Nanxi Liu, Building Team Culture by Bringing Out Everyone’s Best – Innova.Buzz 566
Nanxi Liu, Blaze Technology
Our guest in this episode is Nanxi Liu, the Co-CEO and co-founder of Blaze Technology, one of the fastest growing platforms that enables teams to build software and web applications without writing code. She was named Forbes 30 Under 30. Nanxi previously served as CEO and co-founder of Enplug, a leading global digital signage software company that she led from startup to its successful acquisition by Spectrio in March 2021, generating a 200x return for her angel investors.
Nanxi serves on the Board of Directors of CarParts.com, a leading ecommerce auto aftermarket parts company, and on the Board of Directors of Grupo Proeza, one of the largest private conglomerates in Mexico. Previously, she served on the Board of Directors of Kindred Biosciences, which was acquired by Elanco for $440 million. She also served on the Board of Directors of CarLotz, which she helped merge with Shift Technologies. She served as 1 of 5 voting members of the California DMV’s New Motor Vehicle Board.
In college, Nanxi co-founded and served as CEO of Nanoly Bioscience, a venture-backed biotech company that invented polymers that eliminate refrigeration for vaccines.
In our conversation Nanxi talked to me about
- How to build the culture of a company right from the beginning, setting consistent values;
- Bringing out and amplifying people’s strengths;
- Creating an environment that’s reflective of the company leadership.
Listen to the podcast to find out more.
Listen to the Podcast
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Show Notes from this episode with Nanxi Liu, Blaze Technology
Key points and takeaways from this episode include:
- Building a great culture is a key part of starting and growing a business.
- Culture is reflective of the leadership and their values. The culture of a business can evolve over time to match the changing needs of its employees.
- It’s important to be intentional and authentic when it comes to setting the culture. If it feels too hard to maintain the culture, there is probably something wrong.
- Invest in your team and create an environment where everyone can bring out their best.
- Encourage collaboration and open communication. Focus on creating a culture where everyone can thrive and contribute. Let your team know that they are appreciated and valued.
- Surround yourself with a team of people who have diverse and complementary skills. Amplify the capabilities of the people on your team.
- Invest in team building activities to strengthen relationships and foster a sense of community. Find activities that are enjoyable and bring out the best in your team.
- Beer pong and happy hours aren’t for everyone, so find activities that suit your team’s needs. Beach volleyball, cooking classes, and island trips can be great team-building activities.
- Take time to celebrate successes and create meaningful experiences together.
- Hire people that are a values match for the company values.
- Don’t force yourself to do something that doesn’t reflect who you are as a leader.
- Don’t be afraid to try new activities and evolve your culture over time.
- Accept rejection – you win or you learn.
- When starting a business, begin by defining your target customer, the specific problem you’ll solve and the value of solving that problem to the target audience.
The Buzz – Our Innovation Round
Here are Nanxi’s answers to the questions of our innovation round. Listen to the conversation to get the full scoop.
- 1 thing to be more innovative – Take time for yourself to think.
- Best thing for new ideas – Spend time on activities that fulfill your passion outside of business.
- Favourite resource – The support of my friends.
- Keep project/client on track – Verbalize and communicate what’s expected in that project and communicate that. Ownership, accountability and communication is key.
- Differentiate – Push yourself outside of your wheelhouse and go as deep into that as possible.
Action
Take on things outside your current skill set and apply your superpowers to that.
Reach Out
You can reach out and thank Nanxi through the Blaze Tech website and on Twitter.
Links
Cool Things About Nanxi
- Nanxi is an Emmy-winning television producer of multiple television shows on Amazon and Peacock.
- Nanxi serves on the Board of Directors for the National Foster Youth Institute and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation.
- Nanxi is an avid reader and enjoys playing piano, tennis, running and snowboarding.
When starting a business, begin by defining your target customer, the specific problem you'll solve and the value of solving that problem to the target audience. @blazenocode on #InnovaBuzz podcast Click To Tweet
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