Jeff Wald is the Founder of Work Market, an enterprise software platform that enables companies to manage freelancers (acquired by ADP). Jeff has founded several other technology companies, including Spinback, a social sharing platform (eventually purchased by salesforce.com).
Jeff began his career in finance, serving as Managing Director at activist hedge fund Barington Capital Group, a Vice President at venture capital firm GlenRock and various roles in the M&A Group at JP Morgan.
Jeff is an active angel investor and startup advisor, as well as serving on numerous public and private Boards of Directors.
He also formerly served as an officer in the Auxiliary Unit of the New York Police Department.
Jeff is the author of The Birthday Rules and The End of Jobs: The Rise of On-Demand Workers and Agile Corporations. Jeff frequently speaks at conferences and in media on startups and labor issues.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
When business started difficulties overcame:
“I think about the obligations I have to others in society because I was so fortunate. But I don’t pretend that I had some tremendous obstacles to overcome compared to others”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success Book by Carol S. DweckFavourite Quote:
- “Ideas Are Cheap. Execution is Expensive”
- “Getting knocked down seven and getting up eight”
Recommended Online Resources:
Sequoia – help the daring build legendary companies from idea to IPO and beyond
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“You have got to get started. Whatever it is that you are thinking about someone’s thought about it, it is just going to be a riff on our ideas… The only thing stopping your ideas coming to life is the fact that you haven’t done anything. And if you don’t do anything it will not come to light, somebody else will do it. And so just start, put that first foot in front of the other and start that journey”…[Listen for More]
More About Jeff Wald:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“Dream beautiful dreams, and then work to make those dreams come true.” Spencer W. Kimball
Other Quotes From the Chat with Jeff Wald:
- “I will go back to our culture doc I would have had from day one. As I think about the new company as I write the business plan, I am writing the culture plan. What do I want this company to be? And what kind of people do we want there?”
- “The learnings that I have as a leader were vitally important and I kind of wish I had those and got out of my own way and didn’t try to prove to everybody that I had all of the answers and therefore you should follow me but say hey great you know more? Awesome. You lead this meeting I will just sit in the back.”
- “I would say that hard work… That me is the most important variable in the equation. Is the hard work, the showing up every day and giving it your all? And I don’t think people understand that as much as they could or should ”
- “Everything that you do is either a validation or an indictment of a fixed set of skills. A growth mindset is everything you do is an opportunity to increase your skills”
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