6. A Growth mindset: what you need to be a COO

In this episode we discuss the topic of a growth mindset and how that informs the COO role. Our special guest is David Norris, a four time COO for venture-backed organisations. David talks about managing critical feedback, personal growth and the transition to Chief Growth Officer.

• How has studying theology informed the type of COO you are?

• Is there a playbook for COO’s?

• What does the transition from COO to Chief Growth Officer look like in an 800-person company?

• What does the transition from a 16 person company to an 800 person company look like as COO?

• What is the connection between personal growth and organisational growth?

• How do you manage critical feedback?

Biography

David is a seasoned internet leader, having worked in online operational, product, marketing and strategy roles since the turn of the century, mainly in travel and hospitality, including 4 stints as Chief Operating Officer, 3 of which were scaling fast growth venture capital (VC) backed scaleups. He was later a venture capital investor at Forward Partners incubating idea stage startups and now focuses on strategy and marketing in his role as Chief Growth Officer at Holiday Extras. David is also Non-Executive Director at The Sports Trust and mentors startup founders. He is a fellow of the COO roundtable, a community for startup and scaleups to come together and learn.

He has a degree in Theology and Religious Studies from the University of Manchester and a Diploma in Company Direction from The Institute of Directors. He lives with his family in Deal, Kent, UK.

Resources

• Follow David on his blog https://www.norrisnode.com

• Follow David on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidnorris

• Follow David on Substack https://norrisnode.substack.com/p/the-size-of-your-team-determines