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Hello and welcome to\u00a0<\/em>Modern\u00a0CEO!\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of\u202f<\/em>Inc.\u202fand\u202f<\/em>Fast Company. If you\u00a0received\u00a0this newsletter from a friend, you can\u202f<\/em>sign up to get it yourself<\/em>\u202fevery Monday morning.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n On any given\u00a0workday,\u00a0you might find Whatnot employees hawking trading cards, apparel, or other items on the\u00a0digital live-shopping app.\u00a0They\u2019re\u00a0not slacking\u00a0on the job\u00a0or trying to make rent\u2014they\u2019re actually evaluated\u00a0on whether\u00a0they\u2019ve\u00a0spent time\u00a0selling and buying on the app.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe only exist to the extent that we provide our\u00a0customers\u00a0a lot of value,\u201d says cofounder and CEO Grant LaFontaine. \u201cIf you want to build a customer-centered culture, you have to actually follow through on building\u00a0one and\u00a0inject it everywhere you possibly can in the organization.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n At Whatnot, which launched in 2019,\u00a0focus on the customer starts with\u00a0the hiring process.\u00a0\u201cIf you interview at Whatnot, somewhere along your interview pathway,\u00a0someone\u2019s\u00a0going to ask you, \u2018Have you used the app? What do you think about it? What could be improved?\u2019\u201d LaFontaine says. \u201cWe want to see that you actually use it, you understand it, and\u00a0you can think through the lens of a customer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Once hired,\u00a0every\u00a0one of the company\u2019s\u00a0more than 1,000 full-time\u00a0employees\u00a0is required\u00a0to\u00a0answer\u00a0customer\u00a0support\u00a0tickets each quarter, plus\u00a0sell and buy\u00a0on the app. The company provides $150 in credits to make purchases\u00a0and lets employees do their required buying and selling on company time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Many companies say they engage in \u201cdogfooding,\u201d a term derived from the phrase \u201ceating our own dog food,\u201d or testing one\u2019s own products. Enterprise tech giants such as Microsoft and Cisco\u00a0have\u00a0frequently\u00a0touted\u00a0the way they used their own tools to drive productivity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But few companies\u00a0mandate dogfooding the way Whatnot does. LaFontaine says no employee can\u00a0\u201cmeet expectations\u201d on their performance reviews\u00a0if they\u00a0fail to\u00a0purchase\u00a0and sell\u00a0on the app and answer customer queries.\u00a0LaFontaine\u00a0has gone live and sold\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon\u00a0cards and toys. Last quarter, he sold some Whatnot\u00a0swag\u00a0and donated the proceeds to charity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nTry before they buy<\/h2>\n