Failing Fast and Driving Forward with David Siegel: Lead to Succeed 37

In this episode, Naphtali interviews David Siegel, CEO of Meetups @ WeWork. Previously, David was the CEO of Investopedia, the largest finance and investing education website, which currently reaches over 30 Million monthly unique visitors. David shares his secrets in building great sales teams and award-winning company culture.

Conversation highlights:

01:32 – Naphtali introduces David
02:46 – Marketing is all about analytics
03:15 – David’s dry testing (lean startup) story
06:07 – The ultimate entrepreneur’s question: when to fail fast and iterate and when to persist
08:15 – The importance of having the right people, with integrity and a willingness to fail
09:02 – How to identify and set the right business goals
09:48 – Why leaders need to encourage debate and disagreement
12:08 – Two different types of selling (digital based and 1:1)
14:38 – The importance of capturing people’s emails
15:11 – Tips for in-person selling (hint: get a great sales leader)
16:21 – Who are the best sales people? What characteristics do they possess?
18:03 – Why listening matters in selling – it’s about a conversation
19:38 – New leaders need to get the right people around them. People first, strategy second.
24:02 – How David built a Culture of Accountability
24:58 – David’s 5 “scope” values