Avoid 'My People' Language

Noah Kagan shares his philosophy on delegation and leadership, emphasizing the importance of autonomy and finding the right people. He believes in creating an environment where entrepreneurial-minded individuals can thrive within a larger organization.

• Leadership Philosophy:

  • Avoid saying "my people" - shows respect for autonomy
  • Look for individuals who want to run their own businesses
  • Give them challenging goals and boundaries, then leave them alone

• Finding Great People:

  • Observe "greatness" and reach out to impressive people
  • Focus on getting around high-performers
  • Look for people who "blow you away" with their output
  • Example: Found a developer through a $100 WordPress plugin purchase, now runs significant projects

• Success Formula:

  • Find people who want to run their own businesses
  • Set challenging goals
  • Establish clear boundaries
  • Give them space to operate independently

• Organizational Structure:

  • Similar to Amazon's approach of having many former CEOs running divisions
  • Creates potential for building billion-dollar businesses
  • Aligns incentives with motivated leaders
  • Allows for multiple autonomous business units under one umbrella

• Key Success Factors:

  • Proper alignment of incentives
  • Trust in leadership capabilities
  • Balance of autonomy and accountability
  • Focus on results rather than control

This approach has enabled Noah to scale multiple successful businesses while maintaining high performance and innovation across different units.