Claire Hughes Johnson
Former COO at Stripe / Google
Former COO of Stripe where she helped scale from startup to legendary company over 7 years; previously VP at Google leading self-driving cars, global online sales, and ops for Gmail, YouTube, and AdWords; author of Scaling People; board member at HubSpot.
Dimension Profile
Key Themes
Episode Summary
Claire Hughes Johnson, former COO of Stripe and author of Scaling People, shares the operational frameworks that helped scale Stripe from startup to generational company. She emphasizes that decision-making ownership should default to the person closest to the problem, that being a force for positive momentum is the single best career strategy, and that companies need a deliberate operating system of principles, cadence, and processes to scale effectively.
Leadership Principles
- → If you're not sure who the decision maker is, it's probably you — act that way rather than slowing the company down waiting for permission
- → Be a force for positive momentum — caring about progress, impact, and momentum will be a real career maker
- → Too many people get stuck not knowing who owns a decision — if you're worried, just ask; don't get stuck, it makes your work terrible
Notable Quotes
"If you're not sure who the decision maker is, one, it's probably you. I'd rather you act that way than not because you're going to slow the whole company down. Follow a process and get it done, and don't forget to actually make a decision. And if you don't know who the decision maker is, just ask. Don't get stuck."
— On her advice to new Stripe employees during onboarding
"What do we all care about? Progress, impact, momentum. If anything I would say about advice to people generally is be a force for positive momentum and it will be actually a real career maker."
— On the most important career advice she can give
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