She's the teacher.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It was amazing. I like to say it was the foremost transformative years of my entire life. Hadn't I gone through that? I certainly don't think I'd be here right now.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Sure. So fortunately, I had folks in the community who were looking out for me to make sure that I didn't kind of make the same mistakes as some other folks did. So I was a part of a program, the Boy Scub of New York, in New York City, an afterschool program. It's a great program. I like to say it's the best ROI investment my mom has ever made. She paid 50 cents for me to kind of get in there annually, right? You know, I played basketball, did that sort of thing, and then for all students, they allowed them to take the exam, SSAT, which gets them into prep school. And because everyone knew me at the club and knew my mom and knew I was academically inclined, they kind of said, no, Tristan, you have to take this test. You have no choice. And I'm notoriously like terrible test taker. So I handed my exam. I tell the guy what my grades were. He was like, you're going to have no problem. We're going to get you into the program. And then I got into the program and I got in a little bit too late. Hotchkiss had already kind of admitted all of their students. I went up for a tour and a visit and they let me in. And that fundamentally.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“When I was in high school, I got to go full scholarship to a boarding school called the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut. And that's when I got to see how the other half lived. I got to see what wealth looked like. Yeah, got to go to school with Rockefellers and Fords. And I was like, wow, what is this? This is amazing. I worked really hard, did pretty well there, went to a university.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“She was one of the hardest workers I've ever met my entire life and still didn't kind of make it as she deserved. So I took that experience and said, look, I mean, I still remember what it feels like kind of like handing a food stamp over to the cashier. That shit sucks. Like no one should ever have to go through that. And I kind of dedicated myself to ensuring that I do everything that I could to not have to do that. Now, I've been very blessed and fortunate and lucky with opportunity.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, yeah. I mean, I grew up, it was pretty shitty. I like to tell folks I had the whole rose I grew from concrete story. I was born and raised Jamaica Queens projects. My father was killed when he was three welfare, like I've had it. I moved when I was six years old to Flushing Queens. More projects. My mom worked three jobs. So she was an administrative assistant for New York City Housing Authority. She worked for Time Warner Cable. She was just...”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I don't know because I'm not trying to raise it. But it seems like in the past 31 days things have changed. Now you're hot, hot, hot.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We are not profitable, but we have a path to it For me to say that we will never raise any money would be incredibly naive and incorrect. We'll raise it if we need it. How's the”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Same zone as them. Care about building a company that is building a profitable business, generating good free cash flow for me to say, are we profitable?”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I mean, I do believe that. I mean, you look at kind of Google YouTube and even what Unilever has said that they would do with Dollar Shaved Club. I think that that's a good precedent. Well, YouTube was going to be short.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I mean, so there's a couple ways to think about it. I mean, sure, I mean, we got our capital to shareholders, among other things. What I tell the team here is you can still be around operating autonomously 150 years from now, whether or not you're a standalone business or within kind of another one.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And it really doesn't matter which one you choose, you just got to own it. There's nothing wrong with wanting to get rich. So before I started business school, it was really to get rich. And that was a function of just my background and not having any money, et cetera. And it wasn't until kind of I got to the end of that business school, I realized, well, what I really care about is building a great company that could fundamentally change the world and the getting rich thing will figure itself out later, right? So it's okay. I mean, I don't know enough about their reasons for wanting to sell. Perhaps they wanted to get rich. Perhaps they just wanted to build a great company until that point. And I think it's unfair to kind of give them a negative point for that potentially. I mean, our vision is to, if we're going to be around 150 years from now, then we can't be as quick to pull that trigger.”
2016-08-22 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Tristan Walker, CEO, Walker & Company · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT