Presley Ann/Getty Images for Spotify
Every Tuesday afternoon, Spotify’s top brass — all of its vice presidents — pile into a room for a standing three-hour meeting with a key rule.
“You’re not allowed to say the word ‘offline’ or ‘later’ — because that person is in the room,” said Gustav Söderström, Spotify’s co-president, on an episode of the “Invest Like The Best” podcast published Tuesday.
At other companies, when conversations get uncomfortable or someone hasn’t delivered, people tend to punt the issue. But that’s not Spotify’s ethos, Söderström, who also leads tech and product, said.
Instead of circling back, people are expected to hash things out.
“It’s real-time resolution — very simple in theory but incredibly powerful in practice. Most companies don’t do it,” he said.
Another rule: No bringing direct reports. Everyone in the room is expected to know the discussion’s details.
“I’m trying to literally force the VPs to solve it themselves because I want them to be in the details. So, you’re not allowed to bring anyone else in to explain your thing,” Söderström said.
“You have to be on top of it enough to explain it to yourself,” he added.
Without direct reports coming and going, the same group shows up each week. Over time, it becomes a tight-knit, high-trust team, Söderström said.
Spotify and Söderström did not respond to a request for comment.
Spotify’s ‘bets’ process
The marathon Tuesday sessions are part of what Spotify calls its “bets” process — a structured way of deciding what the company builds next.
Every six months, each VP pitches a bet.
“It’s very much like a startup process,” Söderström said. “You don’t get to use the fact that Gustav or Alex or Daniel may like you. This is like a VC meeting, you have to convince us.”
After the pitches, the leaders “stack rank” the 30 to 50 pitches. Teams then allocate resources based on that list and execute what makes the cut over the next six months.
“It’s a good mix of bottom-up innovation,” Söderström said. Instead of relying on the company’s top executives, Spotify brings in ideas from across its leadership and “all the layers below.”
“You’re going to be much better at delivering something if you were the one who said, ‘I can do this,’ than if your boss said you can do this,” Söderström said.
The company’s stock is up nearly 116% in the last year.
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