20VC: Affirm Max Levchin on Why Grading Talent by Letter (A or B) is Total BS | How to Create a Culture of Post Mortems and Writing | Why You Should Only Study Failure Not Success & The Biggest Surprises Scaling to $18.7BN Market Cap
This podcast features an interview with Max Levchin, founder of Affirm and co-founder of PayPal, focusing on his management philosophy and experiences. The conversation covers topics such as hiring strategies (prioritizing "extreme" personalities with caveats), the importance of post-mortem analysis for learning from both successes and failures, and the challenges of leading a public company. Levchin emphasizes the value of direct, empathetic feedback, calculated risk-taking, and a "writing culture" for clear communication. A key takeaway is his advice on implementing a post-mortem culture: establish separate documentation for each incident, encourage clinical analysis devoid of emotion, and assign clear responsibility for authoring and presenting the findings.
