Laura WPJul 29, 20198 minWhy Silicon Valley Needs More Social EntrepreneursThis is the script for a public lecture I gave at the American University of Rome in Rome, Italy on October 4, 2018. Since I ad-libbed a bit as I talked, it’...
Laura WPJul 29, 20197 minNo One Talks about Severance and That's Because the Process SucksIf you’re a people manager, eventually you’ll have to fire someone One of the things I had to do as an executive at multiple companies is fire people. It’s n...
Laura WPJul 29, 20194 minHow I got Burned in My Last Strategic Planning Process (And What You Can Do to Avoid It)In late 2015, Code2040 had been around for 3.5 years. We were doing well with a ton of momentum, early successes, and, after some tight times in earlier year...
Laura WPJul 29, 20195 minHow Nerd Girls' Weekend Changed My LifeAbout a year and a half ago, in the fall of 2017, I met up with a group of nine women from my Stanford business school class for the weekend. This was not a ...
Laura WPSep 25, 20183 minHow to Respond to “That Guy” Who Wants Quality over Diversity I was on a conference call the other day and we were discussing a talent selection process. At one point the topic of diversity came up. It was straightforwa...
Laura WPSep 12, 20182 minHow It Feels to Find Your SuccessorRecently I was asked to “share a personal or professional experience mentoring someone you are particularly proud of and why” and this is what I wrote: When ...
Laura WPSep 4, 20189 minHow to Know When It's Time to GoSometime in fall 2017 I made the decision that is was time for Code2040, the successful social enterprise I’d co-founded and run since early 2012, to have a ...
Laura WPAug 27, 20182 minHey Foundations: Stop Asking Me and My Peers to Consult for FreeA few weeks ago I got an email: I hope you don’t mind me connecting you with <PERSON>, who is now working for <CONSULTING FIRM> supporting <GIANT FOUNDATION>...
Laura WPAug 22, 20184 minTwo Things to Consider When Creating Culture from ScratchYesterday I was a guest at Lightspeed Ventures. They asked me to come hold office hours for the startups in their summer fellowship program to help these ear...
Laura WPAug 12, 20181 minRaising the Floor: Sharing What Works... from the Obama White HouseOne of my major projects at the Obama White House was to work with then US Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith to compile a resource for leaders on how to e...
Laura WPAug 12, 20183 minHow I Hire: Searching for Mission-Driven HustlersThis post was originally part of a How I Hire series on LinkedIn and published at linkedin.com/in/laurawp on September 24, 2013. I run a startup nonprofit ca...
Laura WPAug 12, 20183 minMy Early Days in TechA version of this post originally appeared as part of Acer's #MakeYourMark campaign on my Influencer Channel at linkedin.com/in/laurawp on July 23, 2018. In ...
Laura WPAug 12, 20182 minAnswering This One Question Can Tell You Whether You Should Join a StartupThis post originally appeared on my Influencer Channel at linkedin.com/in/laurawp on April 26, 2018. Yesterday I spoke on a career panel at Stanford with two...
Laura WPAug 12, 20184 minWe Don't Need a Black Zuck: Moving Beyond Unicorns In Tech EntrepreneurshipThis post was originally published at medium.com/@laurawp on August 8, 2017 as part of The Case Foundation's #FacesofFounders campaign. Many of us have our f...
Laura WPAug 12, 20183 minLonely? Get Used to It.This post was originally published at medium.com/@laurawp on July 17, 2016. The other day, I was flying back to San Francisco from a week of meetings on the ...
Laura WPAug 11, 20183 minOn Strangers Asking Me: What Are You?This post was originally published on medium.com/@laurawp on March 4, 2016. On the last day of Black History Month, my husband gave me a present. A sweatshir...
Laura WPAug 11, 20184 minDear Jeff Bezos: Please Don't Think Short TermThis post originally appeared on medium.com/@laurawp on June 15, 2017. Earlier today, Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos tweeted that he was rethi...
Laura WPAug 11, 20183 minWhat You’re Really Saying When You Talk About Lowering the Bar in HiringThis post was originally published on at medium.com/@laurawp on February 10, 2016 and is reproduced here with light edits. I give a lot of interviews. And I’...