Brian Balfour: 10 lessons on career, growth, and life

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Brian Balfour is the founder and CEO of Reforge. Prior to Reforge, he was the VP of Growth at HubSpot and co-founded three other startups. In today’s episode, Brian shares 10 lessons from his career, growth, and life:
• Lesson 1: Inspect the work, not the person.
• Lesson 2: Tell me what it takes to win; then tell me the cost.
• Lesson 3: Problems never end (and that’s okay).
• Lesson 4: The year is made in the first six months.
• Lesson 5: Growth is a system between acquisition, retention, and monetization. Change one and you affect them all.
• Lesson 6: Do the opposite.
• Lesson 7: Use cases, not personas.
• Lesson 8: Solving for everyone is solving for no one.
• Lesson 9: Find sparring partners, not mentors or coaches.
• Lesson 10: 2x+ the activation energy for things that need to change.

Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Overcast, and YouTube.

Find the transcript for this episode and all past episodes at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/episodes/. Today’s transcript will be live by 8 a.m. PT.

Where to find Brian Balfour:

• X: https://twitter.com/bbalfour

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbalfour/

• Website: https://brianbalfour.com/

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Brian’s background

(04:29) His Notion doc of lessons

(07:35) Lesson 1: Inspect the work, not the person

(12:39) Implementing lesson 1 and a recap of Reforge Artifacts

(16:01) Lesson 2: Tell me what it takes to win; then tell me the cost

(18:17) Why you should revisit your ideal end state often

(20:25) How planning works at Reforge

(23:50) Lesson 3: Problems never end (and that’s okay)

(26:31) The “players, coaches, captains” framework

(30:24) How AI will allow for smaller teams

(34:13) Small teams do bigger things

(34:37) Lesson 4: The year is made in the first six months

(38:20) Lesson 5: Growth is a system between acquisition, retention, and monetization 

(40:44) Examples of engagement and retention problems from HubSpot and Reforge

(46:21) Lesson 6: Do the opposite 

(55:25) Brian’s thoughts on category creation

(57:39) Lesson 7: Use cases, not personas

(1:01:18) The use case map

(1:03:38) Lesson 8: Solving for everyone is solving for no one 

(1:11:14) There are many ways to do product

(1:16:52) Lesson 9: Find sparring partners, not mentors or coaches

(1:23:49) Advice on setting the tone for group sharing

(1:25:07) Lesson 10: You need to give 2x the activation energy for things that need to change

(1:32:02) Lightning round

Referenced:

• Reforge: https://www.reforge.com/

• Frank Slootman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankslootman/

• Artifacts: https://artifacts.reforge.com/artifacts

• Ray Dalio’s 5 Step Process: https://commoncog.com/dalios-5-step-process-to-getting-what-you-want/

• Building effective teams: https://www.reforge.com/blog/building-effective-teams

• Scott Belsky’s website: https://www.scottbelsky.com/

• MOOCs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_open_online_course

• The Creative Act: A Way of Being: https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Act-Way-Being/dp/0593652886/

• A Breakdown of LinkedIn’s AI Assisted Growth Loop: https://brianbalfour.com/essays/a-breakdown-of-linkedins-ai-assisted-growth-loop

• Lex Fridman Podcast: https://lexfridman.com/podcast/

• Acquired podcast: https://www.acquired.fm/

• Unsolicited Feedback podcast: https://www.reforge.com/podcast/unsolicited-feedback

• Elena Verna Analyzes Airtable’s Shift to Enterprise and Slack’s Product Roadmap: https://www.reforge.com/podcast/unsolicited-feedback/episode-5

• The ultimate guide to product-led sales | Elena Verna: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-product-led-sales-elena-verna/

• How to become a category pirate | Christopher Lochhead (author of Play Bigger, Niche Down, Category Pirates, more): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-become-a-category-pirate-christopher-lochhead-author-of-play-bigger-niche-down-category/

• Dharmesh Shah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dharmesh/

• The ultimate guide to JTBD | Bob Moesta (co-creator of the framework): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-jtbd-bob-moesta-co-creator-of-the-framework/

• How to sell your ideas and rise within your company | Casey Winters, Eventbrite: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within-your-company-casey-winters-eventbrite/

• Target the Right Market: https://hbr.org/2012/10/target-the-right-market-2

• Douglas Atkin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doatkin

• How Linear builds product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-linear-builds-product

• How Notion builds product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-notion-builds-product

• Aaron White on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronmwhite/

• Ariel Diaz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arieldiaz/

• Ray Dalio’s website: https://www.principles.com/

• Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future: https://www.amazon.com/Zero-One-Notes-Startups-Future/dp/0804139296

• The Wolf of Wall Street on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/70266676

• Margin Call on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Margin-Call-Kevin-Spacey/dp/B005UT29Z0

• The Big Short on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80075560

• The Bear on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/series/the-bear-05eb6a8e-90ed-4947-8c0b-e6536cbddd5f

• Halt and Catch Fire on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Halt-Catch-Fire-Season-1/dp/B00KCXIHJG

• Vuori: https://vuoriclothing.com/

• The man in the arena: https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Learn-About-TR/TR-Encyclopedia/Culture-and-Society/Man-in-the-Arena.aspx

• Startup Dads podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/startup-dads/id1548496077

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.