03 - Growing Startup Teams - Dean Hume, CTO at Settled.co.uk

Dean is the CTO of Settled.co.uk, a rapidly growing tech start-up in London. They are revolutionising the way people buy and sell homes making the process far more efficient and less of a headache for everyone involved. He is also the author of 3 books and an avid triathlete which are certainly non-trivial things to complete. He shares great insights into running and growing a successful team and of course personal insights on being a human and culturing a growth mindset. SAM’S TAKE HOME TIPS: 1 — Write a Non-fiction Book A great way to focus and really understand a topic. It doesn’t last forever and can really help build credibility. (Note from Sam — You can start by just writing a blog and answering Quora questions on topics) 2 — Pay it forward Don’t expect anything for free, just approach things sensibly expecting them to cost you time or money. be nice and genuine to everyone you meet without expecting stuff back. Then anything you do get you can be extra grateful for and will likely end up getting more in the process. 3 — Understand the Role of a CTO over time In the long-term, a CTO isn’t going to be a coder and needs to have the skills as a manager if he wants to retain that title Bonus — Test your idea first before building it! DEAN’S FAVOURITE BOOKS The Hard Thing About Hard Things — Ben Horowitz The tale of starting and growing a business to a billion dollars and losing it all and getting back and then nearly losing it and then starting another billion dollar business. Basically, there is no recipe for success and it is defined by what you do when things are going wrong. Such a good read. Sam’s Review and summary (https://medium.com/@sam_harris/the-hard-thing-about-hard-things-ben-horowitz-summary-and-review-8013261e1b4c) Get the book here (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DQ845EA/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=samharris48-21&camp=1634&creative=6738&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B00DQ845EA&linkId=86e7d98c4e527bce9d4429a55649a739) Get on audible free (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Audible-Free-Trial