80: Snyk CEO Peter McKay-creating a culture of open communication
Cyber-attacks are quickly becoming a worldwide problem, and in many cases, cybersecurity systems are too slow to keep up. By taking this issue head-on by catching insecure code while it’s being written, Snyk has become a hyper-growth SaaS business in an impressively short timeframe. Snyk aims to expand its services to as many developers as possible, making our world’s digital infrastructure safer in the process. CEO Peter McKay joins Scott Britton and Andrei Newman on the Built by Humans Podcast to discuss how he coaches teams, how to prioritize, and why you should hire diversely. Here are some quick takeaways: In today’s world, applications need to be built at a faster rate than ever before. With cyber-attacks becoming an ever-increasing threat, viable security for your applications is necessary to staying competitive in any type of company. A good workplace doesn’t need to work completely like a sports team or completely like a family: Hire the best people you can and expect quality work, but also trust them until proven otherwise, and offer as much flexibility as you can. The more flexibility you offer, the more talented people will apply. Especially at a time where we’re mostly online, try to get rid of the taboo of talking about mental health in the workplace setting. Being able to constantly communicate about mental health is vital - good communication can help point out who’s struggling, plus we all need to talk about it sometimes to get over occasional hurdles. Taking time to choose which projects to prioritize is important: choose 3 and run with them to completion. At the same time, don’t get blindsided: many executives fail by completely ignoring the things they’re not prioritizing. In tech, only hiring in-network means critically low diversity, you won’t have enough range of thought to approach many issues well. Instead, value diversity and try to hire from as many different backgrounds and perspectives as possible. Resiliency is an overlooked skill in the modern world. Be able to take harsh criticism and failure, and always be willing to use these experiences to keep growing and advancing.