I recently had the pleasure of hosting Vivek KunderaPresident and Chief Operating Officer Item 44, as the keynote speaker at our G2 launch event in Chicago. This event brings together our global G2 team to kick off the new financial year – to reflect on the previous year, share goals and discuss plans for the year ahead.
Our launch theme is “Amp it Up” – inspired by the book and the leadership philosophies of technology executives Frank Slotman – No one is better suited than Vivek to help us all get into the right mindset to enhance it.His impressive career path has taken him from the White House as the nation’s first chief information officer to leading industry sales force Successfully taking companies like Sprinklr public. His experience in the public and private sectors undergoing periods of rapid change provides our team with valuable insights.
Vivek started our discussion by looking back at Project44’s journey over the past two years. Like many technology companies, they have experienced tremendous growth driven by investor demand. However, market shifts require a cultural and strategic reset to focus on efficiency and profitability. Vivek emphasized the importance of enduring pain in advance to emerge stronger.
The lessons he learned from this experience, and his oversight of $80 billion in government spending, offer lessons for any leader looking to expand spending in the coming year:
- Narrow your focus. Vivek used V2MOM Model (adopted from Salesforce, as we did at G2) to clearly define Project44’s top priorities around vision, values, metrics, and obstacles to overcome. Taking the time to identify only the most important goals and KPIs can help ensure resources are focused where they will have the greatest impact.
- Introduce powerful operators. He also recruited senior executives with experience optimizing operations at scale. Their expertise in driving profitable growth through restructuring and process improvement helped Project44 navigate volatile market conditions.
- Everything is customer-centric. From integrating customer feedback directly into product roadmaps, to ensuring that executives and engineers understand customer pain points first-hand (insights can be found through G2 audits!), Vivek ensures that the company’s decisions are guided by creating value for those it serves.
- Make difficult changes quickly. He also recommends making difficult personnel or strategic decisions early to avoid bigger challenges later. Leaders must have the courage to proactively address obstacles through restructuring rather than ignoring problems.
- Learn from successes and failures. With experience transforming industries at some of the largest companies, Vivek has seen what works and where things can go wrong. Maintaining a growth mindset helps you apply these lessons to continually improve your approach.
I am grateful to Vivek for generously sharing his wisdom. In uncertain times, leadership is crucial. May we all strive to strengthen it thoughtfully and nimbly, guide change, and focus on serving our customers in the year ahead.
