Glue Guys
Episode 19 Fidji Simo: Harnessing Inner Power
Glue Guys

Episode 19: Fidji Simo: Harnessing Inner Power

Glue Guys

Episode 19

Fidji Simo: Harnessing Inner Power

From a family of fishermen in southern France to CEO of Instacart – Fidji Simo's path breaks every convention. After becoming her family's first high school graduate and attending France's leading university, she rose to lead the Facebook app before taking the helm at Instacart. Her leadership philosophy of "strong opinions, weakly held" has helped her navigate complex decisions throughout her career. Beyond business, Fidji opens up about living with a rare genetic disease, and how it led her to embrace vulnerability. This discussion is full of strategies for ambitious leaders who want to drive change while staying true to themselves.

Show Notes:

(00:00:00) Welcome to Glue Guys

(00:00:59) Introducing Fidji Simo: From Fishing Village to Tech Leader

(00:02:47) Fidji's Humble Beginnings and Family Influence

(00:05:32) Pursuing Dreams: Education and Early Career

(00:08:36) Support Systems: The Role of Family and Mentors

(00:10:27) Navigating Challenges: From Facebook Rejection to Success

(00:17:11) Leadership Lessons from a Fishing Family

(00:31:27) Breaking Through in Tech: Mentorship and Sponsorship

(00:34:13) Working with Titans: Inside Facebook's Culture

(00:36:16) Navigating Fame and Relatability as a CEO

(00:38:44) Transitioning to Instacart: Challenges and Objectives

(00:40:07) Implementing New Strategies for Growth

(00:42:50) Personal Health Struggles and Professional Resilience

(00:47:12) The Importance of Acceptance and Finding Joy

(00:51:41) Cultivating a Growth Mindset

(01:00:41) Building Strong Relationships and Team Dynamics

(01:05:40) Unsung Heroes

Fidji Simo: Harnessing Inner Power

Introduction

Ravi
Guys, today, I am so happy we get to have my dear friend Fidji Simo as our guest. We can do a much longer introduction later, but I want to just give a little bit about Fidji. So one, she grew up in a fishing village in France and is the first person in her family, I believe, to graduate from high school and somehow has ended up with just an incredible career and a fairly meteoric rise.

But time at eBay and then a decade at Facebook, now Meta, where she ran the Facebook app, which I think only has 3 billion users or something like that. So it was serving basically almost half the planet. In 2021, came over and became the CEO of Instacart, which is when we became good friends. Now she is the chair of the board of Instacart, along with being the CEO. She has also, in her spare time, served on the boards of Shopify and OpenAI, and co-founded the Metrodora Institute, which has a pretty amazing center in Utah, Alex—so she has some ties to your adopted hometown.

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